Almost a year has passed since we arrived in New Zealand. When we sailed into Opua in November 2020, we thought we’d spend a bit of time cruising around New Zealand before deciding what came next.
We spent the following months living aboard Spacegrazer in the Bay of Islands. The kids started school at Russell School while we were still on the boat. Every morning we’d dinghy ashore, tie up at the dock and walk to school. One morning we arrived to find our usual landing spot occupied by a seal enjoying the morning sun.
Life quickly settled into a rhythm. There were birthday celebrations, swimming lessons, sailing lessons, school camps, cousins, farm visits and long walks around the Bay. We bought a rowboat to have a second dinghy and make trips ashore easier. A few months later Northland received enough rain to sink it.
The children adapted to school life remarkably quickly. Beau started sailing lessons in the bay and we watched him sail past Spacegrazer in his little dinghy while we sat on our mooring. Kai and Zoë turned eight. Later in the year Beau celebrated his tenth birthday with bowling, laser tag, chocolate and cake.
After years of travelling, we found ourselves rediscovering New Zealand.
We explored Northland, visited old friends, spent time with family, enjoyed Christmas at the Park in Taranaki and marvelled at being in a Covid-free country while much of the world remained locked down. Bianca worked as a guide and barista at Pompallier House in Russell, a job she loved. We walked, explored and slowly reconnected with life ashore.
The biggest surprise was that we liked it. The kids were thriving. We were enjoying being close to family again. Taranaki kept drawing us back.
Then in August 2021, while New Zealand was in lockdown once again, things started to fall into place.
Just before lockdown, Max had interviewed for a role in New Plymouth and received an offer. During lockdown, Bianca interviewed for a position over Zoom and received an offer too. Suddenly the future looked a little clearer.
At the same time, we were house-sitting for friends and looking after their dog and cats. The timing could not have been better. It gave us a chance to move belongings off Spacegrazer and start sorting through five years of life afloat.
Slowly, bags and boxes began making their way ashore. For the first time, moving to land felt real.
On 28 September 2021, we announced to our friends that we were becoming landlubbers. Spacegrazer went up for sale.
It was a bittersweet decision. Spacegrazer had carried us safely across oceans, through storms, across four continents and all the way to New Zealand. She had been our transport, our school, our office and our home. In many ways, she had been the sixth personality in our family adventure.
She had done exactly what we had asked of her. She carried us around the world and brought us to a new home – for Bianca and the kids – and back home – for Max.
Today we live in New Plymouth beneath the watchful eye of Mount Taranaki. The sailing adventure may be over, but the friendships, memories and experiences remain part of who we are.
People often ask whether we miss it. Of course we do. Sometimes we miss waking up in a new anchorage. Sometimes we miss the cruising community. Sometimes we miss the simplicity and freedom of life afloat.
But we do not regret coming ashore. The voyage was never just about sailing around the world. It was about spending time together as a family, seeing what was over the horizon and having the courage to try something different.
Spacegrazer gave us all of that. And then, when the time was right, she brought us home.
Fair winds, old girl.
