January 2026 – Our World Adventure

The locals living in New Zealand are proudly known as Kiwis. It is a nickname spoken with warmth, confidence, and belonging. The name comes from nature, yay, my favorite topic. A Kiwi bird is a nocturnal, small, flightless bird found nowhere else on Earth. This is our second season here, trekking across many islands, and we have yet to see one.

The kiwi bird has lived here for millions of years, long before humans arrived. With no natural land predators, it evolved without the need to fly, and developed strong legs. When Māori arrived, they named the kiwi a taonga, this treasured creature was woven into stories, cloaks, and spiritual beliefs. Later, when Europeans settled in New Zealand, the bird became a symbol, since it was so unique. World War I New Zealand soldiers wore military badges featuring the kiwi bird. Over time, soldiers began referring to themselves as Kiwis. They do like using nicknames!

The word also seems to connect people across backgrounds, uniting Māori and non-Māori, which is so important. The kiwi explains a people known for traveling the world while never losing sight of where they come from. Funny, Scott and I will have lived here a year this May, can I call ourselves Kiwis?

Hanging out with a dozen Kiwis is always fun, spirited and full of much storytelling.

Our home for the month.

Docking in downtown Auckland, crazy tricky.

Merry Christmas to all! We had a quiet, fun Xmas on the boat with our besties, Jason and Candice. We later met some local Kiwi’s and invited them out for a sail in the bay. New experience for them.

And, Happy New Year to all! Since we had such a fun New Years last year downtown Auckland with numerous cruiser friends, we thought we could repeat it on Kalea. We threw a crazy loud and silly costume Disco party, with music, lights and all. Take a look at these silly videos.

What else have we been up to? Plenty of big city activities downtown Auckland, we even found a gym for the month! We just hop on a little pink scooter and zip around town. Plus our normal boat life, shopping, marine projects, hikes, exploring, bussing it, nightlife, sewing, friends, restaurants, and yoga. Life is good and very full, just the way we like it, for now.

What’s next? We will continue exploring this area till mid February, then haul out Kalea as she is due for a bottom paint called antifouling. We really are keen to explore Australia, so instead of sailing there, we will hop on the plane. Need to do a visa run anyway, as we only get a 3 months visit at a time. A flight will be much quicker than sailing there, plus Australia is so huge. We will spend 5 weeks exploring and visiting some cruising friends there. Transitioning from sailboat to a camper van should be pretty simple, NOT! Stay tuned for that story.