We’ve just got back from a wonderful two day family hike through the beautiful forest covered mountain ranges on Great Barrier Island. The girls were all super excited whilst planning this adventure and extremely proud of their efforts upon return to our floating home. It’s very exciting for us parents to be able to enjoy physical activities with our children where we all feel tired at the end of the day. Continue reading  

 

After 8 months without a bath, today was a happy day particularly for Beatrix who, in her words, “Hate, Hate, HATES showers”. Lovely fresh water piped from the well at Smokehouse Bay, Barrier Island, NZ and heated by the wood fire. A beautiful setup especially for travellers to enjoy 🙂 Continue reading  

There’s nothing like the experience of an adventure that is different to your normal life to give you a good dose of perspective. At times and places in your life you may feel comfortable and relaxed whereas at other times happiness can feel like a distant and unattainble state of mind. Either way, it often boils down to perspective. Continue reading  

We left New Caledonia with glassy seas and after 161 continuous hours at sea with swell ranging from 0 to 1m, winds from 0 to 25 knots  and boat speed from 0 to 9.5Nm/h we arrived in Opua, northern New Zealand, wearing multiple layers of our warmest clothing and feeling like we had journeyed into winter, completing a round trip of almost 10,000km spread leisurely out over 6 months. Continue reading  

We’re on our way to New Zealand, back to the where our Tangaroa journey began. It’s a glorious sunny morning with silky smooth water as far as our eyes can see. A turtle even surfaced near the boat just as we left New Caledonia … must be a sign of a good passage ahead! In contrast to the enduring nature of our passages from Fiji to Vanuatu and to New Caledonia, I would even go as far as to say the journey so far is enjoyable. Continue reading  

We’re currently waiting for customs to clear us out of Fiji, sometime between 10am and 3pm they said. After spending around 3 months in Fiji we are well aware that ‘Fiji time’ is a way of life here and cannot be rushed but it’s hard to relax when there are strict requirements to leave Fijian waters on the day of clearance and we have some reefs to navigate before the sun gets too low. We have approx 500nm to travel to reach the southern most island of Vanuatu, where we plan to stay for a few days to see the active volcano before proceeding to New Caledonia. Continue reading