Programs Blog

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Weather: Sunny, Southwest Wind

Location: Docked in Auckland

We have had a lovely and relaxing last day in Auckland. The weather has been holding up for us really well with a cool breeze and sunny skies and as I have come to learn from the locals the weather around the Hauraki Gulf is ever changing. Nevertheless, it has been an insightful and blissful time in Auckland and one that I am vehemently enjoying.

On today’s official agenda, we had a trip to the New Zealand Maritime Museum. And, thanks to the generosity of curator Jaqui Knowles, we even got a behind the scenes look into the archives! Their archives house a multitude of wonderful and unique things from model brigantines’ (like good ol’ Bobby C) to vintage dive suits. After the brief tour through the archives, we had a few hours to ourselves to walk around the museum. They had a special exhibit of the Shackleton Polar Exhibition which was jam packed with amazing artwork and stories of the people on the ship. I spent a good deal of time in that exhibit and looking at the evolution of the modern sailing vessels that have been shaped by Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ).

After the museum, we had a lovely guest speaker come aboard, Dr. Andrew Jeffs, who is a professor of marine science at University of Auckland. He talked to us about his career, things he learned from his past/present research, and gave us an outside perspective on our research projects.

Since today is our last full day in Auckland before our 10 day voyage to Wellington, I wanted to get the most out of the city. I bopped around town with a few people on the hunt for coffee/tea, good food and books (all of which were acquired and enjoyed thoroughly).

My watch was on tonight’s evening dock watch rotation so I ended my day on the quarter deck junk journaling (or as I like to call it trash journaling) along with a few people in my watch (Kelsey and Izzy). While we were journaling we had a few people come up to the harbor’s edge to talk to us about the Seamans, where we were from, and what we were doing. One conversation in particular sticks out to me was with a few young Kiwis (around 18 to 19). They came up to the boat and asked many questions about the ship. We ended up having a really wholesome conversation, getting a few good recommendations for when we get to Wellington and having a few laughs before saying good night. 

I have really enjoyed the short but sweet stop in Auckland, but I’m even more excited to get sailing again. I am eager to learn more about the Pacific Ocean and sailing during the next leg of our adventure.

Sophie Gies, A Watch, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Some quick shoutouts –

Sending lots of love back home to Mom, Dad, Sean, Cassidy and the pets!

Hello to the rest of the family and friends, miss you all