Vlinder on her way to the beauty salon. Some washing, polishing painting and TLC here and there, and she'll feel and look years younger again.

Vlinder

We have a plan for the upcoming months in NZ: hiking, or tramping as the Kiwis say, the entire Te Araroa Trail on the South Island, 1400 km in total. On the 27th Vlinder goes on the hard and pretty soon after we'll start the hike. I'm pretty stoked and nervous at the same time.

We arrived in New Zealand! The sail was uncomfortable with unexpectedly high winds and a very rough sea. We are excited to be here and start exploring NZ by boat and over land. Hereby some more pics from the past couple of months in Fiji and French Polynesia.

One of the things we loved in French Polynesia is that the local culture is still very alive. This video was shot in Tahiti at an annual tournament that included baskets of oranges and bananas carrying, coconut peeling and javelin throwing with a coconut as a target.

After months of delay due to a badly performed engine service by a company in Papeete, we could finally lift our anchor and sail away. We had to change all our plans but hey, that's sailing life. After a 2 week crossing, we're super excited to finally be in Fiji. 800 islands to explore. Woohoo!

A group of dolphins joined us while snorkeling at Mo'orea.Turn on the sound!

Cyclone season is officially over and it's time to start sailing West. The plan, written in sand at low tide, is to arrive in South Africa in August.

Sailing is even more fun with friends and family aboard Vlinder. After a month filled with good conversations, Bacardi Cola's, Rummikub, Poker, rain soaked hikes, snorkeling, off-roading, waterfalls and beaches, we are once again empty nesters.

All you need is a beach. Running at Tikehau, French Polynesia.

For my birthday Joren surprised me with this cute hat and matching earrings from one of Rangiroa's beach stores.These stores are always open and fully stocked. From colourful bottles from all over the world, to fishnet tights, to single mix and match flipflops, the beach has it all. Unfortunately.

Snorkeling with Manta Rays in the anchorage ❤️

12:35 PM, lunch time!

50+ knots of wind toss our boat around. Multiple boats in the anchorage are dragging. I'm afraid and ask myself; why? Why did I ever think this was a good idea? But today's sun-filled day made me realize again that yes the lows of cruising life can be scary low, but those highs, oh boy!

We have big news: all boat jobs are done! Our to-do list is empty! This is a surreal and once in a boater's lifetime event. We can hardly believe our luck, don't know what we did to deserve this, but we take it, delight in it, drink it in, flip it up and over. Today we own a 100% working boat.Today.

We're going Blue! Follow all the highs and lows aboard Vlinder, our Neel 47 trimaran.