Current conditions: Wind/weather - currently SSE 10 knots, Sunny and clear. Temp (F) HI 60, LOW 50 Sea state - SW swell, 4 to 5 ft, 10 sec Boat speed/course - 5 knots under Main, Staysail and Yankee. Bearing: 278. Heading: 295

Tuesday, June 3, 10:00 am I refer to Day 7 as any point on the seventh day since leaving NZ. Steen refers to the days as noon to noon, so per Steen this would technically still be Day 6 until noon today. For the sake of morale, Day 7 is closer to Day 13, which is when we should arrive in Brisbane. So I win. Fortunately, last night was not a repeat of Sunday night. Sunday night we had squalls and Steen had to come up from his nice warm sleep to go on deck to trim sails while the boat hobby horsed and I manned the helm. As always, neither of us is allowed on deck at night without the other watching. During the day, it's more of an FYI... I'll be on deck, so listen for me. I usually pop my head up and watch him anyway. He's always hooked into his PFD and safety tether when he goes on deck.

What we're eating: Breakfast: oatmeal, corn flakes or pancakes, and coffee, ground on our antique cast iron wall mounted coffee grinder, our going away gift from our friends Tim and Stef Lunch: usually Wattie's brand 'Hearty' soup over rice, and a carrot, apple or orange. Wattie's make things like Curry Chicken and Pepper Steak that don't resemble soup, but go great over rice. Thanks to Steen's brother Bo who came up with that idea when they were in NZ camping. It works great at sea. Dinner: Two nights we had tuna steak, potatoes and cabbage salad with Paul Newman 'Caesar' dressing made in Australia. $8 million given to AU and NZ charities since 1984. Other dinners have been spaghetti with TVP sauce, or brazed veggies with rosemary. We finally ran out of the excellent TVP (textured vegetable protein) we bought from Rainy Day Foods, online, but we found some in bulk in Whangarei at the small bulk food store 'Bin Inn'. It makes an admirable fake meat sauce. We had been using it on land for years, as part of our then mostly vegetarian diet. We definitely did not have a vegetarian diet in New Zealand. How could we? Not because you couldn't find Veggie Burgers at the store, which you couldn't, but because the culture is so lamb and beef oriented and the animals are so darned happy out there grazing on super green hills and making their own unique terraced trails down the hillsides: Mountain cows like you've never seen them. One night we went to a neighbor's boat for Aged Beef. No marinade, no spices, none needed. Perfect. And Steen's Moroccan Lamb dish over cous cous is really good. Rockin' Lamb as Malou calls it.

What we're reading: Angela: I'm almost finished reading The Little Drummer Girl, by John le Carre 1983 Steen: has just started East of Eden, by John Steinbeck 1952 Malou: Whale's Way by Johanna Johnston, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard, one of our favorite illustrators. 1965

What will we do regarding the blog when we go to the States for three months? Sailblogs is for sailing stories, so we probably won't use that, but maybe we will start a different one while we are in southwestern Missouri. A lot of people ask me, assumingly... 'is it flat there'? No, I say, it isn't. It has hills and river bluffs and is quite beautiful. It borders the Ozarks to the east and southeast, which stretch into Arkansas and there you can even find small mountains. Not that mountains make the place. Kansas, Missouri's neighbor, which is mostly flat has some of the most beautiful prairie grasses, purple-hued, and rare on Earth. I like the Midwest. It doesn't promote itself enough. Back to the sea. Steen may post later on our progress. I'm missing my pre-lunch nap.