Brrr

Heya all! I'm freezing. I know, I'm in North Queensland and it's probably 30 something degrees out side, but I'm still cold. The solution? Turn off the air con. The dilemma? I'm to lazy :P Anyway there's not point in complaining if you're not going to do anything about it. :) The date to head back to Fiji is coming up, but I'm really liking the land life at the moment. Such as the flushing toilets (no I'm not nuts, us yachties have to pump out our toilets) and the shops down the street. Well I'd better go and unumb my fingers :) love ya!

Guinea Pigs

For all of you who know me you'll know that I have a passion for animals. I cannot go without having a pet, no matter what kind. For example, I have a pet snail called Einstein at the moment, I got him for a science experiment. When we go back to Fiji I'll have to give him to a friend though :'( Anyway I'm getting off the point! I'm hopefully going to be looking after a friends very pregnant Guinea Pigs tomorrow, YAY!!! I can't wait. I know tonnes of info about Guinea Pigs and especially mice, I use to breed mice and I tried to breed my Guinea pigs to but.. well that's a different story! Anyway I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW!!!!

Hello everyone!

Yes, it is I (as of it could be anyone else:P). To tell u the truth I don't know why I say that, I mean it has to be me. Anyway, this is just a quick note. C'ya!

busy busy busy

Hello everyone again. It's been a busy few weeks for me, catching up with everyone and SHOPPING!! Yay, as you've probably guessed all my clothes on the boat are.. well we're yachties so they are looking pretty sad :( Meaning that while we're here I get to buy a new wardrobe :P Not that I think there's anything wrong with my old clothes, they just aren't respectable enought to be seen in public in. Anyway I'd better go. I'm at my bestie Darna-Lee's house atm, c'ya soon!!

The secret

Ok I can now let you all in on the secret. Sorry that I abandoned you all but I had to keep all this quiet in case someone read my blog and spoiled the surprize :P Well mum and I are in Cairns at the moment, I told Darna-lee (she's been my best friend for 10 years) that the WHOLE family will be in Cairns on the 4th of December. Which is true, but I just didn't tell her that mum and I were arriving a week early. So I surprised her! Yes, anyway I'd better go. I've got to finish my school before the end of the week, C'ya!!!

WET WET WET

Hello, it's me again :P It's been raining tones here at the moment. But I suppose that that's why it's called the WET SEASON! Anyway, I've done tonnes of school work and we've seen the odd movie, mum even took us to see the Sleeping Giant Gardens(its called that because the mountain in the background looks like a sleeping giant). Well I'd better go, this was just a quick note to let you all know that I'm alive :P:P night!!

YAY!!

Ok mum was on the computer looking though a disk, that my school sent her with the school news letter on it. Anyway she called me up to have a look at the middle school part (of the letter) and they had published one of my poems in it!!! Also I had finished the trilogy of Ingo a few days ago, and the library sent me a letter asking me to write a book review on them. For the school paper as well!! YAY, well I'd better get to work! C'ya

:P

Hey, sorry that I haven't written for a while, but I'm writing in now! My birthday was GREAT!!!! We went out to Beachcomber Island for the day and spent most of it out on the jet ski's. It was tonnes of fun, when you pounded into a wave you'd have to make sure that you didn't tighten your grip on the throttle, otherwise you'd go even faster! Well at the moment we're in Vunda and I've got tonnes of school work to do... plus I'm tired. Night!!!!!

My last post as a 14 year old

Hey, this is only going to be short, but hello and goodbye!!! I'm going to bed now so I won't be tired tomorrow - for MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

Teenagers

Do you know whats really annoying about being a teenager? Competitions. They have their adult comps and their kids comps but there's never any teenager competitions. Your too old to enter in the kids comps and too young to enter in the adults. Then again there's never enough of us around(in Fiji anyway...) to have our own category. During the Musket Cove Race Week regatta there was a sports day with tonnes of competitions - also separated into adult and children, and I would have liked to enter some but I didn't know which to go into. If I joined in with the kids I'd stand out like a sore thumb, and if I joined with the adults... well they wouldn't have let me anyway :P One more day 'till my birthday :D

Not again....

Hello everyone, well I got my sore throat back again. And 4 days left until my birthday to, I hope it goes away soon. Umm not much happened today, we went into Nadi for some shopping and I got this GORGEOUS red dress!!! YAY!:P I swam in the pool and did school (hehe that rhymes). Other wise a pretty normal day, well I'd better go have some dinner. p.s. just to let all those who don't already know, the times that I post these are wrong, I would change it if I could but I don't know how :P

6 more days...

There's a reason I'm writing in today, it's the 1st of October. Meaning that my birthday is only 6 days away, Jessie's (my 15 year old cousin) is 7 days away and mum and Amele's (my 18 year old cousin) is only 10 days away. October is a busy month in this family!!! Well I'd better go get some sleep, I've got a busy day tomorrow with all that school work I have to do!!! Goodnight :)

Yawn!!

Hello again... well the reason that I haven't been writing in is because there's been nothing to say!! It's my 15th birthday on the 7th, in a week!! We've all been spending our days doing school and then going to the pool in the evenings. It's been pretty boring, but at least I'm getting tones of school done! C'ya

It's me again

Hellooo, it's me again. Well at the moment we're still in the Vunda Marnier, with lots of school work to be done. The yacht Aussie Oi left today and early tomorrow morning another yacht is leaving (we have spent a lot of time with both boats). Goodbye Sowelu, if I don't get to see you tomorrow!!!! Baden and Fletcher are going in for a hair cut tomorrow also. There's nothing else happening really!!

Ok, I'm back...

Race week was tones of fun, thanks to all those who went to all that effort to make the week so much fun. And thanks to the fleet who made Musket Cove Race Week of 2007 the largest one ever(there were 89 yachts I think!!). There were races and games, BBQs and parties. At the end of race week I got a pretty bad cold, but I'm over it now(thank god!). Well it's late I'd better go. C'ya!

MUSKET COVE RACE WEEK

I'm sorry I haven't written for so long... But I've been kinda busy, today dad and I raced the hobbie cats and won both times (we did a fun race as well as the real one) and yesterday was Pirate Day. I've got to go but I'll tell you all about it later!

Tip in case you go crown-of-thorning!

At the moment I'm reading up about the Crown of thorns starfish. I realised that I knew hardly anything about them and yet I'm killing them. I figured that I should know my enemies!!! Well if you ever touch or step on a COT(crown of thorn) the best (and only that I know) is to allow the COT to suck out the poison by turning it the other way up and allowing the suction cup leg things to suck on the infected area. It sucks all the poison out with out leaving a scar!!! I'd have 3 other scars if it wasn't for some quick thinking form my cousin Amele. When I accidentally touched a COT (long story) I had 2 spines on my middle finger and one on my pointing finger, there were a few lose spines to, but we just pulled them off. We were out snorkeling and it was kinda choppy, someone needed the dingy so we were on our way in. Amele and I were piling the COTS on our (it's kinda like a gaff with a big wooden handle, and the hook at the end is bent at a right angle.) spear thing. I would get the COTS out and Amele would pile them on hers, then when hers becomes full I'd start to pile them on mine. I was trying to get out a big COT from some staghorn coral, I came up to get a breath and when I headed back down my fingers swept the COTS on Amele's... lets just call it a gaff! The pain was ecruciating, my fingers were hot and I could feel the poison. Amele immediately told me that I had to let the COT suck out the poison... well I thought she was nuts, but I knew she was right. So we were out at the edge of the reef in slightly choppy seas, with a strong current. Amele was holding my hand against the underbelly of a COT (if you've ever seen the underbelly of a starfish, it's like that but the sticky, leg things are 10 times bigger!!!!!). The pain in my fingers immediately eased up, after that we headed into shore. There was one spine that slid down the side of my finger that I hadn't known about, I could feel it but not see the spine. Anyway to make a long story short, the blue poison that the COT sucked out were fine, they healed up with out a trace. But as for the spine, my middle finger now has a dint in the side from where the spine was. I eventually lanced it my self (because I wasn't convinced that there was no spine in it) and pulled out the 2cm end of a COT spine. Well better go!

Now Navini

We've been at Navini Island for a few days know. Dad and Nigel left for their kite surfing trip this morning. Um... There's nothing else that’s been happening really. Mum, Fletcher, Baden, Geordie(our cousin) and I went out crown-of-thorning(crown-of-thorning is when you've got a plank of wood with a long piece of metal, curved and sharpened at the end, attached. You hook the thorny starfish in the center and put them in a large bucket, which is in the dingy. When the bucket is full you go ashore and bury them) today, I was a little bit nervous about them and I was always checking to make sure that no one was near me with crown of thorn starfish. I hate Crown of Thorn starfish, they eat all the coral, are poisonous, they look realy ugly to, there's really nothing good about them. WARNING: do not touch them, they are poisonous and they hurt... Trust me I know from experince!

30th post celebration!

This post will be exactly 30 posts from when I first started the blog! Happy Birthday Blog! anyway, down to business. Well now we're back in Vuda mariner, only for a couple of days because dad's friend is coming out and their going to take the boat on a little 'kite surfing safari'. Mum, Baden, Fletcher and I are going to move onto Navini for the week they've got the boat, then it's RACE WEEK!!!!!! I can't wait till race week it's going to be tones of fun, there's so many yachts here - Vuda is basically full! and if race week isn't fun... then I'm going to make it fun!

Nambouwalu

We said our goodbye's and left Savu Savu this morning. A few hours later Chaotic Harmony arrived in Nambouwalu(pronounced nam-ba-wa-loo). We had a great, windy, crossing over here and the anchorage is calm, protected and windy(great for the wind generator!). Well better get started on my school!

Hunter Pearls

Ok, we're still at Savu Savu. No I'm not complaining! It's been really go to stock up on everything, and get some solid Internet access. Mum, Grandma and I went to a pearl shop yesterday. They grow the pearls here in Savu Savu-don't worry outside the harbour- and we went on the tour last time we were here. It's a pretty good tour, they tell you all about them and how they grow them etc... I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about pearls, or just likes them.
Anyway getting a bit of the topic here... Ok, so we went to the shop that they have here. The shop's got lots of gorgeous pearls in earrings, pendants, necklaces (they don't set them in Savu Savu but they will set a bracelet in leather with pearls). There's this really nice pendant that is set in gold silver, it's an octopus but main part of the head is the pearl.
We went though all the lose pearls and I found a really nice bunch of not-so-expensive pearls. They were colourful and bright but had lots of imperfections(by imperfections I mean that their not the perfectly round and smooth, the ones that I choose were really wonky looking!). I really like the not perfect pearls, the imperfections give them a character. I got 3 pearls set in a bracelet... but I'm not even allowed to see what they look like when they're set till my birthday(7th of October)!!!!!

Yellow Fin Tuna

They call Yellow fin tuna the most respected fighters in the ocean, and we caught one! When it took the line, the line went on fire!(not literally of cause...) It took the whole line out, and it was hard to get it back in. I was reeling it in while dad was down sugar scoop (the part after the steps down the back) pulling in the line. The fish was 9kg and tasted pretty good.

Mahi Mahi

We just caught a beautiful Mahi Mahi. It was specular in colour, it put up a pretty poor fight though. We left the second line in and put the first one back in after unhooking the Mahi Mahi, in hopes of catching it's life time mate that normally sticks by for a while. Well at the moment mum is cutting up the fish and the 2 cats are meowing their heads off for some fresh fish. There were two complete and fresh, flying fish inside the Dolphin Fish- that Baden is cutting up for the cats.

Manta Rays

A few days ago we were crossing a reef when mum spotted some Manta Rays feeding in the reef. Another catermaran that was traveling with us called "Aussie Oi" saw them to. We lowered our dingy into the slightly swellish water and, along with the snorkeling gear, we headed off. Mum stayed with the boat first then swaped with dad. The massive Bats of the Ocean were so gracefull, although they looked menicing. They'd speed off if we got to close and would flap a corner of their wings out of the water, every now and then. This morning there were spinner doliphins swimming off the stern also. We've been spending a lot of time with 'Aussie Oi', partly because they have 2 kids on board that we all get along well with. Well I'd better go because today we parted ways with Aussie Oi (but we'll meet up again before Musket Cove race week, on the 14th) and now are racing another cat called Salanjo (Sally, Ann and Jo) into the bay that we'll stop for the night in. Fingers crossed that there'll be internet access there!!! C'ya

HUMPBACK WHALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were at Susui Island. There was, supposedly, a bay there FULL of turtles. We hadn't found it yet but there were lots of good beaches and other bays to explore. One of the bays had tonnes of MASSIVE (and yummy) oysters in it. Yesterday morning I was enjoying a lovely sleep, when mum shouted "WHALES!!!!!", that and the sound of the other 4 members of my family running over the top of each other to get outside, woke me up in a hurry! When my eyes adjusted to the light of the morning, I saw that about a mile out there were around 4 whales breaching. I suggested that we go get a closer look in the dingy, and in a second everyone was rushing around. After putting the dingy down, getting jackets and jumpers on, getting out everyone's snorkeling gear(just in case) and making sure we had enough fuel in the dingy, we set out. When we were close enough to see the Humpbacks properly, the dingy started to drift towards them. There was a massive mother and her calf breaching 3 meters away from us. Fletcher started to freak out when he saw how big these animals really were!! I started to get my snorkel and mask on, but they were really big creatures and I could see them fine already. After a while the whales started to head off again, and we headed home.

Who knew he was such a Greene!

We went for a sail today to Lomo Lomo, the Presidents village. I don't know if you've heard, but the Military took over the government. So the President is out of business for a while!!!! At the moment he is working in his garden!! Well after we get some supliys we're heading back to Nabouatu, aka Tony's place. Well I'd better go! C'ya

Mountains

Ok, I just climbed up a moutain to get signal and now I have to climb back down, cos the computer is almost flat!!! Well, alot has happened since last time I wrote, sorry I really go to go, I'll try and write again soon!!! C'ya!

Intervew with a vampire

I just finished watching 'Interview with a Vampire', I love the eyes. I know how they did it because in a shop called PINK, in cairns, there were these contacts that make your eyes look different colours. They were really cool, and really expensive. But there were so many different options for example you could get ones that make your eyes look completely white or black, cat eyes, stripes, circles, tonnes. We didn't leave today, maybe tomorrow, but to tell the truth I don't really mind because I'm way behind in my school work and in the past 2 days I've done 2 Units of English (like 4 weeks worth of lessons). That's about all.... C'ya

Steve Irwin.....

Nothing much happened today, I got a lot of work done though. Man, I just finished watching Steve's Memorial Service on DVD, and I had only gone though one tissue(which I though was pretty good) then I clicked on the interviews with Steve and his family. At the end his dog ... Sui? Got a form of cancer in her head, she had to be put down and died in bed with Steve. That was when the tissues got a real work out. I can handle people deaths(as long has there not that close to me) but when someones animal dies, and their really close... I can't handle it as well, which is kinda annoying seeing as I wanta become a vet!!!! C'ya Steve Irwin. You will be missed. But now your with your mum and beloved Sui.

Catch up

Ok, were back from Fetuna.... Well to tell the truth we've been back for a while. We had a great crossing over, so good that we had a barbe on the back during sunset! While we were trying to anchor we lost one of our propeller blades.... The anchorage was REALLY crappy to, we had a massive swell rolling in. No one there spoke much English and the bank only opened once a month so we could change our money(they use Franks over there). Mum found 5 franks on the floor though... Mum and Dad finally found a few places that could take credit cards luckily. The whole time(almost) Dad spend searching for the $600 propeller blade in water that you can't see which way is up, it's so murky. Needless to say he didn't find it..... The crossing back was terrible, massive waves but thankfully it was hitting our side this time, almost downwind. The surfing was hella fun though, you would stand up(preferably holding on) and then the boat would surf a massive 3 meter wave!!!! YEAH. Anyway where back in Savu Savu now and have been waiting on the new propeller blade to come though the past week. It arrived 2 days ago and Dad attached it on underwater. We're just charging up the boat at the warf now so we can head off soon.

Wallis and Fetuna

Tomorrow we're going to head out to Wallis and Fetuna, these two french Polynesian islands outside of Fiji. There probably won't be any Internet out there, so I won't be on for a few weeks. And to all mi friends that read this DON'T FILL UP MY HOTMAIL WITH JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When we found a place to check the hotmail in the Solomons my hotmail was full of junk mail, all FWDs!!! Well there's not much else to tell, um, my brothers are being really annoying? Anyway C'ya

Wahoo

A couple of days ago we left Ellington wharf and had a great sail to a village somewhere. On the way we saw a 2/3 meter Marlin jumping out of the water, and heading toward the boat. The Marlin only stoped jumping a meter away and we saw it swim off. The same day we caught a nice sized Spanish Mackerel. Yesterday we left the village and headed of to Savu Savu, great sail and we lost a fish, line and sinker, to me it looked like a Marlin(it jumped out of the water) but mum said that its was only a Mahi Mahi. We also caught a MASSIVE Wahoo, it was 13/45cm long. Bigger that Fletcher and the same size a Baden, it was 3ocm shorter than me(last time I measured). We also had a beautiful sunset yesterday, the clouds were just at the top of a mountain and the sun was directly behind the mountain. Well I'd better go, the computer is almost flat and it's really early.

Crown jellyfish

Well today I got a good lot of SOCE and Music done... Otherwise not mush else happened, Still a was a strong wind waning to day but was cancled tonight. We might leave tomorrow, but who knows!!! If we are still here tomorrow dad wants to go kitesurfing with the red and white kited man that we have seen on the water the past few days. Well in the arvo I went fishing, while listening to my mp4 player and doing Music, up one the nets. Who said you can't do 3 things at once!!!! I looked up the jellyfish that we have been seeing, by the millions, they are called the Crown jellyfish and are rare. Baden caught one today and put it a bucket so we could see them up close, they are deffinatly the Crown jelly's. I couldn't find much info on them though....They are a open sea jelly and are not found inshore... Mum reacons that they came in for breeding, what animal breeds in winter!!!!! If I find a animal that I don't know about I love learning all that I can about it. We have a Grants Fishing Book and when ever I want I just pick out a random page a read about the fish. When ever we catch a fish I do the same thing to. Did you know that Doliphin fish eat flying fish???

Douce France

We spent the day at Ellington Wharf, there was a strong wind warning so we decided to stay put. After a bit of school Dad, Baden, Fletcher and I went exploring in the dingy. We eventually found a pathway up a 'hill'(It was 500metres to short for a mountain...). We found a few lookout spots and saw the other side of the island, the water 'looked' clam but you could see all the white caps... Around 2ish a MASSIVE catamaran came into the bay, we got out the binoculars and it was called 'Douce France'. The boat was a Ketch, and it was 139ft... 139ft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(we're 45ft and a aright size cat!!!) Our boat could fit in sideways down the middle and still have 5ft left!!!!!!!!! We looked up Douce France on the Internet and found out that it is the largest cruising catamaran, no wonder! Dad, Baden, Fletcher and I went over in the dingy to have a look at her, mum said that if we get invited aboard shes going to swim over. After taking a few pic's of her and then comparing them to our boat we looked like an ant!!

............

I had to write yesterday's Post just then because it didn't come up, it was really long to..... Well today we had another gorgeous sail and, now some one has officially fallen over board, I just wish we had it on video!!!! Baden(my 10yr old brother) was up sitting up on the fore beam under the seagull strikers watching the millions of blue jellyfish, the size of dinner plates to platters, drifting past. When my other brother Fletcher(5) came up and pushed him in. The rest of us heard the splash and I looked up the front of the boat(I was sitting in the shade of the sail up the back) and saw Fletcher with this really guilty look on his face. Then I heard it... Baden yelling his head off, I shouted "BADEN FELL OVERBOARD!!!!!!" and we all rushed into action. Dad grabbed the man-overboard thing and the life ring, he threw both in for Baden and put the boat in neutral. Mum wheeled the fishing lines in and I kept and eye on Baden as well as wheeling in the other fishing line. When we finally got Baden on board he was freezing cold and a bit shocked he had been worried about being stung by the jelly's, but otherwise unharmed. We later asked Baden if he would falling in again so that we could get it on video, but everyone later agreed that I should be the one to fall in beacuse I scream the loudest :-O Well better go, c'ya

Movement

We were going yesterday then mum went shopping... and got over night movies!!!!!!!!! so we left today, we had a gorgeous sail and dead calm seas. Going steady at 6 knots and DEAD flat clam seas. Today we arrived at a place that I either don't know the name of or can't spell it. It's Tyler's 14th birthday to day(Tyler is one of my best friends back in Cairns). Happy Birthday Tilly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well I'd better go C'ya

My Dad

I finished reading Windswept a few days ago and I'm halve way though The Line now. It's kinda weird reading about your parents... It's good because you learn tones of stuff about them that you didn't know, but then you learn stuff about them that you shouldn't know to... And to think that I lent these books to my teachers!!!!!! My dad, Gavin Le Sueur has written 3 books so far, 2 novels the first(Windswept) is about his collage years and also the tragedy of being hit by a whale(don't worry the whale was fine but the boat wasn't dad, mum, Phillipe an[sorry I can't remember your name] someone else ended up in a life raft). The second (The Line) is the story of the Round Australia Race of '88. They are both good books I recommend them to any one who is into adventure, love and thrill, I have both laughed and cried in both books. Dad has also written a sailing manuel, called Muilthull Seamanship. If you want to check out any of these book's check out his website http://www.multihullbooks.com . At the moment dad is typing Windswept onto the computer so I'm afraid we don't have any copy's left.

North

Sorry that I missed out on yesterday. Nothing much happened yesterday, one of the staff at Navini left. Vaulina had worked with Navini for 19 years and then she decided that it was time for a change. It was a sad day for every one, Vaulina will sorely be missed... We left Navini today, now Chaotic Harmony is in Vunda again. We just need fuel and power then we can head off tomorrow to, um, somewhere North??? That's the thing with living on a boat you can never predict where you will be tomorrow, for example, if you had your heart set on getting to Cairns in one week you could end up there next year! It all depends on the weather mainly, then the crew, then the supplies and pets. Plus what ever extras you carry on board :)

Happy Mothers day!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mums out there!!!!!!!!!! We had a great day, mum was woken up at some godly hour of the morning, by my littlest brother Fletcher, wanting to give her his present. Mum had a great day, we had a lovely sail from Musket Cove to Navini Island. AND.... OUR MAIL HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!! We'll be able to head off in a day or two. Well I'm really tied, night.

rat of a gecko

Ok, we've made it to Musket Cove and on the way baden found a baby gecko on one of the side stays. I swear that all the baby geckos and eggs were there when we let them go... So this one must have crawled back along one of the ropes to the boat. Anyway this gecko is soooo cute, it has masive eyes and a pale body. We're keeping it on the boat till we go to shore. Nothing much has really happened, but I miss bella and having pet mice.... Night!!!!

bella.....

We're off to Musket Cove today then Navini Island tomorrow. Mum went into town to get some stuff for the boat before we left, and I had to let all the baby geckos and the other 100something eggs... It was so cute, the baby geckos have become a little tame by now and they would just sit on my hand looking up at me with big eyes. Anyway we let them all go on a tree and put the eggs under this shrub. We got a letter from James, the man looking after our 9yr old Siberian Husky back home, and he said that she had a swollen lymph gland around her hip/back leg/stomach area. The lump is so sore that when you touch it she yelps, I looked it up on Google and she could have Lymphoma Cancer. A common cancer in dogs and there is a treatment, but it is deadly... Bella you have all our prayers, hope and love. I wish we could be there with you, but we can only be with you in spirit and mind. I love you beautiful.

spiderman 3

Well we have left Navini and are now in Vunda, were here cus Henry(who colects the mail for navini) is on days off so no mail will be colected. Also for some other stuff that mum and dad need to get. Dad, baden and I just got back from spiderman 3. It's was ok, great special effects!!! OH and we colected 171 gecko eggs, origonaly anyway, in home ec I learnt that bad eggs float because of the extra air it it, so I did that test on the gecko eggs-and it worked to. Fletcher and I had a great time smashing the rotten eggs, man did they stink!!!! Well now we've got 141, 7 eggs have hatched into gorgouse little geckos to, some eggs had cracked and died to.... well, C'ya

geckos

Ok, well at the moment i've collected 71 gecko eggs(with the help of baden, my cus and some fijian kids) and three have hatched, well one was almost ready but the shell had broken, I tryed to help it but it died. I really want to go sailing. I'm sick of this going from vuda to navini... My fingers are healing though. Well there's not much else to say. Dad and I had a great sail from Vuda. I'm listening to Fall Out Boy - Infinaity On High. K well better go. bye :P

ouch

Dad and I came into Vunda to charge the boat up, there hasn't been much sun and only a little wind lately. When we came into the marnier I had to grab a bouy and tie us onto it, little did I know that the bouy was not only covered in seaweed and slime, but also sharp, little barnicles. so as I am writeing this my hands are covered in little cuts that bleed tonnes, i got 3 on my middle finger, 2 on my index finger and 3 on my lower thumb. Well i'd better go cos not only is it hard to wite, but im meant to be doing school. hehe bibi

Windsurfing

Well I finaly got up and going on the wind surfer. I'm getting the 'V of balence' thing to. I even managed a 175 jump on the board, I tried to do a 360 but ended up in the water... Well a part from that we're still waiting on some mail to come in from Aus till we can FINALY head off. So far the whole year has just been going from Vuda marnier to Navini Island, and it has been really boring... At least I'm getting some school done. Vuda marnier is a bowl shaped marnier that we always go to when ever we come to Fiji, there's a great little yacht club that's really nice to. On Sundays the whole marnier fills up with music from the live band. Well better go, C'ya!

The Trip on Chaotic Harmony

We left Cairns on the 1st of July 2006, our goal was to be in Fiji by October, before the cyclone season starts. The first day, of the three day crossing to the Louisiades, was rough and wet. We left The Yorkeys Knob Marina around seven in the morning and headed out for our unpredictable journey. As we were still in the Great Barrier Reef’s protection there wasn’t much swell, but the waves were about one to two meters high, not nice. The further out we got the rougher it became until we lost any sight of land whatsoever, and by then we were no longer in the protection of the reef. The waves rose to two and three meters high and we got an ocean swell.

None of us were feeling good at all (with the exception of Dad who ‘never gets sea sick’, but he does get a bit queasy when he’s head down, bum up, in the hull working on something in the middle of a storm ). There’s this old saying ‘there are only two types of people that don’t get sea sick, those who don’t go to sea, and liars’. I was feeling dreadful (I spent most of my time with my head over the side) and not at all looking forward to this long open sea crossing. That night wasn’t any better either, none of us wanted to go into our cabins so we all slept on deck. It was cold, wet and windy. I kept on falling off the cockpit seat that I was sleeping on. The seats weren’t padded or anything so I kept on waking up, to move around and try to find a reasonably comfy position.

The next day was a bit calmer, at 1630hrs we were half way! But still no sight of land. That night was full of rainsqualls and almost everything got wet. The second day would have to be the calmest, we had beautiful sailing and spotted a buoy in the water. Mum and Dad thought about going to get it, but couldn’t really be bothered. Where I was sitting, I had a plastic rain cover over the port side of the cockpit and just a well to, because some kamikaze flying fish flew right into the rain cover, just missing me! The kamikaze fish bounced of the rain cover onto mum, who was on watch, and freaked her out.

On the third day at sea there where flying fish everywhere. Two times a day we would go on to a radio schedule (it’s called the Sheila Net, and was originally made by and for the sailor’s wives. Its when all the boats in the area call in at a certain time and give their position, they can also talk with each other and meet new people). Through the radio sched, we met a boat called Leprechaun, a 54ft ketch with 5 kids on board, and each morning we’d tell a riddle and in the evening they would give an answer and vise versa.

The next morning we saw land!!! We anchored at Kukuluba Island, we had officially (and finally) reached the Louisiade Archipelago!!!! After a couple of school work days, we headed off again. This time to another Island called Para Nunara, the sail over was rough and sloppy at 35 knots apparent. After spending the night at Para Nunara we headed off to The Blue lagoon.

During our stay in Blue Lagoon we went crayfish hunting, snorkeling and exploring. On the Island there were some really cool caves. The Leprechauns arrived and we all went ashore for an explore and a swim after school. One night during a bonfire on the beach, with the Leprechauns and Achates, I went off exploring on my own around the rocks. In one of the rock pools I saw a meter long, spotty, orange, moray eel. I tried to call the others but because I was so far away no one heard me.

We stayed in Blue Lagoon for awhile because, it was a nice and clam anchorage so we were able to catch up on some school work. One time dad needed to go to the other bay to give something to one of the other boats staying at one of the nearby islands. Dad put the 15 horsepower motor on and he and I zoomed off in the dingy. It was calmish because we were going with the waves instead of against them. We were surfing the waves!!!!! We’d stay on top for about 10sec. When we finally arrived (the trip toke us about halve an hour to and hour) we visited all the other boats there, then after a couple of hours we started to get ready to head home. The trip back the wind picked up and we were going up wind (against the waves), now that was cool! Man did we fly!!! If we went any slower we’d have gotten soaked, if we went any faster we’d flip over. We were barely touching the waves, it was hella fun.

Dad had his birthday while we were in Blue Lagoon, he turned 47. Mum and dad invited all the yachties over for sunset drinks, mum made a profiteroles cake. We’d moved anchorage, we had a lovely westerly sail with beautiful sunshine and light wind. On the way we caught a small tuna, to small to keep so we let it go, who knows, it could grow into the biggest tuna ever! We anchored at a place called Scull Island. When we went ashore, I had my ponytail hanging out the back of my cap, and when we got there all the villagers were staring, giggling and whispering about us.

They don’t get many white people here and because Fletcher and I had long (well I had long hair), blonde hair, we were the center of attention. At one stage there were these three girls standing behind me, when we were looking at a soccer field, and they were touching my hair! Chaotic Harmony moved to another new anchorage, I think the island was called Naviti. On the way we hooked a Spanish mackerel but lost it because dad didn’t guff it. While we were here we did some school.

-hey there is tonnes more to this story but i'm going to publish it in a book eventualy.