NORDLYS - Last New Zealand Report

Last New Zealand Report

NORDLYS

David and Annette Ridout

Sun 1 May 2005 05:33

Tutukaka

New Zealand

1st May 2005

Last few days in the 'Land of the Long White Cloud'

Yesterday evening we found our way into this pleasant anchorage after a trip of some thirty six miles from Ray Robert's marina/yard in the town of Whangarei. Saying goodbye to this spot and the people who work there was a definite milestone in our cruising lives. We have had two seasons of refits in this yard and had got to know the town and its surrounds. Leaving somewhere one knows this well with the probability that one may never be back is always a slightly emmotional experience, at least I find it so. Rather similar to doing ones last take off from a strip of concrete in some foreign country that one had spent the best part of thirty years attempting to smooth ones way on to and off from.

New Zealand weather gave us its usual unreliable mixture. Gentle west or perhaps north westerlies were the forecast. This was the reality as we ran under mainsail only down the river and its estuary. The sun shone and the surrounding countryside and hills looked at their best. Half an hour north of Whangarei Heads the wind went into the north and rose to some fifteen knots giving us a brisk beat with the wind dead on the nose for the twelve miles up the coast to Tutukaka. Looking back this was a good thing as it tested the rigging, our attempts at stowage after months ashore and generally gave us and the boat a not too harsh but business like test.

Today, after a peaceful night with no fender noises I spent the morning doing major refurbishment to the water maker. This had been impossible to attend to in the dirty waters of Whangarei. The good news is that the membrane appears to be keeping up to the job despite its five years of age and new pumps plus a bit of leak and electricity supply management have appeared to get things back into action. Membanes are not cheap so lunch today was a celebration.

We plan to be in this lovely country only another ten days to two weeks and being realistic may never return. I will try to put our feelings on paper. They are complex and too much would bore any readers I have so my attempts will probably not do justice to the situation. New Zealand has many great points. Crowds, traffic jams, horribly expensive property, unreasonable planners, unobtainable and very over priced mooring for a boat are things that this country does not have. At least not to any serious extent. Beautiful scenery, miles of empty roads, access to endless outdoor persuits especially slightly dangerous ones and lots of chances to own houses in lovely surroundings are things that are definately on the menu for those who live and work here. That mysterious quantity 'quality of life' has to be very high. So, you may ask, what is wrong? Why are the young educated New Zealanders leaving in droves and why are the unemployed of Europe not coming here? Why do many young couples prefer long commutes back to rabit hutches in the suburbs of London or like cities rather than life in New Zealand. Well some of the reasons are obvious. For Europeans one is the other side of the world from friends and family and New Zealand salaries are a lot less than those elsewhere. It is the unrealistic salaries that they pay the young educated people that is to my mind the real problem. The population of NZ is arround four million and there are about 600,000 New Zealanders living abroad. Most in Austalia. Many of these will return in time but the country is loosing them at their most hard working and creative. There is a very socialist attitude in New Zealand society and skilled, complex jobs are rarely paid accordingly, thus the talented leave and few are attracted from elsewhere. There is a very large community of Pacific Islanders here but few of them come with qualifications as there has been little or no opportunity for them to attain them in the atolls of their birth. Auckland has in fact the largest Polynesian community in the world. The probable exception to this inbalance is the farming community who from our little experience seem to be hard working and very go ahead. State of the art agri business is the order of the day for most farmers. Similary viticulture and wine production is now a huge business and very much world class.

One long time New Zealand resident who had emmigrated from England over twenty years ago tried to explain the problem when she told me that I needed to understand that there is a sizable proportion of society that does not want things to get better. More high quality immigration and the improvements to infrastructure that this would bring are not wanted. They have a deep belief that things should not change. To this end the government has just decided not to make emmission testing of vehicles mandatory at the WOF test. Their MOT. Terrible chemicals are poured on the countryside that have long been banned in the USA and Europe. Indiscriminate aerial spraying is common. In reality this is not a green country although the locals try to keep this side of things quiet.

I write all this to show that we leave here with very mixed thoughts in our heads. This country is in many ways a jewel and those who spend only a little time here will almost certainy leave very impressed. Those of us who stayed a little longer often leave frustrated that the jewel has a few flaws. By this stage you may well say that it is none of my business as I am not a New Zealand resident. You would be right. This does not stop me trying to put on paper sentiments that we find are common amongst many visitors and young educated locals. The next twenty or so years will be interesting times on these two islands. So far as we are concerned the friendliness we have encountered here will be hard to beat elsewhere and any frustration is only because perfection is so nearly attained.

We intend to sail to Opua in the next few days. Deliver the car to its new owner and as soon as there is a weather window set sail for the thousand mile plus haul to Fiji. We will have many and complex thoughts as the land drops below the horizon.