Christmas cheer and humpback whales

The colors of the New Zealand coastline range from forest green trees to jade green waters. We half sailed, half motored south today to Whangaruru, another leg closer to Auckland. "Whanga" means bay in Maori, so all the places here start with it. Today we had to chose between Whangaruru and Whangamumu. Tomorrow we're off to Whangarei. I guess learning the local names here is a bit like home, trying to differentiate between Skykomish, Snohomish, & Swinomish. We're tucked in a tiny protected bay, without another boat in sight. The peace is welcome and I'm using the quiet to get in the Christmas spirit. It's a bit of a challenge with the sun shining until after 8:30 at night and the weather getting warmer and warmer everyday. The humpback whales gave us a nice show on the way down today and we had a successful spinnaker run. All in all a nice trip, lasting 5 hours, which is my kind of passage.

I can't believe there is snow in Bellingham this week. I just can't really fathom winter weather again. We still think 60 is cold, and the idea of ice is just crazy. It does seem like the holidays though, as sunny weather never will for me.

We're on the verge of signing with a yacht broker and ready to move on to another phase of our lives. It's bittersweet to say the least, but we feel that we did what we set out to do and life has other things to offer in the near future.

I'm listening to Christmas music and baking this afternoon. We put up a tiny tree and some stockings, so we're trying to get in the spirit. Better cook dinner, K