December 24

I am enjoying the peace and quiet on our boat. It is nice to have a break from being a parent for a bit. The boat certainly stays neater! I do miss hugs and kisses from my sweetie little boy but I know he is having a great time so that makes me happy.  

Tonight we went to some new friend’s home for Christmas. Brigitte and Brian are really sweet people and have 3 kids, two boys and a little girl. The oldest boy is babysitting age (14+) and since he was a cruising kid I would feel comfortable leaving him on the boat with Jonah. Brigitte and Brian have moved off their boat and are going to try to settle in NZ permanently or at least for a couple of years. They have rented a large house so their three kids can all have their own bedrooms – a real luxury for a large family used to a 42 foot boat. Annetta organized the Christmas meal and cooked most of it – she dislikes potlucks. Everybody helped out a lot. It was awesome. Smoked turkey, ham, all the fixings, heaps of desserts and good conversation. The kids all played together and had a blast. It was warm and sunny and it really feels like summer is starting finally.  

We have started to look for an apartment and we need to reserve something soon as places are getting booked. We need a furnished apartment for a short lease and the town we are looking in is a beach town which is a desirable location in the summer.  

We have rented a storage unit and are unloading stuff off the boat in preparation for work to be done. It is amazing how much stuff you can stuff onto a boat. It kind of expands when you take it off the boat. We will probably do a couple of more loads tomorrow.