We've arrived!!! YAY! Found the Q wharf in Auckland with some difficulty at 1am. We then crashed for 5 hrs (bliss) and got woken by customs knocking on our hull at 7am. All done and dusted in 30 mins but they did take my baby clam shells. Oh well, was worth a try. We're now back at Pier21, berth A16. Just had a lovely day with Sara, Ham & Lily who came with avocado, strawberries, bacon. The bottle of bubbly that did the trip up and back was opened and we toasted family and friends. Thank you all for your comments and support. Thank you Karie-L, our strong little 65yr old ship.

Day 8. We're nearly there! Will see Great Barrier Is soon. Currently we're motoring waiting for the wind to build so we can sail. We've got all our wet weather gear on as its raining on and off. ETA into Auckland Saturday midnight at our present speed. Looking forward to being home. All well and rested onboard.

Day 7. We've just seen a whale breach! Currently sailing downwind with the jib and mizzen. The morning drizzle is giving us a break. Last night got pretty uncomfortable with confused seas. We've still current against us. ETA will more likely be Sunday. REALLY looking forward to getting there. Dreaming of avocado and bacon (the free range variety) on Burgen toast and fresh berries. All well on board.

Day 6. Currently we're motor sailing but have mostly been sailing. Our fuel consumption has been very low as the motor is just trickling along. The weather so far has been just unbelievably good. Sunnier enough for hot showers during the day. Apart from having to wake up, the night watches are a pleasure especially with the full moon.

Current ETA into Auckland is looking like Saturday. All well onboard.

Day 5. 380nm to go so YAY, over half way there. We have current against us between .5 - 1k which is frustrating as we're making good boat speed. Broad reaching still on port tack. We know that we're definitely headed in the right direction as the temperature is slowing dropping. All well onboard.

Day 4. We're having to motor sail for bits when the wind is just too light and we drop to below 3k. Another sunny day so not complaining. All well onboard.

Day 3. We are feeling very lucky for such a good weather window. Thanks Predict Wind and Gulf Harbour Radio for the forecasts. It's still looking like favourable winds all the way. We've been motor sailing since 12pm. Night watch last night felt like more of a pleasure than a chore as it was so starry. Having a moon is pretty special as well. All well onboard.

Day 2. Yesterday the seas were pretty lively making for a hard ride but they've settled down today. As has the wind but as long as we've got enough to sail then we're happy. Time for chores. All well onboard.

Day 1 passage N Minerva to Auckland. YAY we're off as are the other 4 boats. Currently beam reaching. Hoping that the forecast winds on the top of the H will continue. We're feeling very rested and pleased to be underway.

Minerva stopover. No more fish speared. Doug made a cray trap using the kingy remains as bait, placed it on the reef but no luck. Sitting quietly today itching to leave tomorrow. All well onboard.

Minerva stopover. We were already to leave today but there's no wind until the evening, can't leave on a Fri so Sat is the new ETD. Gulf Harbour Radio this morning are predicting the best weather window for next week leaving on Sat. So time for some more relaxing, exploration and socialising. Our day has started with some excitement as Doug speared a big kingy from the deck of our boat! Amazing!! Then walking at low tide on the reef yesterday evening I found a HUGE and very old copper nail. I've decided it's off the Endeavour.... The ship's carpenter biffed an old piece of timber with the nail in it overboard about 150 yrs ago, the timber finally rotted away on top of the reef leaving the nail waiting for me. Yes really. All well onboard.

Minerva stopover Day 2. We're just savouring the last day(s) of being at anchor in tropical waters, enjoying the sun, pristine waters (no plastic rubbish in sight), seafood and company. The current Minerva Yacht Club got together last night. SVs Yara, Saraoni, Macleshia, Oceanna & Us. Oceanna were the hosts and shared the crays Greg found on the reef. YAY! Fresh, tender, sweet....complimented with Poisson Cru, vegan pizza and cake. At the moment it looks good for leaving tomorrow (Thurs) morning. All replete onboard.

Minerva stopover. The entry yesterday was made easy with our chart plotter and good visibility. We're anchored in 12m over sand, on the SE corner with currently 4 other boats. We're getting used to our view of surrounding reef and no land! The surf can be heard constantly pounding on the outside of the reef. We've been told that Tongans have been over here and taken most of the crays. However a neighbour speared a big coral trout at the entrance and shared it around. We took the dinghy over to the reef just after low tide and water was streaming across it into the lagoon like a river. It's fun walking on it and then a snorkel back to the boat across 2m of sand and rocks with a little coral, tropical fish, heaps of clams and bigger fish over a bigger rocks in deeper water. Visibility is A1. Doug saw a reef shark under the boat. Our neighbour reported tiger sharks at the entrance. Waiting until the big H in the Tasman spreads N onto NZ. ETD maybe the weekend. All rest ed and well onboard.

Day 3. Only an hour away from Minerva! Feeling excited. Also weird to be dropping the anchor soon in the middle of the ocean with no sight of land. Feels like the right decision to go in and wait for more favourable weather to get to NZ. We've had some easy sailing in the last 48hrs. Good full sail reaching conditions. Another yacht behind us in the night but lost sight of them when they turned their nav lights off this morning. We thankfully just lost a really big fish on Mike's lure. Hopefully plenty to be got in Minerva. The bread has gone mouldy but all good with the crust cut off. I'll be able to bake some soon. All well onboard.

Day 2. Making good progress to Minerva reef. Started our 3 hr watches with Doug 6-9pm, Nikki 9-12pm etc. A tight reach. With stronger weather during the night we got a bit wet. No seasickness yet. All well on board.

We left Nuku'alofa at 7am. Coming out of Piha passage now. Just finished listening to Gulf Harbour radio. Thanks for the weather update. Heading to N Minerva reef. ETA Monday morning. Will decide whether to go in or not closer to this destination. Both very well onboard. Farewell Tonga. Malo apeito '��️

We arrived in Nuku'alofa 4 nights ago and are staying anchored off Big Mama YC on Pangamotu Is, only 1nm from town. We got here just in time to enjoy the Halloween party and then watch the ABs. What a match! We've seen about 20 boats leave for NZ with about 10 left and a few new boats trickling in. My expectations of Nuku'alofa were low so I've been pleasantly surprised to find I quite like it. Good cafes, bigger markets and the ferry ride across the harbour make it pretty stress free.

Our plans are to leave on a good weather window in about 1-2 weeks time, or wait longer if we need to. There is "no hurry". In the meantime we will explore Tongatapu and get to one or two of the local islands.

This is the longest period (2 weeks) of fine weather and light winds that we've had in the nearly 5 months we've spent in Tonga. This morning we had a lovely reach from Nomuka'iki to Kelefesia Is. This is the southern most island in the Ha'apais. Apart from the narrow entrance into this anchorage we are surrounded by surf breaking onto the reefs, some of it good enough to surf. The island is very pretty with high sandstone bluffs and sandy beaches. There's lots of live coral to enjoy and I particularly enjoyed watching 2 squid.

An early start tomorrow to cover the 45mm to Nuku'alofa while the winds are favourable.

A pleasant sail south from Ha'afeva to Nomukaiki today. Another mahimahi on the lure. I've promised Doug that I won't cry next time watching one die.....Highlights of Ha'afeva were the best coral we've seen just off the boat plus a snorkel on the wreck. 10 other boats in the anchorage there so always fun socialising and visiting the village. The surprise so far at Nomukaiki is the new yacht club where the prison used to be. We missed the opening by a week. The Crown Prince, plus Unofa (the only qualified Tongan female skipper) plus 130 others attended. They will be building small sailing outriggers here, plus fales. Our plan is to be in Tongatapu to watch the rugby by the weekend.

Since our last update the weather has settled.

Hoorah. After a quick trip back to Pangai to clear customs and re provision we went whale watching & swimming on Tues. it was a great day out with the Aussie operators on a wooden Tongan boat with a 40 hp motor. As it is late in the season we had one brief swim but some amazing breeches. We headed South and spent last night at 'Uiha Island visiting the 2 villages and school. Taro leaves for dinner. Today we headed further South, nervously skirting around the reefs and are anchored off a sandbar connecting the 2 islands Uonukuhihifo & Uonukuhahake. It feels like we have this place all to ourselves and then were very surprised to see 2 black cows walking the length of the sandbar with turquoise water in the foreground and an uninterrupted sky behind them. I wonder what they drink?

Our 3rd night at the southern anchorage off Uoleva Is. As it's one of the few more sheltered anchorages in the Ha'apais we'll be staying here for at least another week as the forecast is for even stronger winds. The highlight here would be the extremely long deeply sloping white sand beaches that surround the whole island. We are yet to explore underwater. There are no villages but 4 budget type resorts. We had a night in Pangai (small town) on Lifuka Is to clear customs and provision. There was one cafe....phew. Cyclone damage and the ongoing recovery was evident.

Overnight passage from Vava'u was good practice for the trip home. Motor sailed to windward. Battery was not charging so auto-helm stopped working. Doug feared that the alternator had broken but once at anchor he found the fault so all good. We caught a tuna on the lure Mike gave us. YAY! Lower lying islands here, more untouched, water is cooler but great snorkelling.

Have seen whales.

Our last day in Vava'u anchored at Port Maurelle. It's been 4 wonderful months exploring this beautiful area and enjoying our visits to Neiafu. Having visitors has been a highlight, seeing whales, snorkelling, exploring on land and making friends. We are sailing down to the Ha'apais tonight to enjoy a few weeks there before carrying on further South to Tongatapu where we will depart to NZ from in Nov.

Day 14. We made it! Arrived Nieafu at daybreak. Were lucky to clear customs and immigration as Saturday isn't a working day. We're all ecstatic!! Thank you to all our family and friends who have posted comments and messaged. This meant so much to us. As we don't have the web on passage we couldn't view them until Jodes copied and pasted some into an email. We look forward to seeing our wonky track. Have been to the market, the crew are doing laundry and showers onshore and Doug and I have just finished an initial clean up. Thank you Karie-L.

Day 13. So close but so far away! Very unpleasant night motor sailing into headwinds and seas. Decided so far this morning that we're going too hard and cutting it too finely continuing this way and risk not getting in before dark. Currently just sailing N up past Late Is (non anchorable), Meg at the helm, will still try to get in but are prepared to have another.....yes, another night out. Might be the sensible option. Otherwise all fit and well on board. OMG it's going to be AMAZING when we get there.

Day 12! Bashing uncomfortably to windward. Passed Tongatapu but can't see it as too low lying and we're a fairway out, plus cloud. Approx ETA Vava'au tomorrow. We have a hard 24 hrs ahead of us but we've unanimously that we can do it!! Best mileage last 24hrs = 155nm. Have completely run out of fresh food. Dreaming of salad, fresh fruit.... Lost a ginormous mahahi yesterday which was a relief. Would have caused injury bringing it in and turned the deck into a blood bath. Have had flying fish land on the boat at night and this morning welcomed by a tropical bird and gannet type birds. All well!

Day 11. Good mileage again in the last 24 Hrs but mostly spent motor sailing as the winds have been very light. Our crew are yearning for tropical beaches so are having to be very patient as we have another 3 days to go. We're trying to sleep less during the day so we can sleep at night. Pleasantly warm. Pretty much run out of fresh food so are having to be creative. So pleased we have a fridge. All well.

Day 10. Best mileage yet last 24hrs 135m. Lighter winds forecast so we will work harder at tweeking the sails. Constance (auto helm) has been great but is high maintenance on battery power. SO!! our skipper has sorted a very good backup wind steering sheet to tiller system that's working well. Running a little bit of motor now at low revs to charge batteries before the sun does its work with the solar panels. Another day closer to our destination YAY. Currently gull winging it. All well onboard.

Day 9. This is what a passage to Tonga is supposed to look like! Sailing at a good speed, in the right direction and with a good weather forecast. YAY! We're all settling down to a leisurely day after peaches, muesli and yoghurt for breakfast

Day 8. Phew! Weather change as forecast early pm. Sailing again and in the right direction. Dinner time

Day 8. All well onboard, hove to since 8pm last night, reefed mizzen and tiller lashed. Riding to the seas well.

Day 7. All good. Pleased to have wind even if it is on the nose and we're heading in a more easterly direction. Our strong little ship is handling it beautifully. Looking fwd to better weather after Sunday. Enjoyed porridge with Cherie's plums!

Day 6 begins! All in very good spirits. After motoring for 80hrs we're finally sailing. Pleased how well fuel is lasting. Still have 3 days in reserve. MPS, main and mizzen. Nice surprise to see Meg had posted our menu for the day. Started with scrambled eggs. Anna is now French plaiting her hair. Got some music happening.

Day 5, been motoring 34 hrs, looking fwd forecast wind on Saturday, all well rested, clean clothes & domestics, porridge with bananas and honey for breakfast. Time for a little sunbathing yay

heavy night last night but made great progress. 25nm averaging 6.2knts on one 4 hr watch, crew are top notch, all well

1st day and night gone really well. No seasickness! Out of sight land.

This Sunday 17th is it! Clearing customs at 9am. YAY