Rarotonga - September 2006

Hello to Everyone

We are back from our NZ holiday, returning with Daryl's brother Selby in tow. Katie managed famously in Rarotonga without us and was well supported by cruisers and locals. She had so many meal and food donations that anyone would think we had left her there to starve.

We found Rarotonga to be extremely friendly and welcoming to cruisers. The common mode of transport was motorbikes, which everyone, young and old, local and tourist, used. Daryl, as you can imagine, was in his element and I was back out of my comfort zone. You can imagine the two of us, with the groceries, making our way back to the boat!!

We went to a few local dinners with concerts, which were great. The weather was variable but didn't stop us.

We had a varied sail to Nuie (from nil to good winds), with a great stop at Beveridge Reef on the way. We will always remember Beveridge Reef for its sharks. As we were leaving we put a line out hoping for a fish dinner. Selby was so excited as he wrestled with a large (ish) fish on the end of the line. When the fish finally gave up the struggle, Selby proudly wound him to the surface. What he had on the line was a big yellow fin tuna with two huge shark bites out of him. The shark circled the back of the boat, clearly visible in the water. We decided on a compromise – we cut 2 fillets of the remaining flesh and fed the rest straight back to the waiting shark!! We made a fish pie for dinner that night.

We have now been at Nuie for 4 days and have loved it. Nuie has a population of 1200 people and accommodation for 120 tourists at any one time. The locals have been great. We had a full day with a hire car seeing the island, caves and coast.

The water clarity has been amazing and the diving spectacular. Daryl's new experience is holding a sea snake.

Katie and Daryl were lucky enough to swim with a humpback whale with a calf (on two occasions). Katie got some great photos. Others of us had to be satisfied with having the whales at close contact in the bay where we have been anchored. Did you know a baby humpback put on 45kgs a day and drinks 200 litres of milk a day?

We did, however, get into trouble here in Nuie. We forgot that Sundays are a quiet day on the island. When we saw the whales at 7am in the morning we jumped in the dinghy to follow -bad move – no boating allowed on a Sunday. Then, we farewelled 'Archangel' by the traditional, reciprocal blowing of our horns- bad move - regarded as disturbing the peace on a Sunday!!! We cleverly blamed it all on the departed boats so we have stayed welcome on the island.

We have joined the Nuie Yacht Club so we hope we will always remain welcome on the island.

The water temperature is a chilly 26 degrees, so we aren't popping in and out of the water as readily as we were.

We have met other cruisers while here and have had quite a social time. Sadly we have said goodbye to 'Archangel' as they are making their way to Fiji now, while we are heading to Southern Tonga.

Daryl & Laurel

Tuamotus/Tahiti - August/ September 2006

Hi from sunny Tahiti

After the roughest crossing to date we are now relaxing in the sunshine at Moorea just off Tahiti.

We checked 3 weather forecasts, all telling the same story, so set off from Rangiroa in the Tuamotus expecting a pleasant sail. Not to be! As the crew constantly reminded me 'it was uncomfortable but never dangerous'. Katie found it exhilerating - I do worry about her sometimes!! The wind generator nearly spun itself out, it got so excited. Not a passage I want to repeat in a hurry.

When we last wrote we were heading to the Tuamotus. They were absolutely ideallic- palm tree atolls surrounded in reefs. We felt like we had arrived in paradise. It was lovely to be able to again swim and snorkel off the back of the boat in crystal clear water. We anchored off a posh hotel where the accommodation was in the form of individual huts that overhung the water. Each one had it's own ladder down into the lagoon- very flash!!! We couldn't even afford to have a drink at their bar.

The Tuamotus are where the famous black pearls are cultured. The crew on Archangel were lucky enough to meet a local who swapped 5 pearls for a bottle of whisky that had cost them $5 in Central America!! Shop value -probably US $500. We didn't get to meet this local so consequently I am not coming home sporting new black pearl jewellery.

We tried out a new sport - drift snorkelling. Rangiroa, where we were, had a channel for entering the lagoon . On an incoming tide we could take the dinghy out through the channel and then jump out at the channel entrance ( along with other tourists who had paid $100 for the privilege). The current push you in over the reef, through clear water where 100's of fish flashed before your eyes. It was amazing.

Daryl kept hold of the dinghy as we drifted so we could hop back in and do it again. Getting in the water at different points sent you in different directions. We saw little fish, big fish, sharks, manta rays and turtles to name just a few. I think that they were the most amazing snorkels I've ever had. The dolphins there are the largest we have seen so far.

After arriving in Tahiti we have had a few days in Papeete getting supplies, maintenance etc. We were surprised at how large the city was. We hired a car for a day and did an island tour. The scenery was spectacular, especially the waterfalls.

We were, however, pleased to get out of the city and over to Moorea. The time here has been full of activity - swimming, diving, snorkelling and the proverbial walk to the ruins. This morning we saw a huge shark cruising the reef. Even from my snorkelling position on the surface I got a good view. Katie has a fabulous camera that has an underwater case, so we have been able to get some good diving shots.

Tomorrow we are dinghying up to swim with stingrays. Apparently the sting ray are extremely friendly and swim all around you- not being afraid to touch you wrap themselves around you and slobber on you. I am considering finding Daryl's full wetsuit to wear.

Roger has only two more nights before he flies back to the UK. We will miss him and his skills. He is cooking us Confit de Canard for dinner (duck for those with rusty French). We are taking advantage of being once more on a French island. The 'Carrefour' supermarket in Papeete was huge and full of French goodies for us to feast on.

We will soon be looking for a weather window to sail from here to Rarotonga where we will be leaving the boat in the capable hands of Katie (and Debs from Archangel) and we will fly home for 10 days.

Sorry to those who aren't coping with the NZ winter, but we are having our fill of sea and sunshine and don't seem to tire of it.

Au Revoir from The Cool Bananas Crew.