Tied up to the Opua, Aotearoa (New Zealand) Q-dock at 4:20pm, just in time for the Customs and Biosecurity to inform us that we were the first on their list for the next day. In some ways this was a relief – nothing to do but celebrate our arrival as a family with fresh tuna steaks and a good night’s sleep. And that we did.
Customs came by at 8am, no drama and good conversation. Next, cleared in by a passionate Biosecurity agent who was committed to his job of protecting his country’s natural resources, as he showed us the tiny mites on our coconut shells and fumigated them, as well as gave an impromptu lesson on the morality of shell-collecting (I have a jar that I have slowly filled up over 2 years). He complimented us on the hull cleaning, noting the attention to details and crevices that Chris and Calder took great care to scrub.
All cleared in and off to slip H-07 in the Opua Marina. We love the camaraderie and socialization of post-passage marina stays, sharing stories with friends we hadn’t seen since the Marquesas to those we just crossed with to local Kiwi friends.
Looking at our passage from New Caledonia to New Zealand, it was simply not fun (for most of us). It wasn’t scary seas or weather. It was 3 days of nauseating sea state angle, followed by 3 days of calm motoring with infuriating current. But perhaps passages aren’t supposed to be “fun”? Perhaps they are just meant to be, well, passages and it is a matter of changing our mindset? There were definite highlights: catching tuna, collecting DNA sea samples, giant albatross overhead, blue skies, unending ocean, and the feeling of land-ho and accomplishment of another passage. It’s left us contemplative. Perhaps some of us are tiring of passages, which is tricky as we have many more to get home to Alaska. It definitely has us talking of our “game plan” on when and how to get back to Alaska. More on the three main options we are considering in a future post.
Now, time for work! The boat got a good scrubbing inside and out, salt everywhere. We all got a good scrubbing, salt everywhere. Our laundry got a good scrubbing, salt everywhere. We picked up our car (thanks Dean and Susie for keeping it happy). We cleaned out the fridge, then loaded up on delicious local produce. We enjoyed a few dinners out; I ate that post-passage cheeseburger that calls to me, as well as wood-fired pizza. We went roller-skating at a local rink, where I flashed back to the 80’s with my awesome glittery skates.
We took Cora to our creative orthodontist, who adjusted her device a bit and thanked her for wearing it over the last 6 months, as her teeth are looking great. We even, gasp, bought some NZ salmon to cook on our grill.
The coordinator of Citizens of the Sea picked up our DNA collection samples, letting us know that we’ll have access to the report as a whole, as well as our specific boat samples in the future. A 7-minute BBC video was recently released on Citizens of the Sea if you are interested:
One of the reasons we returned to NZ this year is to get work completed on the boat, as it is very easy and accessible to do here. The marine environment is harsh and requires incessant boat work. Salt corrodes, water seeps, sails are stretched, as our entire home is rocked and rolled. As we were getting our main sail evaluated, the expert simply stated, “Sails are consumables.” I hadn’t thought of it that way before. Chris and an electrician we worked with last year updated our system to allow us to plug in to shorepower around the globe and we are also ordering more solar panels. Sailor John Vigor’s Black Box Theory says every boat carries an invisible “luck box” that fills up each time you make a smart, cautious decision—reefing early, double-checking the weather, keeping up on maintenance. When trouble strikes, you draw from that box, and the sailors who’ve made lots of deposits are the ones who come through safely. We are planning to top up that luck box this season in NZ with boatwork.
We continued along with school, work, and projects mixed with walks and outings and friends.
Our family was craving a bit of land camping, so we took off for two nights of tenting at Wairere Boulders, a privately-owned Nature Reserve in the Hokianga region of Northland. We were greeted by a personable chicken who we named Fred, who brought friends over to party every day at breakfast and lunch.
At night in the tent, I happily listened to the sounds of morepork (ruru) calling to each other, a kiwi in the background. Ahhh, this is why I love camping. The geology here is awesome to explore.
Volcanic lava flow cooled and hardened into a thick layer of solid basalt, until a river flowed through and cracked the blocks apart, tumbling down.
There are enormous basalt boulders that have been fluted and sculpted by nearly 3 million years of erosion, a rare example of fluting erosion on volcanic rock. Trails led us under, over, and around these ancient boulders through subtropical rainforest. We hiked to Magic Rock, marking the top of the thick layer of basalt from the past.
We even kayaked along the stream winding through the rocks.
During a rainy afternoon, we drove to the town of Rawene to buy games at the Simply Fun store, run by a world-class puzzle maker who challenged us to logic puzzles as we wandered through his store that is part shop, part puzzle museum. We left with a bag full of fun for our holiday season on board. Back at camp, we were allowed a campfire to cook our dinner over, a novelty in New Zealand where campfires are not allowed most places.
Back to the boat in Opua for one night, then left again for an overnight trip to Auckland to fill the car up with Costco goods and stop at the NZ Board Store for Calder’s Christmas present, a smaller wing-foiling board to match the progress he’s made.
It’s a long day to drive, go to Costco, then return, so we stayed at a cozy AirBnB just north of Auckland set amongst sheep-covered fields.
Back to Opua Marina, after two weeks, we’re ready to head out. We have two months to explore before our planned boat haul-out.
SV Terikah Adventures 
One response to “Aotearoa Arrival: Opua Marina, Northland”
Congratulations on another epic passage completed safely
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