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There has been a lot of bad weather bringing a northerly wind into Tindalls Bay, so I have moved across to a sheltered bay on Kawau Island for a few days.

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Tatiana came to spend the day on the boat. We stayed in Tindalls Bay. Just swam and talked and had a very nice day.

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Ive been house sitting my brothers house for a week. The birds saw I wasn’t on Imagine and decided to make it their home. Now Im back it has taken me over two hours to clean the bird shit off the deck and solar panels.

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A beautiful day and Greg, Dannie and Elo came to visit. Elo spent most of the time jumping off the side of the boat and swimming to the back to climb back onboard. Greg tried to swing from the Halyard and drop into the water.

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Thurday we were out of the wind and swell, tucked nicely in Farmer bay. B was able to finished off sewing the cushions on the starboard side of the saloon.

Friday we ventured out and around the corner to do some fishing. B caught a nice snapper for dinner, before we returned to Farmer bay where it was still more shelter from the wind and swell.

Sunday we moved to Motuketekete island where B was brave enough to swim in cold water ashore to collect more shells. If anyone has a spare 12 million dollars the island and its two bedroom cottage is up for sale.

Monday we made our way back to Tindalls Bay, Whangaparaoa. It took us a while as we had diverted our course to help a kayaker who had called on channel 16, asking for help as he fell in the water about 1 mile offshore of Army bay and couldn’t get back on his kayak. The coast guard arrived just in front us and so he no longer required our assistance.

In the afternoon we borrowed Darrens jeep to go to do some grocery shopping and in anticipation of high winds we moved across to Swan Bay for the night.

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Sunday morning everything was still. The water was like glass as we departed Whangaruru. With a very lite wind behind us and a sunny sky we headed south. We started by setting the sails in a butterfly configuration (main one side and headsail the other). It wasn’t long before the wind changed. The wind was getting stronger as the day went on so we stopped at Tutukaka.

Tutakaka is a well sheltered harbour with a little bay and a marina. Monday we ventured ashore and walked along the peninsular to the lighthouse. The views were stunning. Tuesday we loaded the laundry into the dinghy and went into the marina. The Marina has a few shops and cafes, so we stayed for lunch.

Wednesday we headed further south. With the wind on the nose we motorsailed most of the way. We were escorted by a pod of dolphins for part of the way. As we cruised past we also spotted a couple of whales and a seal which was obvouisly asleep with its fins up above water . We made it all the way to Kauwau Island by 6pm and anchored in Farmer bay.

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We have spent the a few days in Araawaroa Bay on Moturua Island recovering and doing a few repairs. I have put a temporary pully at the top of the mast to hoist the main sail because the pully for the main halyard has seized. The dinghy has been repatched, so it might stay inflated now. B has been working on recovering the cushions in the saloon.

Tuesday we went to Pahia to do the laundry and more shopping, planning to start heading south to Auckland. By midday we were done and went and anchored in Otaio bay on One of the biggest islands of Bay of islands. We were thinking of doing a big hike on the island on Wednesday afternoon. However the night had been a bit windy and uncomfortable and despite the light winds forecasted for the day it seems to increased already so after our walk on the beach (actually on the 3 little beaches that surrounding the bay) we decided to head back to Awaawaroa bay for more shelter. It had been a rainy afternoon anyway and hiking wouldn’t have been fun.

Wednesday it was an early morning start ( early for us in this cold weather is 10am !). We motored around Cape Brett with a flat sea and no wind. We saw a lot of little penguins and thousands of birds sitting on the water flying away as we were going through them. By 1pm we anchored in Whangamumu harbour for a sheltered afternoon and night.

Friday morning we went ashore to check out the old whaling station and then took a long walk to the top of the surrounding hills. Whangamumu is a stunning uninhibited bay surrounded by high bush covered hills well known for some good nice hiking tracks. In the afternoon we fished off the back of Imagine and caught a snapper for dinner.

This morning we set off south again, stopping at Whangaruru. It’s not as sheltered here in the South westerly wind, but we are out of the swell.

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We have made it to New Zealand! The trip was great with light winds and sea. We made good time and arrived in Opua at 3am Wednesday, which means we made it in seven and a half days. It took untill lunch time to clear customs and rain and high winds had set in. We went across to the marina chandlery for glue to repair the dinghy, then we headed across to Russel for shelter and to sleep.

We got up late on Thursday. B bailed out the dinghy before we went ashore to get some groceries. We then motored to Awaawaroa Bay where we will spend a few days here recovering from the trip.