Just leaving the Gold Coast Seaway and heading to Pittwater. Forecast for NE later this morning . V light S at the moment . 380nm to go , last passage for a while .

Just arrived at the entrance to the Brisbane River after a great trip .

We have left and hopefully this will put us in the correct place - just at sea near Port Bundaberg

Just about to leave Bundaberg Port Marina for Brisbane. We are travelling around Fraser Is and heading straight to Dockside Marina up the river in Brisbane . The sight seeing will have to wait until we come back . Great marina and surrounding areas . Great Go West Down Under Rally too !!!

Feeling pretty excited right now - we are in Australia - we are getting closer Jess and James (and Maxie) xxx, just arrived at Bundaberg marina and awaiting customs. No food at all left for them to take !!! 796nm passage from Noumea in 6 days, ave 24 hr mileage of 133nm and ave speed of 5.5k. We had to slow the boat down several times so we did not arrive after 1830 on Sunday so we had a lovely comfortable trip which was timed to perfection to arrive just after marina opens at 0800. Lovely and warm and after customs clearance we will be off to find a cold beer or 3. Next stop Brisbane in about 2 weeks. Cheers J and B xx

Currently 10 nm from northern end of Fraser Is. Beautiful light close hauled sail again today in a 5-8k NW. We were pushed south by the Eastern Australian Current so are now motorsailing with the main only in order to make the point. We will sail from tip of Fraser Is to the mouth of Burnett river where 1nm up the river we will berth in the Bundaberg Marina to await customs etc. No hurry as we have 11hrs to go 48nm, so we will just drift along quietly. Can't believe we are here after 4.5 years of planning. What a great trip so far and so much more to come !! Cheers J

Motor sailing all day with main up in a 5k NW. Hot with clear skies.Similar forecast for tmw.ETA into Bundaberg still 0600 Mon 30/10. Tried to call Jess amd James today but discovered we only had 4 mins of data left out of 100 mins !!So no family calls until we get a SIM card on Tuesday. Unfortunately we received about 12 unwanted emails that used up our data. These should have only gone to our gmail account but our onsatmail account was also used :(:( Nothing I could do to stop them coming in- aaarrrgh ! Otherwise all well and looking forward to our arrival.

Stunning sailing today in a N 15k, we had to reduce sail to slow down again ! Now in a 10k NW and only 10nm from Australian waters :)All well on board and we are still on target to reach Bundaberg overnight Sunday. Cheers J

Very hot day today with light winds. Motor sailing for a while then not even enough wind to fill the drifter. Had a glass of rose in the sun around 4pm on the foredeck - mid Coral sea drinkies !! All well on board and nearly half way :) Cheers J

Great day , 144nm in 24 hrs so averaging 6 knots in 10-15k SSE. Wind lightening now and seas getting calmer.Warm sunny day - no complaints. We only want to average 5.5 k so we arrive in Bundaberg Monday am to avoid customs clearance overtime fees so we are going slower than we normally would which is making the passage very comfortable.Cheers j

Left New Cal at 0645 this morning. Motored for 4 hrs then picked up the forecast S/SSE winds of around 10-12 k and have been sailing ever since averaging close to 6 knots. Beautiful weather and great sail. All well on board. Cheers J xx

Last night in New Caledonia . What a stunning place - we can't wait to return . We will be leaving tomorrow morning and the passage will likely take us 6 days . It won't be fast as the weather looks light at times 👍

Anchored in Noumea at 1640. Customs clearance early tomorrow so now enjoying a beer and a rose :) Best passage sailing so far !! Really looking forward to exploring Noumea tomorrow - it looks so civilised after all the cities and towns that we have visited recently. Looking forward to a quiet sleep tonight xx cheers J xx

Arrived at Lifou in the Loyalties at 0300. Spent day and left at 1630 for overnight passage to Noumea.Plan to arrive around 1700-1800 tomorrow. All well and wind direction in our favour :)

Beautiful sail all day and night in 10-18k SE/ESE. Going a bit fast actually. Will likely anchor in Lifou in the Loyalties for 24 hrs before making next passage to Noumea which is another 130nm.

Just filling up with diesel and then on our way to New Caledonia !! Vanuatu has been wonderful and we will be back to do the northern islands :)

Anchored in Port Vila at 0630 after a great sail . Customs , biosecurity all done . Now waiting for berth on sea wall :)

Left Dillon's Bay , Erromango at 1530 . Sailing in a nice 15k NE - the wind has died already 30 mins later . Hopefully we will pick it up again soon or we will be motoring all the way to Port Vila 😌⛵️ ETA will be around 9700 or later tomorrow 👍🏝

Just left Port Resolution for Dillon Bay at Erramango . Will stay there until Sunday and leave in the pm for an over nighter to Port Vila

Safely anchored in Port Resolution, Vanuatu :) Arrived 0650hrs after lovely sail overnight in a 10-15 k SE. We heave to for an hour offshore as we arrived a bit early.Looking forward to a shower etc and customs clearance in an hour or 2. Yay !!! Cheers Julie and Bob xx

ETA into Port Resolution is 0700 -0900 tomorrow. CUrrently motor sailing in 15kn S winds with a 2 m swell.Wind should back further to SE soon then we should be able to sail all the way on a nice reach.Have been in no hurry as do not want to arrive at night as there is no moon and it is pitch black with no visibility !! All fine aboard and looking forward to experiencing Vanuatu. Happy birthday for tmw Jimi xxx will ring tmw xx

We have had a 10k W since 0730 (as predicted) so have laid off and heading SW until the wind backs to the south hopefully overnight. Then we can head straight in to Port Resolution.Swell is building which is coming from the low crossing well south of us. If it builds too much we may heave to until the wind changes.Currently doing 5.5kn. All well on board.

A day of motoring along in calm conditions. The sea is oily with a lazy ocean swell and the colour is the deepest blue. Hot and sunny, 30 deg in shade.If conditions are the same tomorrow we will stop for a mid ocean swim. Making good progress and all well on board.Cheers Julie

Left Vuda at 1000. Motored until outside main reef. Now motor sailing in light 5-8k SE. Beautiful sailing, sunny and hot. All going fine. Just lost site of land :)]

Just cleared Vuda Point Beautiful day :)

We are spending our last day at Musket Cove today getting Oasis sea ready.Our time in Fiji (3 months) has been simply amazing . It feels like home now so we are sad to leave but we will come back in 3-4 years.

We are clearing out from Vuda Point on Friday headed for Vanuatu. New adventures for us and really excited !!

After 1160nm and 8 days of sailing we are anchored in Port Suva. Customs/quaratine/biosecurity/immigration have done their thing but we are too stuffed to move so we will begin exploring tomorrow.Feels very surreal to be here after such a long time of planning but our dreams are coming true.It is very hot and thankfully our beer is very cold !! CHeers J and B

All well on board . Last 100 nm to go !! Very much looking forward to a sleep in our bed and a shower ! Next report tomorrow we should have cleared customs and be sipping on a cold one . A great trip 1 cheers J and B

140nm from Suva. New cyclone north of us TC Ella is not expected to affect us - just so know one worries !! We will stay sheltered in Suva for a few days tho as it passes to the west very near Viti Levu. Gosh a few good stories to tell - typical Mitchell trip !! Cheers j and b xxx

no sure if update went through today at 1715. If not all is well , lovely sailing today. Suva by Friday am !! :))

All well. Still sailing in easterly winds 15-25 knots and 3 m seas.Definitely getting a bit sick of same old same old but progressing well towards landfall Friday am. The water feels warm as it crashes over us at times and can't wait to be swimming in it.Cheers J and B xxxx

Another good day , 20+kt easterly with 3m swells. Well over half way. Have changed destination to Suva and hope to arrive late Thursday or Friday. Weather forecast indicates more of the same until we arrive.Cheers J and B xx

all fine on board. Windy few hours today requiring 3 reefs in the main and going over 8 k. A few squally showers.Julie did not get to make her scones today.513nm done so nearly half way. Will likely reach Fiji Thursday .Cheers Julie and Bob.

Had a few gliches getting the format right for these updates. All going well 350nm into our journey. Good fast sailing with today in warm sun with a good easterly breeze.We even had showers !! Loving being at sea. Getting good updates re TC Donna and should be north of any trouble in a couple of days.Love to all especially Jess,Erik, James and Alan and of course Maxie xxx

A quick up date as last night's update failed, a typo problem .All going well. Great trip so far. Quick first 24 hrs. Beautiful sailing weather today.

First 24 hours did 160nm! Lighter winds today so motorsailing to keep up speed. Getting daily weather updates re TC Donna.All well on board and loving it so far.Love to Jess and James xx and Maxie xx

20k SW gusting , moderate seas

averaging over 7 knots

making very good ground, all well on board and Ollie steering the boat perfectly.No cell coverage now. Love and hugs to all xx

7.5 knots

Great fast sail. Good progress so far.

Finally have Cat 1,weather permitting we depart Auckland for Fiji around 4th May.

It's been along time coming, can't wait.

Final countdown to departure to Fiji, planning on a departure early May, weather dependent.