The last few days just seemed to whiz past Te Kaihōpara and its crew. Our voyage from Catherine Cove back to Opua Bay was smooth sailing as we decided to spend one more night close to our sister yachts, Silver Fern and Salt Lines. No grand Easter Egg hunts and relay races this time though. Te Kaihōpara got some extra water rations from Silver Fern (we’ll pay them back in beer sometime in the future) as the other two boat’s crews went to sleep almost immediately on completion of their parallel race adventure ( read David Hows and Jess’s blog to catch up on that side of the story).

A not-so peaceful evening followed as the crew gathered for a round of Golf (with cards), with a little luck from Te Kaihōpara and to Jo’s utter dismay, I absolutely decimated the opposition, to win the game over nine holes. Lynda would go on to say I cheated and David would look suspiciously at my pre-game antics, but in the end, there could only be one victor, i.e. yours truly. I saved my victory speech for another day as I could feel the hostility in the saloon ascending and quickly escaped to the safety of my cave / cabin.

The next day was one of pure decadence, as we spent our last day in the Sounds exploring every nook and cranny around us before settling in at Governor’s Bay for the night. Last time’s movie night consisting of Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery was long forgotten, as the crew huddled around to watch this year’s Oscar favourite, Oppenheimer. My attention was elsewhere as I waited for certain news from back home, but I was glad that the movie’s protagonist’s real life reference to the ‘Bhagwat Gita’ (a revered Indian scripture)  was not left out from the movie’s screenplay.

The final hurrah for the crew was splendid as speeches were made and well earned crew t-shirts were distributed. Oxley’s was our destination for our final crew dinner and then it was time for our heartfelt goodbyes. The adventure seemed to have gotten over as quickly as last night’s dream, but the memory remained strong.

Epilogue

As expected, our skipper Jo did not leave peacefully. She dusted, scrubbed, vacuumed and polished pretty much every corner of poor Te Kaihōpara’s interior and exterior. I mean the boat does look pretty clean now, but what kind of a savage uses two different types of air freshner in the same cabin?

Jokes aside, Te Kaihōpara and I eagerly await Jo’s return for our next adventure together. See you next time!

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara