So the bringing home of ‘La Condesa Del Mar’ to Brisbane Australia is not far away and our preparations for the 7 day passage happening today seem surreal. Having seen some family and friends in the last half of the trip certainly has helped- he, to hum louder and me to, well....make it happily through this amazing experience. Having my special friend Tracey Tognini fly in for 4 day stopover of Noumea was the smartest move a girl could ever make as the meals prepared for the last leg have been done in a blink of an eye and we will have the flare and flavour of a floating restaurant. However Noumea has turned on some rain and wind to make it easier to leave but hard to get our visitor out on the bow sprit. I am secretly counting my blessings that it wasn’t the perfect island stopover or we would find hard to come home. The best birthday gift cannot be surpassed that being the exit papers - who would have thought that, would be all he needed to hum his own birthday tune. So in this message we want thank you all - the family and friends who have come along on this journey with us via cyber space. All your love and support along the way has been appreciated and felt. I have tried to share this whole experience through our eyes less all the technical jargon. Things we talk about like dodgers, push pit, sheets and washboards (no, not the laundry), lines that are ropes, tethers, and hanks (not Tom Hanks) just the clips for the sails so as to have them pulled tight and not to Luff (not as in Col) and a Code Zero (no not an emergency term) but the Genika for downwind sailing that we managed to completely ruin early in the trip. I realise I have learnt so much since we left in February and when he calls for the ‘winch’ I know the boy (not buoy) is not calling me but the thingy to help bring in the sail. No but really- as for the knowledge of the channel markers - well I am so grateful that we have Pedro and Captain Humming aka “Team Condesa” on the job. It seems it is the French seafaring people who do it really well. You can sail in and out of their harbours knowing that you will be accurately guided by their markers. However we have learnt in past countries like Fiji that sight of a crooked stick in the distance may very well be an important marker alerting us to a reef below; but as to which side of it is danger is still patchy. Oh and I can use the VHF radio with confidence now and not sound like Sonny Hammond’s sister reporting news from Skippy. We, He who hums, Super Pedro and I will remain focused and serious about getting the ship home the last little step but will continue to learn, laugh and enjoy whatever Murphy (as in Murphy’s Law) delivers us on the way. Did you know that Murphy is on watch 24/7 and he never ceases to amaze us of the weird games he likes to play. So....... until we hit Bundaberg we bid farewell and eagerly await the familiar faces in our home land. Well not hit exactly but more sail her gracefully into the Bundaberg harbour in the sunshine of the Queensland coast. Thanks again for sharing this part of our journey, but I have to tell you I haven’t shared all of what has happened as Murphy was responsible for bits and pieces. Maybe I can fill you in another time.