2 November 2024 -New Zealand

It was another beautiful start to the day and I went off to do the final washing. We had breakfast and had to wait for the electrician to certify that the cable and electrics were fine which he did.

We headed off in the car and took the ferry to Russell. Before I continue I ought to say a little about New Zealand (Aotearoa (Maori) as I have done with other countries on my trip. I am conscious that those reading may have been here. There may be some like me who have not been here before. You have to remember that NZ is Polynesia’s largest island nation. You may recall the picture of the day in Raiatea when we visited the famous Marea with the diagram a bit like an octopus which showed the spread of Polynesia with NZ being the most south.

NZ consists of two main islands North and South Islands (it has 700 other smaller islands). The spread gives Australia is 1250nm to the west and Polynesia including Tonga is 1200 nm North and Hawaii 4,385nm to the Northeast and Easter Island  4,379nm to the East. Flights from here are a minimum of 3.5 hours and yachts journeys of about 8 days.

The North and South Islands are about 500nm in length and roughly equal in land area (being 103,483 sq miles). NZ has several climatic bands which vary from a dry mediterranean climate in the far North to alpine in the South Island. The population is predominantly a mix of Caucasian (of largely British and European descent) and Polynesian including the original Maori settlers. The total population is about 5.422,000. English is the working language and the parliamentary and legal systems are stable and based on UK systems. The head of state is the King of NZ being the King of the UK.  The capital is Wellington but the most populated city is Auckland.

1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1769 the British explorer Captain James Cook became the first European to set foot on and map New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi which paved the way for Britain's declaration of sovereignty later that year and the establishment of the Crown Colony of New Zealand in 1841. Subsequently, a series of conflicts between the colonial government and Māori tribes resulted in the alienation and confiscation of large amounts of Māori land. New Zealand became a dominion in 1907; it gained full statutory independence in 1947, retaining the UK monarch as head of state.

We took the car ferry which runs every 15 minutes across to the island near Russell.

Russell so known by the Māori name Kororāreka (sweet blue penguin), is a town in the Bay of Islands, in New Zealand's far north. It was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. It has the oldest church in NZ built in 1835.

When European and American ships began visiting New Zealand in the early 1800s, the indigenous Māori quickly recognised there were great advantages in trading with these strangers, whom they called tauiwi. The Bay of Islands offered a safe anchorage and had a large Māori population. To attract ships, Māori began to supply food, timber and prostitution. In exchange, the Māori population traded for firearms, alcohol and other goods of European manufacture.

Kororāreka developed as a result of this trade but soon earned a reputation as a community full of prostitution and without laws. It became known as the "Hell Hole of the Pacific";European law had no influence and Māori law was seldom enforced within the town's area. Fighting on the beach at Kororāreka in March 1830, between northern and southern subtribes (hapū) within the Ngāpuhi iwi, became known as the Girls' War.

On 30 January 1840 at Christ Church, Governor William Hobson read his proclamations (which were the beginnings of the Treaty of Waitangi) in the presence of a number of settlers and the Māori chief Moka Te Kainga-mataa. A document confirming what had happened was signed at this time by around forty witnesses, including Moka, the only Māori signatory. The following week, the treaty proceedings moved across to the western side of the bay to Waitangi.

By this time, Kororāreka was an important mercantile centre and served as a vital resupply port for whaling and sealing operations. When the Colony of New Zealand was founded in that year, Hobson was reluctant to choose Kororāreka as his capital, due to its bad reputation. Instead, he purchased land at Okiato, situated five kilometres to the south, and renamed it Russell in honour of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord John Russell. Hobson soon decided that the move to the Okiato site was a mistake, and Auckland was selected as the new capital not long after.

Kororāreka was part of the Port of Russell, and after Russell (now Okiato) became virtually deserted, Kororāreka gradually came to be known as Russell as well. In January 1844, Governor Robert FitzRoy officially designated Kororāreka as part of the township of Russell. Today, the name Russell applies only to Kororāreka, while the former capital is known either by its original name of Okiato or as Old Russell.

We visited the old capital Okiato but there is nothing there anymore other than a well. Russell is not a hell hole but now a pleasant little town with a lovely bay full of boats. It has quite a few shops and lots of bars and restaurants and it gets a lot of tourists a quite a few boats come here.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours wondering around and enjoying the atmosphere and scenery. We then decided to visit the Omate Winery nearby which has a lovely position on the top of a hill with the vineyards spreading out on the slopes with a  view toward the sea. See today’s picture.

We tasted the four still wines they have which were a Pinot Fris, Chardonnay, Rose and a Syrah. They were pleasant and ok but nothing to write home about. However, we enjoyed tasting and having some lunch at the same time.

After lunch we headed back and took the ferry back and drove to Pahia where we did a big shop. My hay fever has come back here. I avoided it in the spring of 2024 as I was at sea but it is their late spring here and so it has come back to haunt me. The pharmacy is closed and I will have to go back on Monday am to get something.

We returned to Stormbird to pack everything away. Erika had taken a ferry from Russell to hire a mountain bike and to do a circuit. I went and picked her up after it.

We had a chicken supper on board and due to the temperature we eat on board in the galley with some nice New Zealand red wine. We will visit the Treaty Museum (Waitangi) tomorrow.   

Reflections on Year One

I left on the 1 January 2024 and reached New Zealand on 30 October 2024. Since I left the UK in July 2023 I have sailed some 17,250nm and 13,979nm since I left the Canaries on 1 January 2024.

I have used 791 engine hours since I left the UK and 557 hours since I left the canaries. I have travelled through many countries and the Panama Canal and have had a very enjoyable time visiting all sorts of countries with their different people, cultures and languages.

I think the highlights for me were the San Blas Islands near Panama, the Galapagos with its amazing wildlife and e diversity and variety of French Polynesia being so different and being so remote.

I have had the pleasure to sail with many different people, some of whom have come back a number of times and it is nice for me to share my journey with others who love the water and who love to explore. A Stormbird sort of family is  being created.

This was a lifetimes ambition and it is great to be actually achieving it. I have to say thank you to my loved ones at home who are allowing me to do this and it has meant I have not seen them much. However, I hope through this blog that they can know what I am doing and where I am and I look forward to seeing them again soon.

I am very grateful and thankful that I am able to be doing this and of course to Stormbird who has carried me and others all the way. She has never flinched and she is a great boat. Things have broken or needed repair and that can be frustrating but I have had to learn so much about the systems on the boat, how to diagnose faults and how to fix them. As you can read from the blogs it is not just plain sailing and enjoyment but almost a full-time job of planning and preparing and thinking ahead prior to any execution. The best thing is to have a positive disposition and to deal with the challenges with a smile on your face if you can.

This has been an amazing experience and an adventure and I look forward to year 2 which will another new whole adventure with its own challenges.   

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com