Family

Lord Howe Island… a dream re-entry to Australia!

Lord Howe Island… a dream re-entry to Australia!

In 1992, I met a girl at university from Lord Howe island – Monica’s stories and her then boyfriend’s stories of the island inspired me to make it a must visit spot. It took me 19 years to get to “THE ISLAND” as it’s affectionately called by the friendly locals. The island lived up to all of my expectations and some, it could not have been a more perfect stepping stone into Australia! - Great beaches, incredible scenery, fishing, diving, snorkeling, hiking, good food, a bowling club,…

Continue Reading Lord Howe Island… a dream re-entry to Australia!
A short stay in Vava’u, Northern Tonga

A short stay in Vava’u, Northern Tonga

Writing this blog can be a real challenge sometimes… so much goes on, that it takes some serious effort to travel back in time and try and recall the multitude of experiences, emotions and events that took place in a different country, time zone and environment. One of the techniques I use, aside from the actual photos, is to look at emails that I sent to people when we’re at sea. The below excerpt of an email I sent to Rob summarizes our final 48 hours of…

Continue Reading A short stay in Vava’u, Northern Tonga
Suwarrow Atoll – the underwater playground!

Suwarrow Atoll – the underwater playground!

We sailed west from Bora Bora on a Wednesday morning. Our last night in French Polynesia was spent at the local Karaoke restaurant, listening to the local crowd busting out love song after love song – surprisingly entertaining!! Our initial plan was to sail to Maupihaa Atoll, followed by Palmerston island in the Central Cook islands. I looked at the weather and all signs were pointing at us changing plans and pointing Squander at the Northern Cook island of Suwarrow. It’s a destination that was 150 Nautical…

Continue Reading Suwarrow Atoll – the underwater playground!

Living la dolce vita – a slow sail south from Rome.

After a memorable week of Villas, lakes and family fun in lake Como – it was equally great to be back by the seaside again and back on Squander. To make things even better mum & dad were staying with me onboard in Rome for a few days and then driving down to Vietri sul mare to visit their friends where they would again jump onboard for a week. Back on Squander! Aaron, an old mate from Sydney, has been living in Rome for the past 4…

Continue Reading Living la dolce vita – a slow sail south from Rome.

A family Reunion in Lake Como

Nothing like a good wedding to bring the family together – having reentered the realms of family living slowly by first spending a few days with Agatha & JB, the three of us boarded an EasyJet flight from Rome to Milan where Mum and Dad were waiting for us with open arms. A great reunion and an exciting time for all as we shared countless stories – Mum & Dad had spent 3 weeks in Poland and driven from Poland, through Germany, France, Switzerland and onto Italy…

Continue Reading A family Reunion in Lake Como

Xmas and a flat battery…

Christmas has come and gone and what a great success it was. The whole xmas crew enjoyed themselves, food, drink, sunshine and presents a plenty!! Had a fairly restless sleep last night... actually thinking about work, and solving website hosting issues in my head. how loong will these last for? still get the odd pang of anxiety-like sensations about having to return to work soon, only to remind myself that in fact I don't! Funny thing happened yesterday, my watch battery went flat, it's worked faultlessly for…

Continue Reading Xmas and a flat battery…