New Zealand – 10th Dec 2008 - Day 48

Another great nights sleep. We popped down to breakfast, said hi to Richard, Kerry and Steve’s parents then chilled out around the pool.

John met Richard in the lounge to confirm hooking up Friday week in Sydney. Richard suggested we test him, but John explained that our phones were taken in the bag. Within half an hour, Richard lent us a pay as you go, he had bought his Mum, so she could phone him whilst she was is Australia. All we had to do was buy a $2 Vodafone SIM card and we had a mobile phone again. What a generous couple they are.

At 11am we went to the water sports hut, jumped on our Hobby Cat and flew out into the bay. We were out for an hour and sailed past a good sized leather back turtle and a small black sting ray.

The sailing area was not too large, so we had to do lots of jibbing and tacking. All good practice, as we want to take our Day Skipper exams in 2009.

The breeze was quite strong so we had a great time flying up and down the clear, warm waters off our resort. The water here is very warm, probably warmer than the Maldives but they are also very tidal. When the tide is out here, you can walk for ten minutes before you reach the edge of the reef.

After sailing we looked into chartering a catamaran for a few days but everyone was already fully booked. So, we shilled out around the pool chatting to some of the staff and other quests, mainly about travelling. Australians love to travel, it’s almost a right of passage for them. Everyone has stories to tell. It’s a great way to hear about other parts of the world we might like to visit.

At 5pm we went to our room, soaked in the massive bath and had a wee glass of Chardonnay on the balcony.

Tonight’s dinner was at the Italian restaurant by the harbor. Some very rich people have private houses on this island. They leave their ridiculously large gin palaces in the harbor. Some are simply HUGE.

Our kiln baked pizza’s were OK but not a scratch in this years “pizza emporium of 2008” award, which goes to the pizzeria in Florac, southern France.

After our pizza we had the most amazing silky smooth ice crème. Fifi has chocolate, John Run and Raisin. We sat on the harbor front watching the sun set. The clouds lit up and looked like the sky was on fire.

We walked back to the resort, chilled out over a DVD and fell asleep.