We were back at the dock at 9am to clear out of immigration. Oleni was there to greet us as he facilitated a Saturday check out, because the immigration office does not open over the week end. This enormous officer arrived, who had dragged himself away from the rugby. He sat down at the table and the endless form filling started all over again, all for the fee of 145Tops (£50) for a Saturday call out. Well worth it! I popped to the nearby veggie stalls and stocked up on a few more bits and pieces. I passed the fish market, which was rather sad, as all it appeared to have was endless beautiful reef fish.
By 10am we were waving goodbye to Oleni and on our way to NZ. All the weather conditions remain good and we may not have to stop at the Minerva reef. We had to navigate our way back over the enormous reef and between quite a few islands to get out into the open sea. It was pretty bouncy and as we left the protection of the island the waves got bigger, and the wind was a good 5 knots above the prediction. With one reef in the sail we still managed to average 9knots speed over ground by the end of the day. There were a few big slaps of waves, and the usual creaking and groaning of the sails and ropes under strain, but otherwise a good start to the passage.
Roy has brought so much food with him, we are going to eat like royalty. Tonight we had fantastic pork ribs, that I marinaded using up quite a bit of our honey which is good, as we are not allowed any honey into NZ. I had got lots of salad goodies in the market, so it was very exciting having a nice fresh salad again.
The night shifts began shortly afterwards and I was on first duty.
Cousins playing with the sails!
Cousins taking it easy! Roy is so chilled after all his cruising in the Med
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