After several weeks in Vanuatu, where we enjoyed the people, the volcano, the fire dancing, snorkelling and diving, we have now left for Bundaberg in Australia.
We had hoped to venture to the more northern islands of Vanuatu, but various things conspired against us: Mainly waiting around for packages to come from abroad.
We had also hoped to visit New Caledonia (which we have just sailed past overnight), however with the ongoing unrest we were not convinced it would have been the most sensible decision.
So midday Friday, we left Port Vila and set sail. The weather forecast was not ideal, but it was an improvement over the previous 10 days and if correct there is a window to get us into Bundaberg without getting too beaten up, albeit with far more upwind sailing and motoring than we would like.
Two days in, the seas have calmed down; they were rather confused to the west of Efate and the wind has been variable. We had a lovely morning cruising along under the parasailor yesterday, then the wind changed direction and we had a port tack beat until half an hour ago when it dropped meaning we are currently under engine, which at least keeps the batteries charged. Yesterday saw some short but very wet rain showers, but today, whilst it’s partly cloudy it’s still dry. The temperatures are already dropping and we have both taken to long trousers overnight on watch rather than the swim shorts we have been accustomed to. Unfortunately the temperatures are only going to decrease, which we are not looking forward to. We still have just under 700 nautical miles to go and we expect to arrive on Friday.