Last Day of Passage, First Day (so far) in NZ

A lot had happened since yesterday morning.

The wind remained fairly light for our last 12 hours in requiring us to motor sail for most of it but we did cut off the engine when we could. We wanted to arrive in daylight but not so early that we could clear customs. That would force us to stay the night on the customs dock and get a good rest.

On the way we were greeted three times by various craft. The first, was a NZ Airforce 4 prop Orion which contacted us on behalf of customs to get our details. Just before noon we encountered a twin prop light aircraft owned by customs with whom we again exchanged details. As we entered NZ territorial waters we were met by a craft identifying itself on as a New Zealand Warship who again took our details on behalf of customs. These guys are serious about their borders. In amongst all this we were also greeted by two pods of dolphins who probably don’t understand what all the fuss is about. As we entered the Bay of Islands within which Opua is situated, we could literally smell the freshness of the place.

We arrived on the customs dock at 7:30pm, tied up and opened cold beers to celebrate not only reaching New Zealand (our toughest passage to date) but crossing the Pacific Ocean. It’s a strange feeling but looking back it all seems such a normal thing to do but we can remember when we imagined this phase of the trip with great respect and trepidation. We’ve done it though and here we are on the next step of our bigger journey.

Shortly after arriving we were greeted by the Jacksters in their dinghy and by Bill from Avante who was berthed nearby. We recognized other friends of ours boats in the marina so we’re looking forward to catching up with them all. We stayed up a while having wine with dinner and watching TV to end the day. The strangest thing was how still the boat was. We can’t remember anywhere where the boat was so unmoving – it felt like we were back on the hard in Grenada (though nowhere near so hot).

I woke at 5am as I do every day, watch or not, and got back on the internet. It is so fast here which we have not experienced for a very long time. The only downside is that we pay by use so we have to be a little careful with what we do. While waiting for the officials to arrive we were hailed by Gary on Inspiration Lady offering to take us into Paihia later that day to sort a few things out as well as A Cappella to greet us and let us know what’s happening. There’s a free cruisers BBQ on this evening at 6pm which were certain to attend where we’ll meet up with all the Pacific Crossers who are here with us.

By 9am our engagement with NZ officialdom had begun. First aboard was the biohazard officer who inspected the boat for food items not allowed in. We’d eaten most of what we knew wasn’t allowed, including the last sausage rolls in front of him, so he didn’t have much to take away for incineration. We had customs aboard for their paperwork as well as three guys and a sock wearing dog to search for contraband. We survived all this without issue and were officially welcomed to the country. We were in.

We immediately left the dock to move around to a berth which we’d reserved earlier in the day. We were helped in by the Snow Leopards who’d heard we were coming in. I was grateful for this as I was still a little nervous close maneuvering with the jury rigged rudder.

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The main marina most of our friends are is more geared for monohulls so we’ve been put on the other side of the wharf where there is room. Our intention was only to stay for a couple of days but when we learned it is only NZ$22 a day here we are likely to stay a while longer.

My first order of the day was to dismantle my lash up and remove the damaged parts. The lashed up pin had ground into the flange so I took that off as well. We all went ashore to make a number of stops. First was the marina office to book us into the marina. Next was Opua Engineering where I was able to show the damaged pieces and discuss possible options for replacement / repair. Between us we came up with a new design for the pin which will be eliminate the weaknesses in the current design and, should it ever break again, maintain a connection between the autopilot and the steering assemble making a future lashup simpler to implement and certainly less risk to thumbs and fingers. I have ordered three pins. I will replace the existing starboard pin with the new design and end up with a spare of the new design and two spares (one used) of the old. That should keep us going. The new parts should be available before the end of next week. Good job we’re planning to stay
on the dock because right now we’re going nowhere.

Next stop was the Catermarine chandlery to where our charger is due to be delivered. It turns out we do have a package held in customs down in Auckland awaiting our customs papers. I had them with me so they took copies and were happy to engage customs on our behalf to clear the package in. Great stuff.

Then it was off to meet Phil from “Cars for Cruisers”. He runs an excellent set up where he essentially sources and sells used cars with a guaranteed buy back at the end of our stay. It works out considerably cheaper than renting and ensures we have a simple return at the end of our stay. We gave him our budget and requirements and he’s now off researching options for us. Hopefully by sometime next week we’ll have a car for the next 5-6 months.

Not done yet.

We next visited the Opua Cruising Club to book our Thanksgiving dinner next Thursday. They weren’t open for this yet but we did bump into the Leu Cats, A Capellas and True Companions there (Dave from Leu Cat we’d bumped into already several times that morning). We were ready for lunch. We stopped at a truly excellent (taste and price) fish and chip shop nearby.

After lunch we had scant minutes back on the boat before we went back to the marina area to meet Jackie from Inspiration Lady who was going to take us into Paihia. Paihia is a quaint (and very pretty) holiday town and also where there is banking and supermarkets. On the way we stopped off at Richard Tapper’s upholstery place (well recommended to us by several folks) to discuss a new helm seat and cushions for our cockpit area. He will visit us sometime next week to discuss options and to measure up.

Next stop was Paihia itself which, as I said before, was quite quaint. I visited the ANZ bank to discuss setting up an account here to minimise overseas bank charges. It’s all doable but not until Monday. We next bought a couple of tour books – one hiking and one adventure. Another stop was the tourist office where we picked up armloads of maps and tour info for around NZ so we have something to pour over over the weekend.

Finally it was off to the supermarket for provisioning and obtaining a mobile phone SIM. The supermarket was brilliant. Full of stuff we’ve not seen in ages and definitely fresh (not stale) too. Our eyes boggled. Ben found some pork pies which he misses from England.

Whew. That’s about it so far. Not long now to the free BBQ this evening. We’re all looking forward to that – in particular meeting up with all our friends. More on that tomorrow.