What’s this? Rain and wind in the tropical paradise of the Kingdom of Tonga? Not exactly what we were expecting, but I guess we’ve been very spoilt with the weather so far, so we can’t complain. Most of the week we’ve been hunkered down on a mooring in the main anchorage, with occasional forays into Neiafu (the main town of the Vava’u group of islands) when the rain lets up. Much as we’d like to get out and explore the islands, it’s given us a bit more insight into the Tongan way of life… Continue reading “The Kingdom – Tonga”

I guess if I were somewhat vain I might consider the dangerous middle my ever expanding stomach. It seems to me that cruising should be where we lose those additional pounds with all that hard work and sacrifice. However, it seems to be the opposite. Guess I’m not working hard enough or maybe I’m enjoying the lifestyle a little too much. No, my dangerous middle just keeps expanding to suit the moment – but, it’s not my dangerous middle I’m talking about here rather the dangerous middle section of the Pacific Ocean joining Bora Bora and the Kingdom of Tonga. Continue reading “The Dangerous Middle – passage to Tonga”

It’s known locally as ‘The Rock” – the largest uplifted coral island in the world, and home to the smallest island nation. Niue (pronounced New-ay) has only 1200 residents and is self-governing, although closely affiliated with New Zealand which provides significant financial aid to the country. It’s a gem of a place and we’ve had a great time exploring and getting to know this unspoilt island for the past 10 days. Continue reading “The Rock – Niue”

We’ve now been travelling across the Pacific Ocean for six months, covering 6000NM. And for most of those 6000NM we’ve been bitching about the ‘un-pacific’ nature of this huge expanse of water. Instead of a lazy, fat, rolling labrador of a sea, we’ve often encountered something more akin to a pit bull terrier – strong, pugnacious and unpredictable, with a nasty bite occasionally. So it should have come as no surprise that Neptune eventually got fed up with our griping and gave us what we wished for, in spades. This is about as pacific as the Pacific could possibly get…. Continue reading “Dead Calm – Passage to Niue”

The day before we reached Aitutaki, we had a little celebration when our log clicked over to 10K, the number of miles travelled since we left Annapolis last October. But Huey the wind god really made us work for these last 500, he wanted to make sure we knew who was boss out here…. Continue reading “10,000 Miles – Aitutaki, Cook Islands”

We have to pinch ourselves. We really do. Here we are anchored in the stunning emerald lagoon of Bora Bora, the epitome of romance for honeymooners and touted as the most beautiful island in the world. And we just sailed in and plonked ourselves down next to all the rich and famous enjoying their mega-bucks holiday! Ok, we didn’t exactly get here for free when you take into account all the costs associated with cruising..…but you get my drift. All very “Ab Fab” – “Eddie, Eddie sweetie dahling, fetch me my long white gloves and let’s crack open another bottle of Bolly dahling”. Continue reading “High Society – Bora Bora, French Polynesia”