Finally Simon is able to show me Whangaroa, where he has been many times with the Spirit of New Zealand. We arrived here at gin o'Clock yesterday, having sailed from New Plymouth, where we had an overnight stay on our way from Nelson. Having been followers of the slow cities and slow food movements, we perfected the art of slow sailing...enjoying the time at sea and taking time to look at the clouds ( Ed). however, we also enjoyed some great sailing, pods of dolphin and amazingly calm seas in our journey around the top of the north island. We had some fairly confused seas for a while, which we later learned were not only the usual swells in the Tasman Sea, but also the after effects of a Chilean earthquake! Night passages went well with both of us getting good sleeps. Today we had a bit of choring this morning...catching up with cleaning and washing and then went up the Duke's Nose..a local rocky outcrop, rowing up the 'Amazon', a mangrove lined river, swimming, fishing and baking bread. We are really enjoying life at sea so far....long may this continue!!!