Whisper it quietly. This is a top spot. Don’t want crowds to turn up. Although it’s a bit of an effort to get here so I don’t think there’s much chance it’s about to become the new Newcastle Quayside hotspot.

We are tucked up in Disappointment Cove with our new North Island NZ buddies Cyril and Janine who are also here on their boat. It’s been home for 6 nights and is a ‘snug as a bug’ all weather anchorage. We’ve used the dinghy to get about to other coves, deserted beaches, walking trails, fishing spots and scallop hangouts.

The sun has shone, the sand flies have been very manageable and we’ve loved being here. It’s very much a make your own entertainment kind of place. Last night and this morning have been windy. The forecast for the Foveaux Strait, the body of water between the bottom of South Island and Stewart Island was for 60 knots of wind. Disappointment Cove with it’s all round protection has been a grand choice to hole up in. We are anchored and have three other lines out to add extra protection for Grace. We’d spent money last year on 100m floating lines for this very purpose. It felt good to dust them off and play with them.

After two weeks of wilderness living, we will make a move soon towards Oban, the main (only) town on the island. There is no chocolate on Grace and it’d be healthy to pick up some freshies, top up on petrol for the dinghy and treat ourselves to an ice cream.

And here’s a sea-lion playing with the dinghy paddle. Hope it brings a smile to your face.

The general rule on a sailing vessel is when you come across sea life, dolphins, seals, whales etc, you should remain at least 100m away. You shouldn’t disturb the creatures, intimidate them or approach them. My question is, what’s the protocol when a massive sea lion decides to chase your dinghy, swim under it and splash you with its fins? The culprit is noticeably longer than our 2.6m dinghy, a proper chunky monkey and has a fine array of teeth in a rather impressively sized head.

Our dinghy has an aluminium hull but the tubes are made of hypalon which are filled with air. A little munch and it’s a deflating beach ball scenario. All was fine, I may be being a little melodramatic here although it was a scenario we hadn’t considered previously. There’s a beach behind where we are anchored here in Pegasus Inlet on Stewart Island. We’ve seen three sea lions plopped on that beach, just hanging out till it’s time to go fishing again. We’ve become accustomed to them swimming around the boat, our heads turning as they exhale sharply when they surface for air. Ah, the sea lions are back.

We sailed to Stewart Island just under a week ago. It was a 30 hour trip from Port Carey, near Dunedin. We won’t get much further south than this. The wind was from behind and the sea, as predicted, was a little boisterous during the night. But by the time we entered into the inlet, the wind had dropped and we motored to our chosen cove in calm bright weather and managed to anchor and sort stern lines without any drama.

It’s a stunning place. Pretty remote. Fish to catch. Old workings to explore. Yesterday we walked up onto the Tin Range. We saw precisely no one on our full day excursion, initially through the bush then out into the open with sketchy paths to follow, some bush bashing and great views all round. Today has been less active as our legs recover from 25km including a little laundry  after collecting water from the stream. Appreciate your washing machine.

We got an unexpected phone call from a reporter here in Dunedin. So rather than write our latest offering, I’ve let someone else have a go. Not sure it’s up to my usual standards. And being described as Mr and Mrs Savage just makes us laugh. And of course there’s a bit of journalistic poetic licence. Enjoy.

2025. This year will include my 60th birthday. There’s a mind numbing fact to crunch.
I’m not a resolution maker. However. My buddy Rob has signed me up to his friends WhatsApp group which requires folk to do at least 30 minutes of some kind of exercise a day and post a picture of you doing it. It’s remote bullying / motivation.

So far (5 days) this is proving to be a good start to the year. My exploits won’t be as dramatic as some of the others, youngsters, but the need to do something is buzzing in my head when I wake up in the morning. I do need to shift some timber. There, I’ve written it, it’s out there rather than just knowing it in my head.  Move more, eat less will be key in my 60th year. You all have permission to bully / remind me. In fact I’d welcome the friendly poke.

Christmas and New Year have been awesome. We hooked up with the  Connolly’s and ate and drank and made merry. It was an overnight trip down from Akaroa to the little harbour here in Oamaru. Are there any other cruising boats here? Of course not. They just don’t seem to exist often this far south.

Kevin the local harbourmaster sorted us out a mooring.  Grace has been here on her own since Christmas Eve while we’ve stayed in Kakanui. We got back onto the boat yesterday and it’s been particularly windy since then. Lots of white horses out beyond the breakwater. Glad we’re tucked up. Maybe by Tuesday the southerly winds will have abated a bit and we can head down south a bit further.

We get it why there are so few other boats here. It’s a tricky place to sail. But there’s lots to do here. We spent a night at the blue penguin colony watching about 280 of them come in from the sea at dusk and waddle their sweet way to their little houses. We cycled to Duntroon and back for lunch. 110 kilometres. On electrics. Cheating? Maybe. And we’re just back from a walk / scramble / seal avoidance dance around the headland. Boy is it windy out there. Tea it is then.