Morning again
Have any of you been sailing or traveling in the South Pacific and if so, which ones are your preferred areas/islands?
You didn't mention Australia, do you have any plans to visit?
Would love to. A well as NZ, working on those plans as well but both require much more time and planning as they're far more South/West. Would love to visit Melbourne and Sydney.
But the masses are wondering if Alex is happy or grumpy as he performs the grunt work in preparing the new vessel for the voyage across the great big blue?
He hasn't really started working on the new boat as yet. He only performed a survey of it a few months ago.
We're still in Antigua for a couple of more weeks: preparing stuff, waiting for certain things and doing other type of work that is needed. Will for sure let you know how Alex feels about the work on the new boat as soon as we're getting there.
My friends have preceded you into the Pacific about two years ago and have visited Ecuador, New Zealand, Fiji, and more. They've just left Leu Cat in Australia as they come back to the States for a few months. You can check out their voyage here : http://www.sailblogs.com/member/leucat/
Love following you and hope the boat sale and purchase work out. Your pictures always inspire me and I need to break out the Nikon more often.
Sorry to hear you're not visiting South America. You're missing a whole continent! Oh, well, maybe you can catch it the second time around. Look forward to seeing your South Pacific adventures.
i lived in hawaii and while there we traveled to a tiny island above fiji and in the middle of polynesia called TUVALU. you REALLy need to go there, if you have a chance. clearest most beautiful water (and so warm) i have EVER seen in my life...
and southeast asia? still my fav. ohhh thailand.
Samoa is my favorite but might be a bit out of the way for some. Loved Tonga and Cook Islands but was a bit disappointed with Fiji (I mostly saw the commercial part of it I must say). After spending a while in the South Pacific you will probably appreciate coming into New Caledonia. Great place to stock on some French goodies and get in touch with civilization. These guys have ´just´finished their circumnavigation, awesome pics on their blog:
http://tofluer.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=55
Don´t plan too much, go with the flow; plans are made so they can be changed!
Enjoy it!
So many amazing islands in the South Pacific! I long to revisit the Tuamotus, which are on your route just after the Marquesas. Fakarava and Rangiroa have facilities, fresh French baguettes and pearl farms with beautiful Tahitian pearls (don't you deserve a splurge?). Fakarava is unspoiled and non-touristy. The snorkeling and diving is out of this world, and the local people are the friendliest I've met anywhere. I bought a beautiful pearl piece at Hinano Pearl Farm to remind me of those gorgeous atolls.
Thank you all. Tuamotu, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands and Fiji are now all n our list of places we wish to see.
Also very curious about New Caledonia.
Tyler, we would have loved to make longer stops in South America although Colombia and Panama will be visited on our way to the Pacific for sure.
We're thinking of making a backpacking tour of South America one day in the future.
Spirit was in Antigua last season and we saw you guys there. We have just sailed into the Pacific and I would recommend not making plans like we did. We felt we were missing out on too much so have hauled the tri in Raiatea for the cyclone season only to head back in March to start cruising this area more. Don't miss Las Perlas Islands South of Panama or the San Blas. Galapagos were very cool with some amazing diving but the anchorages are a little open. Marquases are awesome Tahuata is very cool as well amazing people don't miss as it's seriously beautiful. I have some great info on this area let me know a good email and I'll send it to you in PDF form. We felt the Pacific is where it really all started.
Thanks, will check your blog for some info. Have fun out there!
I spent 7 months sailing around Vanuatu in 2006, I would highly recommend it as a sailing destination. Completely unspoiled, quiet, non commercial (except for the two main towns, Port Vila and Luganville which get a number of tourists from Australian cruise ships). In some of the outer islands we even met kids who had never seen white people before because they get visitors so seldom. Also sailed around Fiji and NZ, both excellent sailing destinations.