Yesterday, Whangaroa was quite nice and we did the climb of the Duke's Nose in calm conditions. The climb is only about 40 mins from the DOC hut on the shore but the finish is a cracker, with 20m of near vertical chains up a rock face to be negotiated. The hand and foot holds are reliable I am pleased to report. The views from the summit are outstanding. Today, our pretty bay is truly vile. A big NW front has been going through today. Barometer has fallen 1 Mb every hour this morning. Here in the "shelter" of Pekapeka bay we have had max wind of 45 knots! Huge williwaws coming down the steep gully nearby, landing "splat" on the water and then hammering straight into us, putting Diomedea over quite a few times. A pan with the remains of our Bonito-bake went for a six in the biggest knockdown. Fantastic "smoking" effects as the water is picked up and blown across the anchorage. The anchor system has been superb throughout. 36kg Manson Supreme with new 10mm hi-test short link chain. The snubber made by Sydney Rigging has excellent elasticity and eased away any snatching on the chain. Unfortunately we did not quite appreciate the strength that the wind would get to in the bay and left the dinghy tied up at the stern. It flipped and now the outboard needs an overhaul. Near us is a 30 footer which has been regularly dipping its gunwhales in the big gusts. In a nearby valley a waterfall was blown vertically upwards for an estimated 100m above the cliff top before flying away in a banner. Torrential, view-obliterating rain has just hosed the boat down. In the last 10 minutes, the rain and wind have backed right off, and the wind direction has gone into the NW, indicating passage of the front. We have been able to read without cabin lights now (2pm NZ time). All in all it has been a quite an exciting day with a very remote Patagonian feel about the place. The forecast is for continued NW flow in the next few days before the next strong front on Thursday, when the wind swaps to SW. We will stay in the harbour for now as there are plenty of bays as well as a marina and a pub. Also of interest is another Diomedea! This time it is a big charter game fishing boat. As I finish this blog entry a rainbow has appeared over the Nose and a patch of blue has come over. Yeehaa!