Musket Cove, Fiji

Hello

This week we arrived at Musket Cove. We were able to see some of our friends on Arctic Fox. There is a kid on Arctic Fox named Cameron who is 13. Once we saw him we all hopped in the dingy and went out to wake board. It was our first time on it ever. I was able to stand up on it on my third try. The Kelly's on Moorea were really good. The next day we went on shore to a swimming pool at a hotel. To get to a really good pool you have to cross a really long dirt strip where planes come racing
out from behind a mountain. In front of the landing strip is a sign that says look both ways and listen. When you got to the pool, there was a big slide that shot you into the water. There was a deeper pool over to the side where our parents were. Over there we played Marco Polo. Kelly girl kept cheating by tossing us at the person who was it. It was a lot of fun.

When we went to Lautoka there was a giant mound of wood chips on shore. You could smell their scent all the way back to the boat. While in Lautoka we went and saw a movie, Pirates of the Carribean III. the movie was good and the theater looks just like one at home. After that we left Lautoka and came back to Musket Cove. We took the dinghy over to a little sandy beach island in the middle of the water. The tide was coming in and the island soon would be under water. We set up our trainer kite
and flew it until there was no beach left. The trainer kite is for teaching you how to use the handle bars to fly for kite surfing.

Matthew and I will be taking turns each week to write to our blog. Keep a lookout for them.

Talk to you next time,
Tristan

Batiluva

I just spent the last 5 days on Batiluva having great fun. Batiluva is a resort that parents can bring their children there for the weekend. We made anchor and I could only see about 2 houses. When we went on shore the next day they had two more houses and a lot more stuff than I had expected. It was rather clean and a nice beach. They have many comfortable hammocks and hammock chairs to my surprise. They are surrounded by forest of palm trees and there was a trail that led a 20 minute walk
to the village. I did not do the walk this time. Amazingly a small orange boat much smaller that ours carried all the stuff they had and all the stuff it took to build it onto that land.

While I was there I swam in nice cool water and kayaked around little coral heads. I also floated on inflatable rafts. Then I putted golf balls all around the main building of the resort. I threw noni fruits in the would because Sharon and Dan don't need them around on the ground because they make smelly puddles of muck when they get old.
Tristan and I helped Dan throw bamboo, palm branches and coconuts onto the fire to keep their grounds and beaches tidy. We made new friends, Ella and Billie, are 7 year old and 3 year old girls. They live in Fiji but are from New Zealand. I gave Ella golf lessons and Billie accidentally cut me. Billie liked to play with pillows and have pillow fights. We caught hermit crabs and had races. When the races were over my hermit crab was finally brave enough to come out and run faster than all of
them. When we were watching our movie we couldn't look after them at the same time so we put them in a cup. It was sort of cramped and I felt bad for them. They kept trying to climb on top of each other to get out. Poor little guys. In the end I through mine away, literally, I threw him back to the beach.

Lastly, we had a big buffet of dinner that was delicious. I ate more than absolutely everyone. We had spaghetti, the sauce was separate. I couldn't guess why. There was also spinach with bacon and a neat little cucumber salad with raisins and carrots. We had garlic bread with cheese on it, perfect. For dessert we had great Neopolitan ice cream.

Well, that is all I have to say about Batiluva. I will never forget it.
sincerely, Matthew

On to Fiji

Leaving New Zealand was a little difficult because we knew we would miss a lot of things there. There was so much room to run and lots of places to play. We had good friends and places to scooter around. The day we set sail there was a lot of activity to be had. We played hide and seek tag, made a train of carts 5 long to ride in and had our final ice cream at the general store together. Most of our friends are going to sail the same path but a few are taking a different course and we hope to
venture over to them again soon. All of our friends came down to the end of the dock to see us off.

The crossing to Fiji was rough. The first few days of the crossing were very calm and we got to sit outside in the warm sunlight and read our books in the cockpit. The next few days we had very tiring rough weather. No one felt very good or got much sleep. The boat was rocking back and forth and we had to be careful not to let anything sit by itself or it slides with the swells. We put our drinks in squeeze water bottles and pass it around at dinner so that the drink doesn't fly around everywhere.
The wind and waves tossed and turned us like a baby's rattle.

After the storm, when it was really calm the main sail and head sail ripped at different times. My mom and dad took the main sail down and with Tristan's help they sewed it back together by hand for the next two days. It took us 8 days to reach Suva, Fiji. Suva is a big working city and is where there are lots of jobs for people. There is also a big shipping port. Every day huge ships come in and out. Matthew was surprised at what he saw. He thought it was dirtier than he expected. It is
very busy with a lot of busses and traffic. The people are very friendly and kind here.

The crossing to get here was worth it. We are excited to be in Fiji and get out to explore. We are finishing some jobs in Suva and then are going to go explore the outer islands on the west side. We are ready to go swimming and surfing again. The temperature here is 88F/30C and the water is 84 degrees F.
email us soon or write back to the blog,
Tristan and Matthew

Kia Ora

Kia Ora or hello from New Zealand. This is going to be the new place where my brother and I can write down journal ideas from our sailing trip. We have just spent the last 6 months living in New Zealand. We are about to leave here and sail to Fiji when the weather is right. We have learned a lot about New Zealand while we are here and have seen some really great stuff. We will try to write a lot about these things for you to read here.