It's almost time to leave New Zealand. The omens are good, the chicken entrails tell of a fair passage to Fiji if we leave on Saturday and the numerous conversations with other cruisers seem to indicate we won't be sticking our necks out on our own. Of course it could all change when we get the forecast tomorrow morning....
We've contacted NZ customs for official clearance out of the country on Saturday morning and sent an advance notice of arrival to the customs in Fiji with an ETA of Monday, 16 May. We might have been able to cover the 1100nm quicker than 9 days but to arrive outside regular office hours incurs heavy overtime fees. The cunning plan is to get above 25S as quickly as possible and in to the relative safety of SE trade winds (nothing gauranteed) and we could stop at the isolated Minerva reef for a day or two where the swimming and diving is reported to be excellent. It's a dot and a refuge in the middle of the ocean, the final remains of the top of a volcano with one pass through the reef into the shallow calm waters inside.
Before we can reach that calm we've been a mini whirlwind of final activity; last repairs, fittings, tidying, provisioning, internet.
Tomorrow we have a 9am appointment with a fuel truck alongside the dock to take on 720L of fuel: 480ltrs into the tank to top us up to 600ltrs and 240ltrs into jerry jugs as spare. This might be the cleanest fuel we ever fill with as NZ only oil refinery is less than 7 miles away on the coast. Price is good too, about, just over U$1 / £0.68p duty free though nothing will ever be as cheapest as Venezuela at 1p a litre.
Loaded up with motion lotion we'll take the ebbing tide out of Whangarei harbour to anchor off Marsden Cove marina. David has the notion to snorkel under the boat for a final check on the propeller to ensure we're in the best shape for our crossing.
It's been a very good, most enjoyable 6 months in NZ, so good we plan to come back in November, but winter is approaching and we yearn for tropical sunshine, beautiful beaches and some of the best diving in the world (we intend to test this claim thoroughly and promise to report on our findings).
Thank you to everyone who bothers to read my meanderings. Please don't adjust your sets, we'll be back in mid May.
No comments:
Post a Comment