Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Preparations in Opua, NZ

After a crazy and hectic time back in Australia, running around in circles for 10 weeks, we flew back again to New Zealand to prepare for our voyage. 4 weeks of mayhem, provisioning, more mayhem, installing our new wind generator, buying school supplies, more provisioning and more mayhem, we then had all the lead up events to the departure day… Did I mention a last minute run to the shop for some more provisions? (Also a little note: NZ shopping trolleys have fixed rear wheels and I don’t know how many toes I ran over and near catastrophes I caused by cutting around corners! Oops! Also, their little plastic bags to put fruit and veg in open at the opposite end to those in Australia. It took me ages to get used to that one!) Anyway, there were seminars during the day for Chart Marking (where to find water, petrol, diesel and gas), weather routing and general club get togethers. On the last Friday before departure our friends Darren Leach and Pete Cornish arrived as crew for the passage. They came complete with surfboard, fishing rods and tri-angular bandages!


It was our last night in NZ and the ICA held an Island Night dress up dinner at the Opua Cruising Club to say farewell to loved ones. We went along to get a decent dinner. Steak did the trick! It was weird going to bed that night not really knowing what the next week would bring…

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