I still squeal when I see a teeny round island with white sand around it. It’s the unreal ‘perfect’ postcard landscape look. I’ve seen it many times before in movies and Google images. So I stare really hard to make it real, in front of me, but it doesn’t happen. I can’t imagine doing this at the tiles in our local mall at home in Porirua. And I can’t image not squealing at little topical islands. Maybe it’ll be time to go home if I do.

We’re surprised at how tired we are. There’s a sailor’s fatigue: We’re either tired from lack of sleep from a rolly anchorage or the chain dragging overnight; night shifts on a longer passage; being adventurous and looking for a shortcut across the island and finding swampy stuff and biddybids that attack; or just risking our lives getting in the dinghy at night after a few wines and forgetting our head lamp. This is NOT a complaint. I just need to find a way to get excited and be tired at the same time (and not mistake tiredness for depression).

And we’re surprised at how amazing food tastes when you’re running low on things. A fresh pawpaw when you know there’s only one can of peaches left and a few over ripe bananas; a crispy lettuce salad when you’ve had nothing fresh for a week and you’ve run out of ways with carrots; how gorgeous bacon and eggs taste after a long passage when it’s been too rough to even reheat; how amazing a cup of tea tastes, with sugar (which you don’t normally have) when the sun is coming up and you know you’ve got the time and space to finish the whole cup of tea.

And I’m surprised at how I’m learning to trust the things that scare me. Glen, another cruiser, said to me a few weeks ago that you overcome fear by either knowledge or faith. I’m slowly starting to learn more (the anchor snubber goes around the rails, not inside) but mainly I’ve got to have faith in the boat and faith in Dean, and to trust that in the scary moments I will be okay. I’m not one of those superduper practically capable women who find ways to do things…I still stare at the snubber and have to say out loud, “So the green loop is for the starboard thingy, the red loop is for the port thingy – except when I panic – I don’t even see a loop when that happens.

I like being surprised. Except by this…The decision to leave for Vanuatu has been delayed until Friday. It’s Monday. We’re at Musket Cove, a VERY commercial place. We have no budget to join the others in the bars and restaurants or buy expensive, beautiful things in the gift shop that smells so good. Oh wow – five free days! It’s been crap weather and we’ve been on the boat a lot already…starting to get cabin fever…reorganised the cutlery drawer, played cards, cooked for the passage (egg foo yung and tofu/vege curry) and oh yes, I am currently addicted to Candy Crush – BAD game. Any ideas?

Dean pulling up our anchor at Momi Bay, just round the corner from Nadi. He’s very good at anchoring. Some cruisers are not. Some cruisers take half an hour and they still put 50 metres of chain out, over our anchor, then scream at us when they go to leave the next morning and can’t up anchor. They are French.

Toys at Robinson Crusoe Resort, Fiji. A very down to earth, yachty-friendly place with an incredible fire dance. Food is the normal bland. Worst bacon and eggs I’ve ever paid for.

Don’t know what I was trying to do here.

Dean’s getting sick of me taking photos of him. I’m sick of taking selfies of myself.

I sat in this chair for an hour – not reading, not playing Candy Crush, not saying hello…nothing. Very odd and blissful.