By midday the sun had that now familiar threatening feeling. Today, I will get burnt. It’s the hole in the ozone layer- I’ve been told, that leaves all northern hemispherers an angry shade of red. Next time, I’ll wear a hat. Even so far away from home I’m holding the title of the biggest ‘Roast Beouf’ on the Viaduct and we haven’t even set off yet. Sun screen, and a hat. And maybe a warmer coat. But by God, doesn’t the sea look green. Postcard green with postcard blue skies.
There’s quite a crowd gathered around the kiosk, one big group of people all wear matching hats and jackets and for a minute I feel like maybe I’m not prepared for this- these people must be professionals and I’m actually going to drown. But pretty soon my fears are quashed as we stand on the deck having our safety talk. Erica, our… (guide? Head sailor? I don’t know what to call him but he’s the man in charge) asks if anybody sails at home and only a few people raise their hand. Phew.
So, donned in my stylish life jacket we set off. The people at Sail NZ had to put engines in the boats because they were never designed to get out of the harbour unaided. I learn this and lots of other genuinely interesting stuff as we glide out towards the open sea, like, the New Zealand Americas Cup campaign was nearly thwarted by an evil accountant who ran off to South America with all their money, and that Erica actually has a house near London- and he thinks Blue Water is a much better shopping centre than the Trafford Centre.
The sails are hoisted, surprisingly, by us. I’ve heard that this tour likes people to get involved, but didn’t really realise that meant we would actually have complete control of the vessel. As if sensing my anxiety, Erica pipes up that below the boat there’s actually a four tonne piece of metal that stops us from tipping over. It goes without saying that this makes me feel a huge amount more comfortable as I take the wheel. I haven’t driven a car in a year and here I am, (almost) effortlessly steering this big mother of a boat that’s worth more than my house with about fifteen innocent victims perched unwittingly around me.
Apparently the age restrictions are used as a basic guide, it says on the leaflet that children under 10 aren’t allowed, but Geezer (the young blonde crew member) says that if kids are capable in a boat, or are quite big and stable, then they make exceptions. There’s a space at the back where they’ve been known to tie a wheelchair… I think about this as we tak and the boat sits up at an 80°angle, so I’m actually stood up (still feeling quite safe and assured that even my mother could do this) looking down at the sea. I’m not sure that the person in the wheelchair would feel the same way, but the crew are nice guys and I think they can lay off or push up the adrenaline if they thought our group wanted it either way.
We head out towards the big, 600year old volcano Rangitoto, turn round and head back towards the harbour bridge. At this point the boat is pretty much flat, so everyone spreads out and relaxes, someone even produces a packet of crisps and passes them round. I get chatting to one of the people in the Red Team (the scary matching hat lot) and it turns out they’re all very unfrightening real estate agents from KariKari…one of them is from the UK and it turns out she used to live next door to my local IKEA. It’s a small world. The other people are mostly New Zealanders, apart from a couple from Malta, and it seems that the trip on the Americas Cup is a somewhat regular event for them. One man goes every year, his kids buy him a ticket for his birthday and I’m sure he likes this trip more than getting socks and chocolate year after year.
Under the harbour bridge and our mast literally misses it by a few feet (the crew were amused by our gasps), and then we’re back in Auckland harbour, going past a boat that has a helicopter on the back. I’m reminded that this is the playground of the rich and famous, and that Hauraki Gulf offers some of the best sailing in the world. We’ve been gone for 2 hours but it feels like 5 minutes and I’m so relaxed it’s an effort to stand up. I say thanks to everybody, and feel pretty lucky that I got to spend such a nice time with such a nice bunch of people.
My hosts Gerry and Sally organised this trip for me and tours start from NZ$150, there are loads of options available like 4hr whale watching tours; I did the 2hr trip.