Springtime in NZ

So, the daffodils have come and gone, the Iris are up, and everything is budding forth, or so we hear. But it has got Sally thinking about lawn mowers (gawd forbid) and chainsaws (please) and getting the garden in (ok, but we have heaps of yummy produce right here) and a million other projects that need tending to. So, she is off, on her way home, to the ‘other’ world she loves so much.

We’ve been just hanging about in Vila and around the island of Efate without much exciting diving and tramps, though did enjoy our stay up Havannah Harbour on the NW side of Efate. Huge turtles in the bay we anchored in and nice paddling around the area. We did manage to get the bikes ashore and do a little ride up and over the big hill to the north shore and a small village. An old guy with two front teeth showed us a cave (for 1000 vatu, ~$10) with an underground lake. Apparently we could rent there kayak and paddle many kilometres underground, but we didn’t have a torch (flashlight) for the journey, so decided to give it a miss.

After Julie arrived, we were planning to head north to the other islands and then Sally would depart at some point, but the logistics were getting complicated (customs office, immigrations, crew lists, etc) and she discovered a cheap flight back to NZ today, so booked it. It was sad to see her go and on such short notice. But we had three good months cruising about Fiji and a little bit of Vanuatu. It has been a long time dream of hers to do some offshore passages, so am happy for her that she could see that dream come true. We did have some pretty good trips. She wanted to find a boat heading back to NZ, but it wasn’t to be.

Anyway, I wish you well back in NZ Sally-Jane and on to your next adventures. You’re a dear friend and will always be welcome aboard EQ. You’ve been a good ship mate. Wish you could have stayed a bit longer to see more of Vanuatu and get to know Julie.

So, Equanimity has a crew change. I’m quite happy that Julie has worked it out to join in on the adventure of sailing the seven seas (and put up with me J). She loves this lifestyle and I look forward to our budding friendship and the adventures yet to be. She arrives tomorrow and once settled in, we’ll head north to the outer islands and then eventually head for Oz by about the 1^st of November. Not sure yet if we’ll head for Brisbane or Sydney or ???, but we’ll work that out along the way.

So, I better get to doing a boat clean, laundry, etc. before tomorrow, eh. J

That’s the news from EQ, where the winds are fair, the seas following and the crew content.

J

Bye-bye Sally!!!!! Love you dearly and our time together...