Hansa Flensburg (Freighter Ship) from Sydney to New Zealand

Tomorrow evening we board the Hansa Flensburg, a freighter ship owned by Leonhardt and Blumberg, for New Zealand. None of the worry about what you can bring on board a flight or the flocks of people about to jam themselves into that cramped movie marathon known as a long haul flight or even the tense security checks. Instead, we quietly find our way to Gate B105A at Port Botany in Sydney, locate our cabin (there are three in total) and settle in for a sail to Melbourne, Adelaide and then Auckland. Plenty of time (11 days) to write, read and check out the ship. So keep posted. I'll be writing when I can about the people, the ship, the winter storms on the Pacific. Here's the ship:


Nice ship? I suspect it's a superimposed image, since you can also find the French line, CMA-CGM, with a strikingly similar backdrop:

Yeah, well ... add to that the fact that these ships have been 'photographed' on Port Jackson (aka Sydney Harbour) and we leave from the container terminal on Botany Bay ...

Finally, for those who like maps, here is the complete route for the Hansa Flensburg and Hansa Rendsburg:

We're doing the Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Auckland section to get to New Zealand and the Tauranga-Sydney section back home. Next time: Europe via the Panama Canal!

Here's some fun: if you want to track where we are, check out this great website: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/index.html#search. Type in 'Hansa Flensburg' or the call sign, 'A8AL3' in the appropriate box and you'll get updates on our position every 12-24 hours. On the way home (22-26 July) you'll have to type in 'Hansa Rendsburg'.