The weather is a definite no go for the trip up to Fiji. We'd have either no wind and 3m seas or wind on the nose and big seas. Why opt for an uncomfortable motoring trip when you can be patient and stay safe, dry in harbour while the non sailing weather moves over us? The highs and lows pass over approximately every 7 days so one more week and we might see something better, or it might be 2 weeks. We're time millionaires so why the rush?
Our only disadvantage to staying in NZ beyond tomorrow is that we need to apply for a visa extension for David. As Brits we automatically qualify for a 6 month visitor visa when we arrive which was 8 November last year and expires tomorrow. I took a trip to England earlier in the year and was given a new 6 months. So as not to jeopardise any future visits to NZ it seems prudent not to overstay without doing the right thing and applying for a three month extension. For this we downloaded from the internet and completed a 20 page form then dashed into town to get a couple of passport photos to accompany and finally to the post office before they closed at 1pm to send the package registered delivery. With proof of sending we have evidence the application was sent before David's visa expired, we included credit card payment of NZ$140 (£70) for processing. Should we get a departure date before the card is processed we might, stress might, get a by and have the payment waived due to circumstances beyond our control. This may be a tadge too optimistic.
A final note to our friends who know we are rarely early - time of posting the application was 15 minutes before the post office closed for the weekend.
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