The Offshore Highland Games Between here and Auckland there is a small very neat town called Waipu to which many Scots came back in the early 19th century from their homeland and from North America. Apart from starting successful businesses they maintained their Highland culture and re-established their ties with the clans. In 1871 they …

Our Twelve Days of Christmas – 19th to 30th December with Charly and Tom. The First Three Days Four hours in to our first day of Christmas Rob and I were speeding south on Interstate Highway 1 to Auckland Airport to meet Charly and Tom off their South Korean Airlines flight from Seoul, the second …

Written on paper in Zoonie’s list were over one hundred jobs to do and most of the main ones began with W. Three of the four Window hinges on the two big windows at the front of the deckhouse had corroded through so the windows were held in place by their closures when shut but …

35:50.20S 174:28.119E Marsden Cove Marina. Built on what were once dairy farm pastures the marina is exposed to all the prevailing winds. Houses have been built around the waters, some with their own pontoon landing. The marina is home to local boats and the small fishing fleet. Alongside us aboard his boat, a fishermen separates …

23:39.49S 178:54.132W North Minerva Reef It took five days of fitful, sometimes perfect sailing and a worrying 40 hours of motoring to reach the surreal North Minerva Reef. We had to slow Zoonie so as to arrive in first light, at a time when speed is of the essence. We even toyed with the idea …

Hunga Haven and a truly remarkable day. As we came in the day before yesterday we followed another yacht and watched her progress using the AIS on our tablet. Her name is Sonrisa, a Catalina 40 built in 1980 and she is registered in Las Vegas, maybe because sailing is, at the best of times, …

Motoring around the now familiar Mount Talau headland we could see the hefty blue box section trailer awaiting Zoonie’s arrival, a small but strong tractor at its shore end. The driver was in his seat and Bill and Ian were ready to take a bow line and give me one of his lines that was …

To spend a day aboard and complete some homework for Clare, the journalist I met at the Hosea School dancing performance, write a few letters and continue with a blog was a real luxury and in the evening we joined Tony and Gail, Christina and Werner aboard Cetacea for the feast. Christina and I contributed …

It has been an interesting week with Blue Water Rally Events to enjoy and some excellent talks and presentations on passage planning from here to NZ and what to expect when we get there in the form of customs entry requirements. On Monday we joined the crowd of fellow cruisers for a delicious hot breakfast …

“Sea Oak isn’t on her mooring Barb,” Rob commented as we motored past the little black ball. As the large police launch left the quay to assist in the pursuit of Florida born Dean the wrong co-ordinates were given to the skipper and he set off in a North West direction, while Sea Oak was …