Almost-going-away party (May 14/09 - Auckland, New Zealand)

The morning seemed to be almost half over by the time everybody was up today, but with sunshine streaming in, it was a good opportunity for the boys to finish off their boat chores outside. Jaime and I did another round of boat hardware supply and grocery shopping - enough to keep the crew going for the ten days it will probably take to get to Fiji. Since departure is just a couple days away, Jaime had organized a going away party at a local bar that was tended by a buddy of theirs. We did our best to scrounge decent clothes out of our backpacks, and hung out with a bunch of their friends that all seemed to have boating in common one way or another. It's bittersweet for them, leaving friends they've made over the six months they've been in New Zealand, but the frigid temperatures are motivation enough to beckon them to Fiji, 2000km north. We sure wish we were going with them!