Monday, May 04, 2015

Onward and Upward

Hello All!
It has been a long time since the last post, SORRY!!!!
Let's see, since the last post the following events have happened:
  • Left American Samoa and arrived in Tonga
  • Swam with Humpback Whales
  • Swam with Pacific Reef Squid and watched them change colors from black, to grey, to blue, to yellow, to purple, etc
  • Found a huge section of whale bone pelvis on the beach at anchorage 16 in Va'va'u in Tonga and traded it with the locals for two carved necklaces. 
  • Gave the family at anchorage 16 a ride back to town on our boat to include their seven kids and wife. Jenna played doctor and fixed up cuts and scrapes with medical supplies on the boat.
  • Left Tonga and arrived in Fiji
  • Planned on a three week boat repair which ended up taking nine weeks
  • Met an amazing Fiji family who invited us over to their house about twice a week for dinner and Kava
  • Left way too late into the cyclone season from Fiji to NZ for our parents to be comfortable
  • Arrived in NZ two days before Christmas
  • Stayed in a little marina called Tutukaka for three months
  • Bought a black Volvo V70
  • Worked furiously on the boat to repair everything before vacationing with Gail and John in NZ
  • Toured Auckland for a week with Gail and John while staying in St. Heliers
  • Took an amazing tour of a glow worm cave called Waikato
  • Flew to Sydney and saw the Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and The Rocks to name a few
  • Once Gail and John left Jenna and I hung around Sydney for another couple weeks until flying to Melbourne for 8 days to spend some time with a couple we met in Fiji who were buying their new sailboat!!
  • Decided in Melbourne to move to Melbourne and start a business
  • Flew from Melbourne back to Auckland and worked on fixing the boat for another month
  • Sold the black car and drove down to beautiful Lake Taupo for a weekend
  • Loaded all our personal belongings on a pallet to load on a container ship to ship to Melbourne
  • Flew back to the states to sell another car and pack up all our stuff
  • Jenna flew to VA with her mom to visit college friends and to Boston for a friend's wedding
  • Tom took the Greyhound bus to Yakima to pick up the white Volvo and then drove to Silverdale to pick up all the stuff in storage in load it in a Penske truck
  • Packed up the stuff in Oregon and put on a container ship headed to Melbourne
  • Sold the white Volvo and all the furniture
  • We are going to house sit while in Melbourne for the first year so we don't have to rent a house or move kitchen or furniture to Australia
  • In the mean time I (Tom) have taught myself CAD and have designed a platform bed that Jenna and I are going to produce to sell that includes reclaimed wood side boards and an acid etched/stained polished concrete headboard!

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