Back to the future

36 kilos are hanging from my arm and I'm sweating so much that my clothes are completely soaked from the inside. Then there's the rain, which also soaks the rest of my clothes, which are still dry. In the morning, I took the bus from Whangarei to Auckland and got off at the national airport. Not entirely voluntarily, as it had started to rain and the bus couldn't get closer than a kilometer to the international airport due to its expansion.

Hunderwasser house in Whangarei, New Zealand

Follow the green line, says a sign, which also indicates the walking time in minutes. It says 16 minutes, but this is only achievable with light hand luggage. What's more, this green line is largely outdoors and is only covered in a few places. As long as it's not raining, no problem, but sailors are notoriously water-shy and it's pouring with rain. I finally reach the hall of the international section of Auckland Airport.

Auckland Airport, New Zealand

After a few minutes of orientation, I walk purposefully towards the drop-off zone to get rid of my suitcase. I didn't know at the time that my suitcase was so heavy. A nice stewardess helps me check in, but my face suddenly changes color when I put my suitcase on the baggage carousel at her instruction. The display starts flashing and shows 36.5 kg. “That's not possible,” she says, ”32 kg is the maximum.” Either I reduce the weight to 32 kg, in which case I have to pay for excess baggage, or I reduce it to 23 kg and check in a second piece of baggage, which ends up being cheaper. So I buy a “cheap” travel bag in one of the many stores and reload. On my second attempt, I get rid of my luggage and head for customs clearance and hand luggage control. My stomach is growling. Hoping to get through the checkpoint quickly and then have a leisurely lunch in a restaurant, I turn the corner. 

I am still completely relaxed.

In a hall the size of a soccer pitch, I see hundreds of people in front of me, moving from one wall to another in a line marked out with ribbons. For the next two hours, I am part of this crowd and move step by step towards immigration. Finally, I have left this hall behind me and am now sitting eating fish and chips in one of these restaurants with a view of the tarmac. The rain still hasn't let up, but I'm slowly drying off. The flight, how could it be otherwise, is checked in late, but eventually I'm on the plane that takes me back to Papeete. A five-hour flight for a route that took me 17 days from mid-November to early December. The return journey is much more pleasant than the outward journey, and not just because of the short flight time. Because of the International Date Line, which I now cross from west to east, it's a journey back to the future. I arrive in Papeete earlier than my departure from Auckland. I take off at half past eight in the evening and land in Papeete at two in the morning on the same day. I grab my luggage from the conveyor belt and hope to get a cab even at this time of day. I see a familiar face in the crowd. Actually, Gaby wanted to meet me at the marina, but the crew of the Tuvalu, Roswitha and Gottfried have organized a cab and have not spared the early hour to pick me up at the airport.

New workplace on the Katinka Enjoy

It's slowly getting light as we fall into our bunks after the reunion party on the Katinka Enjoy. I sleep for a long time and realize how the tension of the last few weeks is slowly slipping away. Even if the future has caught up with you, you can't outwit jet lag and it takes a few days for everything to get back to normal.

Beschriftung aktualisiert

The next few days are filled with work. The new radio has to be installed, of course the plugs don't fit, but at least the MMSI can be programmed. Another sense of achievement came when I was able to change the MMSI of the AIS device. However, a few e-mails with the support team were necessary. I positioned the Starlink antenna and switched the entire system to 12 V. All I need now is access to the ship's internal network, which is still stubbornly refusing to give me access. In the evenings, we are always on another ship or at the now traditional Black Monday in the local brewery. The visit announced for mid-January suffers an abrupt setback, as the visa application for transit through the USA was filled out truthfully and Cuba was also entered as the country of travel. The visa was then refused. It remains to be seen whether our guests will get this sorted out by mid-January, but that won't stop us from taking a trip to Moorea after the holidays. As always, we will keep you up to date. For Christmas, we wish all our readers a Merry Christmas, get lots of presents and stay healthy. There will be one more blog entry this year until we start the new year with full vigor. Until then, we wish you always fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.