READY TO GO

I am ready to depart Tonga and head down to New Zealand.  The charms of Nuku’alofa are wearing thin and I have a strong desire to get moving again.  The only thing delaying me is the weather at the New Zealand end of the route.  There has been a constant stream of lows charging across the Tasman bringing poor sailing weather.

My plan is to clear out on Monday and start making my way slowly to the south west awaiting a time when the weather improves and I can head down towards New Zealand.  If favourable I may stop at North Minerva Reef on the way to wait for an improvement.  I just want to get moving again.

This morning there was a Tsunami warning following an earth quake in Mexico.  Thankfully, nothing happened but I was ready to put to sea – just in case.

After the Tsunami all clear I had a stroll around the Saturday market.  What a great market, you can buy just about anything cars, clothes, tools, lawnmowers, shoes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, electronics and of course food.  I was impressed by the chicken rotisserie mounted on a trailer, very ingenious.

After the market in headed into town and checked the weather and emails at the internet café.  I also bought a new small bucket to replace my previous favourite one that got washed overboard in one of the squalls on the way to Christmas Island.

Tonight, I will head up to the Billfish Bar to watch the All black’s vs Argentina.