The posts in this blog start the tale about four-years and one-third of the way into my circumnavigation. I return home to Chicago for son Doug’s wedding and to replenish my crew.
My immediate challenge is to find crew members with a spirit of adventure. They must also have the time and the means to go jetting off around the globe on short notice.
No small order! But lady luck smiles on me. Through mutual friends, I find two game souls. Below, Diane is on the left. She was a competitive swimmer on the Evanston, IL Masters swim team. Penny was a sailing instructor for American Youth Hostels on Lake Michigan. Hardly qualifications for bluewater sailing, but water lovers with a sense of adventure.
Fasten your seat belts!
At a Masters swim team party in Evanston, Illinois we toast to a great adventure ahead! I had swum with the Evanston Wild Catfish team for several years before going sailing.
We are soon on a plane to Auckland, New Zealand.
Half a world away and from north to south of the equator.
The red line below is our flight path with a stop in San Francisco to change planes. All maps from Google Earth.
The Pacific is one humongous ocean, the world’s largest. The Pacific Ocean covers about one-third of the earth’s surface and is bigger than all the dry land put together.
New Zealand has two main islands, North and South. The populations are 4.8 million people, mainly on the North Island, and 30 million sheep, mainly on the South Island.
The Kiwi bird is native to New Zealand and the unofficial symbol for the country. A small flightless bird, it has sharp claws to defend itself from predators. “Kiwi” is a nickname for New Zealanders.
We decide to take a quick tour of the South Island. New Zealand has a rich history including the Maori indigenous people who were ferocious warriors. The South Island offers a spectacular array of natural wonders. One of them is a mini-Yellowstone Park that includes a geyser and steaming sulfur springs.
We also “tramp the tracks”. That’s Kiwi speak for “hike the trails”.
Track steep? No ladder or stairs. Grab the chain and hoist yourself up. Definitely not for wimps!
Remember those 30 million sheep? Here are a few of them now the softest and thickest rugs anywhere.
Christchurch is the hub for air travel to the South Island. It is also a center for all the many outdoor activities and natural wonders. We will return to New Zealand later for four months to do a proper tour. White water rafting, paragliding, whale watching from the air and by sea to mention a few. Meanwhile, just stay out of the line of fire of any loose cannons!
So whatever happened to sailing you ask? We will get to that soon. Just another couple of plane rides away. First a flight to Nukualofa, “Abode of Love” and the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. Then another hop to Vav’u, the northernmost Tongan island. A total of 1,400 miles from Auckland about the same distance as Chicago to Miami. You have to think big in the Pacific, even bigger than in Texas!
Tonga’s scant 100,000 population is scattered over its few hundred-mile long string of islands.
Notice that the Google Earth map shows the ocean bottom. New Zealand and Tonga were formed on top of the same underwater “ridge”. More on this fascinating story later. Also note the dark blue, almost black “trench” in the ocean floor parallel to the ridge. The ocean is six miles deep almost the deepest anywhere!. Ocean bottoms have fracture zones, plains, canyons, even underwater mountain ranges.
And the airports get more “basic”.
To be continued in post #3…. Yes there really is a Sailing/Vessel Grey Eagle and we will sail the 500 miles from Vav’u, Tonga to Suva, Fiji and beyond. I have the photos to prove it!
THE ODYSSEY OF THE GREY EAGLE 