Position 14:27.875S 146:02.090W

We arrived at the entrance to the passé into Manihi at exactly our ETA of 1330 as Xavier and Fernando were coming out in their motor boat to greet us. After 3 days and nights at sea with variable weather that is surely a miracle – dam we are good !

How wonderful to be greeted by smiling faces and guided directly into the passé and on to the anchorage.

It was still a bit hairy through the pass as we motored over brown coral heads with water turbulence over the top– but we didn’t touch the bottom and we were soon in deep water, Jackamy took the easy option and followed us in as they draw less than us !

What an amazing place – words cannot describe the scenery it just took our breath away.

We are inside a large lagoon surrounded by a coral reef with abundant palm trees and a few houses on stilts. We can see the pearl farms which appear to be simply a submerged coral island with a house/factory on stilts where the oysters are opened and the pearls retained.

Fernando has proved quite a character – he is the local baker (starting at 4.00am) and also the local pearl farmer (lucky dip oysters apparently) and his wife supplies home cooked Chinese takeaways delivered to the boat !

We have been visited by the crew of a couple of other boats in the anchorage this afternoon who are having a barbeque on the beach tonight and they have invited us and Jackamy to join them.

So I must go and chill the wine, get the steaks out of the freezer and make a potato salad.

The water is turquoise blue and Fernando says there are only baby reef sharks in the lagoon – so we can swim and snorkel tomorrow and take the dingy into the village to explore.

It is truly breathtaking here !