We are now in the marina, preparing the boat for our departure - it is amazing how long this takes! We have arranged a yacht minding service to keep an eye on the boat while we are away. Being in a marina for a while does have its advantages, like endless water for showers, morning croissant run and going out for a meal in the evening without having to undertake a dingy crossing. We also have internet access, so plan to start putting photos and past arc entries into the albums in our new blog.

When we arrived, we met up with Eric and Grazyna from Williwaw, who are spending some time in New Caledonia, We also met Basia and Sabine ex off Branech. Sabine's son lives here, so she is staying with him for a while, while Branech continues with the ARC. It was really great to arrive somewhere new and find people you know. The ARC fleet, the ones who are left, are now in Australia. Harmonie, Southern Princess and Storyteller are in the Banks and Torres islands, which they say are absolutely beautiful. Photo is of our last party with the arc - Petra's and Bob's birthday drinks in Port Villa. Michael is with John from Southern Princess, and a lad who is crewing on Storyteller. Will post more photos of this party in the album.

We are staying in a hotel on Tuesday night as our flight is early in the morning. We have 11 hours in Auckland, so we plan to check out the marina we have booked for the hurricane season.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.