We set sail from Fiji on Sunday 22nd after a long wait for customs clearance but finally got under way. We motored out of the harbour and set the sails sooner than expected to get some nice sailing in. The weather and wind stayed fair for the next few days with our course mainly South West because of the prevailing South Easterly wind. On this heading we were not on course for Aotearoa, New Zealand so a few of us tried to persuade the captain, Maarten to head for Norfolk Island. Unfortunately, we had a schedule to adhere to and eventually had to get back on course which meant engine on and no longer sailing.
This leg of the voyage was essentially an open ocean passage with nothing between Fiji and New Zealand. We were originally due to end this leg in Bay of Islands before the ship headed to Auckland but this was changed to Whangarei. The ship was scheduled for a refit in New Zealand to ensure it was in good shape for the upcoming Southern Ocean passage and Whangarei had the available facilities.
We arrived in Whangarei at night on Monday 30th and moored near the entry to the estuary in what appeared to be an industrial cargo port. We had our last night on board at dinner and everyone was quite emotional. Ute gave a speech and we all sung the song she’d written with Julie on the piano. Maarten, the captain also gave a really nice speech and got quite emotional himself.
With New Zealand’s strict biosecurity rules we weren’t allowed ashore until we’d all been questioned and cleared by customs and immigration which took a while but was fairly relaxed. After clearance had been completed we were told that we could stay onboard while the ship made its way upstream to the dry dock. So with everyone packed and ready to go we had a leisurely cruise up river on a beautiful sunny day. At the dry dock we stayed onboard as the ship was manoeuvred into the cradle of the crane, disembarking to watch it lift the 50 m Oosterschelde effortlessly out of the water. We made our final farewells to the ship and the professional crew and made our way into town, ending my part in the epic Darwin 200 circumnavigation.
Voyage stats: 10 days onboard, 24 night hours, 1252 nautical miles