First Stop: New Zealand

On Sunday morning, their fourth day out, the Moana was steaming down the east coast of New Zealand, past Great Barrier Island and into Auckland harbor. At 10:30 the ship dropped anchor opposite the quarantine station. Some of the sailors rowed over in a small boat, leaving the passengers in suspense about the possibility of going ashore. Willie was disappointed because he had hoped to see some of his friends from Auckland. “Here we lie,” he wrote. “We cannot go ashore, and thus far no one has come to speak to us. It is a big lot of humbug, this quarantine business” (Ibid.).WV 366.4

Finally George Teasdale, with Brethren Mountain and Nash and a few others, came out in a rowboat, but could not board. The White party found that by leaning over the rail they could converse with the folk in the rowboat. Willie Floding, a young man bound for Battle Creek to take the medical course, came on board at Auckland. The travelers were shocked to learn of the death of Mrs.WV 366.5

F. L. Sharp, the wife of the treasurer and business manager of the developing Sydney Sanitarium, following major surgery. Willie and his mother sent messages of consolation back with the workers.WV 366.6

Ellen White spent as much time as possible in a steamer chair on deck, writing letters, mostly to friends left behind in Australia. She was fascinated and refreshed by the sea and the fresh salt air. From girlhood days she had loved the ocean. One day she wrote, “We now have a full view of the ever-changing, restless, beautiful sea” (Letter 164, 1900). And at another time, “I am up on deck writing, and enjoying the fresh air.... This morning my soul is filled with praise and thanksgiving to God” (Manuscript 96, 1900).WV 366.7

She spent many pleasant hours paging through the autograph album given her during the farewell service at Cooranbong. So did the Willie White family on the deck below, as day by day they read a few pages. These albums, gold embossed and bound in bright royal-blue velvet with gold-edged leaves, are now on display in the White Estate office at the General Conference headquarters. They still convey nostalgia and warmth. Visitors who read them feel drawn to those for whom they were so lovingly and carefully prepared. There was a section for every day of the voyage, and each section was introduced by an exquisite little watercolor painting, the Moana itself often appearing in the picture.WV 366.8