One thousand nine hundred and ninety eight nautical miles, one thousand five hundred and thirty six eggs, and over eight hundred cookies later we have arrived at the end of our voyage.

This day has been a whirlwind of emotions and envirox as we spent our final day aboard the Seamans.

Today is March 20, 2019. Today is our last full day of watch rotations. Today the sea was calm and the skies were sunny. We are about 20nm west of Kaikoura Peninsula.

I had dawn watch from 0100-0700.

The cooking prowess of our one and only Kevin Johnson is no secret aboard the Robert C. Seamans, as members of C house onshore got to experience firsthand. However, over the past few days, there have been murmurings aboard that Kevin would not get his galley day and would therefore not be able to bless us with his culinary genius.

All participants and crew in class S-284 remain safe and well in the aftermath of the attack in Christchurch. There are no anticipated changes to the remainder of their program, nor to the beginning of class S-285’s sea component which follows.

Our final leg of the journey is upon us! We departed Wellington over the weekend for our final stop in Christchurch. The Junior Watch Officer phase, or JWO for short, has officially begun, much to my dismay.

Today was a sobering entry in an already unique time at sea and ashore. Our day began earlier than usual, with an 0600 wakeup precluding the usual breakfast and set of chores. By 0800 we were off to the famed Wellington cable car, which Eric pointed out was technically a funicular.

Picture this: It’s 0800 and you’re eating breakfast on the quarterdeck. You’re wearing the cleanest items of clothing which after 4.5 weeks on a boat equates a smell test. You’re having a conversation with your shipmates about what you’re the most excited to do today with your research time on shore.

Today was our first day ashore getting to explore windy Welly.  Today also marked the first shore day where we were given 2200 as the time to return to the ship.  In previous ports everyone was given a call back time of around 1800 for dinner and watch cycles, so the extra four hours allowed for a very full day of adventuring.

After several days at sea the sight of land was bittersweet; however, something long anticipated awaited us after anchoring right outside Wellington and before we were to step foot on land.

Today is my 21st birthday. It’s not exactly the way I envisioned it, but I’m not complaining. Open ocean, the salt breeze, and amazing friends. What else could I possibly need? I spent yesterday as Assistant Steward in the galley. I am a terrible cook, but thankfully, I didn’t burn anything! I made chocolate chip cookies for midnight snack and lasagna for dinner.