Tuesday 22nd March.

Last night I was tired, it was raining so I heated up water on the fire for my hot water bottle and wrote my blog. I watched my fire smoke drift off down the harbour looking like mist on the calm tranquil water. I crawled into bed and was pleasantly happy when I heard the rain on my tent. It rained all night, at 4am I woke, but just rolled over. I have this weird habit of when it has rained all night, I always put my hand out into the corner of the tent to make sure there are no puddles of water. It is a habit I can not break, even though I know my tent is seriously quite leak proof, I still do it after intense rain. It was dry as, so I roll over and wait for 6am.

Today with so much rain, mist and cloud cover I struggled to send out my satellite messages, in the end I had to get out of my sleeping bag and wander up and down the edge of the water to send and receive, which is not that fun when it is raining and dark! There was no change in the weather, still a strong NW wind and swell to paddle further north. Back I crawl into my sleeping bag and wait till sunrise. I get up and light a rather pathetic fire but enough to heat water for a hot drink and cook a small brekkie. Not to many sandflies this morning and no rain so I stayed pottering outside.

Soon the launch Myra B is heading towards me, I meet the team, Paul, Felicity, Alistair (thank you for the loan VHF), Jen, Arthur, Henry and Jeremy a few days earlier. I was still trying to fix my VHF so I asked if they had a screwdriver I could borrow. Yes was the reply so a quick change into my paddle clothing and onto the water I went. T2 moored up at the back and I jumped on board. The men on the boat set to work, I drink coffee, chat and eat chocolate. We did get to the inner workings of the VHF, but none of us were brave enough to go further. The motherboard parts looked scary, so they said here, take our spare hand held VHF. Omg, how amazing, thank you. I am couriering it back to them as soon as I reach Jackson Bay. They all are amazing people and we could have spent hours chatting, but I was mindful they were heading home with a large deer strapped to the side of their launch to get back and have butchered. As I left they asked, "Did I want supplies of anything?" I have decided that I best never turn down the offer of food as maybe one day I will run out! "Maybe," was my reply, "T2 will sink because I have too many supplies." "What do you want?" Coffee, oil, Easter eggs and crayfish! With my bag of goodies off I set, I got their details, waved goodbye and paddled for shore.

As I paddled I see a small white inflatable heading to shore by the stream, they must be going hunting, I think. I see them drag the inflatable up into the bush and trees but next thing I see them walking across the stream towards me with a black sack. We exchange hi's, it turns out they were heading home and did I want this food they had left over? "Well, why not?" I say, "I am here for three more days and still have not made it to my food parcel pickup yet!" We got chatting, they were waiting on a helicopter to land just by the stream. As we chatted Mark mentioned, "If it gets a bit much and too wet then just use my launch till you go! Saves you getting wet and cramped for a few more days."

The helicopter arrives, I chat to the pilot about the upcoming weather and he also confirms Friday is looking good. Off they fly, I stand in amazement and just think OMG what an amazing few hours it has been! Now, what to do? Do I wait for the rain to come and pack down in the wet before I head to sit on the launch or do it now when it's dry? I paddled over to check the launch out, Gulf Star. I was still feeling guilty, but then I decided thank you Mark Johnson and Dave Anderson, offer accepted. I packed up and am sitting on the back deck of a launch with T2 moored at the back. On the way backwards & forward I see the resident dolphins swim through, they play briefly with me then continue on their mission. A familiar yacht glides back into this harbour, we wave and I paddle over. Derk is from Canada and we share stories, I swap some sand fly repellant for kingfish steaks! Nice deal I think. We say our goodbyes, he is going to try and head north this afternoon, I wish him luck.

After all of that it was 4.30pm so I went for a paddle to checkout a mussel and paua location and a huge waterfall across the sounds. The falls were magnificent so I take my salty body and jump under it and in the pools below for a refreshing swim, I am addicted to waterfalls. Sand flies washed away with the gushing water, me rinsed of salt and grime for another day I go back to T2 and find the paua and mussels. I have so much food so I just look and remember for when I visit this place again, I am coming back for sure. With that I glide back towards my bed for tonight, I clamber aboard and have kingfish steak, potatoes & lettuce for dinner, yumbo.

Dark now I feel like a squatter on this launch, headlamp on and torch for my lights, the couch seats look comfy and inviting. Thank you to everybody I have met today, you all have been so incredibly generous. We will meet again, I will never be able to say thank you enough but here I go...THANK YOU from this most grateful redhead.

My smiles today:
Too every single person I have met today, you have truly made me smile.
The dolphins came to visit on such an amazing day. Gold moments always.
My bed tonight, I wonder if I will sleep okay.
The incredible sight of Breaksea Sounds this evening as the cloud cover lifted for awhile.
Me and my journey, how each day brings a smile to me from the inside.

My thoughts today:
Happiness is found from within oneself, it is not what you have or what you look like it is an inner feeling. Yep I am happy.

Red