The 12 Years of Christmas

On The First Day Year of Christmas

As our 12th Cruising Christmas approaches we have been reminiscing over our last 11 years.  Our planned 5 year circumnavigation has been ever so slightly extended, country by country and year by year.  Now that we are back in our home Pacific Ocean the journey is nearing the end, next Christmas “should” have us back in New Zealand waters, having done the full circle with a few side trips thrown in along the way.  It’s a longish blog update, but squeezing 12 phenomenal years and 64 diverse countries into one update was always going to be a tall order. Enjoy!

2004 ~ The Beginning – Off to the Tropics

On a clear, crisp early May morning we said our final tearful farewells and departed Auckland, New Zealand in company with a dozen boats on the Ponsonby Cruising Club Auckland to Musket Cove, Fiji Rally. 10 long days later we arrived in paradise and our cruising life began.

After several weeks enjoying Fiji and slipping effortlessly into the cruising culture we joined the migration west to Vanuatu where the imposing volcanic islands offered a total contrast to the coral reefs, atolls and white sandy beaches of Fiji.

Then the tropics cruising season drew to a close as the threat of cyclones increased so we headed further west to Australia, making landfall in Brisbane, then slowly explored the east coast making our way south to Sydney for Christmas and New Year.

2005 ~ The Paths least Travelled

The journey south continued, down the long eastern coast of Australia, across infamous Bass Strait and on to Tasmania.  Summer was spent exploring this beautiful island, then as autumn approached cooler temperatures pushed us north, all the way back up to Queensland where we farewelled Australia and headed offshore to the Louisiades Archipelago of Papua New Guinea.  In these small remote islands time has stood still, it was truly an amazing place and we have seen nothing else to compare.

As the next cyclone season loomed we left this Pacific paradise and sailed back to Queensland, Australia.  This is the only Christmas Skipper and I have ever had apart,  I flew home to my family in Auckland for a quick visit and Mark stayed with Balvenie in Cairns.

2006 ~ Leaving the Pacific Behind & on to Asia

Early New Year 2006 we headed south down the Australian Coast, trying to stay out of harms way, dodging tropical storms and cyclones, some just a little too close for comfort.  As soon as it was safe enough to turn north again we joined an armada of yachts heading for Darwin where we all joined the Sail Indonesia Rally.

We enjoyed a wonderful 6 months in Indonesia, Borneo, Malaysia, Singapore and onto Thailand for Christmas.  It was an extremely sociable time with activities, sailing, parties and cultural events.  The people and traditions varied extensively from island to island, as did the food and languages ~ one of our best years.

A very quiet Christmas day was had in Phuket, with skipper suffering from a monumental hangover following the Christmas Eve Mega Party at the Jungle Bar, quite a night!  The Christmas day cruiser beach party was attended oh so briefly.

2007 ~ Not Much Sailing, Flights Are So Much Easier!

After cruising Thailand we backtracked to Langkawi in Malaysia and left Balvenie for the monsoon season.  First we flew to Auckland for a catch up down under, then returned to Malaysia for some inland touring and boat projects and then flew to England, our other home.   We visited Marks family, bought an old car and drove down to Valencia in Spain to watch Team New Zealand compete in the Americas Cup, drove onto France to join friends on a canal boat, then slipped across the border to Switzerland to visit more friends and hiking in the Alps.

Back to Balvenie to complete boat jobs, provision until we were overflowing and then we departed for Thailand again and spent Christmas with very good friends in the Surin Islands, a couple of hundred miles offshore from Thailand.

2008 ~ Off to Explore “The Old World”

A busy few months started with crossing the Bay of Bengal as we sailed to the Andaman Islands of India for New Year.  We then moved on to the Indian Ocean with stops at Sri Lanka & the Maldives, as different as chalk and cheese.

We were lucky for it still to be “relatively safe” to head for the Red Sea, so we ventured up to Oman and Yemen, then passed the Gates of Hell into the Red Sea, visiting Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt.  We did inland travel in all these unique countries and realize how very lucky we were being able to visit them in a quieter time, they were truly exceptional.  At the top of the Suez Canal we popped out into the Mediterranean and headed for Cyprus then Turkey.  What an astounding year with such a blend of landscapes, culture,s religions and languages, there will never be another with such a mix!

2009 – Exploring Mediterranean Europe

We wintered over in Turkey and before it was really quite warm enough we left Marmaris and started our exploration of the Med.  The Turkish Coast and offshore islands were all covered, then we headed to the Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea, all of them absolute gems.  We touched parts of mainland Greece, transited the Corinth Canal arriving into the Ionian Sea and continued our weeks of Greek Island hopping.  Then we went north to Montenegro and Croatia where we enjoyed endless summer festivals until we pointed Balvenies bow westwards and headed for Italy. 

Italy and her people stole our hearts and we didn’t want to leave but with autumn storms menacing us and nowhere suitable to stop on her shores for winter we left and headed to Malta where we tied up  Balvenie for several months over winter.  We took this opportunity to head back to New Zealand for summer and England for winter.

2010 ~ Much, Much More of The Med

On leaving Malta Italy beckoned us again and we couldn't resist her charms. Sicily and her other nearby offshore island were all visited and loved, and the west coast mainland was discovered. Corsica and Sardinia just couldn’t be missed and were equally as impressive, but we returned to Italy’s shores again for one last pizza and gelato!

We followed the coast westwards with a minibreak in Monaco, life in the fast lane, certainly not to be missed and then it was on to the glitzy French Riviera where money and champagne flowed from every super yacht we shared anchorages with.

The Mediterranean summers pass by too quickly and early autumn storms started rolling in with too much regularity so we headed across to Spain's Balearic Islands for an all too brief stop then crossed to the Spanish mainland and wintered Balvenie in Cartagena for our 3rd European off season.

2011 ~ Moving to a New Continent and the “New World”

The New Year started with us enjoying a ski holiday in Switzerland, then we caught up with Marks family for a belated Christmas in London before we returned to Spain and embarked on some serious boat projects.  We made time for a weeks touring of Southern Spain before we let the lines go and started our journey ever westwards.

Spring was spent marina hopping along the southern Spanish coast, with a side trip down to Mediterranean Morocco, weeks were spent in Gibraltar doing this and that then we got spat out of the Med and sampled our first taste of the Atlantic, cruising more of Spain and then southern Portugal through till late summer.

We joined “The Class of 2011”, heading south in autumn to Morocco where we travelled inland on our most exotic and enjoyable land excursion undertaken. With the pending Atlantic Crossing overshadowing all our thoughts we headed south to the Canary Islands for a few enjoyable weeks and in early December we embarked on the first stage of our Atlantic Crossing with kiwi friend Tony onboard.  It was a very lively passage and we all regrouped in the Cape Verdes, looking for the best weather window to head to the Caribbean. Christmas came and on Boxing Day we lifted anchor and headed out.

2012 ~ The Many Faces of the Caribbean

Two weeks later we arrived in Barbados and our Caribbean odyssey began.  We had crossed with a great bunch of people, from island to island the fun continued, it seemed such a long time since we had had coconut palms swaying in the trades, white sandy beaches, snorkelling and all with the bonus of cheap rum.  Life was good and the tiny island countries passed by, all The Grenadines were delightful then we moved south to Grenada where the chain runs out!

So we turned right and carried on ever westwards across the southern Caribbean, stopping at Venezuela’s remote offshore islands and then the heavily Dutch influenced islands of Bonaire, Curacáo and Aruba.  We sampled South America with a few weeks spent in vibrant Colombia then with the hurricane season approaching we decided to head south west to the San Blas Islands of Panama, out of harms way.

As with the Pacific Cyclone Season it is about a 5 month off season, when it ended at the beginning of December we headed north to Providencia then arrived in the off shore islands of Honduras in time for Christmas.

2013 – Covering the Americas

More of Central America followed with a wonderful time spent in Belize, then onto the eastern tip of Mexico.  We sailed across to Cuba and captured the spirit of this amazing controversial country, taking time off Balvenie and exploring some of the countryside and towns.  This exceptional country was certainly a highlight of our travels.

We crossed the straits to Florida in May and started our extensive tour of the eastern USA coast.  On Independence Day we rounded infamous Cape Hatteras in perfect conditions watching fireworks displays along the coast.

New York was amazing – just as we expected, Long Island Sound oozed with wealth but the pearl was Maine with outstanding scenery, pocket sized fishing harbours unchanged for decades and the most hospitable people.  As with anywhere in a temperate climate the cold pushed us out then chased us down the coast.  When our lines starting icing over in North Carolina late November it was absolutely time to head south.  Christmas was spent sheltering from a northerly storm in the stunning Bahamas.

2014 ~ Capturing the Heart of the Caribbean

We took what is called “The Thorny Path” to return to the Caribbean, many many miles to windward, but each one worth it.  After a magical time in the Bahamas we flew through the Turks & Cacaos then returned to the Spanish speaking world, exploring the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico both onboard Balvenie and by car.

The Virgin Islands were superb, we rendevouzed with several friends, had some “competitive friendly sailing” and started our way down the Caribbean chain.   Few shores were left untouched, St Kitts & Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique and St Lucia all offered something different, we were speaking French one week, back to English the next.  Finally we had done the full Caribbean circle when we returned to Bequia, then it was familiar territory down to Grenada as another hurricane season was upon us.

We left Balvenie and spent the summer home in England enjoying long hot days and all that is beautiful about English summers.  It was a period of serious boat maintenance on our return before retracing our steps north back up the Caribbean Island chain for the last time.

Favourite spots were revisited and we finally got to Antigua and Barbuda, we couldn’t leave the Caribbean without visiting them.  We ended up in St Barts for Christmas, the Caribbean equivalent to the French Riviera, dozens of super yachts filled the marina and lay at anchor,  the rich and famous were out to play big time.  But we found a small cove that they couldn’t fit in and along with several others cruisers enjoyed our laid back Christmas watching how the other half spend their money!

2015 ~ Finally this Year, Our Return to the Pacific

We had a couple more spots on our “Caribbean Bucket List”, first was St Maartens where we ended up leaving Balvenie for several weeks for an unplanned visit to New Zealand.  Before Easter we were back onboard and ready to go.  We slipped through the Virgins again taking advantage of the excellent provisioning for the long passages and remote areas ahead.  We moved quickly across to Haiti, a world apart from more affluent islands and finally we reached Jamaica, all bucket list countries were successfully ticked off.

We awaited a weather window to Panama then more provisioning followed until Balvenie could take no more and groaned at her seams.  We transited the Panama Canal, the Caribbean forever left behind & the Pacific stretching far out in front of us.  The Galapagos exceeded all our expectations, what an incredible wonderland of nature, the bird and sea life were exceptional, it was a breathtaking, unique island chain - surely a one off in this diverse world of ours.

So after crossing the vast South Eastern Pacific Ocean we now we are in the Marquesas, the most easterly part of French Polynesia where we are staying until the end of the Cyclone Season, about another 4 months.  There are close to 100 yachts spread around the islands, so we are not alone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Lets Stay n Play in Nuka Hiva ..... December 2015

23 Nov – 07 Dec 2015:  Taioha’e, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas ~ 8 54S  140 05W

Christmas Comes Early

Nothing much has changed in the last few weeks, can’t believe we have already whiled away 8 weeks here, how times flies when you are having fun or doing boat projects!  Our first reason (excuse) for not leaving here was that our Australian friends Roger and Sasha on Ednbal were putting together a bulk order for food and drink to be purchased by an agent in Tahiti and shipped up here on the Aranui.  They offered us the opportunity to piggy back onto their order so we too did a bulk order and eagerly awaited the ships arrival. 

The rain gave us a few hours reprieve, dozens of boxes were unloaded, checked, sorted into who’s who piles, carried to the dinghy, ferried home, unloaded and stowed, all in a long days work!  Most food and drink items can be bought here locally (not ginger ale) at the minimarkets (there is certainly nothing as large as a supermarket) prices aren’t too bad considering we are truly in the middle of nowhere, but the convenience of getting all this lot onboard in one go was great.  Well done and thanks to Sasha for the hours she spent organising it all.

Next Reason To Stay

With a large contingent of American boats in the anchorage (we have peaked at 59 yachts in here, after only 15 on our arrival!) an evening get together was organised for Thanksgiving, which just happened to coincide with another birthday for skipper.  There is a small Pension and Restaurant owned and operated by Rosie, an American woman who sailed here in the 70’s, liked it so much so made her home here.

 

Mark with Dave & Jan off Dulcinea, Suzy, Dena, Terry, Neil, Barry & Sylvia off Iolani, Distant Drummer & Libby  plus there were 2 more tables full, an excellent attendance and evening 

Rosie agreed to provide a Thanksgiving dinner, several of us “non Americans” were given honorary citizenship for the evening and we all enjoyed a fine meal of roast turkey & stuffing, chicken, wild goat in coconut milk, poisson cru and a selection of salads, all excellent.  However several of us did comment amongst ourselves in amazement that the fruit salad on the desert table was tinned.  Fresh fruit drips from every tree on this island, just why they used tinned fruit was beyond comprehension.

Can’t Leave Now, It’s Festival Time

Coming up in mid December is the 4 yearly Marquesan Cultural Festival  to be held down in Atuona on Hiva Oa.  We are still undecided as to whether we sail the 90 miles back down to attend but meanwhile we got to see our very own sneak preview as the dance troupe from Nuka Hiva performed in the Festival of Patrimonie right here on our door step in Taioha’e.

It was a full days entertainment starting with wild pork, goat and vegetables being wrapped in banana leaves and placed in the pre-dug umu (just like a NZ hangi) by 7am, we of course missed this bit, still sleeps time for us!    During the morning there were basket weaving classes and a walk of the historical sights with commentary in French and Marquesan so skipped those too  ~ but we spent a long hot afternoon ashore sampling the hot steamed food straight from the underground oven, and melt in your mouth fresh tuna caught just hours previously.  There were displays of wood carving & tapa cloth making, children played on the beautiful hand crafted drums and a festival atmosphere filled the air.

Late afternoon, with the hot sun beating down, the first performance began, a group of young high school youths ~ tattoos painted on made them look quite fearsome and their warrior dance had the crowd cheering.    We were treated to an excellent display of dance late afternoon and early evening but you can’t see it as we were asked not to post photos online until after the festival in Hiva Oa so we will have to post a special edition of festival photos after Dec 15, but I will say that the costumes and dance moves were fabulous.

Time To Move On?

There have been so many boats coming and going, the social activities have flowed, way too much food and drink has been consumed, more happy hours, pot lucks, dinners ashore, dinghy fishing competition (no fish caught, well just one that got away by Libby!), snorkelling expeditions and sundowner dinghy raft-ups.

It is great to be back part of an active cruising community but sadly this is a “scattering point”.  We have boats being left here at anchor while owners fly home for a few months, Mezzaluna, Ednbal and several others have departed for Hiva Oa to get prime positions in the small anchorage for the big festival, and newly made friends on  Libby, Iolani and Distant Drummer are actively seeking a weather window to head north to Hawaii. 

We are definitely not heading to Hawaii, both Skipper and Admiral are in agreement on that one, jury is still out on whether we head south for the big festival or just have a change of scenery in another anchorage here on Nuka Hiva.

Who knows, after 8 weeks in the muddy bottom maybe the anchor just wont come up and we will have to stay put here!

8 days Till The Festival, Best Make Our Minds Up Soon     

Marking Time in the Marquesas ..... November 2015

25 Oct – 22 Nov 2015:  Taioha’e, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas ~ 8 54S  140 05W

Rugby, Rugby and More Rugby 

With France knocked out of the World Cup Rugby in the Quarter Finals by New Zealand there wasn’t nearly as much interest in the Semi Final game ~ South Africa v New Zealand. 

The big flat screen television had disappeared but beggars can not be choosers, the old 26 inch with the bright reflection of the harbour almost stronger than the picture was as good as we were going to get at 6am, so we settled in for another 90 minutes of spell binding, edge of the seat rugby.  The Men in Black came through again (just) and earned themselves a place in the final, another early start next Saturday for the BIG game!

How To Entertain Ourselves

With more boats arriving daily a pot luck dinner was organised to meet our new neighbours.  Our venue was interesting, Henri at the Snack Shack happily agreed to the use of his cafe, even though he is open evenings (which we didn’t actually realise because there is never anyone there at night).   We all brought our own food and drink and Henri provided the venue, plates, cutlery and a big smile, what a gem he is.   

A group of us returned to the Pearl Lodge for Friday Night Happy Hour (when cocktails are a mere $7 instead of $14), again with Jeff & Katie off Mezzaluna, and new joiners Barry & Sylvia off Iolani from USA and Roger & Sasha off Ednbal from Australia.  It is a lovely spot to sit back and enjoy the end of the day in tourist style comfort.

In between all this eating and drinking there was a leaking water tank to fix, gaining access to this was a two man and power tool job, floors were taken up, holes were made, chaos was created and at the time of writing a 100 per cent fix has not been accomplished ~ suspect this little leak might provide us with many more hours of entertainment yet, what we really need to do is take the tank out but that will not be happening here! 

After extensive onshore excursions we have confirmed that there are no more hidden parts to “town”, what we see is what we get, and that isn’t much!  The upside to this is there is very little to spend our money on, so after a record high 6 month spend for the first part of this year we may have a chance to have a record low for the remainder.

Champions or Runners Up ~ What Will It Be?

Henri promised to bring back the big flat screen for the New Zealand v Australia final, the alarm was set and we were in well before the start to decorate everywhere with our flags but the Aussies got there first, what!  Roger and Sasha had flags everywhere,  in addition there was a charity breakfast on so there were palm fronds around the posts, balloons up and a live band playing ~ the Snack Shack was crowded, children were running round everywhere, music was blasting, this was certainly going to be a lively game in more ways than one!

  

 It was a tense game, but then we expected nothing less.   The All Blacks lead of 13 points at half time did not make us feel confident and a determined fight back by the Wallabies the beginning of the second half had us on the edge of our seats for quite some time.  Meanwhile the party atmosphere continued around us, the band carried on, Henri’s Snack Shack had never been so busy. 

A couple of quick All Black tries half way through the second half and we were starting to breathe again, but it is never over till that final whistle goes, especially when we play Australia so it was with immense relief and huge pride to see our All Black side become the first team ever to retain the World Cup, well done to our Men in Black and thank you.

Now What?

With the need to have access to a television over with it was time to give some thought as to what to do now.   There are a few other anchorages on Nuka Hiva that we want to explore but the cyclone season has only just started so we have about 6 months to visit them, should be plenty of time we think! 

Instead we decided to stay the week as we had cruising friend Bill arriving in from Panama,  he was doing a huge delivery trip of a mates boat from the Rio Dulce in Guatemala to Cairns in Australia, around 9,000 miles.  Bill and friend/crew Brett were intending on travelling Panama to Cairns non stop but had engine problems and needed a new starter motor so had organised for one to be sent in here.  We had been in radio contact with them for days monitoring their progress and on the morning of their arrival winds were very light and without being able to start the engine they were parked up, just 5 miles away.

We had a quick tidy up below, buoyed our stern anchor, raised our main anchor and motored on out to meet them and tow them in.  But a light breeze got to them before we did (Murphys Law of course) and as true sailors they persevered and managed to sail  right in amongst the boats and drop anchor, well done.    It was great to catch up and a fun night was had onboard, along with Ednbal and another Australian boat Arizona who was passing through.  Next morning the starter motor had been installed, fresh produce, cheese and baguettes were onboard and by 10am they were on their away again ~ Cairns bound, phew, rather them than us!

And so we have stayed in Taioha’e.  There is a constant stream of yachts coming and going, just 15 when we arrived and 48 this morning.  The additional numbers have put a huge stretch on the internet facilities here which at best were poor to start with, if I manage to post this I will be amazed and very happy.  The upside of all the extra boats is happy hours here and there, more pot lucks organised, we have even found a little cafe that opens in the evenings and does a great fish n chips, there may even be a turkey roasted for Thanksgiving. 

We are busy doing boat jobs, parts for our generator have been flown in from Tahiti and that is working well once again.  I have been doing a major remake of all our canvas work, replacing all the stitching, clears, zippers and worn panels.  Trying to get this done between rain showers is becoming increasingly difficult, El Nino has moved the convergence zone eastwards so instead of it being the dry season here now we have had rain for around 7 days, we are hopeful this pattern will not continue for the next 6 months.

This weekend there is a festival here, a dress rehearsal for the big 4 yearly Marquesan Festival to be held on Hiva Oa mid December.  We have watched the practice a few times, and hear them every night.  We will stay for the festival and then think about a change of scenery.

 

If This Is The Dry Season We Are Glad We Didn’t Come In The Wet Season!  

Getting To Know Nuka Hiva ..... October 2015

14 – 24 October 2015:  Anaho to Taioha’e, Nuka Hiva ~ 8 54S  140 05W

This Weeks Tiki Tour

We stayed happily anchored on the north east coast of Nuka Hiva in Anaho Bay for a few more days, enjoying the peace and flat water.  Another “hill session” over to Hatiheu one morning had us setting a new personal best of 50 minutes one way, something to improve on over the cyclone season when we return there!  (Skippers note: had to wait for Admiral at top!!)

Re-energised after a long black espresso (run out of all manor of milk options at Chez Yvonne's and both stores!) it was time to walk further afield and explore part of the nearby ancient sites.

Hikoku’a is set in yet another beautiful location.  This was the site of the public plaza and ceremonial centre.  It has been extensively excavated and restored, previously removed tikis (now displayed in various museums worldwide) have been replaced with aging replicas and it was much easier to imagine this as a centre for the large population that once lived here as parts of walls and platforms were still in situ.

 

Back Down to Earth

Anchoring the dinghy had seemed a very good idea when we left it ashore at Anaho Bay in the morning at low tide. 

Have the tides really been this high? we commented as skipper waded, then swam out to Douglas the Dinghy who was now happily afloat in about 8 feet of water 100 metres offshore, whoops, won’t do that again!

We spent another couple of days in paradise, skipper occupied himself by making his way around Balvenie searching shade at every opportunity, servicing her winches for another season.

Meanwhile I spent a couple of afternoons ashore with my twin tubs making the most of the excellent piped fresh water supply ~ doing laundry by hand has never been so much fun, sun scorched hot water and bubbles everywhere, everything washable on Balvenie is now squeaky clean.   Next time I might even pop up a clothes line between the coconut palms, lie back in the shade and wait for them to dry.

Off To The Big City

The quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup were fast approaching and we needed to be able to watch the games live.  Rumour had it that the Snack Shack on the dock in Taioha’e would be showing them so we set sail for the main town in the Marquesas, we were off to support the men in black, our All Black Rugby Team.  

Enroute skipper deployed his new fishing line, we had made another investment in extra strong line, hooks and tracers and we even bought a new bicycle inner tube for the bungy while at Ua Pou in an effort not to lose more gear to sea monsters.  Of course the flip side to that is now that we have gear tested to 180 kilos we are somehow supposed to actually land said sea monsters, that could be a problem!  But today we were lucky, a long sleek Wahoo decided to join us for dinner, we had him wound in, onboard and supping on vodka before he knew what had hit him.  Our new line has already paid for itself.

We entered the large open bay of Taioha’e mid afternoon, about 15 other yachts lay at anchor, 3 small local craft were tied to the concrete dock, a couple of two story commercial buildings showed some sign of business life, a few pickups drove along the waterfront road and the sweet smell of woodsmoke wafted out from shore, this was definitely not some sprawling metropolis or even bustling town.

A late afternoon excursion ashore reconfirmed our first impressions, just a couple of local cafes at the dock, a small produce market with souvenir section nearby, less than a handful of other shops, a bank, post office, mini hospital, administrative offices and 2 small groceries were all within short walking distance, any signs of other commerce were not apparent – perhaps on further inspections! 

 Game On

Most importantly we did find what we had come here for.  Henri, the very friendly, rugby loving owner of the Snack Shack at the dock confirmed that he would be bringing in a big flat screen tv and opening at 5am for the 5.30am New Zealand – France quarter final game in the Rugby World Cup.  Music to skippers ears! 

So it was out of bed at dark o’clock and ashore just as the skies were lightening to fly our flags, get front row seats and settle in with a big cup of coffee.  We were definitely in the minority, this is after all a French Territory.  At half time we were feeling confident but we know these French, anything can happen, half way through the second half it was all going our way, by full time it was a very gloomy bunch of French supporters sitting with us, but we were two extremely happy All Blacks supporters, off to the semi finals, yippee!

A Week to Wait till the Semi’s

We settled in for the week, the anchorage was a little rolly but we had a stern anchor out to minimise the discomfort.  A large cruise ship came in one day and we were overrun with hundreds of tourists, dance groups performed in the shade, souvenir sellers displayed their wares ~ it was a happening place for a few hours, but then they left and calm returned.

Appointments were made for dentist and physiotherapist visits to fix overdue ailments, the hardware store was found up the valley, free wifi was available in at the Snack Shack, just a shame they don’t serve alcohol as it would be a great spot for happy hour.  Instead we put our glad rags on one night and visited the very upmarket Pearl Lodge for happy hour along with Jeff and Katie off Mezzaluna and enjoyed a wonderful view over the harbour as we sipped on our cocktails.  We finished the evening with pizzas at a small local restaurant.  What more could we possibly want?

Maybe This Will Be Home For The Cyclone Season