This morning, I rushed to the grocery store and got some last minute snacks for the trip aboard the Avatar. Russ drove a group of us going on sailing tours down to the marina, and I headed for my group– there were only about 12 of us, which was good, because that just meant more deck room, and more sleeping room! Aboard the ship were 3 crew (AUS and NZ) and then 12 people. 5 were Austrian, all just having completed work for the winter in Southern Australia at a ski resort, 1 English girl Donna, who had been traveling around Australia for the past few months, 3 Germans, 1 studying in Adelaide, 1 studying in Brisbane, and his girlfriend who was visiting rom Germany. So, me and my USA self just got on board and had a grand ol’ time. We set sail at 9:00am and headed for our first destination which was the most magnificent beach you could ever imagine. I just can’t wait for my pictures to be online! The beach was soft, 3000+ year old sand, makes for some of the softest sand you could ever imagine! The pristine beaches, blues of the water, all made for a fantastic, hard-to-beat first day! Food was excellent aboard, and star gazing at night was absolutely breath taking! We all slept with our hatches open and all slept like babies!