New Zealand

Friday 5th February 2019

The passage from Tahiti to New Zealand was much the same if compared to our recent Pacific ventures. With some astute routing by Ish and a douse of good fortune from the wind gods, we had an excellent angle for a broad reach on our rhumbline. On our final approach toward Bay of Islands, roughly thirty hours off sight of land, all wind died and the sea quietened to a chop, which primed the already anticipant crew for arrival. This period of calm gave us time to get our house in order, the last day was spent tidying our respective areas and preparing Destination for her return to the country in which she was conceived. Along with the anticipation of reaching our last stop across the Pacific Ocean came a rush of surreality, everything that transpired since November of 2018 all came into view, a great adventure that felt like a lifetime, a personal evolution by the grace of nature, coming to a close at the shores of New Zealand.

Our first call was in Opuau, a little marina nestled in the Bay of Islands that hosts yachts coming into NZ territorial waters as a check-in location. The customs officials are notorious for being rigorous in their pursuit to stave off any bio-contamination from vessels entering the country, that said we were in and out in a few hours, giddy with extiement at the prospect of arriving in Gulf Harbour.

We settled into our berth at the end finger of the largest pontoon in Gulf Harbour on the morning of the 7th of March 2019. Ahead of us lay the monumental task of stripping Destination down to prepare her for an eight month stint in the ORAMS yard of Aukland. Every loose object on the boat was transferred to the two 40-foot containers, once they were full we had to seek other storage options. Every stainless car track was carefully removed off the deck, most of the deck hardware came off in preparation for her new lick of paint. It was an arduous month of lugging and hauling, but we eventually ransacked this behemoth to the extent that she was an indistinguishable shell of her former self.

Our weekends were spent discovering as much of our surroundings as we possibly could, working around our watch rota; this country is a multifaceted playground for all, the commending stories and reviews divulged to me before my arrival all hold true. I found a very well priced kitesurfing kit bundle that has already seen a fair amount of use by my hand, the Whangaparoa spit that hosts us is the perfect location for kiting.

Today was my last day of work on Destination, on Sunday I fly to Dunedin in the South Island.. now begins another chapter.