All Points Rally

We arrived and checked into New Zealand on November 12th; the All Points Rally runs from November 10th through November 16th, so all we missed was Meet and Greet on Saturday and a barbeque/potluck dinner on Sunday. As we sat on our boat at the Quarantine Dock on Sunday evening, we waved at all the participants who were enjoying the evening festivities at such a short distance from where we were isolated!

The All Points Rally is run by the International Cruising Association each year in November to welcome visiting cruisers, and those returning, to New Zealand with a week of fun, entertainment, and informative seminars. Under a super large tent, the seminars that we attended included:

• Orientation to New Zealand culture and customs and also Kiwi slang which we found to be very mean (good). This was presented by John and Lyn who were this year's hosts and well versed in the subject as residents of Australia.
• Tips on cruising New Zealand by boat and car, both of which we hope to do.
• All the rules and regulations of fishing the area such as which fish, shellfish, and lobster are permitted as well as sizes, numbers, and times of year. Lots to be caught so it was nice to know what is allowed.
• Rigging for cruising yachts, battery maintenance, understanding and minimizing electrolysis, problems with refrigeration in the tropics, and paint choices.
• A weather presentation by local weather guru, Bob McDavit, which had the largest number of attendees. Everyone is interested in weather, especially in this area.

Weather info by Bob McDavit

All this brain power was interspersed with loads of fun:

• A cocktail evening with complimentary rum punch and delicious appetizers.
• Wine tasting and lunch at a local winery on nearby Russell Island. After a smidgen (a small amount) of each and every one, we bought a couple of our favourites.

Are we still sober?!

• Pizza and amateur talent night with lots of crash hot (excellent) musical talent and humour.
• Culture night - this was held at the historical site appropriately named the Treaty Grounds where the 1,100 year old story of the coming together of 2 cultures was presented.

Maori warrior and Jordan in greeting pose (either he's hot or Jordan's cold!)

• Amateur comedy night which had everyone in stitches.
• A windup barbie (barbeque) night with draws for great prizes from several merchants which even included a boat haul-out.

These are only the seminars and events that we attended. As you can see, a lot of work was put into this rally and we were glad that we arrived in New Zealand in time to participate.

As well as the above, Jordan and I deployed our life raft one afternoon for everyone to witness. It was a second-hand raft to us that we have had on board for the last 3 years and we felt it was high time for a new one. But it did successfully deploy! Now time to find a new one...

During this first week or so in New Zealand, we found it to be quite chilly and are definitely missing the warm tropic weather and waters.