Anchored in Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier. Lots of boats. Weather improving. Nice to be back our here again. Good dive yesterday, although the water was a tad chilly. Nice reward though.

Home again on our berth in Gulf Harbour. Great to be home again.

Tied up safely at Marsden Cove. Good to be still. Looking forward to a good night's sleep. Clear Customs early tomorrow morning. Back to Gulf Harbour marina tomorrow.

15% cloud cover. 15 knot southerlies.

Boat speed 5.5 knots. Course 189T. Should be tied up to 'Q' dock late this afternoon - Marsden Cove. Really chilly now!!! Jerseys and long pants are on now!! All well onboard.

15 knots S. Boat speed 5.5 knots. Course 189T.

90% cloud cover, overcast.

All well onboard. Definitely getting cooler. Warm clothes and ugg boots on.

100% cloud cover. .5m swell Course 184T. 20 knots NW. Boat speed 7 knots. All well

No wind. Calm sea. 30%cloud cover Motoring 6.5 knots. ETA Tuesday Marsden Cove

50% cloud cover. .5m swell Course 204T. Boat speed 6.5 - 7 knots. Wind 13 knots SSE. All well.

8 knots SE. 100% cloud cover. Southerly swell .5m Course 182 T. Boat speed 6 knots.

Seas a bit more lumpy than first day or so. Definitely getting cooler. All well.

Cloud cover 50% Calm sea Steering a course of 182T. Wind 5 knots NE. Jock and Leanne onboard heading to Marsden Cove. All well onboard.

Checked out of Vuda marina, Fiji and heading home to New Zealand. 2 POB.

23-24 knots SE. In Vuda marina. Weather window closed. Waiting for next one. Hopefully soon!!!

In Saweni Bay. Hoping to depart Saturday for NZ.

Still at Musket Cove waiting for the right weather window to head home to NZ.

Clear blue skies, 2 knots of wind from SE. Back in Saweni bay. Restocking in Lautoka today before heading back out to Musket this afternoon.

Manta Ray Pass. Swimming with mantas every morning and diving in afternoons. Beautiful weather and calm seas. Lots to see and do here. Awesome!!

Anchored in Saweni Bay for the night before heading off to see the manta rays.

In Denerau to restock before heading out to Manta Ray pass. Have Helen & Paul from Sweet Disorder onboard for few days while their rudder repairs are being done.

Made it down to Musket. Lovely to be here. Sunshine, blue water and so many people to catch up with.

Left early this morning and had good sail down from Makogai. Had a pod of dolphins just out of the pass as we left and a whale breeched as we came through the Nananu passage. Drizzling this morning but as we came down there was blue sunny skies. This is certainly the wind capital of Fiji. We can see why kite boarders like this place.

Dull day. Overcast with light showers.

Leaving Savusavu this morning and slowly making our way down to Musket Cove. The time has come to move on. Light rain as we are leaving and poor visibility. Probably stop at Makogai tonight.

In Viani Bay. A lovely trip up from Savusavu with no wind and flat calm. Quite a bit of rain. Caught a nice mahimahi so dinner is sorted!!

Still in Savusavu waiting for weather to clear. Hoping to get out of here maybe about Friday and head to Cousteau's. If weather is going to be light we hope to get some diving in at Namena. Watch this space. Hopefully this will work out, but things change so quickly with the weather!!! Lots of boats here in Savusavu waiting to leave. So much wind this year.

Back in Savusavu. Wind 20-30 knots from ESE. 10%cloud cover. Sun shining but windy. Will be here for a few more days yet!!! Worse places to be, though.

Overcast today, 17 knots wind from SE. Motored down to Wakaya from Makogai this morning. Nice & calm here and looking forward to a few dives here.

50% cloud cover. Light E wind. Anchored in Makogai and having a great time - walking, diving, swimming and just chilling out!!!

finally good wx so moving out today

Anchored in Savusavu and great to be back. This town is really humming. The first few days have been spent getting communications up and running and sorting out a few emails etc. Today (Saturday) is big market day and we have been into town and got our fresh fruit and veg

The voyage up from NZ was a bit of everything ? hardly any wind, to no wind, lots of wind and very confused seas to calm seas and using the ?iron sails?. All in all not too bad and everyone onboard seemed reasonably happy.

YAY!!!! We have arrived in Savusavu. All good. Great last day sailing up the Koro Sea - calm and very little wind. Hopefully clear Customs and then a couple of cold Fiji Golds. Special thanks to our captain and crew.

70% cloud cover. Course 332T Boat speed 6 knots. Wind 7 knots SE. Seas calmed a lot .5m swell. Passed by Totoya early morning. Getting closer to Savu Savu!!! YAY!!!

90% cloud cover. Showers. Wind 24knots SE. Steering a course of 350T and boat speed 7 knots. Confused seas.

Left North Minerva yesterday and on way to SavuSavu.

good conditions and a good sail overnight

N Minerva

26 knots ESE. Arrived in North Minerva this morning. Will be good to be stopped and have showers, decent meals and a good nights sleep.

141m to N Minerva

50% cloud cover confused sea.

all well

Boat speed 7.8 knots. Wind 20-25 knots ESE. 40% cloud cover. 2m swell seas bit confused. All well and everyone happy onboard.

Wind SSE 17 knots. 30% cloud cover. 1m swell. Second night and all well. Everybody happy onboard.

11 knots SW Calm sea Cleared Customs yesterday and on our way. First night and all well onboard. Motorsailing

Just cleared Customs and leaving Marsden Cove. Weather looking good. Update as we go.

Leaving Gulf Harbour this morning and heading to Marsden Cove to clear Customs tomorrow and then on our way to Savu Savu.

Grey Group Islands. One of our very favourite anchorages when weather permits.

Oneura Bay. Fresh water pools here to do laundry. Went for a walk up track to top of hill. Sheltered and calm anchorage. Met up with Helen & Paul on Sweet Disorder.

Kaiarara Bay. Tucked up nice and sheltered from the wind that is supposed to be coming in the next day or so. Very peaceful and relaxing.

Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier. One of our favourite spots for a few days. Coming through Man O War passage was lovely with mirror calm water, pohutukawa trees out in flower, the locusts chirping loudly - Summer is here!!!!

Left Tiri early this morning as wind got up and rolling into anchorage. Stopped at Challenger Island, Kawau on way up to have a look for scallops & mussels. Around to anchorage at Shark Bay later for the night.

Anchored at Tiri Tiri Matangi. Lovely here with the bird song in the evening and pohutukawas in full flower.

Back in Gulf Harbour. About to restock and head out again while weather is good.

Lovely morning in Shark Bay, Kawau. Sun shining, no wind and just had scallops for breakfast. Another dive today.

Tied up on berth in Gulf Harbour. Stocked, refuelled and ready to head out for Christmas.

Tied up at Q dock in Marsden Cove. Cleared customs and now waiting for biosecurity. All good and glad to be home although a little chilly!!!

Cloud cover 20%. wind 6.5 SE. Course 176T. Boat speed 6 knots. Swell 1m.

Definitely getting cooler. Winter woollies are out and ugg boots on!!! Nearly there. One more night out here.

Cloud cover 70% light showers. Wind 7 knots south. Swell 1m. Course 191T. Sea temperature 2.5 degrees air temperature 21. Feeling colder!!!! All well and counting down to landfall.

cloud cover 40% swell 1-1.5m wind 10 ssw. Course 165T. Light rain overnight All well. 440 miles to go.

Cloud cover 30% no significant swell wind 6 knots from the east.

Ian up and about today which is great news. We are all well and counting down til arrival in Marsden Cove.

All well onboard. Ian a bit seedy but ok and drinking.

On passage from Fiji to NZ. Four people onboard abd all well.

NE 8 knots and 20% cloud cover. Clearing out this morning and are homeward bound.

Anchored in Saweni Bay. Finished provisioning, fuelling up, organizing paperwork with crew and now ready for the return passage to NZ. Hopefully weather still looking good for a Monday departure.

At Denerau. Visit to Dentist Tuesday and reprovisioning.

Came down from Navadra yesterday. Winds dropped all the way to practically nothing. Had a rolly night at Navadra so decided to move on. No room at Musket to anchor so anchored around the corner.

Been at Manta Ray Pass for the last five days. Have sum with the mantas and had a dive. The mantas are just awesome and got some great photos. Heading to Navadra today for another few days. Weather is beautiful, blue water, white sand beaches and gloriously sunny. Couldn't be in a better place.

At Navadra. A stunning and beautiful place. Absolutely no wind, clear, blue sky - not a cloud to be seen. Beautiful clear water. Paradise!!!

Anchored in Musket Cove. Very busy here. Hard to find a spot to anchor. Big day yesterday sailing from Nananu-i-Ra. Good to be here.

At Nananu-i-Ra. Head down to Lautoka next couple of days. Dentist visit and may head out to Manta Ray Pass. Heading down to the 'dry, west side' of Fiji.

Back on a mooring in our favourite town of Savu Savu. Feels like coming home. Jock's birthday today so out for dinner with good friends Vixen,Seabride, Tusi 2, Slice of Heaven and Yinka. Be here for couple of days to restock and provision then may follow Vixen, Seabride, Tusi 2 and Slice of Heaven to Viani Bay.Looking forward to catching up with them up there and do some more diving.

Dropped anchor at 1500 hours at Cousteaus Resort, ready to go into SavuSavu tomorrow morning. Wind 15-20 knots from ESE to SE. Good sail though. Caught mahimahi on newly made toothpaste lure.

Came up to Naigani today ready for early start in morning back to our favourite town, Savusavu. Gusty E-SE wind. Up to 30 knots then back to 15.

Left Makogai this morning and headed to the sheltered hurricane sheltered anchorage on Ovalau. Weather is awful - lots of rain for two days and now really windy. Can't wait for that convergence zone disappears!!!! Lots of reading, watching TV and naps!!!!

Back to Makogai for few days as wind from SE and big swell coming into Wakaya.

Left Somosomo, Gau early this morning and came back to Wakaya. Light drizzle to start with but soon had no rain and no wind. Had time with a pod of basking pilot whales on the way.

Left Levuka and had a great sail over to Gau. Between 9 and 18 knots from SW.

Motored across to Levuka from Wakaya yesterday. Beautiful day with no wind and a nice gentle swell, but still no fish. Neat town which is still very colonial and I don't think anything has changed for 50 years!!!! This was the first capital of Fiji. Had dinner at Kim Paak Kum Loong restaurant. Nice food.

Came down to Wakaya Island from Makogai this morning with hardly any wind. Had lots of dolphins escorting us most of the way. Gorgeous anchorage. Wakaya is a privately owned island with an exclusive resort. Had a dive this afternoon on the Black wall. Hoping to do a few more dives before we leave here to go to Ovalau and onto Gau. Cruising with Seabride and Vixen 7.

Anchored at Namena marine reserve. Awesome diving here. Stayed here last year for three days and did lots of diving and the weather has allowed us to do the same again this year. There are so many dive sites and all wonderful diving - Tetons, Fantasy, The Mushsrooms, Rainbow, The Chimneys...... Lots of fish, large and small, soft corals, fan corals, christmas tree worms........ Great for photography, both macro and normal. Also a red footed booby bird colony. Lovely, cute fluffy chicks and birds flying over the boat all day and follow us in the dinghy. Here with Sea Bride and Vixen 7, so good company, good scenery and great diving.

Anchored at Cousteau's Resort. Wait till tomorrow to head into Savu Savu and pick up a mooring.

Through the Nasonisoni Passage. Not far now.

Coming up to the Nasonisoni Passage.

Left Voli Voli early this morning and heading to Savu Savu.

Anchored off Voli Voli Resort tonight. Heading North to Savu Savu.

Left Denerau this morning and set sail for Musket Cove.

Tied up in Denerau marina. Boat washed off and catching up on cleaning and washing!! Great to be stopped.

Arrived at port of Lautoka. Checked in with Customs, Immigration and Biosecurity. All good. Got cruising permit, coastal clearance and now heading off to Denerau and a marina berth.

Came through Navula Pass at 0400hrs and motoring slowly up to Lautoka port where we will clear Customs and Immigration. Glad to be here at last.

Making good progress toward Lautoka. 146 nm to go.

Left North Minerva Reef after a good meal, a sleep and transferred all the jerry cans of diesel into the tanks. By unanimous decision we decided to head on up to our destination. The weather isn't looking wonderful and it will be nice to be cleared in and sorted by Thursday.

Anchored N'Minerva reef 07:30am today.

Beautiful sail yesterday. Motos off all day. Only put back on last night to charge batteries.

:date 12/5/2014

Calmed down a lot over night. Went through few squalls with winds gusting 30 knots. Averaging 20-25 knots. Wind direction changing frequently.

getting into front

Another reasonable night. Calmed down a little from during the day.

Another good day. Hardly any wind. Motoring. Calm seas

First night out. Motoring. All good, reasonable swell

Tied up in marina now awaiting weather to depart. Looking like after the weekend at this stage. Bit of a low developing over Townsville and want to see what this brings. Rayfiki along side. Good to just chill out before leaving. Everybody catching up on sleep and relaxing.

Left Kawau this morning and heading for Urquharts Bay, just inside the entrance to Whangarei Harbour. Probably head into Marsden Cove marina in the next day or so.

Untied the lines and left out of the marina this afternoon. Anchored in Harris Bay tonight and head north to Marsden Cove tomorrow.

In Gulf Harbour marina. Hope to leave Friday to head north to Marsden Cove where we will await a weather window for departure to Lautoka, Fiji for the season. Hope to update during our passage.

Anchored in Harris Bay, Kawau. Short stopover before heading out to the Barrier.

Arrived back in Gulf Harbour

Stopover in Shark Bay, Kawau for night.

Shark Bay, Kawau. Stopover for the night on way to Gulf Harbour

Whangamumu Harbour Always a favourite to come back to. This harbour is sheltered in any blow except easterlies. There is old whaling station ruins to wander around and a few walking tracks around the foreshore and up the hill toward the road back to Rawhiti. Great anchorage to chill out or do as much as you want.

Anchored in Waitepipi Bay. Lovely sheltered bay. Took dinghy ride around edge of harbour. Found DOC hut with walkway beside up to Dukes Nose. This is a good walk with stunning views, but, the last part of the walk is hand over hand chains. We didn't do this part up to bluff but the views we had were stunning enough.

Whangaroa Harbour Lovely sheltered bay, beautiful scenery, rocks, cliffs, bush and lots of birdsong.

Matauri Bay Stopped here for the night. Won't make Whangaroa before dark.

Back in Gulf Harbour.

Matauri Bay Stopped here for the night. Won't make Whangaroa before dark.

Cape Brett.

Trolling lures but no fish!!

Sugar Loaf Rock. Poor Knights Passing by the Poor Knights but no time to stop for a dive. Maybe on the way back.

Heading North to Whangaroa.

Gulf Harbour Home again!!

Marsden Cove. Cleared Customs and MAF. All Good.

Nearly Home!!!

On Passage

On Passage

On Passage

On Passage

On Passage

On Passage

Denerau

Musket Cove

Mana Island

Manta Ray Pass

Musket Cove

Likuri Harbour (Robinson Crusoe Island)

back in savu savu to restock with food, veges, beer, diesel and the most

important of all, to repair our autopilot!!! this decided to pack up on

our trip up from namuku-i-lau. at least the rough part of the trip was

over and handsteering was done in the relatively calmer seas. a rather

hair raising trip up with 40 knot winds, thunder and lightning and 3-4m

swells.

namuka-i-lau we have now left fulaga and are now gradually, and i say gradually, making our way back to savu savu. our first big trip out of fulaga was 20 miles up to namuka-i-lau. trolled two lures all the way but no fish!! this is a very pretty anchorage with a nice sandy bay to anchor in. only enough room here for four boats, maybe five at the most. walked across to the village to do sevu sevu. the walk was a good hour each way and the track quite overgrown. good school which is australian aid funded.

anchored in fulaga in the southern lau along with 22 other boats!!!! this

is certainly a lovely and very safe anchorage. white sandy beaches,

swaying palm trees and clear blue water.

here we are back in viani bay and looking forward to diving the white wall

again. we have been coming here to viani bay each year to go diving with

jack. he knows the reef, dive sites and has many stories to tell!!! he

is a bit of a legend!!!

left makogai early this morning and made our way up to koro. we had never

been here before. this is a lovely anchorage with moorings to pick up and

the payment for this is to go into the resort for a cold fiji bitter.

this was easy to do and the surroundings are gorgeous. will have to come

back here next year. we only stopped here overnight on our way up to

viani bay.

here we are in makogai with the game keeper and big clams. this is a

department of fisheries run clam hatchery. makogai is also the former

lepper colony for the pacific. there are many ruins but now covered by

creepers and vines. an island steeped in history and is very interesting.

arrived in savu savu 26 may after stops at north and south

minerva reefs. good passage and a lot of

motoring as very little wind. glad to be

in savu savu and, once again, enjoying the people, restaurants and, of

course,

the fiji bitters. will leave here next

day or so to begin cruising and diving.