Out of Sydney

We are finally on the move from Sydney. It has been too much fun, with a niece and nephew to catch up with, and the rest of the family of course :) Stella is a bundle of laughs, very active and talkative too all of a sudden. She and Auntie Eee have made lots of great memories together. Vincent is ready to go, crawling in the last week with a big grin on his face no doubt. Bith and Neill are doing a fab job on the parenting front.

While we were here we also saw Erin's cousins Sue and Tim. Sue, Pete and PJ came out on the boat, young Pete pronounced it all 'cool'. We caught up with Tim and Chris at Christmas but Tim headed home to be with Uncle Ron (now well on the road to recovery from heart surgery) so we didn't manage a boat trip.

We've also caught up with lots of friends, old and new while we were here. The Kings Cross crowd has half moved over so we've spent some proper time with Sharon, Mickey, Les and Rick. We have also met the new generation - Molly and Paddy who are peas from the pod. We had a lovely weekend with Sue and Grant in the Hunter Valley getting some expert guidance to wine - hope to see you guys before we leave Auz.

Most of all it has been great to be close enough to Erin's mum and dad to pop round for tea or to have them over. Hard to leave.

But - we can't call ourselves cruisers if all we do is motor from Glebe to Middle Harbour so tomorrow we are heading out of Sydney and up to Broken Bay. We have been waiting for a window to NZ but have decided to start to head north (it's getting chilly here). If a window opens we will head back to Opua and probably up to Fiji again from there. If not we will probably head to Queensland and spend the winter in the Whitsundays.

Photos to follow.

Finally arrived in Auz

When we left the UK in 1997 our only real goal was to reach Sydney and sail under the harbour bridge. We met each other in Sydney in 1989 and so this would bring us back to where it all started. Of course we had planned to be here for the Olympics in 2000 so we are a little late but still this is a milestone.

Bonjour from New Caledonia

We had a fabulous trip from Lautoka to Noumea - faster and smoother than we had expected. Now enjoying croissants, bagettes and a very pretty city.

We only have a few jobs to do before we set off again, this is just a stopover really. Our next port of call should be Coffs Harbour in NSW.

Welcome to Vincent William - Bithia and Neill's son and Erin's nephew. We are, of course, rushing to Sydney to see him and Stella his big sister.

Sorry no photos for this one.

Musket Cove Regatta

• Salty pirates in the beachcomer race - crew on Freedom Hunter.
• Erin - not coming last in the kayaking race (dressed in black).
• Princess Fatima - didn't make the finals.
• Whimsey Galore - finalist in the princesses competition.
• All in all we have had a lot of fun!! Recommend the regatta to anyone who is in the area. Lots of friends turned up here - some new and some old.

Fiji's hot and sunny west coast

This will be a quick one as the connection is a bit slow. We have had a lovely couple of weeks making our way from Savusavu to Vuda point marina. Look out for the photos of the giant clams and Sean working with Kameli to try to mend the water pump on Makongai.

Leaving Savu Savu

After a wonderful month in Savu Savu it is now time to move on. We have been welcomed into the homes and lives of so many friendly people it will be hard to say goodbye - but only until next year.

We are moving west towards Lautoka and Musket Cove for September where Erin's mum and dad will join us for a week.

SavuSavu Darts Champions

Arvind, Sean and Gopen - some of the winning darts team. Planters Club SavuSavu 21st July 2007. NEWS FLASH - we had our pictures in the Fiji Sun newspaper!!