Interviewed by the 'Authorities" !! (Again)

Well we were minding our own business when this big grey boat came up to us! A lovely morning had dawned (well before we finally got out of bed) and we were enjoying the day when the aforesaid boat appeared alongside. Bristling with aerials and high tech 'bits' stuck on it, the word 'CUSTOMS' written down the side. I had a look through the binoculars, not really required as they were about 3 metres away, and was looking directly at a Customs lady looking at me with binoculars. A quick glance at the badges on the overalls of those onboard showed both Customs and Police officers. Tori has obviously been up to mischieve when she heads of running each day!

This will be the third time we have been interviewed in the last four months! Once in the Subantarctic by a patrol plane, once in the Marlborough Sounds and now here and also the Harbourmaster's patrol vessel 'interviewing' us on our departure from Auckland a year ago. We were asked the usual questions of who we were, where had we come from etc. Once the authorities were satisfied we were ok I was able to catch up with the rather 'rough' looking Police officer and find out what had been going on at work. You just can't go anywhere in New Zealand without seeing someone you know!

On the subject of meeting people we know we have now seen the "Spirit of New Zealand" three times (voyages) whilst we have been in Great Barrier Island (each voyage is 10 days, so that's far too many days in one spot for us). It has been good to catch with with our friends onboard the ship each time. Our best example of meeting friends was our meeting one in Campbell Island. Middle of the Southern Ocean, we were only there a few days and we met a friend on the Met. Service vessel.

What have we been up to for the many days we have spent around Great Barrier Islands Port Fitzroy? Quite a bit really. Tori heads off most days for about an hour to hour ten minutes running. This is in addition to her normal swim of about one KM. Water looks far to cold to me and I hear the fish have pee'd in it, and worse! A few nights during our stay have been spent in the bath at Smokehouse Bay. We use the outside bath, stoking the fire during the afternoon to give plenty of hot water for the evening. Just add a cloudless night, lovely stars, no other boats, a bottle of wine and pleasant evening is had. I did try a bit of fishing (that's if you can call hanging a hook and "flash' over the side and bringing it in four hours later after ignoring it 'fishing') while sitting in the cockpit listening to national radio. You'll be surprised to hear I caught no fish and was ridiculed (publicly) by locals at the shop when I went to buy some fish fingers for dinner. Oh the trials of being the great hunter-provider.

Whilst anchored off the 'township of Port Fitzroy' (one shop, nurses house, boat club and two houses) we went to the 'boat club' on one of it's few noghts open. The club is run by the locals and opens when the weekly ferry comes in. This event brings lots of people (20 max) to the wharf to pick up there stores and bits from the mainland. Its not a bad way to spend and evening chatting and watching the world go by. After chatting with a family looking after their parents property they invited us to the local duathlon the next evening. I went as support crew rather than participating. The event took place at the OPC (Outdoor Pursuits Centre)base at the Orama Christian Community. We arrived a bit lat so the kayaking part was canned as light was going. The running course was explained, as was the 'handicapping' system. In general the idea was to arrive at the finish together so each runner started at the point they felt would allow them to finish with the rest. All very honest! and yes points were awarded for finishing positions and recorded. Great fun. After the run and a quick clean up a meal was served, with the bring-a-dish style being followed. This was a great chance to meet some of the locals and have a chat.

A nice day (well they have all been great actually with plenty of sun, if not a bit cold at night) saw us walk up to the top of Mount Hobson. This is a small peak of about 630 metres or so. It's about 2.5 hours each way of good path and a scramble in other spots. A great view is to be had from the top. The downside of the view was that we could see Auckland about 50 miles away! After a good time enjoying the view we returned to the boat via the same track we came up. DOC have made great improvements on the lower part of the track and its great to see they are being given funding.

We are now anchored out in the Broken Islands on the west side of Barrier. A nice sunset last night, with the Spirit of New Zealand motoring through it. We will be of to Whangaparapara either today or tomorrow and take a walk to the hot springs. Then we will work down to the Coromandle Peninsular before going into Auckland on 22nd to get ready to go to work, horrah horrah (honest)!