Peggy & Pat's Sailing Adventures
After more than a week in the cottage in Manly Beach and exploring the Whangaparaoa area, it was time to head north on Jan18. We drove a couple hours up the east coast to Whangarei and checked into the Discovery Settlers Hotel. It was a short walk into town where we had a nice lunch right next to the Hundertwasser
We continue to be impressed by the way NZ takes care of its natural resources. Jan14 we drove about an hour north to Tawharanui Regional Park and spent the day hiking, having a picnic and birdwatching. Much of the park is pasture lands where each section is fenced off and sheep are rotated to the various areas. We stopped for
Continue readingDay Trips: Tawharanui, Goat Island & Muriwai Gannet Colony
We left for New Zealand Jan8, 2025, taking a shuttle to LAX and then a flight to Nadi (Fiji) and from there to Auckland, NZ. The flights were business class and we got showers during our layover so we landed doing pretty well. After an easy shuttle ride, we were in a lovely cottage on Manly Beach on the Whangaparaoa
Big change – we sold Calista! We had always planned to sail Calista “as long as it’s fun” then sell and move on to other ways to travel. There are two main reasons we did it now. I talked to Peggy about the maintenance issues while we were in Tonga. This was a low point for me, as I had
Aug 17. After a ‘not too rolly’ night, we pulled anchor and headed south to Naigoro Pass. Only about 10nm away, we had a quick and easy trip. It was all inside the lagoon, protected from the ocean swell, but it did mean we had to keep a sharp lookout for baumies. We found a floating coconut tree that had
On August 8 we left Fulaga, headed for Kadavu, about 220 miles west. We followed a couple other boats out the passage, waiting to see how the current and waves affected them. We were supposed to be at ‘slack high tide’ which is high tide, just turning around to start going down – the optimal situation. But you can never
At 1400 on August 2, we pulled anchor and headed south for Fulaga, (pronounced ‘Fulanga’) one of the smaller and more remote islands of Fiji. At 7 knots, the 125 nm trip took us about 18 hours. We could easily have gone faster but this rate got us to the pass outside the reef at about 8am. We waited until
We had been watching the weather, looking for the right conditions to make the passage from Qamea to Vanua Balavu Island, about 70nm southeast. If we do about 7 knots, this is a 10 hour passage, too much to do in a day and still arrive when it is light. But it is an easy over night passage and the
In most places, when you pass someone you don’t know on the street, the most you expect is a nod and maybe a polite ‘Good Morning.’ In Fiji, you often get a loud and enthusiastic ‘Bula!’ with a big smile. It almost feels like you just got a hug from a good friend. Fiji is a very special place. We
Back in Neiafu for July 4, but there were no fireworks or other celebrations, this being Tonga, not the US. Still, we had a good time at a fund raising dinner for a veterinarian who travels from New Zealand to do mostly free work for the Vava’u community. On July 5 we went whale watching. Tonga is one of the