Australia!

So a few weeks ago we flew over to Australia. But don't think that it wasn't uneventful. Cole and I believe, that for some reason, airports do not like us. To start off, Daddy had a stomach bug, and was not in the mood to drive for 3 hours, and then fly for 3 more hours. So Mommy, Cole and I went to the airport in a taxi, while Daddy stayed at our house for one more day. When we arrived at the check in desk at the airport, the lady asked us if we had our Australian visas. Well, we were only going to be in Sydney for 5 days, and didn't think that we would need visas. When we told her that we had no visas she told us that we needed to run (emphasize the 'run' part) down the hall and get one for each of us. So once we had our visas, had our tickets and were ready to go through security, it was about 30 minutes before our flight left. Luckily, security was really fast and our flight was also delayed a few minutes. 

Anyway, we arrived to our hotel in Sydney at around 7:00, and we were hungry. Not really wanting to go and sit at a restaurant, we ordered some food off of the huge room service menu. But let me tell you, our room was amazing. We had a view of the bridge, bay and opera house. We could watch the ferries going across the harbor, and see the people walking over the bridge. Also, there was a full kitchen, washing machine, dryer and dishwasher in the room! There were two big bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a desk overlooking the harbor, and a little living room with a TV. It was so cool. 

So the next day we went to meet our friends from the boat Carl Linne who had rented a little sailboat and wanted to take us around the harbor. We had a great time, and met Daddy the next day. 

Because we had heard so much about it, we took a VIP tour of the zoo. We got to go into the 'backstage' of the zoo with a guide and pet some of the coolest animals. We got to pet a kangaroo, and put our face right next to a koala! We also saw other animals with the weirdest names like the quocca. It was the most amazing zoo experience I've ever had!

After our two days in the harbor, we went to live in a little Bed and Breakfast near my Mom's high school friend, Mudgie. We spent Halloween with Mudgie and her family, and had a great time trick or treating. 

And to top it off, we had to go to the Sydney Opera house for a tour. It was beautiful. We learned all about the architects, how long it took to build and a bunch of other stuff. There were 7 small theaters! We only got to go to 3, but each was perfectly designed. Everything was thought of. 

Then, it was finally time to go back to New Zealand. Luckily, Daddy had been feeling better and we had a very nice, and uneventful flight in the biggest, most luxurious airplane in the air. It had two stories, a personal TV on the back of each seat and a full menu to chose your meal from. It was so nice. 

Well, we are in our house right now getting ready to go to the boat. Bye!!

PS. Today is Mommy and Daddy's 15th anniversary!!! 

Land Life in New Zealand

Hi everyone!

Sorry that it's been so long since my last blog, but we've been busy getting settled here in New Zealand! We are already in a house in one of the suburbs near the main town/port here, Whangarei. It's so beautiful....it's green everywhere with lots of cows and sheep. 

About two weeks ago, when we sailed into New Zealand, it was morning, and we pulled into a marina called Marsden Cove. As soon as we tied up to the dock, customs and immigration people came on board to check us in. After about an hour of official stuff, we were ready to go to the 'Town Basin', which is where we would sit until Zen was pulled out of the water. The Town Basin is a very protected harbor that is at the end of a river that goes into Whangarei. Thanks to our new friend Ian, we were at a dock right next to town. The town is really cool, and after being away from real civilization for 18 months, this is pretty cool. So anyways, we were at the town basin for about 4 days while we looked for a house to rent while Zen was getting worked on. Finally, we found a home only a few minutes away from town. Then, a few days ago, Zen was pulled out of the water by a crane. I wasn't there, but I saw pictures and it looked pretty cool. There were two straps that were attached to the crane and were hanging in the water. Mommy and Daddy then drove Zen into the straps so that she was floating directly over them. Then, once everything was secure, the crane pulled upwards and Zen came out of the water. She is now sitting in a shed, getting prepped for the work that needs to be done. She'll be painted, the sails and canvas work will be changed and we are working on finding some new material for the inside cushions and chairs. 

Anyways, right now Daddy and I are sitting at our dining room table enjoying high speed Internet while Cole finishes up school. We plan on going to a zip-lining/outdoor adventure place later today once Cole is done. It sounds really cool! Tomorrow I have ballet class at a new studio that I just joined last week. I'm having a great time and the kids and teachers there are really nice. Also on Monday, Cole has his second karate class in New Zealand which he is enjoying too. Then, on Wednesday we go to Sydney, Australia to visit friends, and explore the big city for a few days. We'll only be there for 4 days, but our schedule is already packed with something to do everyday. It should be fun! Once we get back from Australia, we'll only have 2 more weeks until the Barkmans come to visit us for 10 days! While they're here, we are going to rent two campers and drive around the South Island (or Southland as it is known down here). It will be quite interesting driving on the wrong side of the rode, sitting on the wrong side of the car, and shifting with the wrong hand (am I doing what I think I'm doing?)! Then, after the Barkmans leave, we'll stay in a hotel for two days before we fly out to India where we will visit our family. Then on December 10th, 11th, 12th, or 13th (not sure which), we leave India and live on a plane for two days.........................until we arrive back in RI!! Yup, we're pretty excited for all this traveling. The only problem is that we will have to cram in as much school as possible before all of this excitement starts so that we will finish before September of 2010! Well, I think that I'm going to go enjoy high speed Internet...bye! 

New Zealand Here We Come!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so today is the two-days-before-arrival-to-New Zealand mark! I can't believe that we are so close...I guess that after knowing that this is where we wanted to get eventually for my entire life, it's a little exciting, overwhelming, but still sad. It's exciting because we're finally gonna get there and NZ is supposed to be amazing. Also, it is the first first-world country that Cole, Daddy or I have been to for 8 months. It's overwhelming because, as I said, I've known, for my whole life, that our family dream was to sail here..and now we're here. I don’t really know how to explain it. Last, it's sad because it is the end point of our sailing life in the Pacific. Anyways, when we get to NZ (in  2 days!!!), we'll move into an apartment in the middle of Whangarei so that the boat can be hauled out of the water, painted and have some other jobs done (such as re-doing the interior cushions, and moving fuel and water tanks around). After settling in, Cole and I hope to find a karate dojo and ballet studio where we can take classes for the two months that we will be in NZ. I've found a studio already, but I don't know much about it. Well, right now we are going about 7.5-8 knots with a full jib and a reefed main (reefed means that we haven't put up the whole sail because there is strong winds...don't worry, we often reef and conditions right now are good). The waves are a bit big...8-10 feet, but since we have been on passage for about 4 days, we are used to them now. Lately, I've been learning a lot about meteorology (the study of weather and its patterns) because of the unusual weather between NZ, Tonga and Australia. It can sometimes be tricky to find a nice, long 'weather window' (or period of time when there is good weather to make a passage), and you could get stuck in high winds. Lucky for us, we are in the correct month for good weather, are a fast cruising boat and have a good meteorologist on board (Daddy). We found a good weather window that suits our speeds and carries us to the exact place we need to go. Also, we communicate with Commanders Weather, which is a company in the States that predicts weather for cruising boats like us. They are very helpful and have pointed us in the right direction many times. Another thing that we had hoped for and gotten, was to have a few other boats sailing with us. Right now we have about 5 other boats on our same path with whom we talk with on the radio every day to check in and see how everyone is doing. Well, other than that, now that we are going south to where winter is still going on, the climate has gotten colder. It's about 69 degrees inside the boat now, but outside it's a bit colder because of the wind. At least we will be more prepared for the New England winter that we will throw ourselves into this upcoming Christmas! 

 

Dive Tonga

Wow I haven't written a blog in a long time! So many things have gone on.
First, there was the Vava'u Regatta. Vava'u is the name of the group of
islands we are in right now. Anyways, during the regatta we participated in
all sorts of activities that were held (kids day, corn hole tournaments, and
a race). It was really fun! Then at the end of the week, Ami and Rick on the
boat Tara Vana came to stay on Zen for a few days. We met them in Cartegena,
and since they were back in the States for a little while, they had some
free time to come and visit us in Tonga. They aren't really sure whether or
not they want to sail across the Pacific themselves, so apart from visiting
us, they were able to understand what the Pacific is like. We had lots of
fun, and Daddy, Ami, Rick and I went on some awesome dives together. On one
of the dives, we got to go into a really cool little air bubble about 50
feet below the surface. It was just a little cave underwater, but if you
went up to the top of it, there was a little spot where you could take out
your regulator and breath regular air! It was so cool and the water in that
one spot was really warm. At the end of the 10 days that Ami and Rick were
with us, they went back to town and stayed at a hotel for a little while to
experience land life in Tonga as well. When they were in town, we explored
many of the 'outer anchorages' where there are no people. All of the
anchorages are really amazing. Right now we are in a little bay called
Manamita with our friends on Dosia and one other boat that I don't know.
It's just a little, protected lagoon surrounded by a reef. Today, while the
adults went snorkeling and Cole and I did school, we all saw a couple of
huge humpback whales breaching right outside the reef! I've never seen
anything like it...the whales came diving out of the water and, as if in
slow motion, fell back into it sideways. It's so cool to watch the whales
play. Also, even though you would think that something so big would make a
really low sound, their 'songs' are actually really high pitched. Sometimes,
while we are swimming, you can hear them. Anyways, I'm just so amazed at how
fast the trip has gone! We will be in New Zealand within the next three
weeks depending on the weather. A few days after we get there, we will move
into an apartment so that Zen can get hauled out of the water to get some
work done (we're repainting the hulls and redoing some of the interior
stuff). Well, Dosia is here so I've gotta go, bye!

Asian Feast on Zen

August 31: So right now we are underway to another anchorage where we will
meet up with Bravado, but last night we had an Asian feast on Zen with Brick
House, Flashback and Dosia. There was delicious food; rice noodles with
vegetables, chicken and a sauce on top...traditional Indian dhall and
rotis...3 fish curry and a pineapple, banana and Nutella spring roles. But
anyways, I'll start from the beginning: When everyone first arrived, and was
just settling down, Jeff on Flashback looked out the window and said 'oh
shoot'! Margie on Dosia also looked out and said 'Hey Julie! Your boat's
floating away!'. We all ran out onto the back deck, and sure enough,
Flashback, the big boat, was floating away. It's anchor must have broken
free from the sand, dropping off the ledge that the boats were anchored on.
So the guys went out to save Flashback while we started setting up dinner.
Luckily they got the boat back and safely anchored. We all had a really
delicious dinner, and everyone lived happily ever after. The End.

Cocpaw Goat Island

September 1: So I bet you are wondering what Cocpaw means. It is actually a
mixture of the two words coconut and pawpaw (papaya), and is the name I gave
to an island that Mommy, Daddy and I just explored. It was pretty small, but
had lots of cool trails to explore. So Mommy, Daddy and I (Cole was doing
school) went ashore to the little, uninhabited island and started to
explore. When we first arrived, we walked into the center of the island
where there were a few trees and bushes, but looked as though it had been
burned from a bonfire. We saw a bunch of coconuts on the ground and so Daddy
went to try and break one open so that we could eat and drink the meat and
water in the center. Because coconuts are really hard, and have an extremely
strong outer coating, we were unable to break it open without a knife, but
settled with taking a bunch and putting them in the dinghy for later. The
next thing we discovered (much to Mommy's delight, and not much to mine) was
a pawpaw tree. It was a smallish tree, but still had multiple pawpaws that
were easy for us to grab. We also took about 6 of those and put them in the
dinghy for us and our friends. Not seeing any other treasures around us, we
decided to try and circumnavigate the island. We started on the beach,
walking along the sand and broken bits of coral, completely dry and happy.
But the road started to get a little rough and we eventually found ourselves
in mid-thigh deep water, walking on the slippery coral beneath us. We were
still having fun..everything around here is an adventure. On our left side
was a wall, about 10 feet tall, of coral/rock that had been beaten away at
by the waves. We soon came to an opening that you could climb up through and
get to the land part of the island. Daddy climbed up first and surveyed the
area. I couldn't see him from below, but he said it looked like there was a
trail that we could follow. So Mommy and I climbed up as well and followed
him. There was a goat trail (there was goats on the island so it really was
a trail made by goats) and we followed it to the other side of the island
stopping every once and a while to look out to sea and try to spot
whales..we didn't see any sadly (there was a whale watch going on and we
wanted to participate..we had spotted one whale earlier that day, but were
hoping to see another). Soon we came to a small, but slanted hill that went
down to the beach..where we had hoped to get to eventually. So we slid down
the hill, trying not to get covered in the soil that would easily stain our
clothes. Back on the beach, walking to the dinghy, Daddy saw a goat. It was
a big goat with big horns. "Well this guy is worth taking a picture of"
Daddy said. Whistling a little bit, Daddy coaxed the goat toward us so that
he could take a picture. As we started to walk away, Mommy came up behind us
and also started whistling at the goat. Well, he came right onto the beach
and started to come at us slowly. When we started to walk back to the
dinghy, he followed. Okay, so when you are being followed by a goat who's
back is at your waist and has 2 foot horns with pointy points, you tend to
look behind you a lot when you are walking. Daddy realized that the goat
would't come near the water. Well, I ran for the water. Upon reaching the
dinghy, the goat started to rub his head against it. "He's going to pop the
dinghy!" Daddy said as he grabbed an oar to whack the goat with. Anyways,
Mommy got the dinghy in the water while Daddy fought off the goat with an
oar. It was scary at the time, but hysterical when I think about it now.
Well, we just arrived back into the main harbor and the sails are coming
down..gotta go, bye!

Cart Tours

Hi everybody! So August has been a crazy month so far, full of birthdays and parties (happy birthday Lolly!!!!!), and we haven't had dinner on Zen since we have arrived in Neifu, Tonga. Also, there being lots of adult birthdays, Cole, Jet and I have been babysitting for the two boys on Love Song. It's really fun, and the kids are really funny. Anyways, yesterday was Allen on Love Song's birthday and they planned a cart tour around the island. The carts were little, open go-carts that fit two people each. Daddy and I rode in one (the one that turned off every 20 feet) and Mommy and Cole rode in another (the newest, shiny yellow one with no problems). Dosia, Wayward Wind, and Flashback also came with us. The majority of the tour was on back paths that cars wouldn't drive on. We stopped at 4 different places, each with it's own unique scenery. The first stop was on top of a huge cliff overlooking the ocean; the second was a beach; the third was another cliff where we saw tons of huge bats; and the fourth was a little cliff that overlooked the ocean and waves crashing into a really amazing reef like structure. The roads we drove on also had all different scenery. One road was paved; another was dirt surrounded with plantations; another was also dirt surrounded by tall, green trees and jungle; and the last was still dirt road surrounded with pine trees and small bushes. It was so cool! On the way back from the last stop, the guide said that Cole and I were allowed to drive. So we both climbed into the drivers seats and took off. At first I was hesitant, but at the end, I felt much more comfortable and was having tons of fun. When we got to the main road, we had to go back to the passenger seats, but the two little kids on Love Song got to sit in their parent's laps and drive with them. We got lots of pictures and had a great time. So today we are going to head off to another anchorage and lunch is coming up soon. Gotta go, bye!

Apia, Samoa

Hi everyone! Sorry that I haven't written a blog in so long, but we have
been busy. So we left Western Samoa yesterday, but I'll back up and tell you
about the tour that we went on.
So we woke up at around 7:30 and were down the dock, ready with bathing
suits and snorkel gear at around 9:00. Daddy had found a tour guide that had
a van and was willing to take Flashback, Karma, Qayak and Zen on a tour of
the island. He also agreed to take us to lunch at one of the hotels and to a
few places where there would be some cool activities for us to do
(snorkeling in a trench, swimming at the base of a waterfall, sliding down a
rock slide, etc.). The tour started as a drive around the town explaining
the history of Samoa and going by a few historical or interesting places.
Some of it was interesting, but after 3 hours of it, Cole and I were bored.
Before heading to lunch, we stopped at a view point where you could see half
of the huge island below you. It was amazing..it was like a big green
pattern of farmland and rainforest. Then we piled back in the van/bus and
started driving (in the now pouring rain) to a hotel on the beach for lunch.
Lunch was chicken curry with rice...mmmm. Because it was kind of cold, warm
food tasted good. Our next stop was the 'trench'. When we arrived it was
still drizzling, but it was warmer so we all got out and headed to the
little stand where you payed an entrance fee. The trench is a big hole in
the ground that goes down maybe 60 feet. So we climbed down the ladder and
jumped into the surprisingly warm water. Daddy had brought his mask in with
him and started snorkeling around looking for anything cool. He soon found a
place that you could swim through. After going through once, he informed us
that you just had to swim for about 10 seconds underwater before you popped
up in a cave. Once in that cave, there was another ledge, about 2 feet wide
that you could go over or under and lead you to the ocean. It was really
cool and after Cole went I also went through. After going through another 2
or 3 times, Mommy told us that everyone was waiting in the bus...oops! So we
scrambled back up the ladder and back into the bus. Sadly, we didn't get to
go to the spot we had been looking forward to most (sliding rock), but it
was still fun.
We just arrived in Nuitoputapu..an island off of Tonga. It was a short
passage from Apia, Samoa, but both Mommy and Cole were seasick. Also on this
passage we passed over the International Date Line!! That means that August
10th turned into August 11th! There is also a time difference, but only an
hour and I'm not sure if that's backwards or forwards yet. Well, Mommy is
cooking a big lunch since we are always hungry after a passage (normally, we
don't eat much on passages since it makes us sick so we are always really
hungry once we arrive...most cruisers call passages diets..haha) and we are
going to start the audio book 'The Secret Man'. Gotta go! bye!