The Pacific- A Quiet Ocean
We spent close to 6 years cruising and living in these waters.
Fiji: Across to Fiji and a cyclone pit for the next season. Here we flew ( I don't love flying) back to the US. Flying is faster then sailing! And two seasons were spent enjoying Kakoda. A real delicacy. Once the transporter gets developed I will be doing many trips to Fiji just for the Kokoda.
French Polynesia: From the Galapagos to French Polynesia (FP) was quite a stretch. 19 day plus or minus a few hours. We spent 6 months in FB and it wasn't enough. My mistake is explained in the blog for more detail.
Galapagos:From our time watching nature videos in grade school the Galapagos has always intrigued us. Now we had a chance to see what all the hype was about. And it did not disappoint. What was disappointing is how Ecuador has turned it into a Disney Land experience. We could only sail to 4 islands. To go further afield one needed to take a "tour". Understandably the government wishes to protect the region. Yet when the laws do not apply to everyone then the experience leaves a sour taste. Would we return. Probably not in our own vessel. The other answer is; I don't know. It was a good experience. It wasn't heaven on Earth.
New Caladonia: Heading to Australia; New Caledonia was in our way. This was a lovely lay over. We spent time in a remote part of the islands called the Loyalties thanks to the Go West Rally. The Rally flew out the officials allowing yachts to check in there. We worked our way to the capital and enjoyed the various bays and estuaries on the way. Time was important here and the season beckoned us forward. Too bad. There is a lot to explore here.
New Zealand: We headed S to NZ. There we hope to get some serious boat projects completed. According to the NZ weather guru we were the last out of Fiji heading S. Our designs on the wx did not cooperate. And yet; NZ was worth the trip. Bought a car. Toured the S. Island. Completed a great deal of work on Elysium; much paid. And enjoyed making new friends and sharing time with old ones.
Penhryn: While stuck in the hurricane belt we looked for a safe place out of the hurricane belt; Penhryn. We spent the cyclone season getting to know the people and island. Sharing in their life and they to a small extent ours; the Penhryn community is one place thats stays with us as we continue on our journey.
Vanuatu: The first stop leaving Fiji and heading W. We spent some time at lovely island too often visited by cruise ships. I'm sure the locals didn't feel this was as that was a major source of their income and entertainment. From there we headed up the Yasur an active volcano. Moving at last to the Capital city where there the small time vibe was on the way out