Back to Backpacking NZ without a program

After spending a couple of weeks preparing the Catamaran to be pulled out of the water we contacted some of our traveller friends that magically appears in NZ. 

Been out of the boat with all our luggage to carry was quite a shock, also not having a program for the day was definitely weird. However, every trip is like no other. Every action we take makes things goes in a way that we can only guess what is going to bring to us.

After more than ten thousand nautical miles, and years spent playing rugby, we finally are on the All Black's land. A place of incredible beauty and wellness. Stunning landscapes, nice people and ancien culture melt together creating a perfect habitat. 

First we decided to spend a bit of time with Julia and Jason friends since Perth's adventures in 2009,  as i remembered they are lots of fun. They took us arround and made our stay more than special. We party, we walked, we have been eating and party again we also ended up to a massive party were we had to wear masks and ended up watching the final match of the rugby world cup where New Zealand defited Australia and won the World title...we also ended up jumping naked from a wooden pier in Town, but that is just a little feature we add to a trip when everything its so perfect. 

Of course i haven't talked about surfing yet because that was our third and last step in NZ. As soon as we could we rented a van and we reached our friend Grillo in Raglan where we started straight away to hit the road and the waves. Conditions started easy but fun until we reached the Taranaki region where thanks to Grillo we spotted some of the most amazing waves i've ever seen. Being back on the road was fun and kind of special and Grillo was the perfect guide through our first emotions on the surf after Polinesia and Fiji. 

We ended up finding waves also where they were not suppose to be, discovering places of incredible beaty, surfing on a point far a way from anything in the middle of the country with cold wind, blue sky and amazing volcano in front of us. Scoring barrel after barrels somewhere in Taranaki. We couldn't ask more from those weeks spent together, definitely a place to visit again.   

The Storm-riders and the Promised Land

Taking off with one month of advance on the cyclone season was a breaking heart decision considering how beautiful the Fiji island are, however the show must go on. Maybe the excitement or the good weather windows we will never know what made us leave without filling the water tanks, and karma punished us immediatlely. 

As soon as we left behind cloudbrake's pass and the reef couldn't protect us anymore, the power of the ocean concentrate a lot of his energy onto Lazy Jack. 

It took us one week to see land again: On entire week without water maker that blew up 2 hours after our departure and 3 of the 4 member of the crew were practically forced to bed due to sea sickness. 

Alice the hero of the final bit, the only one to survive the storm without any problem. We knew it was going to be a final hard bit but obviously unless you are not use to sail in storm, 35 to 40 knots of opposite wind and giant waves right on the boat's nose are always quiet an experience.

No one around, 1 kg of smoked salmon on bread and not a single shower later, we finally could see Bay of Island. 

On a sunny afternoon, sitting on a boe  on the outside deck, looking at land coming closer and closer., there was not better feeling, kind of a thousand flash back of all the adventures of the past year and absolutely not regrets. 

We might had sometimes the feeling that there were places we could do more or know better, but at the end of the day it was never our show. And as i like to think: "we have to move on to make space for next adventure".

Anyway that moment, for the very first time in a year wearing an heavy weather jacket, shoes and long pants will be forever kinda special. 

Committed to a passage, new to this kind of world, and with the only goal to make it back to the Southern Ocean till the land that for some reason make me feel more at home excepts than when i am with my family and friends.

A straight line of everyday signs and success that could leave no doubt even to the most skeptical. After seen LJ pulled out of the water and The Capitan with sweet Mme Nicole quite emotional on our last dinner together before to say goodbye, we all new that was a moment will stick into our memories for long time. 

And it was just a matter of moment, switching from a cabin crew with two single bed dwarf size to a king bed of the best hotel in town. 

That was it. 

The end of something that for some reason will never really end.