As luck would have it, we arrive at Marsden Cove, New Zealand around 3:00am.  Not a good time to navigate new waters in the dark of night (not even a full moon out).  Tricky, do we attempt to go in without tracks or knowledge of the area or do we motor in circles until daybreak?

As we are contemplating our options, another boat called Only Time pops up and look like they are heading to the same place as us.  Sweet.  We call them on the radio and ask if we could follow them in.  Not ideal, but certainly better than circling around for hours!

Marsden Cove has a beautiful statue of waves lit up at night.

Once tied up to the “Q” dock or Quarantine Dock we grab a few hours of sleep before the officials come aboard.

The next day, we are greeted with customs, immigration, maritime/border control and bio security.  The first three went super well as we had all the documents completed and prepared ahead of time.  I was sorely disappointed that they did not ask to see proof of a clean bottom!  Especially since I spent over 4 hours cleaning it before we left.  Ugh!

The last person to come onboard is bio security.  NZ is very, very strict about what you can and cannot bring into the country.  You have to declare everything and they have the right to take anything that is on the list.  For example:

Prohibited Items

• Fresh fruit, produce, vegetables
• Eggs, dairy, milk, cheese, creams
• Meats of any kind
• Passage meals.  Yep, all the meals that we made for the passage that we not consumed, got tossed in the trash.  Over 8 meals!
• Honey
• Nuts, seeds, rice, popcorn, bay leaves
• Sea Shells, wood products, feathers (yes, I have them all onboard)

So, after we filled two trash bags full of prohibited items he left.  Our fridge and freezers are now empty…good thing we are in a place where we can replenish them.

We are now officially allowed to cruise the New Zealand waters!  Success!  

After we are cleared into the country, we have to get off the Q dock and we can take down our yellow Q flag and put up the NZ flag.

Town Basin Marina

We untie from the dock and make the 2 hour motor from Marsden Cove Marina to Town Basin Marina which is up the river.  As we motor along, we are greeted by beautiful green hillsides and lovely homes.  

On the way to Town Basin Marina, we have to cross under the Te Matau a Pohe (Fish Hook) bridge.  So, we hail the bridge operator and ask him to stop traffic, raise the bridge, and allow us through.  Pretty cool experience.

We tie up to the visitor dock as our regular spot is not available yet (we arrived 4 days earlier than planned).  But we are tied to a dock and near shore!  Super excited! Sugar Shack is right in front of the marina office with the red roof (with fenders out).

This marina has several side tie slips and then slips on poles where you tie to a pole in front and behind you.  We opted for the side tie slip which is more convenient, but more expensive.

We make a quick run to the grocery store, “Pak and Save” where we find Stubbs BBQ and Vegimite!  There is a nice cafe right on the dock where we stopped for lunch (see Sugar Shack in the background).  Can you tell we are very much enjoying New Zealand so far.

Stay tuned for next week when I show you all the cool things to do in Town Basin, Whangarei!

The events from this blog occurred in early November 2022.  Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  Did you read about our passage from Fiji to New Zealand in our last blog post?