Thursday, November 18 1999 - Bay of Islands / New Zealand


Another day - another country,

we made it folks - New Zealand at last, and what a relief!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve come right the way across the Pacific. I've just looked at the globe - boy it really makes you think - it looks like a hell of a long way over a lot of water - have we really done that?

One thing's for sure it’s very noticeable that we are not in the tropical pacific any more. There’s a real chill in the air - it’s only about 15°C and we’re all wearing an extra pullover and shoes! (For the first time in six months). It almost felt as if we were sailing into good old 'Blighty' this morning - a dark gray sky and rain sheeting down, the low islands and islets of the Bay of Islands were crouched shivering under low cloud. The ‘admiral’ had organised an almost royal welcome for us as we cruised into the Bay of Islands. Michaels voice came over the VHF radio - “I can see you guys right in front of me” - so; there we are scanning the horizon for a small boat or something, when suddenly a plane came into view out of the gloom… Michael again “I’m flying over you now” and sure enough Michael and DJ gave us a couple of low flying passes while we all stood out on the bow and waved madly.


DJ and Michael give us a fly-by as we cruise into the Bay of Islands

We are now moored at Opua, in a mercifully calm, but very full harbour. We have already spotted some of our old ‘yachty’ acquaintances who have made it this far - Attitude, Seaplusplus, Champagne, Gemini, Josephine and I’m sure we’ll meet up with more over the next few days. Before we can really get started on anything we have to clear customs and immigration. Customs went relatively smoothly, but getting through quarantine is more of a challenge. Our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Quarantine (MAF) Officer, Mike, is busy going through all the refrigerators and lockers even as I write - a lot of meat is out, basically anything where the country of origin is not New Zealand or Australia, so all our Panama, Tahiti and Fiji meat is now stacked in big black sacks waiting to go to the incinerator. All the remaining fresh fruit and veggies have gone the same way and powdered and tinned milk from Panama and Columbia are also “persona non grata”.

It’s a good job that we had a good clear out before getting here, otherwise the immigration officer would need a truck to transport everything - as it is, he is leaving with 7 big black bin-bags full of stuff. He has also taken all our garbage even including the dust out of the vacuum cleaners - no one can say they are not thorough. Things they are trying to avoid are foot and mouth disease from meat, fruit flies from any fresh produce (NZ are very proud of the fact that they have no fruit flies at all), wood carvings etc. are checked for worm and insect holes incase of unwittingly bringing insects to the country.


Our MAF Quarantine Officer ‘Mike’ (to the left)
takes away prohibited goods - nothing Enrico (our chef) and Michael can do about it.

There are some advantages to it raining - after the passage I don’t think that there is a corner of STARSHIP that is not covered in salt, at least the rain is helping us to get that rinsed off - but we are giving a helping hand with the hoses. Monika is busy scrubbing the teak, which is in rather a sorry state and will need a thorough going over some time in the next few days. The back transom also needed a good scrub down, as it was black from the fumes of the engine - still, we look in pretty good shape now.

Since our fridges have been raided and we now have a classic ‘Mother Hubbard’ situation Enrico has gone off with DJ and Michael to get fresh supplies. It’s kind of disappointing actually because for the first time in I don’t know how many days I have an appetite again, I can actually think about food without feeling nauseous - and ‘the cupboard is bare’. I have also discovered that opening and closing the fridge door at five-minute intervals does not miraculously generate food inside it!!

No worries - I see the food is on it’s way, the tender is piled high with lots of tasty edibles so I am breaking off now to go and scavenge in the galley. Oh happy day - seasickness has no lingering after effects; the feeling of nausea goes away practically in the same moment as when you hit calm waters. I am feeling much more like my old self today and I can tell that everyone else is too. We’re all pretty tired, especially Trevor - I don’t think he’s slept at all for the past few days. Still time to recover now, to eat, sleep and drink - a glass of champagne to our safe arrival!

Till tomorrow,

Janet