Happy Christmas

Christmas day is a gloriously sunny day here. There's not a cloud in the sky at our anchorage here at Revolver Bay, Preservation Inlet. We can see inland to the mountains of the southern alps. We have just returned from a dive in the nearby "Narrows". This area is a narrow bend through which Fiordlands third longest fiord flows. Strong flowing currents in this area give rise to colonies of filter feeders. Today we saw many forms of these, Sea Pens, Lace Coral and most all the Strawberry holothurians.
These Strawberry holothurians look just like strawberries but have finger like tentacles instead of a stalk. These are used to collect food from the water. The holothurians are on the rocks in about 3 to 10 metres of water and are quite dense. When seen they are in expansive areas like fields hence the name they have as the Strawberry Fields. Its a beautiful sight as you look up at them from below, the sun shining through the water (as much as it can here) and everything colored a lovely red.

Our anchorage is also proving good with little wind, but enough to keep the sandflies away. The area is all ours as there are no other boats are anywhere near , our closest neighbours being at the lodge about five miles away. We will probably have some nice Blue Cod for dinner and hopefully be able to enjoy a glorious evening outside.

We hope all is going well for you. To all our friends a Happy Christmas and we look forward to catching up with those we can in 2009.

For my family in the UK (and those in NZ) I hope its not too cold! I'm sure you will be having a family Christmas and we shall be thinking of you all.

To all of Tori's family in Gisborne I hope its not too hot! We will hopefully stop in to Gisborne on our way back from the Southern Islands after Chatham Island if we are able.

Have a great time over this Holiday.