Norfolk Island - Australia (Pacific)

[jpuype]

Hi Ann,

Thanks for your input, I do value it and will consider it.
I think a lot will depend on how our daughter (pre-teen) will react to not having them around.

I was aware of those regulations in Australia, and basically my initial question was if those quarantine regulations only applied to the mainland, or to Norfold Island as well. I guess you answered that ...

However I wasn't aware that NZ enforced similar rules.
We knew that it was going to limit out options in the Pacific but I assumed (wrongly it seems) that that problem was pretty much limited to Australia, and therefore (as much as would have liked to visit Australia) we were considering skipping Australia.

Guess we'll have to reconsider ...

Sincerely,
Jurgen

[JPA Cate]

Jurgen, you'll need to check with the quarantine for each place. For instance, New Caledonia will quarantine them, but I think the quarantine duration is shorter; however, not acceptable for entry to NZ or Australia. Yes, for your purposes, Norfolk Is. is Australia, but they probably would not even let you go there with the cats, because of its special status as a nature reserve. And, it's worth a trip, from what we've been told. I do not know what French Polynesia, also part of Outre-Mer, has, in the way of quarantine facilities. Hawaii has 6 month quarantine for cats. You'll really have to check for each planned destination. Sorry it is going to be a problem. Ironic, too, as your daughter would leave them with you readily to go away to university in only 5 yrs. time. Age-wise, she's on a cusp, where her focus will be changing.

Ann

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Jurgen:

Your cats will be put in quarantine, at your expense, in New Zealand and Australia. NZ may allow you to keep them on board, and show them to the inspectors weekly, but in Oz, it will be to the quarantine cattery. Their presence will limit your cruising options throughout the Pacific.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but, really, imho, it would be kinder to them to find them a good home before bringing them out to the Pacific. Some friends of ours, one of their kitties survived the quarantine experience okay, but the other one was forever after terrified of people it didn't know. It would run and hide below, shivering, when visitors came to their boat. They said it had been a friendly cat, before.

Ann

Good advice, the Australian continent forms a fair sized obstruction in the South Pacific for circumnavigators and unless you want to either go around the top of PNG or down into the roaring forties to get past the bottom of it you will need to go entirely across the top of it. Be a real pity to be passing through Torres Strait within ten miles or so of Thursday Island and be taken with a strong hankering for a strawberry ice cream and be unable to satisfy it.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by jpuype

Hi Ann,

Thanks for your input, I do value it and will consider it.
I think a lot will depend on how our daughter (pre-teen) will react to not having them around.

I was aware of those regulations in Australia, and basically my initial question was if those quarantine regulations only applied to the mainland, or to Norfold Island as well. I guess you answered that ...

However I wasn't aware that NZ enforced similar rules.
We knew that it was going to limit out options in the Pacific but I assumed (wrongly it seems) that that problem was pretty much limited to Australia, and therefore (as much as would have liked to visit Australia) we were considering skipping Australia.

Guess we'll have to reconsider ...

Sincerely,
Jurgen

Hi as an Australian and a cat lover, could you not leave your cats with family or friends whilst you travel, the cats will probably be better off for it, both the travel and the quarantine and you renew the relationship when you return?

[El Pinguino]

Skip Norfolk...... you will just give yourself double grief...

While in NZ 15 years ago I met a couple who had brought a cat into NZ on their yacht.... had sorted all its jabs, microchips etc in Panama . They didn't suggest it had been any sort of drama.



Once cats are in NZ going to Oz would be, I believe, quite straight forward...

Lots of info out there in cyber space....

For NZ ... http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...dance-document


Page 13

5.19.1Option 1: Biosecurity clearance for cats and dogs arriving on a yacht
Yachts: Biosecurity Clearance Requirements
The cat or dog will go through all of the testing and treatment requirements, and then be free to travel throughout New Zealand.
Before arrival in New Zealand
(1) The animal must be microchipped. The microchip must be scanned and recorded on all vaccination and treatment records, laboratory results, and certification.
(2) The animal must be vaccinated for rabies at least six months before it is eligible to come onshore, and must have been vaccinated in the 12 months prior to coming onshore.
(3) The animal must have undergone a rabies antibody test on a blood sample collected at least three weeks after the rabies vaccination and tested in a government approved laboratory for rabies serology. The blood sample date must be at least three months and no greater than 24 months before the dog or cat may come onshore.
(4) During the six months prior to arrival the animal must have only visited, or been on a yacht that has berthed, in MPI approved countries.
(5) Apply for a permit to import.
After arrival in New Zealand
(1) Other tests and treatments - see Veterinary Certificate A for specified countries where rabies is absent or well controlled. These may be completed pre-arrival or in an approved quarantine facility. Treatment/testing in a quarantine facility may extend the quarantine period.
(2) Biosecurity clearance: The animal may be sent to the transitional facility stated on the permit once the MPI Biosecurity Inspector has verified that the necessary identification, quarantine and transport arrangements have been made. The Inspector is responsible for ensuring the animal is transported from the yacht to the approved transitional facility under secure conditions through the use of an officially sealed cage.'

Please don't rely on this without further research but I don't think it is a huge deal... I think the couple said the cat was about a week in the slammer....

[clownfishsydney]

No point in going via Norfolk Island, no harbour, no protected anchorage at all. Not a single boat anchored off the island except the large ship that delivers goods once a month.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by clownfishsydney

No point in going via Norfolk Island, no harbour, no protected anchorage at all. Not a single boat anchored off the island except the large ship that delivers goods once a month.

Yet it is one of the most beautiful islands i have ever had the pleasure to visit, we spent a memorable 2 weeks there early 2015, but we flew in.

Boats do visit but are few and far between due to the anchoring issues mentioned above, there is no where to go alongside unless the conditions are perfectly calm and you have a shallow enough draft to get alongside Kingston Jetty or Cascade Pier, both are only used for unloading lighters from the above mentioned stores ship and for transferring passengers from the odd visiting cruise ship, there are no facilities for tying up except for a quick transfer.

As for the cats i seriously doubt they would be allowed ashore, bio-security at Norfolk Island is stricter than most other places around Australia for both flora and fauna, the locals are very protective of the island.

Edit: As an aside we stayed at Endeavour Lodge and would recommend it to anyone, it's owned and operated by Duncan & Gaewyn Evans, Duncan is a 7th generation descendant of Fletcher Christian and Gaewyn is descended from Reverend Henry Fulton an Irish Political Prisoner, had a few interesting chats with them....

Views to die for Endeavour Lodge - Endeavour Lodge