Greetings from Invercargill

Greetings from a VRBO in Riverton, a windblown town at the southern tip of the South Island. As I write this rain lashes the windows. We are very cozily tucked up with our backs against a wood fire, potatoes in the oven and lamb chops ready to go in the pan.

It POURED rain the first night we arrived in Milford Sound. The waterfalls the next morning were CRAZY, pouring off all the cliffs. We finally got off the boat just after lunch with a break in the rain. We met the locals, got some diesel, and tramped around the vicinity getting a good look around, as well as some Wifi at the lodge. With the wifi came the message that it was not really optional; we needed to get our medicals done by February 19th if we wanted to stay in NZ past February 25th. After about an hour we had sorted medicals, blood tests, chest x-ray appointments, a mooring for Banyan, a bus from Milford, and a rental car between Te Anau and Invercargill. Whew! It was maybe the most productive hour we’ve executed in a while.

So, 24 hours later, here we are. A huge ‘thank you’ to Michele Herald who sent us a very useful email with info containing medical provider locations and most importantly the information that Invercargill was closer to us than Queenstown (news to us). By Friday we should be heading out of here having been poked and prodded and radiated and hopefully given a pass to stay in New Zealand at least until we can leave by boat safely after cyclone season.

That’s basically the update so the following are photos that would have gone with the last several posts if we were able to attach them. Thank you so much for following our journey, for commenting on the blog, and for sending up prayers for safety.

dealing with slimy lettuce
dealing with moldy carrots
Tuna Poke!!!, we caught four and landed two on the passage south. The second one was a big one! We shared with those in Milford upon arrival.
violin practice while calm, the dolphins came just after this, not sure they came for the concert or not?
A rare mellow day in the Tasman Sea
Wing on wing with a little breeze
Sunrise with peaks and clouds at the base
sea state never looks as ominous in photos. Just prior to this we had 10′ seas and 35 knots gusting to 40 knots… We were triple reefed and still moving along well at 6-7 knots.
Entering Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Who wouldn’t be comfortable leaving their 15-ton boat on this mooring built for a 700-tonne vessel? We did back down on it for a minute at 2000rpm (our practice to test our anchor) and it didn’t move… surprise.
Waterfalls everywhere!
leaving Banyan.. hope she’s okay while we are gone!
the ‘marina’ in Deep Water Basin, Milford Sound with fresh powder on the peaks.

6 comments

  1. Marianne McGriff says:

    Answered prayer…Angels in our paths and grateful to Michelle for her guidance for you…LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the photos and ALL of you

  2. Laura says:

    Hello Banyaneers, WOW, WOW, WOW… sailing into Milford Sound, what an amazing achivement! Yikes, 10 ft seas… we’ve also found that pictures do not show the true sea state. We drove a caravan to Milford, and kayaked in the Sound. We think we remember seeing your mooring ball! We had a beautiful calm day for kayaking, woke up the next morning to rain and waterfalls everywhere. It was incredible! Stop into the Milford lodge if you get a chance, we found it charming! Cheers, Laura & Dick sv Maia

  3. Becky Baker says:

    Hi all!!! I’m finally getting caught up on all of your exciting posts here! Miss you all! Love to see all of the happy faces!!!

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