It’s official. We are home – we’ve berthed in Tauranga having steamed in past the Mount on a beautiful calm day. Gary cooked us the final traditional cooked breakfast this morning, served with homemade bread that he made last night – we’ll miss his smiling face in the galley each morning asking us if we’d like a hash brown with that?
This afternoon and tomorrow will be spent unloading the Braveheart, packing vans and arranging for couriers to pick up all the specimens (as they are either frozen or stored in various chemicals they require specialist handling). Then we’ll head our separate ways, to Wellington,
Auckland and Sydney. So, we’re actually not quite home yet but we’re back on the mainland.
In terms of what next? In about a year’s time, after the specimens have been properly sorted and identified, the plan is to put out a large report on the expedition and its findings. But for our blog followers we’ve got a special “homecoming” present for you tomorrow – a series of six videos from the ship and from our underwater adventures. We can hardly believe it’s over but it has been magic and we’ve really enjoyed sharing it with you.
We’ve made it back to the mainland! Tauranga welcomed us with a beautiful calm day
