Spoiler: no boat :-(
We are in Australia now after buying a plane ticket.
Our search for a boat was rocky and emotionally fast paced. We would go from hearing "yes! go to x place and I'm sure you'll find something!" to "oh...that's never going to happen" in the span of 12 hours as we talked to different people.
Everyone was so nice, either optimistic and excited for us, unsure but thoroughly supportive and wishing us luck, or sadly and genuinely sorry to tell us there was no hope. We met many fantastic and very nice people through our search. Telling people what we were doing was a great conversation starter, and we had an excuse to just walk into marina offices and yacht clubs to chat with people. For Nick this was important because he needs interactions with more than just myself, and having this opener was helpful. For me: my natural inclination is to stay in my own shell, and this forced me out of it.
Entering a yacht club in Opua, I wanted to sit alone, but we had a job, so we joined two very nice gentlemen at their table and had a great time. Good conversation about travel, food, people, and New Zealand. Didn't get a boat, but they did point us to a free place to stay near their home in Kawakawa. (Saved us $12 from where we were originally going to camp that night).
On our way from Auckland to Piha to camp one night we ended up at a beautiful cafe overlooking Auckland, appropriately named Elevation Cafe. It was dark and we ate overlooking Auckland's lights and getting slightly homesick for New York City. "Wait, this is the largest city in the country? 1/4 of your population lives here?" As we were leaving we were the only ones there and we ended up in conversation with the owner and his wife about the journey to Australia. (And about wine as he gave us some samples of his favorite NZ local vintages). They even pulled in the chef to talk with us about ideas for getting to Australia. It didn't end up working out with those ideas either though. Another great time with fun conversation... but no boat. So it went, over and over - great people, great conversation, no boat.
We are in Australia now after buying a plane ticket.
Our search for a boat was rocky and emotionally fast paced. We would go from hearing "yes! go to x place and I'm sure you'll find something!" to "oh...that's never going to happen" in the span of 12 hours as we talked to different people.
Everyone was so nice, either optimistic and excited for us, unsure but thoroughly supportive and wishing us luck, or sadly and genuinely sorry to tell us there was no hope. We met many fantastic and very nice people through our search. Telling people what we were doing was a great conversation starter, and we had an excuse to just walk into marina offices and yacht clubs to chat with people. For Nick this was important because he needs interactions with more than just myself, and having this opener was helpful. For me: my natural inclination is to stay in my own shell, and this forced me out of it.
Entering a yacht club in Opua, I wanted to sit alone, but we had a job, so we joined two very nice gentlemen at their table and had a great time. Good conversation about travel, food, people, and New Zealand. Didn't get a boat, but they did point us to a free place to stay near their home in Kawakawa. (Saved us $12 from where we were originally going to camp that night).
On our way from Auckland to Piha to camp one night we ended up at a beautiful cafe overlooking Auckland, appropriately named Elevation Cafe. It was dark and we ate overlooking Auckland's lights and getting slightly homesick for New York City. "Wait, this is the largest city in the country? 1/4 of your population lives here?" As we were leaving we were the only ones there and we ended up in conversation with the owner and his wife about the journey to Australia. (And about wine as he gave us some samples of his favorite NZ local vintages). They even pulled in the chef to talk with us about ideas for getting to Australia. It didn't end up working out with those ideas either though. Another great time with fun conversation... but no boat. So it went, over and over - great people, great conversation, no boat.
Goodbye to NZ, land of Sheep, vineyards, beaches, and clear skies (all of which are in this photo)
Ah, well, so it goes. Seems to me it is all part of the adventure. Looking forward to some great tales from the land down under.
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