9th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

I was very excited to be going to the hair dressers this morning for the first time since Panama. It was great to have some style cut back into my hair – not that I will be wearing it down much!!
Before lunch we went for a walk up Mutton Bird Island to see if we could see any whales however the sea was too big to see very much. We were glad we were safely in the marina and not trying to arrive today as there was a huge swell in the harbour.
After lunch Jonny went for a walk to find a new filter for our drinking water and I had a much needed siesta – 2 nights of windy weather meant I hadn't slept much.

8th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

A busy day of jobs…
We put the clothes in the washing machine on the way to the showers and retrieved them on the way back to hang up on the boat. Unfortunately the strong wind had other ideas and we decided we would be chasing clothes around the marina if we hung them up and the guy on the motor boat offered us his tumble dryer.
Jonny started doing his job … fixing the water pump, fixing the back toilet pump and fixing the leak from the anchor windlass whilst I kept an eye on our clothes and look for our duvet which we had hidden away in the Caribbean.
The duvet was in need of a wash before we could use it and the tumble dryer on the boat behind us was taking a while so I took the washing anfd the duvet back to the launderette and used the big tumble dryers and wash and dried the duvet.
Whilst I was doing this Jonny decided as it was so cold last night he would have a look at the diesel heater – it was working in the UK but we were getting exhaust fumes in the boat – not a great idea!!
We got the washing done and Jonny got the heater working so we went to the supermarket to get some supplies and then on the way back went to customs to check on the status of our Tiki man wooden carving from Tonga. The Tiki man had been taken by customs because he had some 'bore' holes in it indicating that it possibly had creatures living in it. The customs man had taken him to put in the freezer until quarantine could look at it. Quarantine were happy that if anything was in there it was dead and we could take Tiki man back to the boat to de frost with the advice if we found any saw dust near it to put it back in the freezer!!
Back at the boat Jonny added extra lines and fenders as it was blowing around 40 knots and we were in for a windy night.

7th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

A breakfast treat of bacon sandwiches was a good start to the day.
We walked into the town of Coffs Harbour today to try and find a mobile phone. We explored the shops and watched some of the buskers that were in town for the Buskers Festival before getting the bus back.
We had a relaxing afternoon on the boat doing internet and admin jobs before an early tea, dvd and bed.

6th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

Despite a lot of cruising rumours to the contrary the check in was straight forward and the officials were very friendly and helpful.
From the customs berth we moved to a berth in the marina and went for much needed showers and bought a burger for lunch.
We decided to get the bus to a nearby mall for the afternoon and had a fun afternoon exploring the shops.
A supermarket in the mall meant that we could have some fresh meat for tea however the bottle of champagne in the fridge to celebrate our arrival was left unopened as we were too tired!!

New Cal to Australia Day 6

We have arrived!! We arrived at 08:30 local time - making it a 6 day and 30 min trip from New Cal (872 miles). The last 24 hours were mixed. Some sailing, then the wind died, so we motored through the night. We had a huge squall with lots of lightening at around 2am. We got the East Australian Current for a large part of the night adding 2 knots to our boat speed. We are currently at anchor in Coffs Harbour awaiting customs to invite us into the marina for official clearance.
It seems so strange to be in Australia - its the end of the trip in a way - I know we still have 250 miles to go down to Sydney, but this will be our last clearance - 21 countries visited since we left the UK! We've logged over 15,750 miles thus far and the trip down to Sydney will take it over the 16,000 mile threshold - not bad in 15 months!
We'll write more later, but first some sleep and a beer (I may go and find a kangaroo too - just because we're 'down under mate'!)

New Cal to Australia - Day 5

A day without motoring!! The wind filled in from the SSW so we were close hauled, and then backed to the S. Quite strong but nice to be doing good speeds. During the night we had some big squalls but still kept the speed up (with heavily reefed sails!). As it came light the wind was dropping off, but we were still sailing along. The seas have been quite big which has been a bit unpleasant - but we are excited as we should make landfall in about 24 hours!!! (Kate has made Strawberry Crumble in celebration to eat with our last carton of custard (which would get removed by quarantine in Oz anyway!)).
24 Hour Run: 152 n/m
Total Distance Run: 720 n/m
Distance to Run: 141 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 4

Finally - some sailing! The wind started off a nice 10 - 15 knots from the N and gradually increased during the day. By the evening we had a reefed genoa and reefed main and making 7.5 knots on average! It lasted until around 2am when a dark cloud appeared which took the wind, swung it SW (on the nose!) blasted strong winds, thunder, lightening and rain, and then disappeared leaving no wind! We motored until first light when the wind tracked around to the South and filled in between 15 and 20 knots!
24 Hour Run: 149 n/m
Total Distance Run: 568 n/m
Distance to Run: 292 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 3

Another windless day - we motored all day and night in flat calm seas. The wind started to swing around to the N during the night but was flukey in strength. It finally filled in at first light and engine went off! Making steady progress.
24 Hour Run: 136 n/m
Total Run: 429 n/m
Distance to Run: 441 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 2

The wind finally swung more into the South and we could turn the engine off. We had a great sail with winds around the 15 knot mark and good boat speed. The sea was a little lumpy but nothing too bad. We held good wind all day and into the night. We started to see the wind veer more the east during the night and by midnight it had swung to the NE and died completely. Engine back on and we motored over glassy seas for the rest of the night.
24 Hour Run: 140n/m
Run to date: 283 n/m
Distance to Run: 577 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 1

After an early night and a long sleep we awoke early and started doing the final jobs (washing up etc!). We pulled the anchor up at 8am and left Noumea bay. There is a large reef around the bottom of New Caledonia and it took us until 11am to clear the reef and start the deep water sailing. Unfortunately the wind was quite tight (SSW) and a little too tight for Newtsville's downwind genoa, so we motor sailed for the first 24 hours. It was a cold night and the seas were a little lumpy at first but seemed to calm down as dawn broke.
24 Hour Run: 143 n/m
Distance to Run: 715 n/m