I guess 'belated' is an understatement! I know, I'm officially 25 days late in wishing everyone the requisite 'Happy New Year!', but I've been busy... really! The new year started off with a slight cabernet headache, then once I finally crawled out of bed and drank 7 cups of disgustingly strong coffee and ate half a loaf of homemade white bread smothered in Skippy Super-Chunk, there was a lot of 'stuff' to do around the boat during the first week of the year, and then we welcomed my mother and stepfather after they endured approximately 42 hours of airline travel to come from Nova Scotia to vacation with us on the boat for two weeks, and now that I've fully recovered from that 14-day mother/daughter I-haven't-seen-you-in-a-year-tea-drinking-and-run-on-sentence-talking-about-everything-and-nothing marathon, I can once again devote myself to you, my faithful captive audience. ;)
And now that I sit here, fingers on my keyboard, eyeballs staring at my screen, I have nothing, absolutely nothing, pushing forth from the recesses of my sunburned and dehydrated brain to write about that could universally be declared 'interesting'. Well... actually, I'm pretty sure Mom, Gary, Peter and Don wouldn't mind if I told you what we did during the past two weeks here in Majuro, although I'll spare you from the minute details of our 'family vacation in paradise'. After all, we all know that everyone hates hearing about someone else's vacation, although they all say: "Sure, I'd LOVE to hear ALL about what you did while you were away on your TROPICAL HOLIDAY!". They're all lying, and they're just being polite. They don't really want to hear it at all. Let's face it; they'd all rather rip their own lips off than hear about how much fun you had in the sun while they were shoveling brown slimy snow and stogging the woodstove with wet mildewy wood and cursing the fact that there are still 2 full months to endure before there's an end to that joyful thing called a "Canadian" winter.
So, on that note, I'll give you the highlights of our Griswald Family Vacation:
1. We all ate our own body weight in various ethnic food groups. I'm sure the rules of the Canada Food Guide were broken at least 5 times a day. (Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit.)
2. We drank approximately 68 pots of Orange Pekoe tea.
3. We read 17 books. (I only read 4 pages of one book, so I guess I wasn't much of a help in this category.)
4. We rented a powder-blue car and I chauffeurred the clan from one end of the atoll to the other and then back, 83 miles in total.
5. Mom and I collected so many bits and pieces of washed-up dead sea urchin spines that we filled a 4L mixing bowl. Sounds gross, but they're cool looking!
6. We captured and released 2 jellyfish. We are humane vacationers!
7. We went to the Payless Grocery Store 5 times and walked around in the air-conditioning for at least an hour each time.
8. We sailed out to Enemanet Island 2 times and stayed at the anchorage near the beach, enjoying the pink sunsets night after night.
9. We played 'Chicken' with 23 tuna trawlers while sailing around the lagoon on a windy Saturday afternoon.
10. Mom and I saw 14 species of fish, 3 species of crab and one octopus during our snorkeling adventures.
11. Peter and Don completed 19 tasks on their "Pedoja: To Do" list.
12. And finally, Mom and Gary and I also did a whole lot of 'nothing' in our spare time...
So, there you go: A quick n' dirty sum-up of the fam-dam's vacay, and be sure to click on over to the "Majuro - Happy New Year!" album in the Photo Gallery to see some of the fab adventures captured on film. ;)

Even though Christmas carols about reindeer & snowmen & decked halls were blaring from speakers in local restaurants and the 'big American-style' grocery stores, and the locals were all cheerfully greeting us with 'Merry Christmas!' every time we passed on the street, and shiny red & silver polyester garlands and plastic ornaments were hanging from almost every store window in town, it just didn't seem like Christmas-time to me. Maybe it was because the weeks leading up to the holidays were spent sailing through rain squalls while trying to find the elusive (and temperamental) trade-winds, hopping to and from garbage-strewn dinghy docks, wading through anti-freeze-infused puddles and searching endlessly for something remotely resembling a 'fresh' vegetable. Okay, so it wasn't like that ALL the time, but you get the point; it wasn't the charming snow-covered Currier & Ives December that many of us dream of (and rely on to get us 'in the mood' so to speak). No Dickensian fantasies here folks, just mosquitoes and salt-stained clothes! Then again, maybe it didn't seem like (my personal version of) the holidays because it was 35C on Christmas Day and the sun was beating down on us like a blast furnace. I know, I know; I should 'shut up and stop complaining'. At least I wasn't shoveling my way through a 4' high snowbank at the end of the driveway, or trying to scrape off an 'unmeltable' blanket of ice on a frozen windshield using the edge of a credit card, or trying to make it to four 'must-attend-but-don't-wanna-go-to' parties in one blustery night. Alright, yes, I did get to make mashed potatoes and rolls on Christmas morning while wearing a bathing suit and yes, I did get to wear flip-flops and a 'Summer' dress to our Christmas potluck dinner, and yes, I did get to go to bed with the hatches open and the sound of waves lapping in my ears. Okay, so it's not THAT bad... but it still didn't feel like Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be a time of bad weather and office-party regrets and family strife and screaming bratty children and last-minute-gift panic!! I miss that. ;)
Oh well. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Maybe I'll become lucky and our New Year's celebrations will bring all the holiday misery that I know and love. Grin.

Hi Everyone!
Sending wishes for a joyous and safe holiday season to one and all! Enjoy the food and festivities of this special time of year... and be sure to help yourself to an extra serving of pie and egg nog for us!
We'll be making merry with the local yachties here in Majuro, taking part in a huge Christmas Day potluck dinner ashore.

I'm so glad I went to Auckland! I had a terrific time. I stayed with my childhood friend Daphne - whom I haven't seen in 22 years - and I had a lot of fun catching up with her and reminiscing about "old times"!... you know... remember the 80's??!! We ate sushi & pizza and drank champagne & cappuccino and hung out in her gorgeous house and went for walks along the beach (which is basically right at the end of her driveway!) and I got to meet her incredibly adorable little boy. He's sooooo cute... he should DEFINITELY be in commercials!! Unfortunately I didn't get to meet Daphne's husband on this trip, as he's overseas at the moment... maybe next time... and hopefully it won't be another 22 years between visits!
It was great to be back in a city again! I "bussed it" almost everywhere, and that gave me a chance to see some of the city and suburbs that I would have missed if I had rented a car (which would have been a horribly traumatic experience, considering I would have been driving for the first time in 9 months, on the 'wrong' side of the road, in a new-to-me city renowned for its aggressive/crazy drivers! No thanks!) I even saw some of NZ's 40 million sheep on my bus route from the 'burbs into the city every day! Auckland and its suburban communities are laid out in a huge geographic area, and as a result you get to see a lot of 'nature' and 'rural life' just a few minutes' drive from the downtown core. Farms and fields are
juxtaposed with motorways and shopping malls! In fact, I'd say it's made it to my personal Top 5 Favourite World Cities! It has a similar vibe to Vancouver: mountains and ocean as a spectacular backdrop, and a lot of 'cool' urban fun to be had in the city.
I'm not sure how many km's I walked, but it must have been a LOT... I explored the Central Business District with its many highrises, the waterfront Viaduct area filled with ship chandlers, snooty restaurants and grossly-expensive condo developments, the downtown Queen Street strip with its block upon block upon block of shops and arcades right in the heart of the city, Parnell Street (known as 'the creative quarter') with its upscale antiques, jewellery, housewares and clothing shops as well as the Auckland Museum (which was very interesting - yes I DID go!), and the Newmarket area stuffed full of street-access chain-stores and one-off eateries and cafes. It was an "urban girl's" paradise!!! I've never had so many lattes and pastries in one week!! Thankfully I maintained some semblance of self-control and filled only one suitcase with purchases... but that was mostly because I didn't want to have to drag 2 suitcases to the airport (and pay the extra baggage fee)! hahaha.
So, I had a fantastic week of making merry, and sadly it had to end... too soon for my liking... but one thing is for sure: I'm sure that was NOT my last visit to Auckland!!

... so... when I got back to the boat last week after my little 'solo sojourn' in Auckland, I asked the guys "What did you do while I was away?" and the response from Peter was "We worked on the boat the WHOLE week!" Well, they may have worked on the boat MOST of the week, and it was obvious that they DID get a HUGE list of maintenance and new work items completed in my absence, but I know that at least part of ONE day was spent having fun... you see, I think Peter forgot that he emailed this little tidbit to me while I was in New Zealand: pure unaltered photographic evidence! A 37kg yellowfin tuna, an 11kg mahi mahi and three giant grins! Our friends Chris and Nora own Vava'u Island Express, a local tour/charter/boat rental company in Neiafu, and it would appear that Chris tore himself away from work one day so he could take the guys fishing in one of their boats. Oh, the things we do for the sake of friendship! I'm sure Chris' arm had to be twisted and twisted... hahahahaha.

It's hard to believe that we've been in Tonga for more than 2 months already. The weeks have melted away to a blur, our time sometimes passed in a flurry of ever-present fix-it, install-it or clean-it jobs on the boat, and sometimes the hours are whiled away doing nothing more than reading and lazing about. With the calendar turning to November, the time has finally come to start to count down the days until we take our leave. Of course, we're only departing on schedule in mid-November if the 2 new engines purchased from a company in New Zealand arrive this week and the guys are able to clear them through Customs without too much hassle and then install them and ensure they're in proper working order. This onerous task I am happily leaving to Peter and Don, as I am flying to Auckland tomorrow to spend a week with an old childhood friend whom I have not seen in more than 22 years, and to get a taste of Sub-urban Living Kiwi-style! I have to admit that after being at sea for more than 8 months I am utterly giddy at the prospect of being immersed in the noise, concrete and lights of the city, and I am going to seek out and devour a skim-milk latte and a worldly English-print newspaper as soon as humanly possible upon my arrival! I'm really excited to catch up with my old friend and I'm hoping that I'll be able to go sight-seeing, visit a few museums and galleries, and of course, I MUST go shopping! After all, it would be a moral offense to urban women everywhere to NOT at least go window shopping in such a fabulous city! Wink, wink.
At the moment however, I am happily padding around the boat in a pair of ratty old bargain-shop shorts and a rust-stained tank top that looks more like a rag than a piece of clothing, my hair yanked into an unflattering (though thoroughly practical) ponytail on top of my head. I must say that (much to my own surprise) I've adjusted nicely to not wearing make-up unless absolutely necessary, and much of the time I couldn't care less about what people think I look like... but in preparing for my 'Return to Urban Life' trip I'm going to dig out my make-up kit and the few items of clothing I have stuffed in the back of the cupboard that are still deemed 'clean' and 'worthy' of wearing in public. My biggest worry is that I don't have any cold-weather clothing with me, and it's still pretty cool and rainy in Auckland: only around 10 to 15C! I guess I'll have to 'tough it out' with my one pair of jeans, a pair of flimsy capri pants, two sweaters, a handful of t-shirts and a pair of sneakers. Poor girl... ;) I'll let you know how it goes... though I'm sure I'll "survive". Keep your fingers crossed.