now at whangaruru to await the fronts as the ne swell at tutukaka would not be comfortable.

whangaruru where the walks in the bush are great, the views fantastic as the weather is good but the snapper dont seem to be interested in died mackeral

this is the q dock and we were back on saturday so 7 days even. not bad given the longer than rhumb line route and an absolutely beautiful entry to the bay of islands. the wind did not go south so we had a lovely sail down the coast in flat seas. lost the windat 6.30am so had an hours run to ninepin sunday was warmer than new cal but cloudy today. a pleasant check in with familiar faces and we are now further down the breakwater past the q dock.

111nm at 130t so we are smelling the barn. a good days sailing but the swell is getting up again and we are hard on. 32miles to get in the lee of north cape. days averaging 15 - 160 miles so not too bad

the best day sailing of the trip. perfect conditions after the swell dropped to 1m. wish it was always like this and it will make up for the low that has formed on our destination and the trough we have to go through to get there. likely saturday but too late for checkin.

turbulent day due 4m sw swell. not much sleep and not much work in the galley. outlook not good with a new low formed below us so s winds - not helpful! a pity we could not stop at norfolk to let it pass.

a bit of everything the last 24hrs. good winds last night took us south, first ene, the ne then nw. entered front at 7am this morning and have had sw since then up to 25 in squalls and then down to next to nothing. seas getting up a bit now but were only 1m during the wind changes. will miss norfolk again as it will be dark and we will be to the east anyway. no rest until opua. good speed at the moment of 7.5kts but it has been up and down.

had a lot of wind last night so progress south was good. no sleep though. today has been a motor sail with wind less than 9kts and lots of blue sky.

lumpy hard on start with a miserable negative 2kt current which we lost at 5pm thank goodness. heading for lord howe! i hear it is nice there. wind should back tomorrow and at least we have sun.

waiting at isle de pins for departure weather. unpleasant at the moment with a front going through but the guru says tomorrow will be better. a quote interesting tactical passage end quote. translated i think that means we will be going different directions each day due the high, then low and front, then high. we have pressure to return unfortunately as i am enjoying the temperatures here. we have wifi via i-net at this point which is out from the restaurant at the resort. it is weak and on and off but at least something. our external antenna is caput. cruise ship carnival spirit arriving thru the murk. they wont like the conditions here today.

officially on our way back to nz as we have checked out. currently in port boise as they have internet at the resort - and great curried shrimps from dumbea! 11m good holding, little jiggly at hi tide. tomorrow to isle de pins and sunday to norfolk.

our favourite island or rather ilot- ua. this is an anchorage you will not find in the guide book as we are on the south side due to a light ene wind. we watched where the local boats went to one day when anchored on the other side and the wind changed. it certainly saves going back to mato for shelter. this is a beautiful ilot and one of the '5 isles'. you need the chart 6827 (buy at marine corail or the big book shop on rue d'alma)) for the area as there are a few nasty reefs to get by but once here you can walk around the ilot at low tide and see the nesting sea eagles. for some reason they prefer to build their nests on the wind ward shore in a pile of drift wood and trees. snorkeling is great around these isles and you soon find the good spots. watch the weather though as there is little protection in strong winds and you dont want to destroy any coral. there is no dinghy access from the windward side of ua and getting ashore from uatio is also difficult. good s

norkeling on uatio though.

anchored at isle mato but may not stay long if the front is a reality on the wx fax. there was no pint in going further to the 5 iskes until the weather picture clarifies as would likely have to back track to east side of i ouen.

in baie ouie which is good and protected and quite pretty. off tomorrow to the 5 isles

in baie ouie which is good and protected and quite pretty. off tomorrow to the 5 isles

anchored at baie ouie. thats a lot of vowels. tried to get to ouen but the forecast 15se turned out to be 26se so as this is a beautiful bay here we are

settled into ua and enjoying sun and light se and tranquil beautiful views of the ilot. have not left the boat as busy trying to dry out the books and maps near the nav station that again succumbed from the mystery water source. found the mom8 missing in action and one solaer panel smashed but the wind genny only showed a little dent in on blade from cutting the guy line to the vertical antenna. will stay again tomorrow and go to noumea for check in on monday

entered lagoon thru kyare pass at 3pm. used way points frm the new rocket guide which is a must have. great to be in flat seas. heading to one of our favourite anchor spots at ua ilot.

beautiful sailing at last. boat getting sorted. one solar panel very smashed. windward side so it took a pounding. inside lagoon on saturday.

autopilot dead but have complete spare. spare causeed fire so back to fixing the forst. getting thru front.

getting sick of gale winds and 3m seas.

speed in 7s so good progress but not comfortable. patricia took toilet seat when she lurched sideways and wind instruments not working. computer about to give up so reports maybe few

trying to be patient here in opua as we wait for decent weather and seas to new caledonia