Are we nearly there?

Sunday 29 January WOW

2012-02-08T11:36:00.001+13:00

The World of Wearable art, or WOW, is an annual competition to design clothes made from non conventional materials. It began in Nelson twenty years ago and has grown and overspilled to Wellington. The permanent collection is in a gallery in the Nelson suburbs too far to walk but a fine cycle ride on cycle paths all the way. Nelson is most friendly to cyclists with bike paths all over. We've been all over town on ours.
The route out took us along a track designated for a railway line which was never built. Most of it felt uphill against headwind. Should be OK coming back.

Wearable art

The literature for WOW also mentions a classic car collection. Was there ever a gallery more suited to us ? Cars for David, frocks for me. We flew into the empty car park and found convenient bikes racks to leave our trusty wheels, got tickets and spotted the café. Why not a coffee and cake to give us energy for culture? If you ever find yourself in the museum try the white chocolate and raspberry muffin. Divine.

Austin A35

Overland Torpedo Roadster 1911

Energy levels topped up I headed for the frocks and David made a beeline for the classic cars. The clothes were interesting, a lot of talent for thinking 'outside the box' but I feel the real star of this museum, and undersold part, are the cars. In the first hall there are 60 gleaming examples from the earliest Cadillacs through to modern Ferraris and Aston Martins. It's a private collection with all cars sourced within NZ and restored in the on site workshop. Of particular interest for me were the British cars which were exported as parts and assembled here in Nelson, actually in the building the museum is housed in. There's an Austin Princess, an early Vauxhall, Triumph 2500, Triumph Herald, Morris Minor. This explains why we've seen so many British we knew from our childhoods being driven here. From Hall one we walked across the back yard into hall two and another 70 cars parked fender to fender from earliest American to post war European; old jags, Austin Riley, Austin A35 and Austin A40 and a Ford Anglia which David had three of when he was a young driver. We were there until closing time and David was in seventh heaven.

Coming back to earth we hopped on our pedal powered vehicles and powered home at hair streaming speed - downhill all the way.

Saturday 28 January Nelson market

2012-02-02T14:06:00.000+13:00

The market at Nelson is legendary. Almost everyone we met and in the guide book strongly recommended a visit. How could miss this highlight. We took an early start on the day with bags in bags ready to scoop up all the lovely produce and arrived a little after 9am. Business was already brisk; people swooping on organic fruit and veggies, stopping to sample home made jams, pickles and chutneys, gazing upon the eclectic and intriguing clothes. The clothes stalls specialised in unusual fabrics from possum fur and wool jumpers, children's clothes made from curtains a la Sound of Music, more handwoven wool as you'd expect in the land of the sheep.
David found a man selling second hand tools who amazingly had somethings we didn't already. We do now. I pounced on the blueberries. Locally grown and freeze beautifully. Now's the time to buy as the season lasts just 2 weeks. Am a sucker for the sales pitch?
Groaning under the weight of bursting bags we tottered back to the marina via the chandlery (no day out is complete without venturing into a boat shop) where we picked up a new international dive flag and a brush for deck cleaning (on the promise it would be used).
Some of the lovely people we met at the yacht club came by as promised this afternoon. Tony and his two grandsons came to say hello and Tony brought his cherished book on the geology of South Island he'd offered to lend. The topography of South island is varied and this book will explain why it looks the way it does with extinct volcanoes, alps, fjords and alluvial plains. Next to pop by were Lorraine and David with copies of tide tables and charts for French Pass which is the short cut gateway from the Abel Tasman into the Marlborough Sounds. It's a narrow and shallow gap between D'Urville island and the mainland with eddies, whirlpools and currents up to 8 knots. A little local knowledge and the tide tables will ease my apprehension. They are fonts of information on best places to visit and where to drop the hook.
Our evening was quieter. It seems we've been out since we arrived and there are boats jobs crying out for attention while we're alongside with shore power and unlimited water. David spent his time in the engine room and I had the sewing machine out making a new flag to replace the tattered remains on the man overboard buoy.

Friday 27 January Tasman Bay Cruising Club

2012-02-02T14:04:00.000+13:00

Commodore of the Tasman Bay Cruising Club, Phil Silva, invited us to come to the club this evening to introduce us to the members and have dinner. Earlier in the day when we'd popped in for a sticky beak (sneak) we met the club secretary Margaret who gave us a tour of the building and a one month membership to the club. We later discovered this small gesture had a hidden bonus.
At the sundowner hour Phil greeted us at the door and escorted us in to meet the small and distinguished group gathered for their regular Friday night dinner cooked by their contract caterers. This is a holiday weekend in NZ, Monday is a public holiday and many people had already gone away so not many people in for the dinner. Another hidden bonus waiting to be discovered.
With a glass of fine wine (me) and a glass of local lager (David) we started chatting and telling our story, getting to know more friendly Kiwis and found we had lots in common like Tony and Judy had lived in the same part of London as we did and King came from 10 miles from where I grew up.
Dinner was excellent – a pork and beef carvery that we both said reminded us of Christmas. It must have been the small of the roast meat and roast potatoes which are a rarity in our cruising life. The hidden bonus was there was so much food we were invited for a second helping. Need and want are not related. Needing more of that delicious pork? No. Wanting? Yes sirree! If the restaurant had been full of cruisers there wouldn't have been a bean left on any of the plates. Not that cruisers are scavengers; the outdoor life encourages healthy appetites.
A top evening and many new friends. New Zealanders are almost without exception open and generous. We like 'em.

Thursday 26 January City of Nelson

2012-02-02T14:03:00.001+13:00

On a gorgeous flat day we reluctantly left the Abel Tasman Park and headed into the small city of Nelson, one of the oldest towns in New Zealand and named after Horatio Nelson. A call to the marina on the way in and we secured a berth on the brand new dock.
Tied up safely with plenty of room around us we decided to pull our bikes out of the lazerette and get mobile fast. We didn't know it but Nelson has cycle paths all over town given us two wheelers protection from the four wheelers. We blasted into the dock area and checked out the marine shops – more commercial fishing than for yachties – and then into the town. It's an easy grid system of roads with English names like Trafalgar, Hastings and lining these streets are original wooden buildings from the turn of the 20th century and some gems of Art Deco. For me there were quality clothes shops – many local designers and vintage stores, small shops for browsing nice things that have no place on a boat, art galleries, plenty of boutique breweries and coffee shops. All in all a pretty town.
We cycled in in the evening to have a meal at the Indian café. The banquet for two option was a feast and we rolled onto our bikes to pedal home in the last rays of the sunset.

Wednesday 25 January Rest day

2012-01-28T20:07:00.002+13:00

After hitting south island NZ at full tilt we permitted ourselves a day of rest from the physical endurance tests we've set ourselves over the last 4 days. The upside is we're already feeling the benefits of the extra exercise; stronger muscles and deep, restful sleeps.

On our rest day we made a new batch of lager, I gave the heads and galley a super clean, David did engine maintenance, battery maintenance.

Tuesday 24 January Falls track

2012-01-28T20:06:00.000+13:00

Another day and another walk. Our challenge this morning was a hill climb up to the waterfalls above Torrent bay and our fellow nuts were Katie & Jim (Tenaya, US) and Gloria & Michael (Paikea, Canada). The photos are more eloquent than my writing so I leave them to show you the absolute, pristine beauty of New Zealand. It is an exceptionally gorgeous bit of the world and how lucky we are to be here.

The track led first to a small waterfall and then another hour on and up to the clambering over riverside boulders to reach the highest falls. Climbing the boulders was tricky – here's David lowering and lifting me through a big drop – and only David, Michael and mountain goat Gloria managed the climb to the upper falls.

lower cascade

Upper cascades detail

River below the cascades

Michael, J, Gloria, D, Katie, Jim

and up other side

Down...

Gloria rock hops like a mountain goat

At the top of the falls

The apex

We may have only walked 6 miles but it still took 4 hours including lying on the rocks absorbing the sun while we ate lunch.

Monday 23 January Cleopatra's Pool

2012-01-28T19:56:00.000+13:00

Fun in the water slides

Across from the anchorage the Torrent River flows into the sea. At high water it's possible to take the dinghy up the river and then walk 15 minutes to reach Cleopatra's Pool, a series of rock chutes and pools and if you're really brave you can slide down the chutes. Gloria and I are officially brave, or should that be stupid? We put on our wetsuits and plunged into the icy flow. It was bracing and exhilarating being shooshed down the slide; a narrow water cut channel from under a small waterfall, down a frothing rapid to turn 180° back into the limpid pool at the bottom. David and Michael wimped out and didn't even get their feet wet.
After lunch and feeling like more exploring we went for a short walk along an easy path up to the headland and look out over Adele island. Because Torrent Bay is closer to the nearest town to the park and a 4 hour walk back there are more visitors who come in on the ferry and walk back to Marahau. Overall we spent more time chatting than walking; English holiday makers, locals from Nelson, 2 girls from Dublin back packing, 2 girls from New York back packing and running the trail. It's popular.

The race fleet

Flagged boat took line honours

How many people can you fit without sinking?

From the bench atop the hill we spotted a yacht race in progress. We later learn there's been a regatta in Nelson and unknown to us today's race is from Nelson to Torrent bay. When we left Jackster there were 8 boats in the anchorage. When we came back there were 38 boats with 30 crews celebrating any of the following: winning, doing well, having a fun day sailing and all with much vigour and good cheer.
Later in the evening when we had Gloria & Michael (Paikea Mist) and Katie & Jim (Tenaya) visiting when one young and adventurous sailor came aboard thinking we were one of the boats in the race fleet. Either that or he saw our party and wanted to join in. We were chatting and didn't hear or see him until after he'd pulled himself up onto our transom and was at the cockpit. He liked out party and stayed for 10 minutes before diving over the side and continuing on the next boat. Apparently it's tradition to 'swim' the anchorage. We saw Andrew next morning swimming off his hangover!

Sunday 22 January Torrent Bay

2012-01-28T19:50:00.002+13:00

There's so much to see and not enough time to linger too long! After breakfast we continued our trip around the Abel Tasman park and moved 10 miles south to Torrent Bay which a local recommended as the best anchorage in the park. We went from a big bay with two foreign boats to a smaller one with 15 local boats. There locals know the best spots and it's been wonderfully protected with no swell to rock us awake at night. There's another gorgeous golden beach and here there are some private houses overlooking the beach as well as a DOC (department of conservation) hut and camp site for walkers.

Saturday 21 January Abel Tasman National Park

2012-01-28T19:49:00.000+13:00

Wainui bay

Anapai bay, Michael, David, Jacqui

David climbing again

Mutton bay

Black oyster catcher

The Abel Tasman national park is a legend in NZ. The smallest of all the parks and the most popular with an average 20,000 visitors per annum who come to camp and tramp the 51km coastal path. Walking is the reason we're here. However this year things are different. Before Christmas a series of torrential downpours washed out roads all along the Tasman Bay from Nelson to the park in the west. Roads into the city of Nelson were quickly reopened. The roads leading into the park won't be cleared for at least another 6 months so the only access is by boat; a ferry or private boat. This year visitor numbers are down 90%. Not good for park revenues but excellent for us.

The beach surrounding the bay where we're anchored would normally be packed with families on their annual holiday, up to 1000 bodies. Today there are less than 150. We went for a long walk inland up to Gibbs Hill and then joining up with the coastal path to return to Toturanui and saw very few other people. There are large swages of bare sand left by land slips, the path washed away in places and everywhere the streams clogged with fallen trees and tons of sand which has washed down. The reason would be soft sandy soil over hard granite – adds days of heavy rain and whoosh!

Pied shag or commorant

Can anyone identify this bird?

On the brighter side we enjoyed one of the great walks of NZ through perfect woods, glades of enchanting perfumes, birds everywhere and fantastic views out to Farewell Spit and back towards Nelson. In 6 hours we walked 11½ miles / 18km including a break to eat our lunch and frequent stops to admire the views.
We came to south island to enjoy the walking (Brit English), or hiking (American English) or tramping (Kiwi English) and we are enjoying it. Back on the boat and looking forward to our next foray (subject to under used muscles recovering).

Friday 20 January Mission accomplished

2012-01-28T19:41:00.000+13:00

A little after midday we dropped anchor in Toturanui bay in the Abel Tasman national park and our mission to sail from north island to south island was complete. It had been a good sail though with more motoring than we usually like – the trade being super calm seas in an area more known for challenging conditions and storms. Most unexpectedly was the wind acceleration when we were in the supposed lee of Farewell Spit, 70 miles of sand spit wrapping around the northern end of the big island. Someone later explained the wind increases because it gets sucked into the Cook Straits to the east. Whatever, 25 knots of wind became 35 knots though seas were under 1m and then 2 miles off the coast the wind disappeared and the temperature shot up. In under half an hour we went from full foulies and hats to shorts and t-shirts. Incredible. This must be the famous micro system we'd heard about.

Waiting in the super calm anchorage to welcome us in were Michael and Gloria on Paikea Mist. They'd arrived in the dark last night. Ahead of a view to behold – a mile of golden beach backed with wooded slopes which released grade A perfumes. It smelt better than the cosmetics department in a posh shop.
Here's something we hadn't considered. At the latitude of 40°40s the days are longer than in the north island and by a quirk of the micro climate it's 5°C warmer! We are at the same latitude as the north coast of Tasmania, closer to the south pole than Cape Town and South Africa. Only mainland South America (56°s) extends below us. In the northern hemisphere 40N passes through New York, Madrid, Majorca, Istanbul

Thursday 19 January Whales and dolphins

2012-01-28T19:14:00.002+13:00

Yesterday I'd been reading of the 78 species of whales and dolphins in the world 35 can be seen in NZ waters. For a small country that's a large percentage. Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales (the others are baleen whales) and orcas are the biggest of the dolphins. Interesting facts which might come up in a pub quiz. If we did pub quizzes.

As dawn was breaking David was below sleeping and I was on watch contemplating my belly button, admiring the visual beauty of the start of the day and thinking aren't these the right conditions to see wildlife when a pod of bottlenose dolphins came swimming past. There must have been on a mission to be somewhere because they didn't come close to investigate just swam on by.
Barely half an hour later and I spotted 'smoke' and a small dorsal fin 100 meters off our starboard beam. Only whales spout water through their vents holes. Sperm whales! Knowing David would want to see them I woke him by banging on the coach roof and hollering 'whales' as one would. He came flying up dragging on t shirt and shorts ad we turned direction to come closer to the pod. There were about half a dozen animals lazing on the surface. They might have been sleeping. We approached slowly and from the side as recommended and had a good view before they flicked their flukes and dived.
And at the end of 'wildlife day' we had Royal Albatross soaring around us. An albatross is unmistakable with it's 3m wingspan.

Tuesday 17 January Go north to go south

2012-01-28T19:12:00.002+13:00

The wisdom of the locals on the best route from the north end of north island to the north end of the south island of NZ is to go over the top, ie sail around the most northerly part of NZ, around Cape Reinga and than take a direct south course down the Tasman Sea to arrive in Tasman bay. It's half the distance of going down the east coast. The Tasman does have a reputation for storms and wild weather but with the accuracy of forecasting available nowadays it's possible to find a three day window to suit. For us this would be light to no winds and the prospect of putting the motor on. Not our preferred choice but we'd also get easiest conditions. First day and first night both went without incident. Paikea Mist and Vision of Johanna powered on ahead of us.

Monday 16 January Mangonui fish 'n' chips

2012-01-28T19:11:00.000+13:00

Mangonui has the reputation for the best fish and chips in New Zealand. With a challenge like that it was only right we should seek out the shop and put their claim to the test. As it's been months, possibly more than over a year since we last had fish and chips there aren't a lot of comparisons.

We'd from the Cavalli island in time for a late lunch and a brief stop before continuing on to our night anchorage. Mangonui is a small fishing village on a shallow river with fishing boats on the wharf, shops on stilts hanging over the water and a small area to plant the anchor. We ended up 50m off the main jetty and within view of the chip shop.

Mangonui fish n chip shop

Catch of the day was Bluenose which we haven't tried before but it looked like firm white fish so good to try together with an order of salt and pepper calamari and a heap of chips all wrapped in paper to take out or eat in. An endearing feature of the restaurant is it is BYO as in bring your own wine. However I'd interpreted it as byo Heinz tomato sauce – not an item readily available and never served in eateries. Chips without Heinz? Unthinkable. How was the meal? The calamari was excellent. The chips tasty and lots of them. The batter on the fish was not the best – too thin and greasy for my picky tastes. Can't have been that bad because we cleared the paper and felt very full afterwards.
As we continued our trip north across Doubtless Bay (so named by Capt'n Cook who sailed passed in bad weather, looked ashore and declared “doubtless it's a bay”) to Cape Karikari and Waipapa Bay where we discovered our friends Paikea Mist and Visions of Johanna. All of us intend to leave early tomorrow morning to make the passage to south island in benign conditions.

Sunday 15 January Cavalli islands

2012-01-28T19:08:00.003+13:00

In direct contrast to the high winds of yesterday it is flat calm with no wind and we have a gentle motor up to the Cavalli islands. The calm conditions encourage us to head straight to the Rainbow Warrior where we plan to briefly drop anchor and dinghy over to the black buoy which marks the top of the wreck. This is our second visit to the spot. Last year we arrived and the fog rolled in so we rolled on to Whangaroa. This time the stars are in alignment except for one detail. The black buoy tied to the wreck had gone. No buoy to tie the dinghy to and no dive. This is a major disappointment especially as we'd been given precise waypoints by friends who dived it two weeks ago.

We kept our wetsuits on and dive kit in the dinghy and headed off to our night time anchorage from there the same friends had given us the location of where to find scallops. Except when we got in the water all we saw was kelp. No scallops and the second disappointment of the day.

Saturday 14 January Departure

2012-01-28T19:08:00.000+13:00

Last minute shopping in Russell then anchors aweigh in 10 knots of westerlies to make the 20 mile trip up to the Cavalli islands, home of the wreck of the Rainbow Warrior which the French commandos bombed and sank when it was in Auckland harbour in 19...

Two miles out into the Bay of Islands and contrary to the weather forecast and conditions there are 25 knots flying at us from where we want to go. The sea has been frothed up into something that isn't pretty so we change course, switch off the engine, unfurl the sails go full tilt towards Otaio bay on Urupukapuka where we find a quiet place to spend the night.

Wednesday 11 January SSB

2012-01-28T19:06:00.003+13:00

Day trip from Russell to Opua to collect our returned long range radio from from the chandlers. How wonderful to have a functioning radio to download weather forecasts and talk to other boats on the trip down the Tasman.

Monday 9 January Chores

2012-01-11T11:43:00.002+13:00

With the European Laundry mountain threatening to capsize us it was time to lug it ashore to the marina laundry. Going to the laundry is the place to catch up with friends, news, gossip, swap some books, check the goodie box for giveaways and to get clothes clean. Chrissie from CD was already in there and I bagged the last 2 machines on a busy Monday morning. Chris and Dave have very kindly offered to lend us their car once more for a trip to the supermarket in Kerikeri. I didn't think we needed much but the car was full for the return plus David found new Skype earphones to replace our originals that have disintegrated (didn't realise we talked that much!) and a new fish catch net to replace the original which snapped under the weight of a large dorado. It's a boat, things break.

Sunday 8 January Back to Opua

2012-01-11T11:42:00.006+13:00

Yesterday's storm cleared as quickly as it came. Where we were anchored under the cliffs the strongest wind we saw was 25 knots. We heard it was 40 knots on the course and only 25 of the expected 60 boats took part – the rest were like us and stayed in port.

entrant from yesterday's race

Chrisander's Dream overtaking old ship

Back in Opua we went to the yacht club for Sunday roast dinner and met friends who had been brave enough to venture out in the race yesterday. They came 2nd in their class but at the cost of a ripped mainsail and a water logged boat. One crew member mentioned the water was up to her knees and she was in the cockpit.

Saturday 7 January Tall Ships Race day

2012-01-11T11:42:00.005+13:00

Glimpse of a racing yacht (circled)

Looking out into the rain

Instead of gazing out at the spectacle of canvas straining in the breeze around us we peered through the deluge hoping to catch a glimpse of the hardy souls taking part in the Tall Ship race. We did see sails, some almost touching the water as the boats heeled over in 40 knot winds, and agreed we'd made the right decision. How much fun would it have been out there sodden and cold for three hours? It was disappointing to watch and not take part and not to be at the yacht club for the hangi (underground oven) and entertainment in the evening. Instead we watched a poor film – a poor substitute.

Friday 6 January Captain, we have a DFI

2012-01-11T11:41:00.000+13:00

A different flippin' idea. Our plans to race in the Russell Tall Ships regatta got defenestrated this morning. We've been listening to the weather forecast for tomorrow all week and day by day the expected wind has been increasing until today it was upgraded to gale warning; gusts up to 45 knots and heavy rain. It was always our intention to have a fun day out with Chris and Dave of Chrisandavers Dream, aka CD, as crew together with their friends Richard and Karen who regularly race in Kerikeri with much success. I believe the term is 'ringers'. Without any experience of racing ourselves we hoped having help might mean we weren't last across the line.

Our priorities changed from getting to Russell today to finding a safe anchorage to sit out the blow. We chose Omakiwi bay in the south west corner of Bay of Islands which would afford us a semi circle of high cliffs to tuck under. We were the 8th boat in but by sunset there were 45 boats in the anchorage; motor cruisers with their shallow drafts at the very front and yachts behind.
Knowing we'd be on the boat all day tomorrow we went for a walk along the road behind the beach and then on the beach where we met other boaters walking their dogs. They suggested a walk up through the trees where we'd find a Maori cemetery. What we found was a modern cemetery with ornately decorated graves; glass paperweights, windmills, solar lights to illuminate crystal angels, gnomes, a small wicker fence, children's toys, flowers, manicured lawns and a view out over the bay. What was amazing and refreshing for our jaded experience was no evidence of vandalism. In a way the decoration was similar to graves in other islands in the Pacific – a celebration of the afterlife.
In celebration of today's life we invited CD to come over for dinner. Chrissie had made me a rope ladder for getting into the dinghy or attaching to the cleat on the rear step instead of the putting down the rigid swim ladder. Each time I use it I'll think of CD. Thanks guys – job's a good 'un.

Thursday 5 January Scallops and walking

2012-01-07T11:10:00.001+13:00

With CD's dinghy motor out of commission David and I went scalloping on our own this morning. It's quite peaceful sitting in the dinghy watching the other boat go by, occasionally turning on the engine to keep closer to my diver or to get between him and an approaching boat. We had plenty so took some over to CD on the way back to Jackster.

Cliffs on Urupukapuka

Cove on Urupukapuka

A leisurely lunch was followed by scallops cleaning accompanied by favourite songs from the MP3 player and then a even more leisurely read and snooze in the sun. We managed to shake a leg later and went for a walk with Chris and Dave from the beach and up to the headland. I like Urupukapuka. It's pretty and peaceful. Tomorrow we have to return to Russell to be ready for the Tall Ship race on Saturday.

Wednesday 4 January Scallops and Otehei Bay

2012-01-07T08:06:00.001+13:00

The two Dave's were our designated hunter gatherers this morning with Chrissie and I as safety surface cover in the dinghies. Although surface temps were skin burning 24c (due to a depleted ozone the sun in NZ is vicious) the water was hovering at 19c. My Dave was laden with enough neoprene for a British water Dave, other Dave had a 4mm full length and hood. You could tell it was CD Dave's first dip in cold water for a while by the noises he made as the seawater seeped into his wetsuit. My Dave added a hat and sunglasses for the 'cool' effect.

Do you recognise this man?

CD Dave managed 35 minutes underwater before surfacing with his bag full of scallops. Jackster Dave with more neoprene stayed another 15 minutes before he came up. While we were still out in the channel and above the scallop beds we measured each one and threw back any under the 100mm minimum take size. There's another year and another breeding season before they can be taken.

Scallops straight from the pan. Scrummy!

Scallops are easier to shuck than oysters, far easier and quicker than cleaning mussels and better tasting than either oysters or mussels in my limited experience.
In preparation for the scallop fest in the evening we decided we needed some land exercise. Jackster David suggested we tootle along to the bay at the south of the island where we'd seen people camping on earlier visits. We set off in both dinghies because I thought it was a long way. I was wrong. Two bays to the south and we came across the a bay full of boats, a heli pad, the ferry dock, DOC (Department of Conservation) huts, café and manicured lawns. Somehow it looked different from the bay we'd seen from the lookout point atop. Perhaps because this was a different bay, not visible from the look out. I'd have called it Serendipity. The map called it Otehei.
CD's outboard spat the dummy as we approached the jetty and wouldn't start again. How fortunate to have both dinghies* today to throw them a line. Ashore we stomped up the hill for a view over the bay and out to Cape Brett and the stomped back down the hill to check out the bar and café but with our scallops and plenty of chilled home brew on board we passed and headed back to Otaio.
On board CD Chrissie and I cooked up a storm in the galley and served pan after pan of tender, sweet scallops. As Dave says “job's a good 'un”. Yumliciously true!

*today's useless fact. The word dinghy comes from the Indian word for a small boat, dingha, and was introduced into common usage by Captain FitzRoy of HMS Beagle.

Tuesday 3 January Mussels

2012-01-07T08:01:00.001+13:00

Low water was conveniently happened just after breakfast. Perfect for collecting a bucket of fresh mussels for dinner tonight. The mussels live on sharp, dinghy ripping rocks with nowhere to safely tie or anchor the dinghy so I drove and the two Dave's stepped off onto the seaweed covered rocks. While they picked and collected with the other mussels gatherers Chrissie and I hovered offshore awaiting the signal for pick up. There it was! The distinctive 'come here and pick us up' wave. The Dave's had picked a safe spot for me to nose the dinghy up to and I came in gently. First the buckets of booty were handed in and then the boys were in and we were away.

Ready for cooking

Beautiful gleaming shells of mussels which have grown and lived in clear, fresh Pacific water. No grit in these shells and all organic, hand picked for freshness. The minor drawback is they take an age to pull off the beards (what they attach to the rocks with) and scrub the shells pre cooking. Dinner tonight was three pans of moules marinieres with lots of garlic, butter and white wine for dinner. Delicious and not a single dodgy mussel.

Sunset over Otaio bay

After lunch we'd had a walk around the island then moved on to Otaio Bay, Urupukapuka where we were for Christmas. A beautiful sheltered anchorage with scallops out in the channel and good walking on the island. Dave and Chris are divers too and we were keen to show then the joy of diving for scallops in NZ. It was a great discovery when John and Lynn of Windflower showed us how in Kawau last year.

Monday 2 January 2012 Gotta go sailing

2012-01-07T07:58:00.000+13:00

New Year is ticked off as done so why sit as Russell bay when there are pretty islands to explore and treasures of the sea to gather? Chrisandaver Dream are of the same opinion so we lifted anchors and headed out into the Bay of Islands once more.

With Dignity Dec '11 - add 25 more boats for Jan '12

Conditions were favourable for going to Waiwhapuku or Army Bay on Moturua Island; a bay we visited last year with Dignity and gathered mussels off the rocks at low water and enjoyed the walks on the island. We arrived in the warmth of late afternoon after a good sail when David and I hauled our anchor chain on deck, while under way, and added new markers at 10m intervals to indicate how much scope we're putting out. I won't say we were cutting our timing close but David was still rinsing down the deck as I turned to take us between the entrance rocks. Sails came in double quick and the engine was on at least 2 minutes before we turned into the wind shadow and the anchorage. Last December it was us and Dignity, today there are 20 boats here. It's a holiday.

Saturday 31 December New Year's Eve in Russell

2012-01-07T07:55:00.000+13:00

The town councils of Paihia and Russell are sponsoring a firework display at midnight tonight. The forecast is for still more rain but Dorothy (long time cruiser and resident of Opua) assured the Cruisers Net this morning the rain usually stops in time for the display. Usually being the key word.

Fireworks over Paihia

We got to Russell early in the week to stake a claim for best position to view the fireworks in the Bay and Chrisandaver Dream joined us yesterday. Being cautious of peaking too early and falling asleep before midnight Chris and Dave waited until the late hour of 8.30pm to come over to us. In the tropics it would be dark by now and this is the time we'd be thinking of going home and going to bed. Not us crazy bein's tonight. We sat, chatted, nibbled on nibbly bits and had a sip of wine and suddenly it was the last five minutes of the year.
A dash up top into the wet but not raining (Dorothy's prophecy did come to pass) night and lo the sky did light up with a myriad of twinkling lights. We accompanied the display with the now compulsory oohs and aahs and a glass of sparkling wine.
Earlier in the day David and I had reviewed our 2011; another fantastic year made so by the people we met, both new cruiser friends who will be friends for life and local people in the places we visited, and the new countries we travelled to, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Jackster has looked after us well in return for us taking care of her with plenty of new upgrades added in NZ early in the year. At the vote it was a unanimous agreement the new improved, bigger bimini was the best and most valuable improvement giving us a dry cockpit in rain, warmer in winds and better visibility. All we ask now is for 2012 to be as good.
Happy New Year to all our families, friends and blog readers.

Friday 30 December Guess who's here

2012-01-07T07:51:00.002+13:00

One of the biggest joys of cruising is meeting up with old friends. We were pottering when we heard a knock on the hull, coming up on deck lo! Lucy and Jamie of Bamboozle, fellow Brits also with an Amel. A wonderful surprise as we haven't seen them since Tonga more than a year ago and I was finally able to return a book they had lent to a mutual friend in Fiji. The traditional yachtie question of future plans came up and it seems we are both considering Australia next year.

In the afternoon Gloria and Michael of Paikea Mist dropped by for a cup of tea and a chat which extended until the tropical downpour had finished. Just a typical NZ summer.

Wednesday 28 December Russell

2012-01-07T07:50:00.002+13:00

With strong winds and rain forecast for the next 3 to 4 days we felt it wasn't worth staying in the idyllic, rain sodden Otaio bay and headed for the shelter of Mautawhi bay, close to Russell Yacht Club. At least here we have internet connection and shelter from the worst of the northerly winds and can go into town between the downpours.

Russell pier

waterfront road in Russell

I was keen to visit Russell again. We came here last year and were impressed by the quiet, Cornish village feel of the place. While I wandered through the art galleries David took the opportunity to dive into the hardware shop 'just in case'. While I found a painting and a glass sculpture I would have liked but can't afford, David found nothing we needed, just something we'd like to have but not for sale – the sweetest black Cocker Spaniel called Jenner. Then in the newsagents there was a grey tabby making herself at home on the counter. How sad to be broody for pets.
The town was fuller than last time we were here swelled by an influx of tourists over the holiday period.

Tuesday 27 December More scallops

2011-12-29T17:25:00.001+13:00

The scallops we collected yesterday were so divine we're going back for more this morning but this time David will be going solo starting in the spot where he finished yesterday and I'm on safety surface cover mirroring his movements in the dinghy. The channel is busy with boat traffic so I protect him from boats coming close, follow where he goes and he can go where the scallops are without being concerned about having to find the dinghy. I've got the VHF radio. The dive flag is held high and David's orange surface marker bobs behind him.

so cute

I thought I'd get bored. No way. There was a fish feeding frenzy to watch with the gannets plunging into the water close to me. The noise and speed is impressive. I wondered if they could dive deep enough to peck David on the bum. My next visitor was a little blue penguin. One of my personal favourites, cute like puppies and usually as skittish as colts, especially if you shriek 'penguin'. This little guy was on a mission to reach the headland by swimming on the surface and nothing was going to stop him – not a yellow coated woman in a dinghy who kept coming closer and closer, nor the fast sight seeing ferry that sent him spinning in their wake. He was swimming away from my charge so I left him to go on his way unmolested. Note for those who collect facts; The blue pengiun is also known as Little Blue Penguin and in Australia as the Fairy penguin. It's the smallest penguin in the world.
Soon after David surfaced with his goodie bag full and I was there to pick him up. On the ride back into the bay I measured each shell and discarded any that were below the legal take limit. This way there'll be a harvest next year.

Monday 26 December A hunting we will go

2011-12-29T17:23:00.003+13:00

Watching the locals diving for scallops in the channel just outside the bay, the sun and reports the water is 3°C warmer than usual gave us the courage to pile on the neoprene and go diving ourselves. Last year we successfully dived for scallops many times but not before mid January.

heaven in a shell

The first impression of the water was 'bracing' but water inside our suits quickly warmed and it wasn't that cold - 19°C on my dive computer. We followed the anchor line down to 9m, good visibility and very little current. Unfortunately the only scallops we saw were empty shells. There were many, many octopuses sitting in their nests made from empty shells disdainfully watching our progress. After 25 minutes and only one live scallop I signalled to David I was going to surface to check the direction back to the dinghy and then we'd swim underwater back to it. A good plan with poor execution. I saw the dinghy a 150m down current but when I descended my buddy wasn't in sight. Each of you only has to drift 10m in different directions to loose sight.
I stopped, circled, looked and then followed the rule of each making your way back to the dinghy to wait for the other. Conditions were easy. We were shallow so no danger. I was first back with my four scallops. David came up in a different place to me clutching a bagful of big bivalves. On his way back he'd drifted into the good spot.
What else for lunch but sweet, succulent fresh scallops cooked in butter with garlic, a dash of white wine and french bread to mop up the juices? Worth all the effort it takes to get them. We kept some to take over to Paikea Mist for dinner in the evening. Gloria and Michael are divers too and we were encouraging them to brave the cool water. If we go tomorrow they might come with us.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-29T17:22:00.000+13:00

Santa Claus must be reallyclever. He found our boat (without chimney) and delivered cards and presents on this beautiful sunny morning. We enjoyed breakfast in the cockpit watching more and more boats arriving for the holiday. Any New Zealander with a boat does his duty and loads up with Mum, the kids, grandparents, dogs, water toys and eskies filled with cold beer (and a bottle of cold white wine for the ladies) and heads off in his fishing or sailing boat to a bay for the holiday. It's a celebration of summer and family time.

Decorated Jackster

Pokukawa tree in bloom

David cracked on with fixing the outboard, yesterday's job delayed due to miscreant bilge pump yesterday afternoon, while I pouted about wanting to go ashore for a walk like a dog with crossed legs.

Christmas lunch

Dogs aren't allowed on Urupukapuka because it is a Department of Conservation reserve but I did get my walk. It's a beautiful island and at this time of year fragrant with the perfume red blossoms of the pohutukawa tree, also known as the Christmas tree. At the top of the island we lay in the grass enjoying the sun which seems to have been absent for too long and watched the clouds drifting above. The forecast says we have one more day of good weather and then it's high winds and rain up until New Year. Enjoy the sun while you can.

David walking

Following our traditional Christmas Day constitutional we had a traditional lunch of salmon sushi, smoked salmon, guacamole and other delicacies accompanied by a bottle of fizz. There wasn't a slice of turkey, roast potato or brussel sprout in sight but we did watch some locals out diving for scallops in the channel.... As a special treat for David who works so hard to keep Jackster ship shape and me happy there was Christmas pud and custard and a re-run of a Brit comedy, Gavin & Stacey – the Christmas Special from three years ago.

Saturday 24 December Where there's muck there's work

2011-12-29T17:16:00.000+13:00

It's almost the holidays and time to join the rush out of town. For us this is a motor sail into the Bay of Islands and a sheltered bay on Urupukapuka Island. First we pull up to the cruising club dock to fill water tank. Although we have a water maker the river water in the estuary is too dirty and muddy and would clog the filters. Going alongside we can fill with 1000L and scrub clean the decks and cockpit. The latter suffering from being the nominated workshop when the winches were stripped down and cleaned last week.

We got off the dock with an hour of out going tide to speed us down the Veronika Channel and out into the bay. An hour later we dropped anchor in Otaio bay amongst 10 other boats. It feels so good to be out of Opua and sailing once more and our first opportunity to try out and adjust the new head sail.

Urupukapuka island

With sunset close to 9pm tonight David jumped down into the engine room to begin work on replacing a leaking oil seal on the outboard motor. However, while he was close to the bilge pump he heard it straining to clear water. A quick inspection revealed a gunged up pump, jetsam floating in the reservoir and a nasty, dirty job requiring immediate attention. On our boat all water from sinks and showers flows into this one sump to be pumped overboard when a pre-determined level is reached.
It took us two hours of removing parts, cleaning two years of amassed fat, grime and smell, flushing with the seawater hose, hand pumping and cunning to remove a rubber bulb pump and a large washer which had ended up in the bottom. The cunning to retrieve offending articles from a filthy place deeper than the length of David's arm was to fill the pot to the top and allow the items to float within reach.

Otaio bay sunset

It wasn't our plan to spend Christmas Eve up to our (rather David's) elbows in mess but it's a boat! If we could arrange breakdowns for convenient times how much easier it would be. Not to worry, an iced gin & tonic in the late summer evening warmth and dinner watching the sun set soon helped us to forget. What bilge? Which leaking outboard? If we don't have a chimney how will Santa Claus deliver all my presents?

Friday 23 December A nice day out

2011-12-29T17:11:00.000+13:00

There's not much left to do except wait. Waiting for our SSB to come back from Seattle where it's been sent today for repair and waiting for Christmas to come so when Chris and Dave asked if we fancied a run out in the car for sight seeing it was a unanimous 'yes please'.

Last time we were here in Northland we missed the Waitangi Treaty House in Paihia. It's famous as the site where the British government signed the treaty with the Maori chief to make New Zealand a British colony and a sub district of New South Wales in Australia. We drove through Paihia and out to the headland where Europeans first landed on these shores. At the cultural centre there's a carved Maori house, the biggest wooden canoe in the world with seats for 80 oarsmen and walk through the grounds. Three miles along an unpaved road we reached Haruru Falls – a small semi circular fall formed by a fault in the basalt rock – and enjoyed a walk along the river path coming across noisy cormorant nests in the trees. I don't know where I thought cormorants nested but I didn't realise it was in trees on a river bank.
Cultural places ticked off a different taste of tourism; wine, chocolate and fudge tasting. At the first winery owned by ex cruisers from California we also discovered the owners have a passion for collecting Morris Minor cars. They've got 8 with some of the rare old ones with the split screen and all were in excellent condition. We've seen many classic British cars here. Most likely they were shipped in the 50's and 60's when their owners emigrated and the climate is kind for them.
On from the wine where CD found a fine bottle of port for their Christmas treat we continued into Kerikeri and a stop at the heavenly chocolate shop where every visitor can sample the goods while watching the next batches being made in the glass fronted kitchen. A short way up the road to the fudge shop where they were most generous with tastings. I think we must have tried all the 15 flavours once and the crème brulee two or three times. The lady behind the counter had spent time in England and happily chatted with the two Daves' while continuing to cut and offer. I was feeling a supercharged sugar hit after that. One more winery in a pretty setting on the way back. Either their wines were thin on flavour or we'd ruined our palates with the fudge.

Monday 19 December Maintenance

2011-12-19T14:40:00.000+13:00

Only six days to Christmas. We have our fancy flashing LEDs up in the salon and a small tree with plastic baubles glittering in the corner behind the dining table. There are some nice bottles of fizz and wine in the cupboard but we still need to go shopping for a Christmas pud, custard and mince pies and because they are Christmas for David, sausage rolls.

He's been busy servicing all the winches over the last week. This meant stripping, cleaning, regreasing and refitting eleven winches. Fortunately there's only dirt to remove with the primary winches (the ones we use for the headsail) being the dirtiest. My task now is to make protective covers to slip over them for when they're not in use. David's also stripped and cleaned the two furling gears on the mainsail. All this is time consuming, involved and a messy job but as we're at anchor and with the time to do it, the perfect opportunity.

Saturday 17 December Hallelujah!

2011-12-19T14:38:00.000+13:00

early morning calm

The sun came out today! It seems such a rare event I had to mention it in the blog. We were going ashore to collect our Fedex parcel which was being delivered this morning and so it felt rude not to enjoy the morning to the full. Coffees and leisurely reading of the Saturday papers at the café while bathing in the warm rays was a must. One never knows when it is due to shine again with the forecast predicting more strong winds and showers for the next two days.

Reading in the paper of the worst floods for ten years hitting Nelson this week it seemed we were meant to stay in Opua for these extra weeks.

Friday 16 December New headsail

2011-12-19T14:37:00.000+13:00

In a brief lull between the gales Ross delivered our new headsail this morning. We're very pleased; excellent workmanship, extra finishing touches and delivered as promised. Normally we'd have gone out for a sail with Ross for final checks and adjustments to the leech and luff lines but the wind forecast was 30 to 35 knots so we'll wait until next week.

The only remaining three items before we can leave for south island are the SSB repair, delivery of a part from Amel in France and a weather window. The SSB is in the hands of Hans who thinks he needs to order a part. The part from France is in the hands of Fedex and local customs office who are dragging their feet over giving clearance to release and the weather is in the hands of Thor who keeps sending nasty lows full of rain and strong wind from the wrong direction. It's looking increasingly like we'll be spending this Christmas in Opua or sailing out into the Bay of Islands.

Monday 12 December Wet, wet, wet

2011-12-19T14:35:00.002+13:00

What a weekend! It was either blowing a hooley or raining cats and dogs, or both all weekend and it was still raining steadily this morning so when CD (Chris and Dave) called to ask if we wanted to go to Kerikeri for shopping it was a delighted 'yes please'.

I didn't like shopping when I lived in London now it's a treat.
Kerikeri is the main town in Northland thirty minutes north from Opua and one of the first European settlements in New Zealand. Today it's a bustling market town, not big, but enough variety of outlets to keep us satisfied. The two Dave's enthused in the hardware shop, Chris and I liked the supermarket. David did too as he quietly slipped Tim Tams and white chocolate in the trolley when he thought I wasn't looking. After the thrill of town we called in to the shopping centre for more goodies and filled the final remaining few spaces left in the car. Back at the marina loading the dinghy was an exercise in tessellation and balance but we made it back with all packages, and us, dry.

Thursday 8 December Head sail ordered

2011-12-19T14:34:00.000+13:00

view up river

Last week we initiated a search to find a sail maker to replace the headsail we damaged in Tonga a year ago. It was repaired in Tonga by Opuan sailmaker Ross Harold who was working for the Moorings charter company in Va'vau and then a stronger repair in Whangarei earlier this year. When we were in New Caledonia we noticed a small tear close to the repair indicating it was time to bite the bullet and get a new one.

We asked for quotes from five companies ranging from the big boys with internationally known names to independent lofts within an hour of Opua including Ross. The big boys sent their salesmen with computer programmes and swatches to close the deal. Ross talked knowledgeably about fabric and construction and we felt we knew him, trusted him and his price was the most competitive so we asked him to make our sail. Delivery should be next Friday.
His brothers' sail making company in Auckland used their computers to draft and and plot the panels on the fabric this afternoon and his girlfriend is driving up with the roll of fabric tomorrow.

Wednesday 7 December Care for a dip?

2011-12-19T14:32:00.001+13:00

All life seems to revolve around the launderette in a marina. A sweeping statement but it seems we run into everyone either at or close to the laundromat. Perhaps that's because it's between the café and the chandlers, two important places for every cruiser. This morning we bumped into, not literally, dear friends Mary and Peter of Asor Lare. We last saw them in Whangarei earlier this year but with so much catching up to cover one hot wash wasn't long enough so we arranged to meet at the yacht club for dinner.

Opua

It was another lovely early summer evening as we dinghied in from the anchorage to the dinghy dock. It had been club race night and the dinghy dock was chocker – no room for us to reach the dock and step off. We'd have to step across the floating pontoon of dinghies to reach the dock tonight. Thoughtfully David went first with the line to secure us. He stepped out of dinghy into a hard yellow plastic boat next to us. Careful of his safety I offered the observation that little yellow plastic boat didn't look very stable. Indeed it rocked precariously with his first foot fall and then perilously as he fought to find balance. Oh dear! Too late. The point of vanishing stability had been reached and he slipped gracefully under the lapping water. Oops! He thought oops too and thinking his phone was in his pocket emerged from the water onto the dock like an exocet missile, faster than a penguin jumping onto an iceberg. One moment he was in. A second later he was out.

Fortunately there wasn't much of an audience – most of the people on the yacht club balcony were looking the other way. I tried very hard to suppress a smile, a giggle, a guffaw for at least 30 seconds while I made sure nothing but his pride was hurt and then I couldn't help it. I admit I laughed. Luckily his phone was safe back on the boat.
Poor damp David! He's usually as sure footed as a goat on a mountain face but that little yellow boat tripped him up and tipped him in. While he went home to shower and get dry clothes I went up to the club still chuckling. Cruel I know but I couldn't help it.
Amazingly in three years of cruising and hopping between boats, jetties, dinghies, this is the first time one of us has been swimming. Shame I didn't have a video camera to capture the moment.

Tuesday 6 December Am I on holiday?

2011-12-19T14:29:00.000+13:00

Am I on holiday or is it my birthday? The sun shone, David brought me breakfast in bed and then into Paihia for a Thai massage, dinner at the most exclusive restaurant in the bay with 360° sea views from the sun deck with smoked salmon to eat and champagne to drink. Adding another year to the tally wasn't that bad after all.

Saturday 3 December The to do list

2011-12-19T14:27:00.000+13:00

Pine or Chrismas pud island, Opua

When we left New Zealand in May we'd done so many improvements Jackster was a better boat than when we bought her. NZ (we feel) is a great place to source parts and to have work done. We found local businesses have a can do attitude and go that extra step to help. Coming back for our second visit David has a long list for the next set of projects, a page and a half of items ranging from major, for example a new head sail, to the less imperative like servicing the winches.

Wednesday 30 November Reopening of the brewery

2011-12-19T14:25:00.000+13:00

On Monday we'd borrowed CDs car for a shopping trip to Kerikeri. We pulled in to a small 'out of town' shopping centre clustered around a large car park. There's a good electronics shop there where David found a replacement recharger cable for his MP3 music machine and a general household store where we found a winter weight duvet in the sale bin. It may be going into summer for native New Zealanders but for those who've been living in the tropics for too long overnight temperatures below 20°c demand a duvet of at least 5 tog rating. There were cosy new slippers for both of us. Alas we've become the warm weather softies I used to mock.

Anchorage at Opua

An important item on our shopping list was more home brewing kits and a second set of bottles. A necessary improvement for the production line to ensure continuity of supply.
With a new kit in our hot hands the Jackster microbrewery was able to open for business once more. The chosen boutique elixir is a Coopers (of Australia) real ale. It should be ready to bottle in seven days and a week after that biere nouveau will be ours to enjoy.

Sunday 27 November We're back

2011-11-30T13:50:00.002+13:00

We went so fast through the night our ETA for Opua came forward from 5pm to 5am. Indeed we entered the Bay of Islands at 3am and then a 2 hour motor up the river to the Q dock in the marina. This has been one of our best passages; constant winds, less than 12 hours of motoring when we had no wind, and kind seas. No burying the bow under water, no hard side slaps, just long interval swells to gently roll over. Huzzah! for patience and waiting for the right weather.

2hrs from bay entrance to marina

Customs and immigration formalities were completed mid morning leaving us free to find a spot to anchor and to be back on shore in time for lunch. Pulling up to the dinghy dock a welcoming sight; two boats we haven't seen for a while. First Anthem with Jack and Jan who we last saw 7 months ago and Chrisandaver Dream aka CD with Chris and Dave who we haven't seen since they helped with our transit through the Panama Canal 18 months ago. Great to see them both. There was a lively catch up of news and stories over a glass or two at the cruising club this evening. In fact we were the last ones to leave and still hadn't stopped talking. Not that that's new for David. Love 'im.

Saturday 26 November Land ahoy!

2011-11-30T13:48:00.003+13:00

Our first sighting of land; the Three Knight islands which are north of Cape Reinga. The wind was blowing 18 knots on the beam and we had to keep reducing sail to keep our speed to 8 knots. At one point we were creaming along at 9.6 knots but this puts too much strain on the rigging so we pull back. Plus the tear in the headsail is exposed as the tape we so carefully applied in Noumea has blown off.

sperm whale (libray shot, not mine!)

Yesterday David woke me with an urgent 'get up here now'. Where we in danger of hitting something? A fish on the line? Mast about to topple? No. We'd crossed paths with a pod of sperm whales. We stayed with them for five minutes – long enough to get the video camera and capture some footage because everyone knows if you don't photograph / video and event it wasn't worth it.
Other sightings on passage have been albatrosses and I spotted a tall black pectoral fin passing down our side. It wasn't moving fast, not big enough for an orca, too big for a dolphin and solitary and too floppy and not moving fast enough to be a shark. Our conclusion was a sunfish, or Mola Mola, one of those strange disc shaped fishes that surface swim for warmer water. My first sighting. What a shame not to see all of it on a dive.

Tuesday 22 November Norfolk Island

2011-11-30T13:47:00.001+13:00

What a cracking sail from New Caledonia. We've flown south on constant NE winds and flat seas to arrive at the southern anchorage, Kingston Bay, this evening. It was dark when we arrived but a clear entrance in using the electronic navigation and radar to verify the accuracy of the charts.

With Jackster settled for the night we had a we're here gin and tonic and went to bed.
During the night a southerly swell worked it's way into the bay and we rolled like a drunken penguin so when we tuned into the net and heard there was a favourable change to the forecast and it seemed possible to continue we forewent going ashore in preference of making NZ without motoring into head winds.
Norfolk Customs were most accommodating; if we didn't want to come ashore not a problem, if we wanted to chance a tough dinghy landing in the swell they'd clear us in and out at the same time. The main settlement in Kingston Bay is only small, a handful of stone buildings from about 18th or early 19th century I estimate. The island is 5 miles by 3 miles; a dot in a very large ocean and, to me, reminiscent of a small Tasmania.
Together with a second yacht, Mai Tai with Laine aboard, we left at midday on Wednesday NZ time for another great days' sail.

Sunday 20 November Anchors aweigh!

2011-11-30T13:46:00.000+13:00

Or more correctly 'let go the mooring ball'. Finally the stars are in alignment, the chicken entrails foretell a favourable passage and the NZ weather website shows it's a good to set off for NZ. We've patiently been waiting for 3 weeks for a window that should allow us to sail. This isn't perfect. It looks like we'll have a fine run down to Norfolk Island, an Australian outpost, once a British penal colony, and now home to resettlers from the Pitcairn.

We are ready to go; there are seven meals and fourteen ham baguettes in the freezer (no cooking, no dishes to wash), engine checked, loose items stowed, all hatched locked down and dinghy strapped hard to the aft deck, nothing left to do except turn on the engine, slip the lines and depart New Caledonia bound for New Zealand. The only hiccup is our long range radio has lost the ability to tune and therefore to transmit and we won't be able to request and receive weather forecasts. In lieu of this we're going to be tuning into a net of six boats which are also leaving today or tomorrow.

Saturday 19 November One last swim

2011-11-19T19:49:00.003+13:00

There was time for one last swim in warm tropical waters before we slip our mooring line tomorrow morning and start the journey south for winter. As we go south the water will be getting chillier and next time I swim I'll be wearing many layers of neoprene. Here at Ilot Maitre the water is clear and the fish plentiful and as a marine reserve we are lucky to see many green turtles. The one I saw this morning was so laid back he let me follow him for ten minutes.

Green turtle (pic from internet)

When will we next enjoy the warmth, the sun? Not until January in NZ and then we'll be sitting behind a windbreak. I jest. We're looking forward to visiting NZ again.

Saturday 12 November Carenage, Prony Bay

2011-11-19T19:40:00.000+13:00

Early morning tranquility

Moved deeper into the bay to have a look at a famous dive site, the Pinnacle. In glorious isolation from everything around it this is a skinny rock pinnacle rising 38m from the sea bed with nothing else around it. Being so deep into the bay visibility is affected by run off from the sienna coloured hills that surround it. Today the wind was blowing mid strength kicking up large wavelets. Together with the limited visibility and talk of calving bull sharks in the neighbourhood didn't make us feel comfortable about trying a dive today. Our alternative was to go 2 miles further in in to the best hurricane hole in the country.

The Carenage is a joy; the burnt orange soils appearing between scrub, emerald bushes and pines combined with the sense of tranquility and bird song make this feel a special place. Indeed the ethnic kanak people never lived here believing the land to have mystical powers unlike the government of France who developed this as a penal colony and used the prisoners to mine iron ore, nickel and cobalt in the late nineteenth century.
We went for a walk which began with a careful dinghy ride up a shallow river to a thermal pool and a path from here crossing a terraced waterfall and then meandering along the sore past ruins from the time of the penal colony. On our way we met two French couples who were spending the weekend camping shore side and spear fishing. A nice chat to find out if we had missed any of the specials points of the walk finishing with an exchange of contact details and an invitation to meet in Noumea and be shown the highlights of the town and to offer help if we were looking for boat parts.

Body temperature thermal pool

The sun was getting lower in the sky so we turned around and retraced the path back over the waterfall with the intention to stop and bathe in the thermal pool by the dinghy dock. As we were getting closer we heard cheerful voices of a group who were already enjoying their bath. Four happy French couple of forty something who'd chartered a catamaran for the weekend. We got talking as you do and they kindly invited us to join them for a drink on board this evening.
David and I went over and with their excellent English and my poor French we talked about life as an expat in New Cal, our life cruising and everything in between. Earlier we mentioned how we like French wine, et Champagne n'est pas? Oui. So they offered a glass of bubbles to go with foie gras on toast. They also offered us their extended hospitality of a lift to the big supermarket out of town, or help to find boat parts (David has a current project to mend the tuning function of the SSB radio) and an invitation to join them for a New Year party in the country.
We went home feeling very happy and remarking on the continued kindness of the people we meet on our travels. We can go from complete strangers one minute to swapping details within an hour.

Not a ripple in the Carenage

The cherry on top of this particular gateau was a perfect calm night under stars with water so still the stars were reflected.

Friday 11 November Prony Bay

2011-11-19T19:34:00.000+13:00

A rare date to be written 11-11-11. there are only 12 days in each century when the three numbers are the same.

Can you guess what this is?

Looking east to Havannah pass

Sailed up from Iles des Pines to Prony Bay on the south end of Grand Terre. Anchored in Magic bay and walked up to the light house for a panoramic view from the Havannah pass in the east, Isle of Pines in the south and Woodin Channel in the west. Scattered turquoise droplets of reef amongst the cobalt deep water. Easy to spot from above but dastardly difficult from sea level.
Spent the night on a mooring ball in front of the resort on Ilot Casy.

Monday 7 November Barbecue on the beach

2011-11-08T16:03:00.000+13:00

We're still hanging out in Kuto bay waiting for the right weather - not sure if the 'right' weather is going to come so we may just choose a best pick of what's available. In the meantime there are boat jobs for David in the engine room, checking our spare headsail to make sure it's ready to go should we need it.
The spare headsail is a high cut yankee which came with the boat when we bought her. It hasn't been out of the bag since we've had her so it seemed a good idea to take it ashore to spread it out for inspection. Apart from having mould in the pattern of jungle camouflage and the laminate being delaminated it'll do at a pinch.
In the time we were on the shore unfolding and refolding we met most of the crews of the other sail boats in the anchorage and were invited to a pot luck barbecue on the beach this afternoon. Someone caught a large tuna and has meat to share. Late afternoon we joined the crews of Donella, Zulu, Kilkea, Vaarwel and Sharona to share the meal. Christian frim Donella had brought his fish smoker and prepared rock trout he'd speared yesterday and yellow fin tuna from his freezer. He's a young and fit nearly 80 year old and his wife who's 82 sails with him. If they are the advert for keeping fit by cruising we should follow their lead and keep exploring.

Saturday 5 November En velo a Vao

2011-11-08T15:51:00.000+13:00

It was a perfect day to get out the bicycles and take a trip into the big town of Vao, not too hot and a cooling breeze. I'd told David it was a flat road because we'd be going from coast to coast over a 7km trip. Unbeknownst to me there were a few ups and downs and both our gear cables had jammed. An extra workout!

Road to Vao follows coast on left

Not so good for David's damaged shin. A little over a week ago he tripped coming up the companionway steps and banged his shin bone heavily. It was repairing well until we went for a long walk up a big hill 3 days ago. Now the big bump has come back with a vengeance. So when we passed a Dispensaire sign on the way into Vao we thought we'd try our luck and see if it were possible to get a professional opinion. A small own health centre with a Salles Urgences open on Saturday morning and a pretty nurse behind the desk.
She invited us in and between her intermittent English and my intermittent French we explained our patient's problem. No problem. Delphine, as we found out, couldn't have been more helpful. She diagnosed a haematoma or blood clot caused by a leaking blood vessel which had probably been aggravated by the hard walk. At this stage there was no cause for alarm; a compression bandage, elevation and anti inflammatory medicine should see him right but if there was any pain from infection we should come back to see her. She sent us on our way with a bag of clean dressings and alcohol to wash the area and for all of this 'gratuit', free of charge. How many times do we marvel at the kindness of strangers we meet? Frequently.

snake charmer

line of defence against sea spirits?

Vao catholic church

David's bandaged leg didn't affect his capacity to cycle so we continued into the small town of Vao. We'd missed the market although without any Francs to spend it was viewing only. In the grandly named 'supermarket' the veg were passed there best and no baguettes. But worth the trip (apart from the clinic) was the beach and the monument to mark the place the first Catholics came ashore to perform mass. In the centre of a circle of traditionally carved posts was a silver plated Virgin Mary on a plinth and between the Virgin and the sea a line of intricately carved posts with demons poking out their tongues at the ocean. Were they there to frighten off missionaries from other denominations or to stop the waves splashing the Virgin's silver robes?

Our final stop in this sleepy town was at the church built by those first Catholics to come ashore. The picture was taken by Oso Blanco on their visit here earlier – they've not come back to haunt us!

Wednesday 3 November Short walk to top of the mountain

2011-11-03T18:21:00.000+13:00

Dominating the skyline of Iles des Pines is Pic N'ga, at 262m the highest point on the island and with a clearly marked track from behind the beach.

Before I continue I have to mention the sublime beach. It's a mile long crescent that looks white in the sunlight, feels like walking through warm flour, backed with fir trees and fronted with turquoise waters. Superior to Champagne beach in Vanuatu and on par with Sand Dollar in Bahamas. How spoilt are we to be able to compare beaches of the world?

view of Kuto anchorage

Ready for our assault on the summit of Pic N'ga, sturdy walking shoes, sun protection, water and the camera, we set off for the long hike up the mountain. The heat was bouncing back from the red rock under our feet, hardly a breeze and steep in places it took us an hour to reach the top. There are wonderful views in every direction and the clearest overview of the reef system we hardly see when we sail amongst them. New Cal is turning into a surprising discovery and we wish we had longer to linger in these beautiful islands – perhaps next season. This season and today our choice is to follow an alternative path back to Kuto.

sublime beach

From the top we'd spotted a track along the dragon back ridge leading which seemed to lead to the houses further along the road. A path has to go somewhere. We kept following and following the path up a small hill and down the other side and continuing up again to the navigation light we could see from the anchorage. It was trickier to find the path down from here but we could see a building of stature and concluded if we could get to that there'd be a road. Pushing through the bushes revealed the track and a few minutes later we came out on a water tower built in 1874. A plaque had the date on it. We conclude it was built by the political prisoners France exiled to this island in the late 19th century. Our theory was proved when we found the remains of the prison 100m further down the track. It was open but overgrown and a notice warning of the danger of entering a crumbling building so of course we went in. Images of Papillon came to mind except the book was set on an island off French Guyana.

Prison

realeased from incarceration

It was a good walk with some hills to test our fitness and we need to do more if we're going to be ready for the long tramps in south island NZ next month. The biggest difference will be temperature. Here is blazing hot, there it will be cool. We heard it is 14c and foggy in Opua. How much of a hurry are we in to head south??

Tuesday 1 November Kuto bay, Iles des Pines

2011-11-03T18:15:00.000+13:00

Kuto bay on the right

In flat calm, no wind conditions we took the opportunity to make 40 miles to Les Iles des Pines (it's usually a hard motor into the prevailing SE trades) so named by Captain Cook (our paths frequently cross) in 1774 when he saw the large number of pine trees on the island but was unable to make landfall due to the large number of reefs. If he'd only he'd had an electronic chart plotter and the accurate French system of navigation aids he too could have visited this uber pretty island. Lest we forget – it's Captain Cook's original map makers which provide us with many of the sea charts we use today.

The island is at the southern edge of the fringing reef of New Caledonia and the gem in the crown of tourism. Our first port of call is Kuto Bay, not only for it's large protected anchorage but also for the strong internet connection blasting from the small resort behind the beach. We were the third Amel to pull in, ahead of us was Kilkea and an Australian boat we haven't met yet. Two Amels are company, three is a rally.
First afternoon in and we're tired from another early morning. David and Marion from Kilkea popped over to welcome us to Kuto and to talk weather as we are both waiting for a weather opportunity to sail to NZ and might buddy boat. Theoretically same boats should travel at the same speed in equal conditions.
We had an early dinner then I slept through a film before heading off to bed.

Monday 31 October Aurevoir amigos and Ilot Mato

2011-11-03T18:11:00.001+13:00

Oso Blanco

The Nordhavn's fired up engines and departed for countries west this morning. Fervent goodbyes, safe passages and promises to keep in touch and better, to see you agains and Oso Blanco and Mystery Ship left poor little Jackster....already looking forward to the joyful reunions somewhere someplace. That's the cruising life. We've had so much fun it was rude.

Mystery Ship

Ilot Mato is a beautiful, isolated lagoon south of Grand Terre with the surounding sea and dotted with reefs. It is gorgeous; turquoise seas over white sands, reefs for snorkelling and many, many sea birds which live on the uninhabited island. For me it was a perfect misanthropists dream for an afternoon. The only noise the sound of the birds wheeling above us, flat seas and brilliant sunshine. One small matter I would changed was making the water 5 degrees warmer. It was chilly even in a wet suit.

Jarana with Kathi, Bill and their temporary new crew came in late in the afternoon and popped by to say a quick hello. David let them leave a couple of hours later – we were all enjoying the anecdotes and jokes that time flew by. A normal happening in cruising world.

Sunday 30 October Early Halloween

2011-11-03T18:07:00.000+13:00

Halloween isn't until tomorrow but Annie, Eric and Bear have invited us to share the celebrations today as they plan to leave for Australia early tomorrow morning. There was still time for one final dive together – a pretty drift along the reef. Our mistake was to go with the slight current at the start and then had to swim back against the strengthened current to get back to the dinghy. All good exercise for our flabby sea legs! We've come to the conclusion New Cal is a poor cousin to Vanuatu and Fiji for dive sites, possibly because everything we've done is inside the huge lagoon which surrounds Grand Terre.

Quietly snoozing and reading in the afternoon sun we were brazenly boarded by pirates, or more accurately, a Mexican cowboy (Bear), a fat ballerina (Eric) and a sexy vampiress, demanding treats and threatening tricks. Mishearing the demands we gave a treat and played a trick. As I offered sweets to Bear David jumped out with the air horn and a water pistol. Tee hee!

Eric, Bear and Annie in costume

Not being a kid boat we don't have fancy dress costumes on board instead we went to the Mexican theme party as holiday makers with a twist, David wore my dress and me his shirt and shorts. David was under strict instructions not to flex his muscles for danger of splitting the seams!

Jacksters in our cross dress costumes

Another great night and sadly the last we share this season with the Osos and with Mystery Shippers for tomorrow morning they head west to Australia and we're staying for a few more days waiting for wind to take us back to NZ.

Saturday 29 October Ilot Amedee

2011-11-03T18:04:00.000+13:00

Despite our late night the three musketeer boats were up and away to Ilot Amedee early this morning. We'd heard and read this island was surrounding by reefs that offered good diving and possibly a wreck or two to explore.

Ile Amedee

Amedee has the tallest lighthouse in New Caledonia and marks the main passage through the fringing reef on the western seaboard. It's also a nature reserve on land and the surrounding waters with free mooring balls for boats up to 10m and a shallow draft. It was another beautiful day and the island was busy with visitors as this is a long holiday weekend for All Saints Day on Tuesday.

Bear and David at lighthouse

Our aim was to dive so kits were assembled and we headed out to the reef marked with a light to find the dive spot. We discovered local knowledge is essential as there aren't buoys marking the spot. A local boat was over the site of the Dieppoise wreck and generously indicated where would be good to drop the anchor, It was deep, close to 30m, and we had to join an extra line onto the anchor line to hook in.
I followed David down the anchor line and found we were perfectly positioned on the port side of the wreck and the visibility was good. The Dieppoise was a French naval frigate of 40m. When her working life came to an end in 1996 she was stripped of valuables and towed out to a reef close to Amedee and to be sunk as a dive site. It is a deeper dive; the top of the wreck is 14m and the keel at 27m. The visibility this morning was very good and we could see the whole ship. It's not big and a complete inspection along the port side, around the bow, back up the starboard, along the decks, in the wheel house and to the top of the super structure was completed in 30 minutes. We agreed it's the best dive we've done in New Caledonia.

charming a sea snake

The afternoon activity was ashore to furtle around the small island of Amedee and to climb to the top of the lighthouse for a clear view over the reefs and out over the anchorage. The island is home to many tricots rayes which we call banded krait or sea snakes. Sea snake is almost a misnomer as these pretty diapsids. They go to sea to find food but sleep and breed on land. In the warmth of the late afternoon they were coming ashore to find a place to curl up for the night and they're inquisitive, highly poisonous but too timid, and mouth too small, to take a bite. Here's me trying to catch one in my hat and gently feeling his smoothe skin.

Friday 28 October Early starts and late finishes

2011-11-03T13:00:00.000+13:00

Oh boy! I thought our 6am start was early yesterday but we beat that with a 5am get up to drop and repair a small tear in headsail before the day's breeze begins. The sail comes down onto the deck cleanly and we clean the area around the 10cm tear and set to fixing it with super tape. This is the tape we bought in a DIY store in American Samoa advertised as flexible and strong and perfect for tarpaulins. Unfortunately it only came in sky blue which while it was fine for the colourful head sail ballooner it will be more noticeable on white canvas. The solution was to apply a large patch of white sail repair tape on top of the blue. These larger patches will also add strength and protect the tape underneath from water.

Job was completed by 7.30am and we were able to up anchor to motor the 3 miles into Noumea harbour. It was a quick trip ashore to restock on provisions and spend the last of our Pacific francs.

Jobs done in town with unusual time efficiency and we were back at pretty Ilot Maitre in time for lunch. When we got back we found German catamaran Diatheyl with Henning and Margaret aboard whom we hadn't seen since leaving NZ had come in. A chance meeting with them in the supermarket in Whangarei inspired us to begin brewing our own beer on board.

Mystery Ship was also in the anchorage and Oso Blanco returned from the fuel dock shortly afterwards. What better excuse for a party than al being together? Mystery Ship was host for the night and generous hosts too, liberally sharing their New Zealand wines. I think anyone who wasn't a trained Canadian drinker left that evening feeling a little squiffy* but it was a great night.

* Squiffy feeling of light headedness associated with over imbibing on grape juice

Thursday 27 October Ilot Maitre

2011-11-03T12:55:00.002+13:00

At 6am David woke me to tell me the sea was flat and not a hint of breeze – perfect for motoring back south to an anchorage close to Noumea. We chose Ilot Maitre which is 3 miles east of the city with a top resort and free wifi available as we can pick up the signal provided for their guests in the over water cabins. How convenient is that?

Oso Blanco was coming down later as they have the power to motor into stronger breezes so we went ashore to see what facilities the resort had to offer. We were thinking of dinner but then discovered we'd need to raise a mortgage to pay the bill. The prospect of home cooking felt like a better option. There is the smart resort with it's French and Japanese clientele on one end and a free picnic area with barbecue facilites on the other for visitors to use. The whole island and surrounding water is a nature reserve. Again no obvious dive spots so we all went snorkelling in the cool water (23c) and saw large fishies.

Wednesday 26 October On the hunt for a decent dive

2011-11-03T12:54:00.003+13:00

Magically the wind has abated so we were able to get out to the ilots close to the fringing reef where the guide suggested we'd find good diving. Either we had different expectations of what constitutes a good dive, or the author was satisfied with moon scapes. We didn't find anything worth getting wet for at Mba or Mboa islands. David had an unfortunate accident as we approached the second island when he missed his footing coming up the companionway steps – a duck egg lump and bruise on his right shin and bruising on his left thigh where he fell over the doorway. Ice packs, elevation and anti inflammatory medicine, plus his wonderful ability to heal, resulted in small bruising a full recovery next day.

duck egg leg

With the wind picking up once more in the afternoon we took the prudent option of tucking into the shelter of Timbia Bay for the night. The wind, and unfurling the headsail to take advantage of it, revealed a small tear in the sail along the stitching of the repair when had done in New Zealand.

Tuesday 25 October Sanctuary

2011-11-03T12:53:00.003+13:00

Jacksters, Cindy, Glen, Eric, Annie

The prime focus of today was to find a more sheltered anchorage. This turned out to be T'Nbu bay on the main island but still there were white caps in the anchorage and no chance to get out and do some diving as we'd hoped.

it was something she ate

Our alternative was a long walk on the beach hanging onto our hats. An interesting walk; we saw a pair of sea eagles in a tree above us, a dead green turtle on the beach, possibly she'd come ashore to lay her eggs and mistakenly ate some of the plastic jetsam on the beach, further on there was the skeleton carapace of a juvenille turtle. It was a veritble nature walk.

Dinner was aboard Oso Blanco with the Glen and Cindy from Mystery Ship. They return to Noumea tomorrow morning and we'll stay out with the Osos.

Monday 24 October Weigh the anchor

2011-11-03T12:52:00.004+13:00

With the weather forecast showing winds ameliorating and the rugby concluded it was time to get back to cruising once more. Just after lifting the anchor and before we left the shelter of the harbour we heard Glen of Mystery Ship hailing Oso Blanco to see if we could all meet for the evening. Glen suggested a spot behind Mbo Kouen island. The sub 15 knots of wind in the forecast was actually 25 knots and the three of us hunkered behind a small sand island with a few trees. In settled conditions it would be superb as the water os clear. A turtle surfaced as we approaced.

an ilot

It was dinner on Oso this evening with poor David getting soaked as he ferried us over and both of us getting wet on the way back. The wind howled 30 knots through the night.

Sunday 23 October Guess what?

2011-11-03T12:52:00.000+13:00

The wind's still blowing hard. Our wind generator is putting so much power into the batteries we haven't had to put the generator on for 2 days and that was only to heat the water.

We didn't do much during the day – some internet and David checked and serviced the autopilot drive. Turning the wheel seems much lighter now so his fine tuning and oiling of the gearing was a success.

A pleasant surprise when we went to collect the Osos to go over to the CNC yacht club to watch the rugby finals; Tahina is on the dock next to Oso and Frank and Karen had just returned from a trip to Italy. It's almost 2 months since we said goodbye to them in Denerau so a treat to say hello, albeit briefly as they were too tired to come to the rugby, and sad to say goodbye again as they head to Australia in the next few days and we're leaving the anchorage tomorrow morning.

I digressed. The rugby finals between NZ and France was lustily contested in the yacht club with 40 cruisers from the NZ ICA rally and the other foreign crews shouting for the All Blacks and the French supporters in the minority. There was a loud hurrah! When the whictle blew and NZ had won.

Saturday 23 October Is it always windy here?

2011-11-03T12:51:00.000+13:00

It seems the wind hasn't eased for the last five days making us question if it's always windy in New Caledonia. Certainly seems it. It was windy for the dinghy ride into town to visit the museum. A compact exhibition of the cultural history of the island; kanak (the local people) carvings and a reconstruction of a chief's house, their ceremonial costumes and displays of their everyday items. We could see to similarities Kiwi carvings and art and similarities to Fiji and Vanuatu. In fact the upper galleries were dedicated to artefacts of the neighbouring countries. It's a sad reflection that this might be the closest we get to the 'real' New Caledonia; either because it no longer exists or because we don't have time to explore the further extremes of the country.

It was still windy in the evening we braved the tempestuous harbour waters to visit Oso Blanco for dinner. They're great company; always a joy to spend an evening together. We plan to cruise the islands and explore the anchorages to the north of Noumea from Monday for a few days.

Friday 22 October and in bronze medal position

2011-11-03T12:50:00.003+13:00

Brave Wales narrowly missed bronze medal in the rugby world cup – that honour went to Australia by 1 point. We watched the game with entente cordial and beer flowing at the marina bar and restaurant with Kathy and Bill from Jarana. Unfortunately neither our understanding of the complex rules or our comprehension of the French commentary was sufficient to explain why penalties were being given but Kathy and Bill valiantly watched. If it had been American football we'd have been asking the questions.

The wind continues to howl through the Baie Moselle anchorage.

Thursday 21 October The Osos are back

2011-10-24T09:28:00.002+13:00

The wind's been blowing a houlie for the last couple of days so we've taken the opportunity to catch up on internet and do boat jobs. David's changed oil and filters on both the generator and the engine, checked the engine ready for the trip down to NZ. Though we hope to pick a good window and sail all the way it's prudent to be prepared.

The wind's still blowing hard today as we dinghied across the bay to Port du Sud to see our good friends Eric & Annie on Oso Blanco who'd come in this morning, but while we were looking for them they were at the other marina looking for us. Perhaps if we;d brought our hand held radio.... We did meet up and over cold drinks caught up on the last 3 weeks since we were together in Luganville.

Ever Thursday evening there's a market with music in the central park so we went along. I'm not sure what we expected to see, food stalls, a music band, handicrafts? In the end it was a mix of vegetable stalls, a couple of food stalls, an exhibition sponsored by the Louis Pasteur Institute on mosquitos and dengue fever (there's no malaria in NC), and farm stalls – one had a couple of Sta Gertrude cows and the other silver pheasants, quails, chickens and rabbits. In my poor French I understood this to be a co-operative to promote visits to nearby farms.

Seeing the chucks and beef on the hoof brought on hunger pangs so we headed off to a bar Annie knew for dinner and drinks.

Monday 17 October Joy of victualing

2011-10-24T09:27:00.002+13:00

A chore as ordinary as food shopping becomes nirvana when you can walk into a supermarket and gaze upon shelves bulging with treasures not seen since Tahiti. It's only heaven if you happen to love pate, cheese, fine bread, good value French wine, tins of asparagus, prime cuts of meat (no grey and stringy chicken wings here)and French Bon Maman jams. OK our basket of goodies might be indulgent but they're tastier than the economic essentials we bought in Fiji and we are worth it!

Later, over llate unch, we were musing on our first impressions of New Cal. It's a French colony with French companies extracting the nickel found throughout the island. French people running the big businesses. Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese stall holders in the fruit market. Where are the aboriginal Melanisians? It seems most have the good sense not to live in a busy city. Our other musings were how easy the clear in procedure (as in French Polynesia it's fee free) simple forms in French and English and all the officials we met spoke good English. One just has to be aware they take early and long lunch breaks.

Sunday 16 October Delights of Noumea

2011-10-19T23:37:00.001+13:00

Another beautiful day in downtown Noumea. We were invited on Mystery Ship for coffee before they head out to the southern island of Iles des Pines; a second opportunity for swapping stories. As were saying goodbye Norbert and Sharon spotted us and invited is to watch the second rugby semi final of Australia vs NZ aboard Cadeau this evening. The commentary might still be in French but the company and surroundings would be better and more comfortable than the yacht club so we said yes please.

That was our evening booked so what could we do with our afternoon? Oso Blanco had recommended a visit to the aquarium and as it seemed close we'd go. We set off and by chance asked a Frenchman if we were on the right road. Through sign language and his young son who spoke English we found we were but it was still a long walk so he very kindly offered us a lift in his car. Once again the kindness of strangers touches us.

If Monsieur hadn't given us the lift we would have arrived too late for the 1 o'clock feeding. It's a fair size indoor aquarium packed with informative and well presented showcases for each environment found within New Cal; the freshwater rivers, shallow reefs, hard and soft corals, offshore reefs, the main tanks large enough for leopard sharks and barracuda. Watching the fish being fed was interesting but after that was over we had the place to ourselves and went around again. In all we spent an enraptured couple of hours studying the critters we see all too briefly on our dives and some we'll never see like the deep living nautiluses.

Aboard luxury SV Cadeau that evening we watched NZ conquer Australia for a place in the finals next weekend. By the time we got back to Jackster late at night we were tuckered.

Saturday 15 October New territory

2011-10-19T23:35:00.003+13:00

As the sun rose on a beautiful clear morning we were approaching the Havannah Passage through the reef fringing Grande Terre. We had tide and wind with us and flew in over the bar at 10 knots. What a ride and I'd hate try it against the current.

Our first impressions of New Caledonia in the morning light was wow, beautiful. It's a rugged coastline, soil as red as Australia and tres growing down to the shoreline. What takes a while to realise is that we'd come through the pass and still had over 40 miles to travel through a maze of islands and reefs to reach the only port of entry in New Caledonia, Noumea. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and lots of llocal boats out sailing for the day or anchored in the lee of a pretty island. Quite the opposite to Fiji and Vanuatu our electronic charts are accurate and all the buoys and leading lights are in place and working. This makes a big difference to ones level of comfort.

Our timing couldn't have been better because this evening France played Wales in the semi finals of the rugby world cup and there was sure to be someone showing the game. Sure enough the yacht club had a big screen and two televisions set up. Here we met up with our friends from the Islands Cruising Association rally; a mix of NZ, Australian and British boats, many whom we'd met before, and delightfully, Cindy and Glen from Mystery Ship. We'd last seen Geln and Cindy briefly in Luganville so this was a treat. They introduced us to their dock neighbours, Norbert and Sharon from Australian flagged Cadeau, another big passage maker boat. A fun night which would have been even more fun if Wales had won.

Thursday 13 October Off to sea once more

2011-10-19T15:06:00.002+13:00

Albert our Ambryn wood carving seemed to be smiling last night and the weather forecast agrees with him – two days of good winds to get us to Noumea, New Caledonia. It's going to be a close haul but doable.

We were waiting on the door step of Immigration at 7.30am this morning for departure stamps in our passports. As a quaint tradition, government offices close on Wednesday afternoons for 'sports' so while we could get our customs clearance we had to wait for immigration. From Immigration it was to the fuel dock clutching our precious duty free document to get 300L. If we have enough fuel to motor the entire way you can guarantee we'll be able sail all of it. Its how it is.

We sailed all day and through the night close hauled into 18 to 20 knots with seas coming from ahead of the beam. Although the seas were under 1m in height a short interval and occasionally we slammed off a crest into the following trough. Bang. Jackster is a strong boat and this is nothing to her. To me it was a little uncomfortable.

Wednesday 12 October Port Vila again

2011-10-19T15:05:00.002+13:00

We're arrived back in the capital, Port Vila, last night to clear out with Customs and Immigration and be ready to head off to New Caledonia in the next few days.

One of the pluses of clearing out is you can get authorisation to buy fuel and goods at duty free prices. Our morning was spent visiting the numerous duty free shops to find who offered the best price on gin as we are down to the last half of our last bottle.

On our wanderings we found a fishing tackle shop to buy more hooks to replace the ones the fish had eaten. The owner of the shop was wearing a gold chain with a very large shark's tooth suspended. Having my own bull shark tooth which I'd like to have made into a pendant I was intrigued. What type of shark and how did he come by it?

It was the tooth of a great white shark which he's caught off Devil's Point in the north of the bay leading into Port Vila. Yes, there are great white's in Vanuatu it seems. We'd heard about tigers, but not Gws. If the tooth was that big, how big was the beast and how did they land it? He answer was they brought only the head of the shark on board because the rest had been attacked and eaten by the other sharks. Gulp! Our final question had to be what bait do you use to catch a great white? A dog. Double gulp! The next question of alive or dead wasn't asked.

Monday 11 October Revelieu Bay, Epi

2011-10-19T15:04:00.001+13:00

This morning we took our bonito tuna into the village. David dropped me off and went straight back to the boat as he's still suffering from a heavy cold.
Most villagers were off working in their gardens but I did meet two young Mum's who spoke English, an old lady who only spoke local Bislama and a young man who spoke French. We had a very interesting three way conversation. What I understood was that they were delighted to accept our fish and to give us pumpkin, papaya, lemons, spring onions and tomatoes from their garden. they told me on a normal day a family will eat once a day, usually taro or manioc with other vegetables cooked in coconut milk. Children will take some rice wrapped in a banana leaf for school lunch. Protein seems to be a rare treat although everyone we saw looks well fed but not fat.
I'd also brought the last few items of children's clothing which we'd brought from NZ to give to villagers. It's common practice for yachties to bring items of use to the more isolated communities. We left NZ with a locker of second hand clothes, fishing hooks, pens, pencils, reading glasses. Watching Lucy and Jenny's toddlers playing in tattered shirts I hoped the new clothes would fit their older children.
Chatting over and a with heavy bag of produce I went back to the beach to radio David to come and collect me and that's when I discovered the battery in my radio was flat. I also discovered David wasn't in the cockpit looking out. How was I to get back? Bring on Lucy's husband and his dugout canoe to the rescue. Thomas kindly paddled me back to Jackster and I had an authentic trip in a real canoe. It filled up with water very quickly. There was one last adult t shirt which I gave Thomas as a thank you.

Sunday 10 October Hot bath

2011-10-19T14:59:00.002+13:00

With no wind forecast it was an opportune time to make some miles south towards Port Vila without wind on the nose. Six miles along the shore from Ranon village there's a hot spring that flows into the sea. We dropped the hook in the black sand beach and took the dinghy ashore to explore. As we stepped off the dinghy we immediately noticed the heat in the sand. It was low water so the stream wasn't visible from the steep beach but as we walked towards it there was a hot stream snaking through the sand and into the sea.

All we can conclude is that flies love humidity. The air was still and humid and full of flies, horrible black flies landing on your arms and legs. Adopting what is known as the Australian wave we followed the stream for a shot distance behind the beach gingerly stepping in the hot water when we needed to cross to the other side. By the time we returned to the beach I got used to the temperature , as hot as a hot bath, and lay down in the water. It felt good – much better than the flies.

Some more exploring of a cave along the beach and then we high tailed back to Jackster and started our passage to Epi island. Passing down the west coast of Ambryn the charts showed deep water all the way so it was alarming to see the depth coming up to 40m and seeing the water turbulence. Not good for our nerves but excellent for catching fish. Something big took the hook. Literally. Took it and swam off and then we caught a bonito tuna. (Two days later we learned the seabed has risen, or been pushed up, by the volcano in the last to years and that's why it's not on any charts. It's reported to be less than keel deep in places.)

We motored into Revelieu bay in late afternoon. Tomorrow we'll go ashore with out tuna and see if they want it.

Thursday 6 October Loltong, Pentecost Island

2011-10-19T14:58:00.005+13:00

Loltong village is the administrative centre for the unique island of Pentecost. Pentecost is renowned for land diving. This is the original bungee jump when each April and May young men prove their courage by leaping head first from a tower made of wood bound together by vines attached by a vine to their ankle. A successful dive and custom ceremony is thought to ensure a good yam harvest. Would first world farmers do something as extreme if they didn't have fertilisers?
North Pentecost isn't a land diving centre, it's done in the southern villages. Here they have custom villages and a strong community. In Loltog we were met on the beach by Matthew, the son of the local chief, who introduced us and gave us a tour of his extended village. He may have taken a better shine to us when we told him we'd caught a dorado which we wanted to present to the chief. If they had any vegetables to trade we'd be happy. I wrote a list of items which we would like and the council leader went off for the afternoon to collect what he could from the gardens.
Matthew was a good guide. He showed us his family house, known here as a nakamal (not to be confused with the kava bars which are also called nakamals). The family house is the council house, meeting room, social hall, court room and a store room. It's similar to a long house with sides and an entry from front and back. Within each nakamal there is a sacred pile of coral stones that have been anointed with the blood of a freshly killed pig. If anything, including money, a child's schoolbook, etc is found, the finder places it on the stones and only the chief then may touch it and return the item to it's owner. If an enemy attacks a villager can run into the nakamal and stand next to the stones to claim sanctuary and the enemy must withdraw. There are definite parallels to be dran between a church and it's altar and the nakamal and it's sacred stones.
Matthew also showed us a pair of young fruit bats in a cage. Our first time to have a really close look. They were awake and eating papaya; pretty animals with cream fur on their backs, big eyes and hands for feet and a single claw for a hand at the end of the wing. Onwards from the bats and an botanical tour. There's a tree which if planted in barren soil puts goodness back into it either by being planted or with the leaves scattered over the ground. Land is very fertile here. As we walked along he found us fruit berries to eat off the trees, nut kernels which tasted like sweet chestnuts. There were avocados and mangos which will be ripe in a couple of months, lime, orange and grapefruit trees, the ubiquitous papaya and fields of taro, manioc and cassava.
Where Polynesians are towering warriors, the Melanesian peoples of Vanuatu are small and neat. Interestingly, and we;ve seen this throughout the islands, children have blonde hair. It must darken as they mature but as children they have dark roots and sun bleached thatches which stand in a straight shock upwards.
There are lots of children. Lots of children with lots of head lice in their bleached locks. We kept a healthy distance – further than a louse can jump. Football is the favourite game and the inventive youngsters make a tennis sized ball by carving the soft core of a palm tree. We picked one up and were surprised by it's lightness and sponge like texture. An organic football!
The children's school bags, gardeners tool bags and ladies shopping bags are woven baskets made of pandanus. Shaped like a bucket with a shoulder strap of two or three plaited bands they are multi functional. We met some ladies making mats and I was able to buy my very own Pentecost handbag for some vatus and a pair of reading glasses. We gave a younger lady clothes for her children which we'd brought from NZ and she insisted on giving us peppers as a return gift. It's the Vanuatan custom that if you give someone a gift they must reciprocate or feel guilty for taking without giving. We have more children's clothes to distribute which might mean a ready supply of bananas and papaya.
Our tour with Matthew took a couple of hours and walking through the linear village (the houses and gardens fill the flat space between beach and high cliffs behind) we were impressed by the cleanliness and pride the people take in their gardens. Gardens are planted with shrubs, hedges are neatly trimmed variegated bushes and rocks are draped with trailing plants. Houses are made from locally sourced material and when a house wears out they pull it down and plait a new one; walls of bamboo, roofs of palm leaves.

library pic of a dugong

We got back to the boat a little before sunset and were thrilled to see a dugong surface between us and the reef.

Saturday 8 October Magical trade

2011-10-19T14:58:00.003+13:00

Today's catch was a 4' wahoo and an eagle eyed villager at Ranon, Ambryn spotted us coming in with our fish tied on the side of the boat.

Ambryn is known as the magical island with the magic coming from two volcanoes and as the island of the best wood carving. In the inland villages there are magic men like witch doctors with the ability to cast spells. The traditional dances and costumes are still used for their ceremonies and for displays for paying tourists. Seeing the dancing wasn't high on our list of must do's but I was interested in swapping our fish for a wood carving...

The man in the dugout canoe who enthusiastically rowed out to see us was Barry, the self appointed tourist guide for the village. I don't know if he was happier to see us or the wahoo and even happier when we gave him the fish in exchange for a promise to find me a wood carving. I omitted to mention that I'm fussy and any old thing wouldn't do.

Barry paddled away with his bootie and we followed his ashore in the dinghy. It's a black sand bottom (from the volcano) and super clear water. We could see our anchor on the bottom in 8m of water. Barry took us first to his tourist office, a hut with laminated sheets showing the different tours he offered (for a reasonable fee) to visitors and some stone and wood carvings. He offered us a small, simple stone head carving which was a copy of the traditional good luck charms. I could see the rough stone scratching our polished wood and declined. Not just right for us so we continued through the village to see the work of other carvers, most of the people were out working in their gardens in the hills behind so their wives showed us their work. We saw Reuben's which Delos had recommended and didn't find anything for us. It wasn't until we came to Albert's hut and his elderly mother showed us his works that we found the right one. A simple interpretation of the mask worn in the dance ceremony carved from hard wood, polished and standing a slim 12 inches tall. So we successfully traded a fish for a wood carving,. His name is Albert and he's our new good luck charm.

Tuesday 4 October Asanvari bay, Maewo island

2011-10-08T09:14:00.002+13:00

Anchorage at Asanvari

Asanvari is another pretty anchorage with crystal clear water. We're here with one other boat, Kestrel from Vancouver. Last night we went to sleep to the sound of falling water and when we woke this morning we saw the wonderful waterfall that drops through the rocks into the bay.
We took the dinghy ashore to meet Chief Nelson. He's an older man who runs what is euphemistically called the Asanvari Yacht Club; a nice new, large building with kitchen facilities and an office, yacht flags hanging from the beams above the dusty floor. There are two plastic tables and half a dozen chairs, an outboard motor lying on it's side, some woven baskets for sale and two broken hydro-electric motors. Next to the kitchen was stacked four 25kg sacks of rice and the only dinner guest – a rat. Chief Nelson offered us one of his three mooring balls, only 500vt, or free if we booked dinner at the club. Rats, rice, Weills disease and a mooring ball of uncertain strength? Our anchor and dinner aboard was suddenly far more attractive. And healthy.
The Asanvari people are all friendly, many partially clad and naked children happily laughing and playing on the beach, a few dogs mooching around and a couple of small fishing / ferry boats. The village is a short dinghy ride away from the waterfall where we left it sitting in the pool while we climbed and explored. Maewo is in the direct line of rain bearing clouds and is known as the island of waterfalls. Steep hills of uplifted limestone and coral makes an excellent filter and the water coming down was pure and sweet, not too cold for a dip. We said are ohs and ahs and went on to our next exploration. A pinnacle 100m from the boat in the south of the anchorage.
One of our guides suggested this is a dive site but when we checked it with the solar fish finder aka glass bottom bucket it looked like a lump of dead coral. We still decided to have a dive. It was a hot afternoon and getting wet seemed a good idea. It turned out to be an excellent idea as the dive unfolded. The pinnacle had far more to offer than could be seen from the surface; a channel between it and the main island with a pair of eagle rays flying through, a large napoleon wrasse and a super size tuna hanging out, clouds of small fishes and bigger fish on the sides of the wall and some beautiful soft corals. Today there wasn't any current but on the deeper, underside there were large fan corals which thrive in current. It was a wonderful, leisurely poking our noses into holes dive, at shallower depths some gorgeous anemones and clown fish which are always fun to watch. And when we surfaced an hour later the dinghy was languidly waiting in no wind and no current.
The cherry atop the cake was a beautiful sunset, perfect to sit and watch while sipping our G&Ts. We're the Jacksters. What else would we be drinking?

Monday 3 October Two islands in one day

2011-10-07T23:10:00.000+13:00

Late last night the light wind changed direction, the swell found it's way into the bay and we rolled uncomfortably all night. As soon as the light came up we got the anchor up and motor sailed off to Lolowai on the east end of Ambae island.
Dave the Fish lived up to his new moniker and caught a dorado. How many bananas, or possibly a woven basket, can we swap this one for? We reached Lolowai in early afternoon coinciding with low water. It's a flooded volcanic crater with entrance over a shallow coral bar only possible from mid to high tide so with our 2.1m draft we anchored on the coral flats and went in by dinghy to check the depth and to pay the customary respects to the . A nurse we talked to told us it was a district hospital serving this Ambae and Maewo. Amazingly it is six years since they last had a doctor – patients are treated by the nurse practitioners.
We never did find the chief but a family on the beach would be happy to take the dorado in exchange for some bananas. We were happy to do this and know them and their children would have good food. When they came out to Jackster to collect the dorado there was a whole boat load of people come out to meet us and they generously invited us to visit their home on the other side of the island. However, we'd already decided there wasn't anything to hang around for a highly praised (in the cruising guide) bay was a mere 10 miles across the channel at the southern end of Maewo and we were off.
Darkness falls very quickly here and we arrived in Asanvari later than we would have liked for a new anchorage but following our waypoints and radar we headed in towards the other yacht and anchored behind them.

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Sunday 2 October Snorkelling & diving at Champagne Beach

2011-10-07T10:02:00.002+13:00

Champagne beach

The water in champagne beach is pure invitation to jump in. Yesterday afternoon after we'd done our fish / fruit trade we went for a snorkel around the boat and ended up swimming to the beach. What a beautiful beach to walk on! It crunched like fresh snow. Backing the beach are open sided huts used by the local ladies to sell their goods when the cruise ships come in. they weren't going to bother for us and a few day trippers so the huts were empty except for a sow and her piglets and a herd of charolais cattle.
Reading the diving guide book Oso Blanco had given us we found there were 3 dive sites on the big island, Lanthu, a mile out in the bay. We had the choice of a wall dive on the south side of the island or a canyon wall on the east and a coral garden on the west end. Our first choice was the wall. Today conditions were flat with only a breathe of wind to waft of wind to disturb the dinghy which we managed to anchor on a small ledge. There wasn't much life or rich coral on the wall but the visibility was incredible and there's always a chance something big would emerge out of the blue. Still it was a good dive.

we traded a wahoo fish for veg with villagers

In the afternoon the sun was shining on the coral garden on the western end of the island. This time we left the dinghy anchored in a shallow sand patch and swam out to the drop off. Incredible healthy soft and hard corals and a black tip as we dropped in. We kept it shallow to make the most of the sun through the water as we looked at the reef. It was a surprisingly very good dive; a turtle did a swim past and we had 7 juvenile grey reef sharks above us when we were in 6m of water. They were oblivious to our presence under them because one swam into my bubbles and jumped away like he'd been hit by an electric shock. Our last sighting of a big boy was a 2m silver torpedo fish, not a barracuda or a tuna, possibly a barred mackerel or a wahoo each rare visitors in shallow waters. We get a great buzz from these unexpected, surprisingly good dives. It puts those speculative dives into perspective. It's why we do it – you never know what you're going to find.

Wednesday 28 September SS Coolidge and MV Mystery Ship

2011-09-30T05:39:00.001+13:00

inside the bridge

Yesterday's dives were good but Yvonne tempted us back for one more. This time to go to 47m and into the engine room. Her briefing was clear and she was obviously enthusiastic to take us in as many of the divers who come here are often only recently qualified or perhaps haven't dived for many years.

gun emplacement

To get to the engine quickly to maximise our time we went lickety spit along the outside of the hull and into a large opening cut by the salvager's back in the 70's straight into the engine room. It was fascinating to see the gauges and telegraph signals. We swam through the bathrooms on C deck all the way back to the chain locker at the bow and back out into clear water for our slow ascent. This was by far the best of the three dives we'd done on the Coolidge.

A good dive would have been enough to make it a good day but the cherry on today's cake was the arrival of our Canadian friends, Glen and Cindy, aboard Mystery Ship. We last saw them in Auckland in January and played tag throughout Fiji always missing them by an island or a week until now. They arrived in here in Luganville on Monday and we finally met up and had dinner with them together with Oso Blanco. Say hello, say goodbye. Hello and goodbye to Mystery Ship and a sad farewell to our very good friends and long time sailing and diving buddies, Eric and Annie and their son Bear. That's just how it is with cruising. We may just see them all again in Nouméa, New Caledonia at the end of October but there's no guarantee.

Tuesday 27 September SS President Coolidge

2011-09-30T05:38:00.001+13:00

SS Coolidge before sinking down reef

dive site plan

The cruise ship SS President Coolidge which was converted into US troop carrier in 1941 sank in 1942 when she hit an American mine as the Captain entered the channel into Luganville. There are four entrances into the channel and the Americans had laid mines across three to protect the town from Japanese submarines. Unfortunately the Captain wasn't given this information and hit a mine on the way in. He headed for the beach to try and save the 5000 troops she was carrying but hit the reef first and sank. Fortunately only 2 people lost their lives.
The Coolidge is now the largest diveable WW2 wreck in the world and our prime reason for coming to Luganville. Eric on Oso Blanco is also very keen to do the diving. It's a deep wreck extending from the bow at 19m to the stern at 70m.
On recommendation from our friends on Delos we booked with Allan Power dive shop and weren't disappointed with the outfit. We were most chuffed to be considered 'experienced' divers and the two of us had a guide, Yvonne, to our selves. On the first dive which is an orientation dive and for the guide to assess our skills, we dropped down to the bow and through a diver access hole into a couple of the cargo holds which have a pile of jeeps in them. From there it was down the starboard side of the hull passing the bridge, a mounted gun, stocks of shells and then back the deck where there are tin buckets filled with artefacts found on the wreck; a gas mask, a boot, rifles, helmet. The deepest we went was 35 metres which is well within our range.

the bow is highest point at 19m

cargo hold

There was a three hour surface interval and then Yvonne took us further inside the wreck as far as the ballroom. We dropped down through the lines of lavatories in the bathrooms installed for the troops. Of course the wooden partition walls have disintegrated over the years. This second dive was deeper, 40m, and a more interesting dive because we were able to go in deeper to what had been a luxury cruise liner before the war.

Monday 26 September Quiet day

2011-09-30T05:37:00.000+13:00

David picked up Bear's Mum and Dad from the shore just before lunch and Bear was able to go home. He and young David had played nicely, said thank you for having me. Only one hiccup. When the boys were lowering the dinghy from the deck over the side and into the water this morning there was a small mishap and it toppled into the water upside down. Wouldn't have been a problem if the outboard hadn't been on it. The boat was turned right way quickly, quick enough not to have got water in the engine, and the spilled shoes were quickly rounded up.
We had a fine dinner at the Oyster resort this evening and Annie and I compared which of us has the most sore muscles from Saturday's day out. I feel like I ran a marathon (which I didn't – I'm just unfit).

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Sunday 25 September Bear day

2011-09-30T05:35:00.000+13:00

Yesterday was Eric and Annie's 12tth wedding anniversary and to celebrate they're spending the day playing golf and the evening and night at an upmarket resort along the coast. We're still anchored in the idyllically flat and serenely beautiful Oyster Bay on the east coast of Espiritu Santo.
With Mum and Dad we offered our best Aunt and Uncle service and offered to have their son Bear with us. He came over for English bacon and eggs breakfast and then we set out to walk all the way around Oyster island. My legs muscles were very sore from yesterday's river adventure and I needed to keep moving. Oyster island isn't big and it only took us an hour to go all the way around. David husked and opened a coconut for us and we followed the path back to the resort. In the afternoon we played card games and read on board. Being good honorary aunt and uncle we had pizza and film night before then young, tuckered out, Bear enjoyed a sleepover on Jackster.

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Saturday 24 September Adrenaline day

2011-09-30T05:34:00.000+13:00

It's called the Millennium Cave Tour but high adrenalin cave tour would sum it up better. Long with the Oso Blanco s (Annie, Eric, Bear and Jo) we were collected from Oyster Bay at 8am and a long drive back though the hills above Luganville where the last tarmac we saw was the abandoned WW2 bomber landing strip and onto the dirt roads leading up to the highlands. We were taken as far as possible by minibus and then it was walking. Walking through the forest for 25 minutes to the first village where we collected, Thierry, our guide for today's adventure. He brought along his sister and a handful of scampering, chattering children for a further hour's walk through muddier and muddier tracks to reach the cliff above the river.
Thierry followed the tradition of painting our faces with the local earth so ensure Mother Nature would look after us today. The scampering chattering children scampered off with our back packs and we descended 200 rickety ladder steps to the river. Health and safety in the western world would never have allowed anyone to climb down anything as steep and muddy as this. Our young guide Thierry went face first without holding on. We took the safer steadier pace and ensured a safe arrival at the bottom. Here we entered the cave which has been cut through the soft limestone by the river. It's 60m hight, 20m wide, 500m long with a waterfall at the end and bats and swifts above us.
Thierry told us the water would only come up to our knees – that is if your knees are level with your chest at one point. We picked our way over boulders, through the fast running water and avoided the guano (bat poop) in complete darkness except for the light from our torches. The waterfall was great to feel and to know there was only a short distance to the sunlight at the end of the cave. It was great. Looking up was like looking into the vaulted ceiling of a cathedral (with bats flying).
There was a short break to eat our sandwiches which the children had brought over to us and then onto canyoning. For this David and I had chosen to bring short wetsuits in case the river water was cold. We had life jackets to wear and our sturdy shoes for foot protection. I'd never done canyoning before and wasn't sure what it would involve. Take one steep sided, water cut gorge with a low level river, fallen boulders blocking the way and 6 tourists wishing to descend the river, a touch of insanity and you have the necessary ingredients for canyoning. Thierry showed us the path which alternated walking down the river, climbing over, under and through piles of boulders and some fast running water.
Half an hour later and we were onto the floating-down-the-river-with-overhanging-trees-and-vines section of the day. Sounds pleasant and easy until it was noted the deep pools of floating with the current were interspersed with negotiating our way from boulder to boulder across rapids. This is the dry season so the water level is low but these are still raging torrents with whirlpools filled with rocks. Our guide helped us through and David was a star offering a hand to pull you up the last bit.
It was being in boot camp, I'm a Celebrity etc etc or jungle training in some of the most beautiful scenery. There were waterfalls from 50' above our heads and plenty of curious fish around our legs.
Just as we were relaxing into our floating Thierry told us this bank was where we get out and make our way back to his village. Naively I expected a grassy bank and a short walk. Reality was a rock face with natural hand hold with water flowing over it, muddy scrambles up steep faces grabbing tree roots for extra handholds and more of those rickety ladders until we emerged onto the plain. The final climb was an energy zapper for me – my poor little legs had worked harder today than they've done for a long time so the coffee and bananas we had at the village were most welcome.
Then we picked up our back packs and walked half an hour back through the forest to the minibus tired and muddy but buzzing on the adrenaline high.
This is one of the best 'adventure' days we've enjoyed on our travels. We didn't know what to expect when we set out this morning but as we dropped our tired heads on our pillows (early) we agreed we'd do it all again. How crazy is that?

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Friday 23 September Blue holes

2011-09-30T05:32:00.002+13:00

freshwater blue lagoon

Oh we do like Oyster Bay. It's quiet, pretty, there's a nice resort and beach, free wifi which beams out to the boat and lots of things to do. Getting into the anchorage was possibly the trickiest navigation we've done this year threading through markers in the reef and only 40cms / 15" of water under the keel at one point. Eric anchored his big boat and took his tender through the route to check depths before either of us attempted it.

David as Tarzan

That was yesterday. After a wonderful night's sleep we were off exploring once more; up the river to a blue hole, a fresh water pool with giant banyan tree and rope swing. Young David was the most adventurous and climbed up the tree to launch himself across the water. He got a fat lip from the rope as a memento of his bravery. Our afternoon activity was a dive on the outer side of Turtle island. Healthy coral and nice topography, some fish and fair visibility.

In the evening we headed up the channel to Turtle island resort to all have dinner then it was home and early to bed for tomorrow we are going on the Millennium Cave tour.

Wednesday 21 September Luganville, Espiritu Santo island

2011-09-30T05:31:00.000+13:00

Espiritu Santo is Vanautu's largest island was once the site of a giant support base set up by the Americans in WW2. President Kennedy was stationed here, as was the writer Michael(?) Kitchener who was inspired to write his book, and later musical, South Pacific based on his experiences her. His Bali Hai is the real island of Ambryn. The major draw for us is the wreck of the SS President Coolidge, a cruise ship converted into a troop carrier in the war which hit a mine and sank on the coast during the war. It's reported to be the biggest diveable WW2 wreck in the world.
It's also very popular and is fully booked for the next 5 days. Our plan is to head out to the protected and prettier anchorage at Oyster Bay around the coast and play there until it is time to come back.

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Tuesday 20 September Uri island and kastom dancing

2011-09-30T05:29:00.001+13:00

kastom dancers prepare

Eric and David dancing

Chief and warriors dance

It's all go go go for the culture vultures aboard Oso and Jackster. With a 'free' morning we zapped up the channel intending to visit Chief John on Uripiv island (he's the one we gave our fish to yesterday) but the incoming swell was too big for the tender and we had to turn around. Instead we landed by some holiday bungalows on Uri island where we were greeted by Lenes, a most genial lady who runs the small resort with her husband. There were no guests so she was able to guide us on a walk inland to see fruit bats in a tree. Her husband gave us coconuts and we learned they had been given our tuna by her uncle, chief John. David is now known as a master fisherman.
Although Lenes was brought up here she's never seen a traditional dance so we invited her to come with us. Our motives weren't entirely altruistic, Lenes speaks excellent English, the national Bislama language (pidgen) and the local dialect. She'd be our interpreter.
It was Lenes cousin , everyone has many, many cousins, who picked us up in his taxi. The word taxi describes a Toyota pick up truck with seat for driver plus one other and all other passengers travel en plein air et sans chaises. OK when it's not raining and you're on the main road. Less appealing when it's raining and you're bumping along a rutted track as it was on our return trip. My bruised derrière hurt for days afterwards.
Chief Jean-Marc and his family were waiting for us dressed in their traditional wear of natural plants and presented six dances with singing and musical accompaniment on the drum and bamboo sticks. Lenes was able to explain the stories and meaning of each dance. At first our performers seemed bored and looked anywhere except at us but after they took a break and we shared the food and chatted it was all smiles and happiness. I think it is because they are naturally shy and we were another bunch of strangers in their village. They perform three or four times a week so there probably is an element of boredom too.

Monday 19 September Port Stanley Vanuatu (not Falklands)

2011-09-30T05:28:00.000+13:00

Our plan when we set off this morning was to head for the anchorage behind Wala Island off the east coast of Malekula. The guide books suggested we'd be able to see traditional kastom dancing on the adjacent island. However, the sea had developed a big swell and we were not certain if the anchorage would be protected enough so we diverted to Port Stanley. Not the Port Stanley in the Falklands but the big bay on the north east side of Malekula. Tucked in behind Suaro island there was no swell but the wind was still spinning the blades of the wind generator.
Eric and Annie picked us up in their big tender and we headed over to Lakatoro town wharf. David had caught 2 more fish, a dorado and a tuna on the way and as our freezer is full we planned to give them to the villagers who don't have the boats to fish the deep seas. On the short walk into town we met the chief from one of the nearby islands who was happy to accept our gift and would share it with his village.
It was a short walk into 'town'. Town being the grand name for a collection of huts, a sell everything store, the vegetable market, the abattoir and a large school hosting an inter village football tournament ranged along the sides of a dusty road. Town was buzzing with all the young man visiting to take part in the football games. The market had plenty of produce to sell and they were butchering cow at the back of the abattoir with the help of the local strays picking up anything that was being discarded.
Eric, Annie and Bear have less time to spend in Vanuatu than we do and were keen to see traditional kastom dancing at a traditional village. Malekula is divided between two tribes; the small nambas in the south and the large nambas in the north. A namba is a penis sheath. One group went the XXS route and the others a more modest SM. Through asking around we were able to find a chief from a nearby village who happened to be in town that day and who's family perform the dances for visitors. He said we could get a taxi up to their village tomorrow afternoon and they would give us a show and prepare laplap food for us. Laplap is taro or cassava cooked in an underground oven and served with coconut milk. As white men we've come to accept as the norm a diet with far more meat and fish than local people.

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Sunday 18 September Port Sandwich, Malekula isand

2011-09-26T12:09:00.000+13:00

There was extra crew aboard today. Nine year old Bear (full name Robert) from Oso Blanco came with us to experience making passage under sail. It wasn't the easiest day for your first sail; 18 knots from behind and short 2m seas pushing us along. He did very well and is looking forward to doing more sailing – we obviously didn't make it scary enough for him.
On the way we had the fishing lines out and landed a yellow fin tuna which was perfect for a sushi dinner that night on board Oso Blanco.
Port Stanley is a long sheltered river estuary; not a hint of a roll all the time we were there. In our brief stay we had time to take our dinghies up a tributary river to explore. Not much found but when we reached a weir we left the boats and walked for a mile along a road that must have gone to somewhere and come from somewhere.

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Saturday 17 September Lamen Bay

2011-09-26T12:08:00.000+13:00

We began this morning's dive where we finished yesterday afternoon, a nice slow easy pace with time to explore all the nooks and crannies. Taking our time like this we spotted an octopus out free swimming and some of the largest sea slugs, the pretty colourful kind, not the brown slimy things we find in lettuce, one lemon coloured one and one purple and yellow. Second dive was a similar easy pace.

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Friday 16 September Lamen Bay, Epi island

2011-09-26T12:06:00.000+13:00

More diving today. We'd sailed to Lamen Bay on the north end of Epi isand to look for the resident dugongs. In the end we didn't see any dugongs but there were plenty of hawkbill turtles in the bay. Our friends on their motor boat, Oso Blanco had arrived before us and found a dive guide who show us where to dive on the reef surrounding Lamen island. Where we finished the dive was the best coral so tomorrow we'll start from there.

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Thursday 15 September Ease Island

2011-09-26T12:05:00.000+13:00

Leaving the rolley Havannah harbour behind we had a superfast sail up to Ease island. We were the only yachts there and although we saw smoke curling up through the onshore trees we didn't see any local people. The guides said we'd find excellent diving on the fringing reef. Sadly all we found was a coral graveyard. Something had killed all the coral a few years before we arrived. It was making a comeback with new growth showing in places. There were anemones and clown fish and quite a few fish on the reef. What could have killed all this coral? Possibly a hurricane because we saw some table corals knocked over, but not likely. Other culprits could be an invasion of Crown of Thorns starfish or sudden rise or fall in water temperature but not man made because no one lives here.

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Wednesday 14 September First dive in Vanuatu

2011-09-26T12:04:00.000+13:00

It rained all day yesterday and we got wet whatever we did so today we decided to get wet in the proper way by going for a dive. It was also the start of our journey north through the islands on our way to the island of Espiritu Santo home of the biggest diveable wreck in the world, the SS President Coolidge.
Ten miles out from Port Vila we found a sheltered spot under the cliffs and within site of St Pauls Rock which is a pinnacle in the middle of a channel. Oso Blanco was with us once more as we dinghied out to the mooring ball. It was a gre
at dive – the clarity was superb, like swimming in a gin and tonic, the fish were plentiful and friendly due to being fed by dive guides, no current and just big enough to keep us amused for an hour.
For our night anchorage we moved up to the reportedly more protected Ei Creek except we rolled in the slow swell all night.

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Monday 12 September Personal admin

2011-09-18T18:19:00.000+12:00

Monday morning and the shops are open, market buzzing and we have things to do. A visit to the Customs office to obtain our cruising permit which wasn't available in Anatom and to pay our Custom fee for entering the country. A trip to the market to spurge on fresh produce. We discovered raspberries for sale. Not quite as sweet or tasty as an English raspberry but a nice treat. There is a strong French influence which extends to a well stocked Au Bon Marche supermarket. For the first time since we left NZ we were able to buy couscous, cappuccino mix and tinned rice pudding (a David favourite).
Port Vila is described as the prettiest capital in the South Pacific. In my very humble opinion whoever wrote that was wearing rose tinted spectacles. Capitals are functional, administration and commerce. Port Vila was all these and hosts to the guests of the many cruise ships that visit. I believe it's also a tax haven so there are plenty of banks. This time we are only staying a few days when we come back to clear out to New Caledonia or NZ we'll take more time to explore and perhaps we'll find those hidden architectural delights and have time to visit the museum.

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Saturday 10 September Port Vila, Efate island

2011-09-17T18:07:00.000+12:00

We left Port Resolution late on Friday afternoon bound for the capital, Port Vila. It was a gentle overnight passage in light airs and full moonlight and then a day of cracking trades bringing us in to harbour late this afternoon.
We're in town and it's Saturday night so on with our glad rags and off to find dinner. We choose a micro brewery sports bar for a couple of reasons, reasonable pizzas and leather sofas to sprawl in to watch England's first match in the 2011 rugby world cup. We sat through 80 agonising, nail biting minutes as they struggled against Argentina. It was a narrow victory to England but our boys need to up their game to be in contention.

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Thursday 8 September Mount Yasur

2011-09-17T18:02:00.001+12:00

Now we'd observed our surroundings from the deck it was time to go ashore and explore, visit the Port Resolution yacht club and investigate the village.
The yacht club is a low key affair run by the villagers for visiting yachts. There's a nice club house open on three sides with sofas, chairs, a book swap and a very friendly ginger tom cat. Esther looks after you and finds a cold Tusker beer as requested. I traded a t-shirt for tomatoes and beans from fresh her garden. The view over the bay is beautiful and from up on the cliffs you see the reef and shallows much more clearly.
A quarter of a mile back down the track and inland we came to the village – a different layout to the neat rows of houses we saw on Anatom. Here there is a central village green, large enough for a football pitch and there were goal posts set up, surrounded by 6 distinct family groups. Each family area has it's own identity. The first we visited seemed more traditional. Grouped around a giant banyan tree complete with tree house which David (55) and Bear (9) climbed up to. There was a heart stopping moment when two legs appeared through the floor as the rotten wood gave way. Under the tree some of the ladies were preparing a feast for a church house fund raiser. Across the other side of 'the Square' other ladies were weaving palm frond shingles to roof a new house. The house was built on a platform of tree stumps for ventilation and the walls made from wild bamboo with corrugated cardboard between the double walls to stop wind and rain reaching the sleeping platform inside. I hope they use the shingle I wove on a lower placing because I'm not sure it was a tightly woven as the ladies.
This morning their was a vegetable market in the community village hall. Run by the ladies with profits going back to the village. Annie from Oso and I bought a full bag each of fresh stuff and it cost less than a £1.
We continued our walk through the village and came out on a beautiful white sand beach with crystal clear water. We all paddled except David and Bear who had to go in swimming. Kids eh!
This may seem enough activities for one day but the main highlight was still to come; a visit to the volcano best seen at dusk and dark.

Eric, Bear, Jo, David at entrance

twin calderas

Eruption

nightime firework display

Stanley in the village organises a local taxi (a 4WD Toyota truck) to take tourists the 40 minutes rough ride up to Mt Yasur. We climbed in, some inside and some in the open flat bed. The best way to describe the road is to think of a dry river bed with gullies, steep climbs, steep drops on the side, trees over hanging, areas that would be tricky if it were wet and you'd understand when I say it was rough. Our driver used the 4WD to get us through. At the gates to the park (the volcano is in a area belonging to the local village) we had to pay our dues to the money men. They have 20 or 30 visitors each day in groups and every time and e it takes them at least 10 minutes to calculate how much to collect using their calculators and to count the money. Why hurry? We're on island time.
Through the park gates and on up to the volcano; the most accessible live volcano in the South Pacific, or possibly larger area. The taxi dropped us on the moonscape plateau beneath the caldera. We could hear the explosions at the volcano vented and smell sulphur in the air. A climb up the dusty slope brought us to the rim of the caldera looking north. I don't know what I'd expected but this was amazing; a massive crater approximately half a mile long by a quarter of a mile wide and in the bottom two vents spewing gas and molten rock in regular bursts covering us with dust and fine shards of newly made rock. Afterwards David said we should have taken dust masks and I'd have appreciated goggles as dust finds it way into your eyes. But who cares this was spectacular. The best place to stand was on the eastern edge which gave a direct view down into the smaller of the two vents. You could see the molten lava in the bottom and when it went quiet you stood in rapt attention because everyone knows about the storm that follows the calm. There was silence and then boom! A shock wave of exploding gas, the earth, or volcanic debris underfoot, shook and an explosion of molten lava thrown high into the air. The dull thump of rocks hitting soft dust followed a fraction of a second later. All it would need would be an explosion coming in our direction and we'd be ducking those hot bombs.
As the sun set and night came on the spectacular show continued. For anyone who litters their speech with the word awesome this was the real definition of awesome. To put one in awe of the power of nature.
Back to our waiting truck and a bumpy ride back down the dry river bed to the village and our trusty dinghy waiting on the shore. We were so covered in dust and ash we left our clothes in the cockpit and shock them out over the side before having a much needed shower to get the grit out. We'd wash the boat tomorrow morning.
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Wednesday 7 September Port Resolution, Tanna island

2011-09-17T17:59:00.000+12:00

In 1774 Capt Cook arrived at the only good anchorage in Tanna and named it after his ship HMS Resolution. When he arrived the bay was deeper than it is today. Uplift from tectonic movement, silting and the peripheral reefs have reduced it to a long narrow inlet with 4m of water. Tanna is an island of volcanoes, all except one are dormant and we'd come to see the live one, Mt Yasur.
The anchorage and the island is pure National Geographic and I understand the island has been featured in documentaries on volcanoes of the Pacific. Looking up the steep cliffs surrounding us we could see steam rising from the within the trees and below this steam sea water where the hot spring fed into the bay. Up and beyond the trees we heard a tremendous roar and then saw a towering plume of yellow grey ash as Mt Yasur spat out it's latest offering. Unfortunately for us the offering of the Gods landed on the boat throughout our stay and every morning we were covered in black grit. It was like ground up black glass and had to be washed off each day. It also meant having hatches open wasn't advisable. One day we forgot and our bed had a fine sheen of ash over it.

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Tuesday 6 September I declare this police station open

2011-09-17T17:52:00.000+12:00

It was a Big Day in Analgawat. The Australian sponsored new police station was to be opened by the Australian High Commissioner attended by a plane load of other officials, police chiefs and other nabobs. The villagers were insistent we came to see the ceremonies. As the dignitaries came ashore a warrior and his two young warriors advanced with spears threatening, bells on their ankles to add to the fear factor. It went downhill into less than exciting after that. The rain started as the poor visitors were marched from tourist post to old church to school to new church to the presentation ground in front of the new police station. When the long speeches began we drifted away.
Today is Annie from Oso Blanco's birthday and we're invited to a barbecue on board but first we're going to visit a local nakamal. One of the occasionally open kava drinking huts in the village. It depends on who has kava to sell and who has rented the nakamal hut for Vt1000 /£7.50) for the evening. Vanuatan kava is different to Fijian, first they use fresh roots and stems not dried and secondly they grind it in a meat grinder before adding water. Fijians pound their dry roots in a metal bowl and then add water. The Vanuatan crop is also much stronger. One or two medium bowls is the most anyone drinks. We tried it. The first note on the tongue is bitter and then some tingling of the lips, a feeling of relaxation and numbness in the face similar to that felt after a visit to the dentist. However, it also made me feel woozy and I had to sit down. It passed quickly but a case of local kava once tried and never to be repeated.
The barbecue back on Oso Blanco was a good evening that went on late. Two other boats came along; Eveline and Peter from Renegade and Jessica and Steve from Makulo.

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Monday 5 September Anatom, Vanuatu

2011-09-11T08:31:00.000+12:00

Vanuatu, formerly named New Hebrides by Captain Cook, was an Anglo-French administration until 1980 when they gained independence. There is now a close tie with the Australia government. During WW2 the Americans established large bases as staging bases for the Solomons campaign. The Solomons to the north and New Guinea to the west suffered under Japanese occupation but never did more damage than kill a cow on the one bombing raid on the New Hebrides capital. The influences we are expecting to see on the traditional kastom life will be the church missionaries of the 19th century and the dominance of French and English plantation owners from the same time through to 30 years ago. We've read that the capital, Port Vila is the 'most beautiful capital city in the South Pacific' which will be a contrast to the islands away to the north and south where the traditional lifestyle is dominant. It is on the island of Pentecost where the young men throw themselves off precarious platforms with one leg tied to a length vine stopping them crushing their skulls in the dirt below. The original bungee jumpers.
We've come into Anatom (French name) or Aneityum (local) island and the village of Analgawat. Beginning this year it was added as an official clear in port and the most convenient for sail boats being closest to Fiji and from here we can sail north in the SE trades and visit the rest of the country. The customs agent is the very friendly and accommodating Colin who paddles out in his yellow outrigger canoe to see you. Today we were fortunate because the immigration officer had come from Vila to clear in the cruise ship due in Wednesday. The quarantine man flies in tomorrow. Paper work, and lots of it, a legacy of the British administration, done we were free to go to town.
It's a good size anchorage to the north is the main island and the village and to the south is a small island known as Mystery Island. Local folklore attests Queen Elizabeth gave it it's name when she visited on Royal Yacht Britannia in 1975. She briefly visited the village and then went for a swim off the waters of the island that she thought looked like Mystery Island. The name stuck. Today there is an airstrip left by USAF in WW2 and a cruise ship village of stalls to entertain the 1,000 passengers who arrive from New Caledonia once a week to spend a few hours on a desert island. It is postcard pretty white beaches and palm trees with clear blue water.

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Sunday 4 September Earthquake? What earthquake?

2011-09-10T11:39:00.000+12:00

The 520nm sail from Fiji to Vanuatu took 3 easy days with constant trade winds from south east and a comfortable following sea. On the first day David caught a skipjack tuna which I cooked for dinner. On the second day he caught 2 dorado – one a monster at 5' long and weighing 30kgs / 66lbs. With that our freezer was full and we didn't fish until the early morning we were on our way into Anatom, Vanuatu and we could give away whatever we caught. One more dorado jumped on the hook which went to Oso Blanco once we arrived.
How do you know when you're caught in an earthquake? If you're sailing you don't feel it. When we were arrived in the anchorage we learned that there had been a 7 magnitude earthquake centred under the sea 40 miles south as we were sailing along the south of the island. We'd neither seen or felt anything unusual. Whereas the boats at anchorage in shallow water 2 miles from us felt their boats shudder. They'd phoned friends in the States to check on the earthquake website and sure enough we'd gone through a quake. Fortunately for everyone there were no further effects. This is The Ring of Fire and the biggest tourist attraction on next island north, Tanna, is the most accessible live volcano in the Pacific region. We understand earthquakes are a daily occurrence.
Eric from Oso had asked permission from the Customs man for us to leave our boat before clearing in tomorrow morning to go for dinner on board theirs this evening. What a treat to arrive after a long passage and to go out for dinner. Annie had prepared a wonderful corned beef and vegetables. Contrary to our normal practice, we had coffee after dinner which kept us awake long enough to get back to Jackster and fall into bed.

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Wednesday 31 August Cleared and ready to go

2011-09-09T19:38:00.000+12:00

It was a day for the final bits and pieces. Last trip to Customs and Immigration to complete our paperwork to head on to Vanuatu. Last trip to the ATM to get cash to buy currency for the next country and a last opportunity to tackle Fijian bureaucracy at it's very best. Vis-a-vis buying vatus, the currency of Vanuatan.
First we go to the ANZ bank with our Fijian dollars and completed customs clearance papers. The teller asks for a passport and an outbound airline ticket. First problem is being on a yacht as this is a new twist. Our assistant today had never seen a yacht clearance form before and had to check it with his manager. He came back 15 minutes later to say yes they could sell us vatus but he didn't have any in stock. We had to go the main branch 5 minutes walk away. We walk. We queue. The assistant takes our papers away for 10 minutes and returns to say yes, she has vatus but we have to go to the clearance bank around the corner to obtain permission to export Vanuatan currency. All this for £200 which would be sufficient to pay customs and immigrations fees on a small island without an ATM and expenses through the islands up to the capital, Port Vila.
We walked to the clearance bank and sat and waited while the girl filled out our form and had it countersigned and then back to the queue at ANZ an hour after we'd begun our quest at midday. The poor assistant uttered the unfortunate words 'the person who issues the money has gone to lunch'. Cue loss of cool as my precarious grip on patience slipped away. It worked though and we got our cash without more ado.

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Monday 29 August The batteries cometh

2011-08-30T11:05:00.000+12:00

Delivery day for our new, bigger, better (we sincerely hope) deep cycle house batteries. We need eight and each one weighs 30 kgs. The ones they are replacing had less lead in them and only weighed 25 kgs. The manufacturer has given us 25L of ionised water for top up as needed and the distributor who sold us the product gave me a lift to their main office to do the credit card payment. Then a ride back to the yacht club via an electronics shop to buy a specific gravity reader required to know when they need topping up. Service with a smile and a they bought and took away the old batteries for recycling (cheaper than buying virgin lead).

To get these monsters out to Jackster in the bay, Jacob who works in the shop where we bought them borrowed his friends big boat and brought them out.

Work gang outside Suva prison

Fitting wasn't quite so straight forward as the terminals were different and needed modifications to gets the series in pairs and hooked up. We're lucky that David is very capable at problem solving.

Saturday 27 August Suva Hibiscus Festival

2011-08-30T10:59:00.000+12:00

The annual Hibiscus festival has been taking place in the park all week. There's a fun fair with multiple fragile ferris wheels and rickety roundabout rides for the under 5s which would have been condemned as a health hazard anywhere else. The space ship cars on one ride looked like they'd been made out of rusted oil drums with a slap of thick paint to cover the nail and screw heads. Everyone looked happy and we didn't see any blood.

Suva downtown building

In the evenings there have been dancing exhibitions and qualifying rounds for Miss Hibiscus 2011. Today was the grand finale with a street parade and the crowning of the lucky girl who'll be Miss Hibiscus for the next 12 months. On a hot Saturday afternoon it felt like everyone who lives in Suva was at the parade, half were in it and the other half were watching as groups representing every industry, major retailer, bank, phone provider, etc, walked in matching -shirts following a float with their current Miss Fiji Times, Miss White Goods (as in washing machines), Miss Fiji Gas precariously balanced atop in her best dress, hat, smile and wave.
The best entries were the marching bands. They were full of energy, drilled in marching in time and carrying a lively tune. One band we watched also added dance routines from the trumpet section – four big guys ran to the front, took position and as the music started they were formation dancing.
While all the processioners were filing into the park we took ourselves off for a bit of culture – a visit to the museum where they have a collection of the traditional double hulled canoes used over a hundred years ago and a history of the social development of the country. There's a bit of rudder from The Bounty brought here from Pitcairn island where the mutineers set fire to her. One interesting display showed the head chopping stone, serving dish and flesh eating forks from the era of cannibalism. Eating the flesh of your enemy makes you strong. Apparently.
Made us a bit peckish so we headed back to the festival to pick up a snack from the food stalls and then a cab back to the yacht club and dinghy home. We had intended to go back to the club to watch a rugby game between Australia and NZ but it was raining heavily so we watched a film instead.