NZ......briefly

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Our trip from Sydney to Wellington began with some of the uncomfortable conditions that I have seen on this boat. As we headed East, we had to deal with the strong current coming from the North and strong winds coming from the South, which meant big beam on seas for our little boat. I basically didn't go outside for 2 days because it was too rough. The trip was only about 6 days long, and after the first few days, it wasn't too bad.

Our original plan was to go from Sydney to Tonga, to refuel, and then Tonga to Tahiti, but because of Cyclone Jasmine that was moving towards Tonga, we took a more southern route passing through New Zealand to get to Tahiti.

My most important priority throughout this whole trip was to get the chance to watch the Superbowl haha. I was concerned that Tonga wouldn't have it playing on T.V., so NZ was fine with me. It actually worked out perfectly where I was able to watch it live at this big American bar about 100yds from the boat, which, because of the time difference, was at 1230pm on Monday. In the end, I almost wish I hadn't seen it though..........lots of swearing going on that day, in a bar full of NY fans in it.

Besides that, I did have a little bit of time to see Wellington. We had a day off there, but were only there for about 5 days in total and were fairly busy. So, I don't really have a lot to say about NZ because I can't really say I experienced much of it.

Wellington is a pretty small city, but it is in a land where sheep far outnumber people. The downtown area along the waterfront was nice, and Cuba street had some cool pubs and restaurants on it. One of the big attractions to see in Wellington is a giant squid that they have on display at the museum there. It's about 15ft long and was caught accidentally by a fisherman a few years back. For perspective, they said that its eyes were about the size of basketballs. Other than that, the other big attraction in town is this water feature on Cuba street. Besides that, the city is pretty grey as was the weather. It was mid-summer and I had to go buy a hoodie because I didn't own any cold weather clothing.

I completely realize that I did not even come close to seeing what New Zealand is really about through just these few days here.

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