Position: Opua, New Zealand

At the quarantine dock. You have to wait here with your yellow "Q" flag up until customs, immigration and quarantine all check you in. Took about three hours, but there were about four boats all checking in at once.

The view from Charisma in the Marina at Opua, New Zealand

Yay! We made it all the way from California to New Zealand! Now that's worth a beer to celebrate.

This is a delightful place on the Northeast tip of the north island of New Zealand.

Last night we battled through one last weather front with several associated squalls and 25+ knot winds. It’s gotten to be “business as usual” to get up in the middle of the night to make sail changes and adjustments, so we just did it and soldiered on, but the big difference is that we never had a chance to go back to sleep since we were on plan to make landfall this morning. We got in at 0800 local, got checked in with immigration, customs and quarantine, then signed up for a slip for a few days (which includes showers!!). A little lunch and we were back on Charisma in the early afternoon for a nap. Next thing we knew it was 2000 local time and John from Orcinius (bless him) was outside the boat calling us. Turned out there was a group who were going out to dinner and he came down and got us. If he had not have woken us, we would have missed a great meal out with many of our friends.

OK, I’m rambling because I haven’t had enough sleep yet. Going now. More detail to come, but WE’RE IN NEW ZEALAND!