Land Ho!

Date 9 jan 2015 Time 2100 Position abeam Farewell Spit(named by Cook prior to discovering the East Coast of Aus)
This morning we awoke to a calm, slick sea and a dark smudge on the horizon which was New Zealand! At the time we would have been 30-40 nautical miles away from the land that we could see. So it's cherries for me! While we motored until lunch time we were able to enjoy the warmth of the sun and catch up on a few jobs. Then a ruffle was seen on the water so Wayne brought out the Amazing Asymmetric Spinnaker and what a ripper! It pulled us through the water at 4 knots with a westerly breeze of about 5 knots from behind us. We carried this sail for about 4 hours until the wind reached 15 knots then it was time to furl it away and roll out the headsail as we heard on the marine VHF radio that it was blowing 20 knots at Farewell Spit ahead of us. Wayne was in his element like a kid at Christmas.
Another sign to tell us we weren't far from land was the sight of Gannets and Terns flying high above the water. The more wider ranging, ocean going birds fly very low almost touching the water with their wing tips. The scenery of the coastline has been awe inspiring. The mountain ranges are huge and rugged which drop away to dramatic cliff lines with hollowed arches and pinnacles. Then there are some lush green valleys that taper gently down to the shore. It's just stunning. We can't wait to get out and explore this beautiful wilderness. Whilst writing this blog we have just gybed around Farewell Spit which is the most North Westerly point of the South Island with a westerly 18 knot wind behind us. It's wonderful as we can see yet another mountain range exposing itself behind the first while the sun sets. We estimate that we will be arriving in Nelson tomorrow morning to clear customs and drop the anchor. Then we'll have to get these wobbly sea legs tramping up those mountains and pedaling our bikes. All is brilliant on board.

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