Gup and I have decided not to stop in Niue but to go directly to Tonga. Via SSB radio all the sailors who have been to Niue say that the anchorage there is very rough and uncomfortable. But in Tonga it is in a beautiful bay with calm waters and not on the open sea. It sounds really beautiful.. also I am eager to see the [International] Date Line .. hihi. So once again I am going to an island where my parents have been! I too can say that I have been in Tonga before .. But I can’t say that I remember for it was a very long time ago! Guppy is not as fast as usual – we could be100 nautical miles further along if I had scraped the growth from her underwater hull back in Bora Bora .. And then from Tonga I would really love to go on to New Zealand, the country where I was born which is so close and yet so far. If I had been at liberty to start my journey when I was thirteen, I could have stopped for a while but sadly now I have to pass by for lack of time…

Laura