Logbook: Gangster's Gal Right Happy!

It's been yet another different kind of great week on The Voyage! The rain that poured down most of the time has been a blessing for the area -- which has been suffering from pretty drastic drought conditions -- and a welcomed excuse for me to stay in and chill out after being on the move for so long. During my happy hibernation, I have enjoyed catching up on many of my usual favorites: iLife, Skype, movies, books and sleep. I have also spent an astonishing amount of time on something new, trying to learn how to do cryptic crossword puzzles! I've long been a fan of "normal" crosswords, but have never been able to get a handle on the cryptics. With Betty's help during our travels together, I started to get the hang of them and have now become completely hooked. I've done so many in the past week, in fact, that I've found myself "thinking in cryptics" -- which gives you a clue about the title for this Logbook entry! Although I still can't finish most of them, it's is usually due to the solution involving some sort of non-American-English idiom or spelling that I've never heard of. No worries, though, because you know that once I start working on figuring something out I won't (can't?) stop until I've mastered it. Stay tuned!

During times that it hasn't rained, I have done some modest exploration of Napier which continues to be a pleasantly idiosyncratic little city. I can't really say I get what makes the place tick, and I have often found myself out-of-sync with it. One example is last Saturday night when I tried to go "out on the town" but found myself wandering virtually empty streets and unable to find any kind of music or other nightlife. Go figure. On nice days I have taken long walks along the shore, one of which brought me into the acquaintance of the delightful young lass you see here. Her name is Molly -- which should explain the answer to the cryptic title above! -- and she gave me just the kind of "doggie fix" I needed. We had such a good time that her human -- a really nice guy named Richard -- has called me a couple of times since to join them on their shore walks. My thanks to both of them!

In the background this week, I have been working on arrangements for moving on from New Zealand. I am having lunch tomorrow with Hamish -- the "freighter guy" who lives here in Napier -- and hope to hear something more or less definitive about getting across the Pacific Ocean. I'll let you know what I find out!