Waiting for Quarantine Exemption

Wednesday 14 July 2021

We remain in limbo-land, with tomorrow morning’s New Zealand Customs appointment – to clear us out of the country and wave us on our way –  being cancelled, by me. Perhaps it was optimism, perhaps it was wishful thinking, perhaps … perhaps …

At the moment, everything hangs on us obtaining a Quarantine Exemption from the Victorian State Health Authority.  The thought that we would be off and on our way tomorrow was good while it lasted, as we continued with preparation tasks aboard.

On the weather-side of things, today was just beautiful – no shortage of sunshine, and as Sam was finishing off the sewing on the cockpit covers, he was heard to cry … “Has anyone got any sunscreen?”

I have continued to contact various Australian Authorities, in an effort to fulfil the usual entry obligations, specifically Borderforce, Australian Quarantine and my Insurance Company, oh, and State Health, of course, but, again, everything comes down to the quarantine exemption and permission to enter Victoria.

No doubt, headlines like this aren’t helping the cause …

Covid-19: Kiwis in Victoria concerned about bubble pause should ‘get home ASAP’

… and whilst it’s just routine, receiving emails like this don’t exactly boost morale …

Hi Robert,

Just heard back from the Determinations Team.  As this is an unusual request that will have to go through Public Health Assessment, they are not confident they will have the response to you by tomorrow.

They are working on all the requests that have come through as quick as possible, however they advised that as your request only came in last night, they do not believe they will be able to assess and complete prior to your scheduled departure tomorrow.

Please advise,

At least they haven’t said no – yet?!  And let’s face it, crews from container ships, tankers and cargo vessels come and go everyday through our ports under the Maritime Protocols … it just so happens I’m NOT commercial.  My boat isn’t over 50 metres in length and I’m not running a business (or a racket) … I’m just a private citizen wishing to travel from one Green Zone to another Green Zone, Simples! Too easy … apparently NOT.

In other, happier news, we ticked off a few essential tasks today – in anticipation of the NZ Customs Clearance Booking we’d arranged for tomorrow morning (which I’m not talking about anymore – at least right now), such as …

… topping up the diesel tanks … yep, that’s right, we backed out of our berth and went for a drive. 

It was a great sort of water-driving-day and after travelling about 250 metres, out of the marina, then back in again at another point … we tied up to the fuel dock with its own self-serve pump.  This took about 45 minutes, not to mention $700, with around 450 litres going into the forward tanks; accounting for much of what we had used from Wellington to here in the past couple of months.

Despite the shortness of the journey, everyone was excited to be under a moving deck once more – Sam jumping up and down at one point, while waving his arms around, in a gesture that could, from a distance, be confused for something else … like perhaps, “I’ve been stung be a wasp” … or, “there’s a snake in my boot” … less likely round these parts of course.

From “diesel-food” for the engine, to “food-food” for the crew, after getting away from the fuel dock – all good practise for when we finally clear NZ Customs and head off to Australia – sorry, I promised I wouldn’t mention that – it was onto Paihia, where we anchored a short distance off shore; passing the spot where my glasses – both pairs of prescription glasses lie at the bottom of the sea – but we’re not going there either; at least emotionally!.

Once off Paihia, down where the road heads inland, and close to the Waitangi region, it was a simple case of running ashore in the dinghy, then walking the 400 metres, or so, up the hill to the large Countdown Supermarket.  Then wheeling a trolley full to overflowing back down the hill – oh, and then taking the trolley back again. 

Our dinghy landing was also close to a service station that was able to fill an empty gas bottle for me, and within a couple of hours we were up-anchoring to catch the last hour of daylight – sailing.  That’s right, sailing, with the sails. 

This was a chance for everyone to gain some familiarity with how things worked, particularly when tacking or gybing and also upwind, then downwind again – or was it the other way around? 

Soon enough we were watching the sun go down and I suppose it was inevitable, given we were trying to pack so much into the day, that we returned in the dark – but this too, was a good exercise in getting familiar with Chimere’s ways.   

Fortunately, it was still and calm when we returned to our berth … darkness AND a tricky wind, might have been  a stretch too far in making a safe landing. As it was, it was a textbook tie-up. But as Harm pointed out, “if it HAD been blowy, we probably wouldn’t have gone out, or stayed out after dark” – good points!

Right now, it’s time for sleep.  Tomorrow, we’ll continue to prepare aboard, all the while waiting for our much needed “Quarantine Exemption”

Smooth seas, fair breeze and waiting for quarantine exemption

Rob Latimer