Day 1 of Sailing (Friday 9 August)



This is our 3rd night on the boat and each night we sleep for a little longer … I made it too 4.30am before I woke and then drifted in and out of sleep until around 7am.  We get up, not to be first out of the passengers to get the muffins (which were lemon this morning) but stiff from lying on a very soft foam matress!
This morning from our top deck viewing platform the channel or harbour was very busy with ships coming in … this one is from Auckland and is carrying oil and goes all around NZ dropping oil off 

Yesterday Jane gave mum and Brenda a job to plant her herb garden …

Getting excited now as we have just heard that the customs are coming early at 9am so Neil had to go down to wake Sharon up as previously they were coming at 12pm.  Since they were coming early that meant there was going to be an early departure.  If we thought the O’Briens were getting excited – Brenda, Ariel and David were really excited about finally going home!

I popped back up to the top deck to see if they had finished loading and they had and we going through and securing everything …

Today is more cloudier than the previous days and also the wind was a little early so being up on the top deck was very windy so we came down one level and watch Darcy climb up the Crows nest to add a satellite beacon

Just waiting for the boat to depart we decided to take a group photo – the guy standing with his arm spread is David … not a relation thank god!

Ariel took the photo as she is a little camera shy so I asked if she would sit with the family and I wanted to take a photo not necessarily a serious photo but one more to highlight something … can you guess what it is …

You can tell an islander (with the exception of David) as they don’t wear shoes – their feet are very broad and flat, not to mention dirty!

The above photo is Ariel

Finally we departed just after 12pm with a lot of fan fair! …  mainly Brenda and Ariel woo hooing and hollering that they were going home!  Approaching the mouth we are joined by the pilot boat as the Claymore II had a pilot with us as Skipper Hamish is a new captain and this is the first time he has skippered this boat through this mouth

Before getting to the mouth Mum and Jane came up to us on the top deck with coins to throw into the ocean at a Maori statue that is situated there for good luck …

Off course Neil thinks he has to be different and wants to throw it in the other direction but we tell him no just follow tradition and don’t bring us bad luck!  We did give him another  coin to throw and we did tell him to throw it in the Australian tradition of underarm!!!!

Once through the heads the pilot boat pulls up alongside of us and the pilot just steps off … didn’t get a photo of it but a movie!

So we are on our way and once through the heads the ocean is a little choppy to us but dead calm to the crew!  Where we sat on the picnic tables on the third level is sheltered from the

wind and is a pleasant spot to admire the coast line.  In the distance we can see the orange barge that is working the removing the remains of the ship called the Rena which carelessly navigated onto the reef there by the Captain in either 2011 or 2012 (not sure which year!) and got stuck and broke up.

The water it is in is controlled by 3 Iwi of which 2 want it removed completely and the other wants the compensation money.  I chatted to one guy last night who was one of the crew of the tugs that escorts the barges out to the shipwreck.  And after 2 years it had costed the government at least $300 million so far with still at lest another 5 years work to completely remove it.
Here is a photo of some railing on the boat …

Now there is phone reception out at sea but only until about 1 hour out and Sharon had a last minute flurry of text and calls of which for 1 hour she said continuously that this is the last!

It is now just after 4pm and all is quiet … the crew are in their routine, I think Brenda and Ariel are in there cabins napping and unfortunately Mum and Sharon are both in their cabins with sea sickness.  We all took our tablets this morning and Mum and Sharons’ haven’t agreed with them, no puking yet!  Surprisingly I am fine and typing and reading away.  I can feel the sway of the boat and walk around in sporadic bursts, when I feel I am beginning to loose my balance I stop and steady myself!  Earlier on I felt a little funny in the tummy and went and had a cuppa and banana and Neil suggested to switch seats and keep my head either facing the bow or the stern and both seems to have worked … thanks Nicola on the tip to keep something in my tummy … all the crew say to eat small every now and then and also ginger is highly recommended!

Not sure who is turning up for dinner tonight!
Here are some photos of White Island an active volcano off the coast of NZ

Thursday 8th August - Cargo loading day!

For today it was a very very busy day for the crew but for us not so much just a lot of hanging around waiting and watching. 
We had a fabulous brekky with heaps of lovely stuff on offer – Jane the cook certainly cooks up a treat.  For brekky we just help ourselves to the cereal and then Jane brings out fresh baked bread and muffins mmmmmm it is so hard to resist but I had my usual cereal and since I had a muffin at 7am I didn’t have yet another one!

We left the passenger port at around 8.30am this morning, very excited that the ship is going to move basically to the other side of the bay

It is very calm in this harbour and it was great passing all the container ships and other fishing boats

While going across to the loading dock a barge carrying a logging truck which had previously come from Omakura Island and was going to the same side of the harbour as us to unload

Not sure when we docked whether or not it was the norm but there was one hell of a bang and bump against the wharf when we arrived!  We are at the head of a line of 6 ships (including us) of which the other 5 are massive cargo ships …. This is our neighbour for the night … I sure hope they are quiet!

Once secured to the dock we decided to spend the bulk of the morning in the sun up on the top deck (promenade deck).  From where we sleep to the top deck is 4 flights of stairs so the legs are getting wonderful workout each time. 

It wasn’t long until 10am came around and we had to meet in the dining area for our induction muster which was done by Maurice and skipper Hamish where the ship was explained to us and all the safety instructions issued.  Basically when the alarm is sounded we all grab some warm clothes and then meet in the dining area where we are issued with life vests and receive further instructions.

Other points include should someone go over board we are to yell out and keep them in our sights and keep yelling until someone acknowledges you and while you are doing that throw them the life buoy and also a litter trail for the ship to follow back to them.

Once finished we go back to the top and start watching the loading, here is some of the loose stuff going up (various batteries) and these are put in the ship containers along with our gear,

This is the first of the 5 diesel trucks to unload their diesel onboard

And here is what our neighbours are up to

Jane serves us up lunch at 12pm and it is 3 salads – green, caesar and a lovely carrot with curry one, chicken and beef sausages, beetroot and bread.  I decided that since we don’t normally have a big lunch that I would try to stick to that and just had the salads …

After lunch we just lounged around waiting until our bellies settled to do some exercise – we did a fitness video, a little skipping and stair climbing.

By 4pm we decided to go up and watch them load on the containers

There are 10 to load on, some timber, 10 gallon drums and water tanks.  Once 9 of the 10 containers were on they packed in the timber and then started on the watertanks – 200 have been ordered and 48 are going up on this boat … basically they are giant plant pots with lids. 

They had a hard job getting the first stack of 6 in as they kept not wanting to stand up by the 2^nd lot of 6 they were getting better at it and realised that if they packed wood where they were going to place them the stacks were easier to place, by the 3^rd lot you could see that they were getting frustrated as what worked for the first 2 stacks doesn’t necessarily work for the 3^rd stack!  Eventually they got it and it was getting late and there was still a container and 3 more stacks to to but the port forklift driver had finished his shift so it was left for the following morning.

Sunset was beautiful and Sharon and I went up on deck to watch it

Dinner was LOVELY! Normally I am not a big fan of casserole but at 6pm (dinner time) I was famished and simply devoured the beef and red wine casserole …. Peas in all!  It also had mashed potatoes, carrots and beans.  Lucky I didn’t have such a big lunch as Mum and Sharon complained they had eaten too much.

After dinner we just played scrabble and chatted.  Bedtime was earlier – 10pm.

GETTING TO AND AT TAURANGA (Tuesday and Wednesday)

We made it after 13 and a half days sailing to Pitcairn Island.  So over the next few days I will be uploading onto this blog what happened during our boat journey.  I will do it bit by bit as there is a lot.
GETTING TO AND AT TAURANGA, NEW ZEALAND …                              
We left New Lynn around 10am and caught the 12.30 bus to Tauranga, arrived about 3.45pm and was met by Brenda.  Walked to the wharf which was a good walk after sitting on the bus for a while.
My first glance of the Claymore II was one of … OMG! It is a river boat! And a huge chunky steel one at that …

We walked around to where you load on as passengers …

Unfortunately I cannot load a video on this blog to show you how we got on this boat but the video is hilarious …. Especially of mum!  Basically when we arrived the tide was pulling the boat away from the wharf so there is at least a 1.5m gap between us and the boat.  Brenda, like a monkey, climbs on board and next thing you know there are 2 of the crew coming out and clambering over to the wharf to help us … first the luggage and bags, then Dad which wasn’t too bad, then Mum … well I tell you it was funny, poor Mum and here little legs and everyone trying to hold her suspended between the wharf and boat and then Mum having to ‘cock’ her leg over the side of the boat, in the meantime she is giggling away trying not to pee herself all the while hugging the side of the boat with each leg hanging over the each side of the railing … hilarious – wait for the box office movie to come out!

Neil and I are next and it is scary at first but once done it is easy to do again!

On board you are immediately hit with just how small/narrow everything is.  Within 15mins you got use to it. 

What surprised me was just how big the cabins were…

Here is the doorway …

And the table and coach

And our bunks

I am on the top bunk and Neil is on the bottom.  At the moment the boat engine is humming and at night they switched to land/wharf power so it was quieter.  But at sea we will have the constant hum of the engine which I imagine we will soon get use to.

Here are photos of the mess room (I think they call it that)

And here is their whiteboard with the all the jobs and times of things

The crew are very nice and friendly.

It is now Wednesday 7^th - Last night we had fish and chips for dinner from the local takeaway (mmmm lovely).  Neil and I jumped of the boat (literally!) and got it.  By 6.30pm the tide was coming back in so it was pushing the boat closer to the wharf so the gap wasn’t as big and it was easy to get back on.

We all had a good nights sleep.  All the passenger cabins are at the bottom of the boat (below the water line) which is good for sea sickness apparently – the higher you go the more you will feel the sway of the ship.
So for us cabins and a toilet on the bottom, showers/toilet mess room and other things on the deck, lounge and dining on the 3^rd level and the bridge and open air lounge on the 4^th level.

The boat makes it’s own water so it has a desalination plant on board and it is nice water, the showers are cramped but nice pressure, Neil keeps saying he smells diesel and I can’t smell it, oh by the way diesel here at the gas station is $1.44 per litre NZ dollars which is around $1.30 Aussie money.

The boat will carry 168,500 litres of diesel in total – some in the tank and some in these massive plastic cubes which hold 1000 litres each.  The diesel is for the boat itself, for the island and I think also a bit for the MV Braveheart which is its' sister ship and about 10 containers – which are not your standard cargo ship containers they are 6x6 I think.

We will be staying at this wharf today (Wednesday) and then we are going across the bay to the container wharf tomorrow (Thursday) at around 8.30am.  So we are free to get on and off the wharf today but tomorrow we it is a bit more difficult and will have to go in a secured van etc due to customs and the like.  So we will just hang around the boat.

Sharon should be arriving soon so I will have to get the camera ready to see the look on her face!

This morning (Thursday 8th) our nights sleep was okay considering the auxillary engine was going all night.  This makes a constant hum in the background – okay to fall asleep too!  We woke around 7am this morning after hearing a distinct change in the engine noise … we are moving around 8.30am to the other side of the harbour to be loaded up with diesel which we can view from the very top deck (I like to call that the promenade deck!). 

Yesterday we got off the boat as the food and stores for the ship was arriving so it was best if we got out of everyones way … this morning the ship was a lot closer to the wharf so getting off was a breeze, here is mum and dad …

We walked into town and had a coffee and then walked up to Pak ‘n’ Save to get some last minute supplies.  We must have walked at least 5km return which was a long walk for Mum and Dad but there was no hurry so we took it nice and slow!

Spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around and exploring the ship but keeping in mind not to go into places that didn’t look like we should be there!  I finally ventured out into the bow of the ship with Sharon to see what was in these 2 big containers …

This is on the main deck where the smaller island containers will be stored (where Sharon is standing)

Behind here is one of the two big open top containers and inside are 10 x 1000 litre diesel cubes, the rest of the diesel is stored in the tanks.   Off the 160,000 litres carried 20,000 is for the island.

On this trip after they drop us off at Pitcairn they are doing the passenger run to Mangareva to pick up bird watchers and then taking them to Oeno or Henderson (I forget which one I am just bombarded with info that my brain can’t seem to remember everything exactly!).  The boat is also carrying restock supplies for it’s sister ship the Braveheart which is at an island called Ra-ool not sure of the correct spelling so I have spelt it phonetically!

2 more passengers (apart from Sharon) joined us – Aria who is partner to one of the crewmen and also a local on the island is returning and also her brother David is also returning to the island.

Here is a photo of Me teaching Mum to play connect 4 or four in a row on the tablet …

Now it is 9.30am and we have just finished crossing the harbour and boy was it exciting to see everything there was a lot of oohhhhing and ahhhhing from the O’Briens and David was with us just did a lot of ‘yeah whatever’ since he has been through this all before.  He has just finished about 8 months of work as a ship hand on boats around South America and the Pacific, so whatever was happening was nothing new to him.

Approaching the new docking point we did crash into the wharf …. Not sure if that is normal!

There are a lot of videos and photos from this 30 min trip across the bay, too much to report now as we have a induction muster at 10am, so I will put that up once on the island … I am hoping to get at least some photos up for you this afternoon of Tuesday and Wednesday.