Many of us at some stage might have taken a gander at Goose Bay while driving between Kaikoura and Christchurch. But none of us are likely to have been anywhere near Goose Bay in Prince William Sound And it was Goose Bay in Alaska (population zero) from where our presenters were based for our last regular meeting of the 2025-2026 Rotary year.
Dr Nigel Jollands and Veronica Lysaght were able to brighten our evening with a joint address and Q & A session while they enjoyed the midnight sun on their longest day of the year. They had last year completed a traverse of the North-West passage on their way home to New Zealand from Europe.
The adventure had started back in April 2023 after selling their home and buying the ice breaking sailing ship SS Novara. The journey started by taking in Portugal, Africa and then across the Atlantic to the Carribean. By May 2025 Nigel and Veronica had positioned the SS Novara to head out from Maine and along the West Coast of Greenland . To complete the North West passage and reach the Aleutian Islands the crew of 6 took 4 months and sailed 7000 nautical miles. The Novara was one of just 19 vessels to complete the passage in 2025. Although videos of pack ice encountered on the way indicated how perilous it can be, in general what was more noticeable was the lack of wildlife and ice floes.
Nigel is a sustainable energy, climate finance and policy professional and Veronica has an extensive background in coaching and leadership. Their mission on the trip back to New Zealand is to help coastal communities adapt to climate change. The club welcomed a large contingent of the Jollands Family to be able to see and hear from Nigel and his wife and enjoy with us hearing about such an outstanding endeavour.
Ian Willetts introduced and thanked our guests who were speaking to us from 11,445 km away.
