Tall Ships

An easy start Sunday 12th Feb with a swim and a walk along a pristine beach, one to rival Orewa. 

The main event today was a dinner cruise on the tall ship Soren Larsen culminating in viewing a fireworks display from the water.

The voyage started auspiciously with an aerobatic display by the Air Force. So far, so good... 

After boarding our tall ship, we moved forward for the briefing. While waiting for our skipper, we looked starboard to watch the James Craig, a tall ship almost twice our size, coming in from a cruise with the aid of a tug boat, a grand sight as one would expect.

I suddenly thought 'They're coming in too fast and too shallow an angle and therefore are going to hit us'. I then thought, 'Don't be an idiot. These are professional skippers who know exactly what they're doing, aided by professional crews. What would you know... '.

Guess what - first they hit us, then they rammed the wharf... 

After exchanging phone numbers and insurance details, or whatever it is that skippers do when they hit someone, our skipper gave us probably the most relaxed safety briefing I have ever heard. Basically "Don't block the loos, and we have life jackets in case we sink" . 

He also advised that they had made a mistake. The cruise was meant to finish at 8:30pm, but they just realised that the fireworks didn't start until 9:30. "No problem, we'll just give you a longer cruise". 

Potential problem, the car park might shut at 10:00. A quick check on the Internet confirmed it was open until midnight, so all good. 

The cruise was lovely, smooth, great views, and we even got to sail under the Tasman Bridge. 

Equally lovely fireworks rounded off a pleasant evening. Only thing left to do is stroll to the carpark and head home. 

Unfortunately there are 2 carparks in that particular street, one closing at midnight and one at 10pm. Hazard a guess which one we were in...