Veni Vidi Vixi - Veni Vidi Vixi - second blog

Introducing Veni Vidi Vixi and her jolly crew...

Veni Vidi Vixi = I came, I saw, I lived - not conquered like Julias Cesar, but lived like the poem written by Victor Hugo whilst he was exiled in Guernsey - a little island that is close to our hearts as our three children were born there during a overseas stint early on in Paul’s legal career.

Before the children, came love found in on a dance floor in London where the stars aligned for Kiwi Paul and Canadian Robin. Since falling head over heels for each other there have been travelling adventures all over the globe and all the while Paul had an idea for an ultimate family adventure - to buy a yacht in Croatia, spend a summer lazily exploring the Mediterranean then spend two years sailing through the Caribbean, down the Panama Canal to the South Pacific and home to New Zealand. So here we are despite COVID threatening to whisk away our dreams with one foul sneeze - we have still managed to enjoy a Mediterranean summer and are high tailing it across to Atlantic to warmer temperatures again.

Vasaré (age 8), Coen and Scarlett (both 7) hadn’t spend more than a few hours on a boat before this adventure began in January but have easily adapted, as children tend to do, to life on the high seas. They bounce back nearly immediately from bouts of seasickness never missing a moment of excitement that living on the ocean brings.

From Gibraltar we picked up two crew members to support us through this leg of our journey - Jason and Kevin both support Paul at the helm allowing me to focus more on teaching curriculum for ocean adventures and perfecting my culinary skills.

Jason from Australia found his passion for sailing through his Dad’s rebuilt tiny dingy at a young age. He is currently following is dream to spend more time on yachts since completing his Ocean Yachtmaster earlier this year.

Kevin from Germany has been deepening his love for the ocean through skippering throughout the Med and Asia and one day dreams to purchase his own yacht, live aboard and make a living sharing the sea with others.

Paul says “only 10 more days ‘til a rum” and he will well deserve one once completing this monumental leg of the journey back to NZ.

Here’s to a painkiller or two on arrival in St Lucia - one third of the trip down, two thirds to go!