Papillon in the Pacific

 La Orana! When I last wrote our visa extensions had been denied and we were set on travelling further west as soon as possible.  I was researching the Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji , Skipper was trying to arrange boat haul outs for further works and insurance for these new and unexpected waters, and we were both trying desperately to remain upbeat about the prospect.  All your messages of support certainly helped in that respect particularly for me who had been in charge of the visas, so thank you so much !   Crazy rock formations in Moorea   Cooks Bay Moorea Our last communication with our advisor Chantal had been unambiguous:  there was absolutely no chance of an appeal and we would have to leave French Polynesia by 17 th July at the latest.  The reason given was that we had been given the wrong type of visa in response to our original application. At the end of the email was a description of the visas available to British Nat...

  La Orana! Hello from the beautiful island of Moorea. We are anchored back in Opunoho Bay - a dramatic place ringed by tree covered peaks that soar above us.  Flowers fall from the trees at dusk landing gently on the water below.  They drift quietly past the boat in a continuous stream.   We love it here.   Dawn at anchor   drifting flowers It is peaceful place and a complete antidote to the frenetic activity of Papeete that we have finally left behind. No more the sound of containers being unloaded onto the dock at all hours, no more jolting awake at night from the bow wave of arriving cruise ships and finally no more live music ringing across the water from the bar opposite.  Who said we were living in a tropical paradise!!   Cranes finally at rest in Papeete   One of the better bands But despite the idyllic surroundings in Moorea we have had some bad news this week.   Our applicati...

La Orana!  I think all you can say about this week is that we have made the most of our time at the marina! It’s been a bit of a slog but satisfying too in a hard work sort of Presbyterian way! Highlights have been seeing turtles and manta rays in the harbour around the boats but otherwise its been work, work, work!   Manta Ray in the marina   Super Yachts moored up   The week started with hiring a car to take Duncan to the airport and then, to distract us, doing a lot of shopping - two of my least favourite things. It was tough saying goodbye and tough wandering around shops making decisions on what to buy. I won’t bore you with the list, but highlights include  squirreling away loads of water and heavy tinned and dried foods for those longer passages, buying a printer to simplify the next phase of our very complicated visa application (Thank you Brexit) and most importantly finally deciding on a washing machine. The excitement...

La Orana!  I sit here writing this in the Wi-Fi lounge at Papeete Marina in Tahiti. Reaching Tahiti has felt like a huge milestone – definitely the longest passage of our sailing careers so far and with much of it overnight on the open ocean one to celebrate. The first leg was a short one, approximately 25 nautical miles (nm) east across the pacific from Tahaa to the island of Huahine. I say short but it still took over 6 hours and at times felt very washing machine-like! I had imagined huge rollers in the Pacific but the sea was far more confused with small waves coming from all over. Fortunately, we have our sea legs these days. A couple of months ago things might not have been so pretty!    All calm in Huahine-Nui when we arrived   Huahine-Nui Huahine is actually two islands: Huahine-Nui and Huahine-Ito which refer to the size of the mountain ranges in each: big and little. Nowadays the islands are joined by a bridge. Both are ringed...