The Bay of Islands is a spectacularly beautiful place and a sailing playground. There are hundreds of islands and numerous anchorages on each. White sand beaches fringe the coves and lush, forested, tall islands rise up from the green and turquoise waters. Dolphins visit our anchorage and also play in our wake while under way. The only sounds you hear are of birds in the hills and fish jumping. There are nature preserves to hike and rocky points to explore in the kayak. What a cool place we found to hide out during the southern hemisphere cyclone season!

Our friends Brian and Liz are here visiting. You may remember that they bought our previous boat – Pura Vida. They are taking a break from their excruciating full-time jobs of sailing Pura Vida in Mexico. We are all having a blast and it’s been great catching up with them and taking turns exaggerating about our respective sailing adventures.

Alyssa has been playing Super Woman, New Zealand edition. By day she is working in a yacht chandlery (boat parts shop) and by night she is aboard entertaining us all and whipping up amazing meals. It’s exhausting just watching but somehow the woman summons up the energy and is loving it all. She even decided to ‘up the ante’ and in a couple weeks will start working at the local cafe for a couple days a week…..something about them letting her do some baking…

Here are some pictures of the past week. You’ll notice that the geography here is reminiscent of the California coast but with a bit of South Pacific beaches, foliage and sea-life thrown in – a combination that works very well.

Salud from the Bay of Islands, NZ!

- Lewis, Alyssa, Brain & Liz