Our Journey

Thursday, 1 October 2015

Change is the Constant...

On arrival back to the Rio Dulce
I found that instead of getting hauled out in a week as planned,
that Richard was joining Bill from Out of the Bag, along with Jono who was coming from Norway and Brett from Seismic Wave to help sail a boat through the Panama Canal, with the view of Jono continuing on to Australia with Bill (with Brett & Richard coming back to the Rio).

What had happened, was a friends of Bills (the owner of the yacht), had been diagnosed with the late stages of cancer. His wish was for his boat to return to Australia. Blue Dream was on the hard and had to be prepared for leaving as soon as possible.

There was of course the rugby to consider while preparing Blue Dream for her journey
(watching in Our Rose)

Within a couple of days of my arrival home Jono arrived...

then by the end of the week, Blue Dream was heading off...

It had been an extremely hectic week getting Blue Dream ready, so once they had left, the girls went out to lunch (which turned into a very long lunch, lots and lots of wine, then singing and dancing back at the palapa at the marina)...

I also babysat "Quinn" - a person in a fur coat for a few days while April and Cain went on land travel with overseas guests... Quinn is just gorgeous!

Very sadly, Bills friend did not last long, and the news came through that he had passed away.

Bill pulled into San Andreas to await further instruction from Australia

No, they didn't drink all this wine...

The news from Australia was to continue on, so Blue Dream made her way to Panama Canal

What an experience that was...

During the trip, it was decided that Jono would not continue on the trip and would get off at Panama with Richard. Richard headed back to Rio Dulce and Jono headed to NZ for a visit (having not visited for 4 years)... Brett decided to continue with Bill.

On arrival back to the Rio, it was full on for us again - time to haul out...

Richard watches closely as the guys set the lifting points for the trailer...

and out she comes...

Just before going back in the water - isn't she looking beautiful with her fresh bottom paint,

all little nicks in fibreglass repaired, complete polish, sail drive seals replaced and ready to go...

One of the things Richard learnt from the Panama Canal, was that Our Rose large side windows would not survive the Canal unless we made something to protect them.

So, he along with advice from many quarters, designed these awesome covers, which will be used in February when we transit the Canal. They are marine ply, which has soft underlay glued together to create a thick buffer that in held onto the ply with fibreglass strips. These soft buffers hold the marine ply away from the gelcoat.

Obviously the rugby world cup continued and we enjoyed watching all of the games in the Tiki Bar

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Antigua to Mexico and back...

Late August Richard and I went to Antigua for a week.

We had found a Doctor and a Dentist that both spoke English.

As we were overdue for full check ups.

They were both wonderful, extremely thorough, both of us getting a clean bill of health.

Our friend Belinda (and her husband Ken), had arrived in Antigua, prior to Ken heading to Aussie to visit his Mum, and Belinda staying on for a week to go to Spanish School, then flying to Mexico to go on the "Copper Canyon" train trip.

This all sounded fantastic, so I joined her.

Richard headed back to Our Rose to carry on with all the maintenance work

and I skived off for 3 weeks.

The property in Antigua where our Spanish School (and accommodation) was located right in town - the grounds and gardens were lovely,

with a swimming pool and tennis court.

My teacher, Gloria was wonderful - extremely patient with me!

Toward the end of the week, Gloria took us (Belinda & her teacher also) to her village (San Juan), where we visited the Catholic Church...

Chocolate Factory, and local wine maker...

Belinda and I then flew to Mexico City, where we had 3 nights.

We visited the Freda Kahlo Museum. Her artwork was extraordinary

Driving back to the National Palace, we came across to most beautiful gowns...

These are designed by an extremely talented Mexican, whose gowns all tell a story

www.mcmargaritacisneros.com

When Belinda saw a sign for "Cricket Tacos" she had to try them...

Her first "survey" of the crunchy cricket...

followed by the actual taco, with varying size crickets on it...

(I was a chicken and did not partake)

We flew from Mexico city to Los Mochas, then onto El Fuerte. From here we went to Bachuichico, then onto Pasada Barranca. We had a wonderful trip. I took so many photos that I hope this small selection shows the beautiful country we experienced...

Sweat Lodge at El Fuerte

Our "Chariot" that took us to a boat for a bird watching trip (Belinda is a keen birdwatcher)...

Accommodation at Bahuichivo

View at Urique

Belinda taking a photo - it is "extremely steep"

We went horse riding - my horse had a 2 month old foal, who joined us on the ride...

We let the horses have a break, and stopped at this beautiful spot...

Bird Watching was a main part of the trip, and Belinda was seen like this often...

Mario told us that the people still believe very strongly in the old ways, they have shrines at water springs (as water is life). The Sweat Lodge is like a womb, so you come out "born again", with your emotional baggage left behind. The people are also extremely religious, following the Jesuit religion. We found it to be an interesting mix of religion and traditional ways...

Belinda loved the train journey...

Coming from New Zealand, it is still a shock when we see people with guns, and in this part of the world, they are everywhere. There are guards with "big" guns outside every store (even bakeries)

There were at least 6 armed guards on the train with us (all with AK47's or similar)...