Photo: One of our neighbors in the Town Basin Marina, sailing his junk-rigged boat in Whangarei Harbour
After a couple of overcast, drizzly days with cold winds picking-up from the southwest, things have cooled down considerably in Whangarei, New Zealand. We awoke this morning to the second day of clear skies and to find that it was 42°F (5°C) outside and 51°F (10°C) inside the main cabin...brrr. This confirms that it is time to head NORTH to the warmth (still a slightly odd concept for us northern-hemispherians). And, at the moment, it looks as though we might be able to start that passage on Saturday (May 6th). With our visas expiring on May 11th, it is difficult not to feel rather pressured into taking the first opportunity to leave New Zealand, even if it is not optimal. So far, a Saturday departure may lead us to one day of unfavorable winds (35 knots from the north) during our passage to Tonga but if necessary we can drift downwind for that day and then make it up again afterwards. The main thing is that we would not to be heading towards any lingering cyclone systems or nasty lows barreling up from the Tasman Sea (between Australia and New Zealand).
So our current plan is to finish our provisioning here in Whangarei today and attend the Whangarei Marine Group's "Farewell Dinner" this evening, which should be fun and a good opportunity to, indeed, say farewell to many of our cruising and marina friends. On Thursday afternoon, we will got down river to Marsden Cove Marina where we will reorganize Tregoning (e.g. store the anchor, chain, dinghy, barbeque-grill, etc., below decks) in preparation for the approximately 12-day passage to Tongatapu, the main southern island of Tonga on which the capital of Nuku'alofa is located. If the weather still looks suitable, we will request a departure interview with the New Zealand Immigration Officer for Saturday morning and all being well we will set-off immediately afterwards. We will probably be out of internet access for, at least, a couple of weeks until we find some WiFi source in Tonga.
The marinas and boatyards of Whangarei are busy with cruising boats getting ready for departure to the tropics and with people who are securing their boats while they plan to fly back home (wherever that is) for the southern winter. So we are not alone in making multiple trips dragging the dock-cart to the very convenient grocery store, which is
literally just across the street from the Town Basin Marina, and stocking-up with tools and supplies from the hardware stores. It only took us two days to find the correct pressure-regulator and connections to fix the leak in our propane system, so that was immensely satisfying.
We have also been able to socialize a little with our cruising friends before we all disperse, including informal gathering on boats that have cockpits and cabins that are not full of bags of food or equipment that is being rearranged, and group events such as Tuesday-night cruisers' Happy-hour and an evening of boxed-wine tasting. The latter was great fun but with 11 wines to sample (and some of them were really terrible), I should not have been surprised that I had to get up in the middle of the night and drink a large quantity of water to stave-off an impending hang-over. But that did the trick and by dawn I felt up to going on my early-morning run as planned.
While back in town, we have visited a few of our favorite places in Whangarei (up to the War Memorial at the top of Parihaka hill and the riverside walk). Eric and Vandy on SV Scoots told us about a public test-run of a prototype "clock" that is being designed to be placed outside the clock museum. It was a large, complicated contraption that involves many grapefruit-size balls whizzing around on tracks and being used to indicate the hours, minutes, and 15-second intervals of time. There is also a bicycle-powered section (not actually part of the clock mechanism) that sends pairs of balls on a race-track and through a Newton's cradle. It is the sort of thing that is hard to describe, difficult to photograph with much meaning, but fun to watch.
The prototype "ball-clock" showing the time as 12:53 pm
A few other boats are going to Tonga but many are going to Fiji, Vanuatu, or New Caledonia. We may see a few of them during our (planned) tour of Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, and we will see quite a few others when we return to New Zealand (or so we plan) at the end of the year. But as always, the excitement of a new chapter in our cruising adventures and the prospect of meeting new people is always tinged with the sadness of saying good-bye to friends that we may not catch-up with again. Such is the cruising life.