Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our plan is to have a stuffed chicken with all the fixin's since it will be just our little gang. Since we last wrote the kids have been busy taking Karate lessons and love it. We have been unloading the boat and watching the water line rise. The weather has been fantastic or maybe it's because we have the heater on in the morning and are not suffering like last year. To all our family and friends back at home who are enjoying family on Thanksgiving....you are in our thoughts and enjoy every minute of being together. Missing you all very much.

The Grego's

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Underway to Gulf Harbour

Anchor up, sails out and we are underway once more. Our next destination Gulf Harbour. We will do it in two long days with a night stop in Tutukaka. After spending the night joking about the name Tutu"KAKA".... We are now moving along on our second day and should be into Gulf Harbour Marina this evening at 6pm. The view of New Zealand coast is story book beautiful. Rolling hills, green grass, spectacular rock formations and cool crisp air.

Opua - After checking into Opua. We spent a few days of "celebrating" with friends, cleaning up the boat after 6 months out at play and grocery shopping. The weather was great this year compared to last year which made it much more pleasant. We cruised out through the bay of islands and once we passed the pierced rock we heard a call of a boat that just spotted killer whales near by. Our eyes where peeled all day but no whale spotting. We will keep looking.

Land Ho! Cruising down the coast of New Zealand

Magical, just magical! As we rounded North cape the sun light was beginning to color the sky pink and red and the Moon lit my trail behind me. We are motoring with no wind and flat glossy seas. The sea birds are in full force looking for breakfast...skimming over the water dipping a wing here and there for fun. We made a "BeBe Special" breakfast this morning with bacon, eggs and toast. Should be arriving in Opua this evening along with a group of others. Looks like there will be a party on the Q dock!

Day 2 - Beautiful day in the middle of nowhere land

360 degree view of the ocean, can't complain. I know people back in the states who pay a fortune for a view like this!! Today was a spectacular cruising day with speeds well into the 9+ knot range. We made enough headway to make it into New Zealand Wednesday night. The winds have clocked around to our stern and we are motoring along now at 7. Ha, imagine yourself driving over 300 miles at 7 mph down a highway. Well, when it comes down to moving my entire house this way it's pretty amazing. It's cool to never have to pack a bag and travel as much as we do. Don't like the neighbors? lift anchor... Tired of the same view? move on... Ready for a new experience? raise the sails. But, can't pickup the phone and call mom :(. We are very happy and doing great. Looking forward to landfall.
P.S. We caught a nice Albacore Tuna today.

Next stop New Zealand

We are underway to New Zealand after spending a magical 5 days in Norfolk Island. Norfolk is on our top list of favorite stops. On Saturday morning we got a VHF call that Tony, one of the teachers I met at school, and his family were wondering if we wanted to go to the local market. Now, if you saw how the boat was rocking and rolling you would understand why we jumped on that offer. Tony and Lucy Janssens and their wonderful 4 children (Marley 7, Inaia 5, Ruben 4, and Romany 2) made us feel like part of the family. Unfortunately, Paul had to stay on the boat due to the conditions:(. The day we spent with them is a day we will cherish for the rest of our lives. To top things off, it was Halloween and a few of the residents really put on a great show. My kids entered haunted houses, drank potion and loaded up on "lollies". I can't wait to upload some pictures of our stay in Norfolk. When we departed this morning, our friend John Buffett hailed us on the VHF to say good bye and to let us know we will not soon be forgotten. Just an added cherry to the already heavily frosted cake. Norfolk, my hat goes off you all of you.

As I write we are 70 miles from Norfolk heading south into 15 knots of wind at a close reach. The seas are decent and we are enjoying our first day out. We expect a 3 to 4 day passage into New Zealand. Not 100% sure if we will land in Opua or Mardsen point. There are a few people we need to meet but we also want to get the kids into school and settle down at Gulf Harbour Marina. At this point we will let the weather dictate our first NZ destination.