On 2nd May we sailed from Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island up to Dunedin with our French friends Tony and Celine on Shana. The SW change took longer than forecast to arrive so the first 10 hours was motoring. After that we had 15 to 20 knots firstly directly astern, then veering round to the port quarter. We even managed a spinnaker run for a few hours the following morning. The number and variety of albatross is wonderful. About 5 species, sometimes 20 birds, glide around Monkey Fist continuously, plus several other species including Cape Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters.

We moored Monkey Fist at the Otago Yacht Club a hop, step and jump to the city. Between us and city the university sprawled. The admin building is just stunning. We hired a car and drove up to the Central Otago region, the most famous city here being Queenstown. Easy to see why it has become such a fashionable place to holiday. No doubt winter would be a great time to be there but autumn is also quite spectacular. Did some tramping (kiwi for bushwalking) past Glenorchy in stunning forests. You can see why they filmed Lord of the Rings here.

Right next to where Monkey Fist was moored is the indoor rugby stadium so we went to see a Super 15 Rugby game with our friends from Quest II Peter and Jessica. Unfortunately the local team, the Otago Highlanders lost .

This is where we had to say goodbye to our friends on Shana who are now bound for French Polynesia but we will catch up with them next summer in the North Island.

The Otago Yacht Club is a simple affair by modern standards but the people were wonderful. It still blows us away how friendly and helpful kiwi people are - Aussies take note !!!