Greenpeace New Zealand Weblog

Waving goodbye to the Warrior (C) GREENPEACE / Sharomov

Six weeks ago I packed my trunk in my bedroom in Grey Lynn Auckland, boarded a bus and rode downtown to Princes Wharf. There I walked up the gangway of the Rainbow Warrior. It was hot, late summer. American tourists crawled about the Viaduct. On the ship, there was excitement in the air and alleyways; a TARGET CLIMATE CHANGE banner ran between two masts. My cabin was downstairs and to the left. It had “Expect the unexpected” written on the door. I shared it with three others and it smelt like essential oils. I didn’t yet have my favourite spot to sit in the mess during dinner. And I didn’t yet know how to avoid pissing off the first mate. This would all come later. Read more »

Enjoying the open days (C) GREENPEACE / Sharomov

Dunedin has been a treat. From the shags hanging about on the main deck, to the record number of people who attended the open days, to the ever-changing weather, it’s been a full on and fantastic two days.

As well as two open boats, we held our third Green Drinks event on the ship last night. In Auckland and Lyttelton we were blessed with textbook late-summer evenings. Not so in Dunedin. The thunder rolled and the lightening cracked and the rain came tumbling down. The saving grace was a mighty rainbow, which draped itself over the harbour and over the ship; its pot of gold just metres away.

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Waveney Warth (left) who has pledged to not create any household waste for a year, with Campbell Live reporter Natasha Utting, at Green Drinks on the Rainbow Warrior (C) GREENPEACE / Sharomov

It’s a tough life working on a Greenpeace ship. Sometimes we have to have parties, for which we’re donated lots of yummy organic food (thank you Pure Fresh), for which the sun is usually shining and to which a whole lot of lovely people come. This occasion is otherwise known as Green Drinks. We hosted our first one in Auckland and we held the second last night in Lyttelton. Green drinks is an international movement where people working either explicitly or vaguely in the environmental movement get together. A Green Drinks group in Christchurch (which has been up an running since about October last year) helped coordinate last night’s instalment.

Once again, Lyttelton put on a brochure evening. And even better, we had lured a couple of local musicians (The Eastern) down to the ship to perform, so banter was backdropped by the sound of banjos, guitars and harmonicas.
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I was put in charge of inviting “celebrities and prominent people” to ‘Green Drinks’ aboard the Warrior last night.

I’m not good with celebrities - I don’t really know what one is. And I certainly don’t think I know any. “Nicky Watson?” I thought. “She’d be good. Maybe I’ll get her down. Or one of those folks off Dancing with the Stars.” Eventually I had to put an email out to all Greenpeace staff asking if anyone knew anyone who knew a celebrity. No one came back to me. (Sometimes I think we’re moving in the wrong circles.)

What are Green Drinks you ask … check this out.

Fast forward to evening, March 5, Rainbow Warrior. There was a sea breeze up but the late sun was shining. We had organic wine and beer laid out, an array of chopped vegetables kindly donated by Pure Fresh organics, and bowels of fresh blueberries placed strategically around the deck. Even the crew had scrubbed up for the occasion; I detected the distinct smell of mousse in the first mate’s hair. All we needed was our celebrities! Read more »