NZ Land Logs 64, Year 2: Busy, Busy Monday
Date: Monday, April 23, 2007
Weather Today: Overcast with Periodic Sprinkles
Location: Whangarei, New Zealand

Today was a hard one. At the end of the day we are almost ready to leave, but if I never have to go shopping again, I’ll be a happy person. We have spent so much money that I don’t even want to think about it. One thing is for sure–we won’t starve to death in the next few months!

I had hoped to get up and call our daughter early this morning so I could “see” Sam one more time before leaving here, but that didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow. One thing led to another and from the time we got up we were on the run. The whole day was just one shopping expedition after another. Since we have to rely on others for transportation, we go when they are ready. We called a local physician at 8 am to get an appointment for recommendations on drugs we need to carry for malaria, etc., etc. We thought we were all set, but recent research urged us to make this appointment. Once we had the appointment secured, Dianna on White Swan then took us on a shopping expedition looking for those little things that are hard to find–odd-sized batteries for thermometers and clocks, soap and eating utensil holders with suction cups (the old ones will no longer stick), printer ink, disposable latex gloves, a few more cans of artichoke hearts, beer at a price that we can afford, and on and on. We no sooner got back with that load of things when it was time for me to go with Marie of Ranger to the Mad Butcher to pick up our frozen meat we ordered a couple of days ago. No butcher should have that name, but they had our order ready–frozen and vacuum packed–so ‘Mad’ or not, they do a good job. Again, I got back, got the meat stored in the freezer, and it was time for yet another shopping trip. This time it was to New World to buy the rest of the beer and to Mitre 10 (like Home Depot) to get even more batteries. There was no time for lunch today. By the time we returned from the last trip and got everything stored away, it was time for the doctor’s appointment.

Dr. Vijay Harypursat was so kind to see me today with only a few hours notice. His office was overflowing with people, but I had to wait only 10 minutes. He told me he has over 2,300 patients and he would never think about not seeing someone on the day they call if they really need medical attention. I told him this was certainly not the ways things are back in the good old USA. But anyway, he was very informative and I was very glad that I decided to see him. We were advised by our travel doctor back in the US (not Dr. Carlin with the World Clinic, but the travel physician at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic) not to take any medication as a preventative for malaria and then to take Malarone (atovaquanil/proguanil) if we developed the symptoms. Dr. Vijay said this is not what doctors in this part of the world nor what the Center for Disease Control recommends for Vanuatu. He recommended taking Doxycycline as a preventative and then to take Lariam (melfloquine) if the symptoms develop. He said Malarone is no longer effective against the drug-resistant “bugs” in the South Pacific and much of the rest of the world. It was a good drug at one time, but no longer. So we will be adding Lariam to our medical kit, even though it is extremely pricey. You just can’t take shortcuts when it comes to your health. I’ll keep the Malarone, but I’m glad it will not be our only defense if a problem should arise. You have to learn more about self-medication out here than I care to know, but Dr. Vijay did confirm that our arsenal of drugs (other than the Malarone) are right on. He prescribed some vials of adrenaline in case of a severe allergy attack. We have an Epi-pen that he thinks could still be effective, but there are some strange animals in the sea in the western Pacific whose stings can cause severe reactions. So better to be prepared. Otherwise, we are all set, BUT the pharmacy did not have the Lariam on hand and it will be mid-afternoon tomorrow before we can pick it up. That means that we will not be leaving tomorrow.

We have postponed departure time until high tide on Wednesday. That will be between 2:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon, and give us just enough time to make the thirteen miles to the mouth of the river by dark. We will spend the night in the bay there and head north to the Bay of Islands on Thursday morning. We will make one stop on Thursday night and hope to be in Russell or Opua on Friday evening. We have decided not to head south to Great Barrier Island. I’m sorry that we will not get to see it, but there are many other anchorages to the north that we also want to visit. You just can’t do it all.

So tomorrow I will write our farewell letter to Riverside Drive Marina to put in their memory book, write a farewell note to put in Reva’s memory book, and say our goodbyes to fellow cruisers here. Paul and Marie of Ranger will probably be heading down the river with us on Wednesday, but we will be leaving behind some wonderful friends that we might not ever see again. As always, parting is not easy, but new horizons are out there waiting to be explored. It is time for Windbird to move on.