It was another eventful night shift as the dolphins welcomed us back into New Zealand waters. They looked like little torpedos in the phosphorescent sea - magical and wonderful creatures!
We also passed relatively closely to a couple of cargo ships - these waters are much busier than the vast open ocean we’ve grown accustomed to.
We were mainly under motor during the night as winds were very light.
As daybreak arrived we spotted the northern tip of New Zealand - the journey is almost complete!
KTD had managed to gain more ground on us and were a mere 2 nautical miles away - it was great to be so close to our buddy boat once again.
The sun on the deck enticed most of the crew for one final naked deck shower - Josh even dunked himself down the steps into the sea water. It was freezing! Nothing like the warm waters of Fiji!
Breakfast was a delicious hefty helping of lamb sausages, bacon rashers, scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, baked beans and toast- can you tell we are trying to use up our supplies before they are confiscated by bio security?
We slowed our speed to try and arrive in Opua slightly later- if we arrive after 3.30pm we are allowed to remain one more night on the boat and will then be customs cleared tomorrow and shuttled down to an Auckland MIQ hotel. It just allows us more time to clean, make ship shape, pack our bags and eat more of our food supplies.
We arrived at the quarantine dock at 3.40pm, following on KTD’s heels. We remained a safe distance from them and secured our mooring lines.
A huge sense of achievement is felt by all on board. The skipper kept us feeling safe for the entire journey - we had calm seas overall and great sailing advice. It was an unbelievably comfortable passage.
Beers were popped and we had a brief catch up with KTD by shouting to them across the deck as we are not allowed to disembark.
Josh still had some energy and gave Vingilot a fresh water rinse. Meanwhile the plan is to have a chicken curry and an early night - we can all sleep through tonight hopefully!