We are now on the move again having spent a week anchored in Minerva Reef waiting for a better looking weather forecast for our trip on towards New Zealand. Things now seem to look a bit more settled off the top of the North Island, so this morning we headed back out through the pass and are now pointed south again.   Well away to the north of us, above Vanuatu, the first cyclone has just burst into life heralding an early start to the hurricane season, so it is definitely time to leave the tropics and get some cold water back under the keel.

 

After a couple of days in Minerva the wind calmed down a bit and we had a chance to launch "Spot" (our dinghy), and to explore our surroundings.  The reef is much wider than it looks, and its top is quite flat, so at low tide we walked across to the outer edge to watch the surf breaking. The whole thing is not only covered in life but is, in fact, alive itself and its pinkish red surface is scattered with many vividly coloured corals and pitted with rock-pools where the fish gather as the water drops away with the falling tide.  When conditions are calm it is (supposedly!) possible to find lots of lobsters in the caves and hollows of the outer edge of the reef but sadly during our whole stay the breakers never abated, so the lucky lobsters remained happily tucked in the shelter of their homes rather than gracing the dinner table on Savoir Vivre.

 

During our stay we were joined in the reef by a couple of other yachts and also received a visit from the New Zealand Air Force. One of their aircraft which run regular patrols up over this stretch of ocean circled for a while to gather details of the yachts heading towards NZ.  The Kiwis clearly don't like unexpected visitors arriving in their waters and it is apparently very rare that a boat makes it to NZ without having been identified well in advance.  

 

At the moment we still have about 750 miles to go towards Opua, our planned landfall in the Bay of Islands.  We are already at 25 degrees South so have technically left the Tropics and Lucy has dug her woolly hat and fleece out for the night watches. We are also just 15 miles short of crossing the International Date Line when we will be exactly the opposite side of the world from Greenwich.  This event should probably be marked with some kind of celebration but, seeing as we look set to cross it at around 3am, it may be quite a muted affair.  Any celebrations will be saved until we are safely tucked up in New Zealand!

 

We will let you know about our progress towards the chilly mid-lattitudes in the next few days.