South towards Auckland!

Dear Friends,
Well, we are back on Sailmail. We left the Bay of Islands on Jan. 31, traveled down to Tutukaka, a lovely little fishing village, where we met two lovely cruising couples. One gave us a chip which included all the nice anchorages near Auckland. They recommended we go to the Mokohinea Islands on our way south, then to Great Barrier Island, Mercury Island then finally to Auckland. So, here we are at Great Barrier Island after stopping off at Mokohinea last night. The islands are bushy, bare, and have few inhabitants. We are anchored in a quiet bay with only one other boat. Everyone here fishes constantly. We haven't caught a nice fish for days, but are still lavishing on the mussels we got at Bay of Islands. There are lots of mussels and scallops in this area - Port Abercrombie. We will spend a couple days here at Great Barrier Island before going to Mercury (20 miles). We are now committed to going to Auckland on February 14 - 16 to finalize the warrantee issues with a Seawind factory rep. In the interim, I will need to find a way to get a copy of the Notice of Departure to Tom and Ted. I think that there is a place on the Island called Port Fitzroy that has fax capabilities, so will try that tomorrow.
Life is really slowing down for us. Our "to do" list is down to one or two items that we try to get done, If not, there is always tomorrow. I need to dive tomorrow, so I can find out why the log propeller is not turning, so that is the big thing for tomorrow. Maybe we can go ashore and walk along the beach, or maybe not. Carol keeps on thinking that she can beat me in "up and down", a card game similar to gin, but I keep on beating her butt, but I am sure she will get even.
Cheers,
Dan and Carol