Niue

have had trouble updating from the ham, we are in Niue and love it here. will update more about here tomorrow, they love CAnadians !! trivia question , what did Canada do for Niue in Jan 2004? answer tomorrow along with pictures
This is us anchored in Niue, sunset behind.....

Here is the update from sea Wednesday
Hello everybody,
Wow, what a great night for a night watch!! it is so calm and so-ooooooooooooo many stars!! I can see the reflection of them in the water, just amazing!! This has been the best passage yet! It's ones like this that I say I love crossing the ocean! We have very little wind right now, but the boat is motoring along great. Even when we had the wind , we were on a nice comfortable point of sail. We have figured out a good watch schedule and for the last 2 nights everyone has gotten lots of sleep. Of course with very little wave action that makes it all the better to sleep. We have one more night before we should be in Nuie. Malachi is right behind us about 10 miles - they are not so lucky as their auto pilot has quit working and they have been hand steering for the last 24 hrs. good thing that it is so calm. As soon as we anchor in Nuie Steve is going to help Jay sort that out!! That sucks to have to hand steer , especially if the weather gets rough.

It's Maya and me on watch from 2 am until 7:30 am... so you bet, I am typing this at 4 am in the morning. Auntie Sandy will appreciate the time!!

Everyone aboard is doing great, making up new games, beading and of course a ton of reading. Hey, mom remember the book I bought - "The Alchemyst- Story of Nicholas Flamel"? well big hit for Kyle, needs the next one called "The Magician" both are by Micheal Scott. just thought I'd mention it in case you could send it along with "Mary" , the lady we dropped the package of with and picked up stuff for Malachi, she and her family are flying to Tonga on the 8th of Sept. to meet up with them.

I am looking forward to Nuie, there are all kinds of limestone caves we can go and see!! And I can hardly wait to get to New Zealand! I love that place. so glad we will have 6 months there. I'm also looking forward to see Tonga, the landscape and such, however they are very conservative with their dress and we cruiser must abide by their rules. means women can not show their knees and shoulders ( oh god I think I will melt from the heat) and men must wear a shirt- no bare chests!! of course this is just on land in the towns and villages, on our boat it is different. Also absolutely NO Working on the boat on Sundays. NO Working at all on that day!!! Wish Steve luck on that one. We will have to tape playing cards to his hands I think - hahaha

well back to my beautiful stars...................

It has been very rainy here the last couple of days, today, market day , Saturday, the most rain yet. almost think we are in BC.!! We had the waffles again for breakfast as our leaving treat, and got all stocked up on fresh veggies, fruit , even ran out of propane today - so that is all topped up. we are ready to head out tomorrow. O'Vive will leave with us, but we are off to different destinations, but will meet up in Nuie. Malachi will follow us , but leave Monday instead.
After 3 weeks of being tied to the dock stern in, and going back and forth on a line with the dingy, I finally fell in with groceries and all!! managed to save the cooked chicken , and and the rest didn't get wet either as they were in plastic bags in my back pack and I got up as fast as I could, made for a good laugh!!! Hey Dorothy Marie, if you are reading this , it was so calm when I fell in, can you believe it?!
Jenny off of Malachi fell the other day also, on land and broke her ankle, not fun. but the trip to the hospital visit to get cast and all only to 2.5 hours and cost only $65 NZ dollars!!! don't know why its so expensive back home! Steve, Jay, and Dave spent the other day building a pair of crutches for her. The men are very proud of their work. check out Malachi's sight for the pics.
Accicdent number 3 was Kyle today also, he fell 4 ft on to the deck of Orca III while in the bolsuns chair. apparently Emma wanted to see if she could pull him up higher, but didn't mention this to him or anyone else, and she couldn't . He is okay, big bruise on his back a small scrape and I'm sure he needs a chiropractor, we will be looking for one in Nuie, all closed around here. Like I said he is fine. "Emma was very upset!! and learned a very valuable lesson. So given that all happens in 3's , I believe us 3 boats are done for.
As I type this the rain is coming down even more, difference is I am in my bathing suit!

until Nuie, this is Dionne signing off....... wish us fair winds and a great snorkel in Beverage Reef

big welcome home celebration in Raratonga!

we lucked out!! on Tuesday August18, a wooden canoe type catamaran sailed home from a Samoa!t he whole town there, and shops even closed up for the celebration.the boat is very basic, all wood and they are using was out to celebrate them coming home!! they were gone a total of 3 weeks and it took them 1 week from Samoa toRaratonga.regular polypropolyne rope for standing rigging! made all of us cruisers think -"wow, if they can do it in that boat , then I guess we are okay with our boats"
it was great to be there for the big welcoming!! thats what we want we we come home. tee hee the crew is all in blue , they had the cheif say some speech in their language and boy the singing!!! absolutely amazing, so all of you practise up, cause singing us in would be so neat.





the drumming was something else too!! love the drumming, Annette, you would love it too!!











this the cook money, cool isn't it. they even have a $3 bill and yep that is what you think it is on the $1 coin!!

still here!!

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well I've been back here for a week now, and my Vancouver visit seems so long ago. We did the saturday market , bought lots of fresh fruit and veggies and even my islander princess crown!! Even got Marilyn off of Tin soldier to get one! this was Malachi's first visit and Ovive showed up just after lunch so now all three boats are here together again. Sunday was a birthday party for Jared on Tin soldier, all the kids , and let me tell you there were a lot ( 6boats) all had a great time and even went to the Cinema, yes they have one here! the kids saw Indiana Jones The Crystal Skull, $5 NZ dollars each .... so cheap!!!! us adults played a new card game call Tarrot - its a French game and I won!! not bad for just learning. neat game. every hand you end up changing partners but don't neccessarily know who your partner is until the last hand!! very exciting. We are planning to leave around Wednesday. that is when the wind is in our favour. our next stop is Beverage reef. supposed to be good snorkeling there and besides you are anchored out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean how cool is that, but no internet... go figure. then we will be at Nuie, then Tonga. Maya at the market wearing the island princess crown.


here are a few photos from French Polynesia, this is the chart from Tahiti to Bora Bora .
these are my prize students withthe beaded bags they made. Natalie is on the far right and that her mom and sister in law.

and these are the bags , mine is the blue one on the right, that I made for Natalie ( O'Vive)
Malachi Marg and Jenny made 2 as well. thanks Annette for teaching me how to make these, they all love them and we are making more!!

cook islands still

to all that didn't know I was back in Vancouver for my sisters wedding. had a great time , too short though to see everyone. Steve and the kids stayed here in Raratonga and had a blast. they toured around the island on the scooter that Dorothy Marie rented... Steve taking each kid a turn, it took one hour to circle the island. very beautiful here.

my sisters wedding was beautiful and I am so glad I made it..

When I got back here to the cooks i had quite the greeting!! not just my family either ( I was definetly missed and I sure missed them- here is my home!!) It was like Christmas here for all that I brought back stuff for!! Steve then took me for a tour around the island on the scooter, what fun we had. even stopped for a "date" of milkshake and fries!!!
Kyle has finally cut his hair! What do you think?

the parade In Raratonga Cook Islands

this is how all the boats are tied to the dock , its a very small harbour!! and very rocky!







the cruisers had a blast in the parade!!