Category Archives: Daily Lime

Ridge Hike on Malolo Island

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What does a ridgeline hike look like?  Well, we start at the far left end of Malolo island (left end of the photo) and hike up several hills.  We cross over the reef at low tide (2nd arrow, middle) and make it to Malolo Lailai (3rd arrow far right).

Another view of the ridgeline hike.

The Start

Sarah dropped Matt, Chris, and I off at Funky Fish Resort. This is a really cool, easy-going, surf resort with a pool.  They are super cruiser friendly. 

You hike up a hill, behind the resort to the helicopter landing pad.  To our surprise there was a helicopter.  The resort has posted signs at the beginning of the path.

Mt. Silo Gun site and Lookout

The first part of the trail is really well maintained and fairly easy to navigate.  The only issue is that it is straight up hill. 

We enjoyed some beautiful views along the way.

The anchorage looks so small from the top of the tallest mountain peak.  There are roughly 100 boats in the anchorage.  Can you spot Sugar Shack?

We make it to the Mt. Silo Gun site and lookout after an hour of hiking.  The peak is roughly 750′ elevation.

2nd Half of the Hike

The second half of the hike was more challenging as the trail was not well-maintained and requires good shoes and a machete.

It was so darn hot as we were in the direct sunlight, at the peak heat of the day. 

We ended up sliding down several slopes as we continued down a make-shift path.

The second half of the hike took almost 2 hours and was much slower going.  In part because we had to create our own path and we had to go slow on the slippery parts.

We met a lovely friend on the way down the mountain.  This beautiful horse met us on the trail and was so very friendly.

I was so tired and overheated that I stopped taking photos. 

Unfortunately, I did not even get a photo of the reef crossing or Malolo Lailai.  I know, I suck!

The Results

  • Ascent 1200′ (up and down several mountains)
  • Tallest Peak 750′
  • 1200 calories burned
  • 4.5 miles walked
  • 2:53 hours
  • 1hr of resting time/breaks or stops

Matt and Chris were in much better shape than me. 

I required multiple stops along the way.  We also stopped at the 3 lookout points. 

Evidently, according to Matt’s Garmin we had 1 hour of resting time.  Eek gads.

No Foreign Land Malolo Ridgeline hike

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events.  We hiked Mt. Silo on Malolo Island on 5 September 2025.

Did you read about our adventures at the World Surf League Finals in our last blog?

World Surf League Finals (WSL): Cloud Break

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The World Surf League (known as WSL) hosted the 2025 surfing finals at Cloud Break, Fiji.  Lucky for us we happened to be 6nm away from this prestigious and monumental event!

The athletes stayed at the exclusive and private island resort of Tavarua  which is conveniently located near the famous surf spot, Cloud Break. Rumor has it that clients of Tavarua Resort not only have to be very wealthy but they have to commit to surfing in order to stay here. 

We are not allowed to land on the island at all.  We tried to “walk the beach” and were promptly shooed away by security.

World Surf League  (WSL) Finals

There many famous surf spots in the world including Teahupoʻo  in French Polynesia, Pipeline in Hawaii, and Cloud Break in Fiji.  

Do you remember when I had the opportunity to watch the WSL competition in Teahupo’o, French Polynesia?

Fijians built is a permanent judge’s stand into the reef many years ago.  They add the banners to the stand each year and remove immediately after the event.

In the swarm of spectators there is a boat with the announcers.  The announcers let the surfers and their coaches know who has wave priority, what the scores are, and what is needed to move on to the next round.

The popular floating bar, Cloud 9 donates their transport boat for the competitors.  The locals wrapped the competitor boat in advertisement and outfitted it to comfortably house all 10 competitors and their teams.

The Spectators

Between 25-35 boats anchored near the reef to support and witness this great event.  In addition, there were dozens of dinghies, long boats, tourist boats, surf boats that came out to the “line” to witness the WSL competition and be part of the mayhem.

We took Sweetie, our dinghy out which was 6 nautical miles away from our anchorage.  That is a long way to take your dinghy!  We met up with our friends Chris and Sarah on Seaglub and Chris and Michelle on Beleza.

WSL Competitors

The WSL competitors have spent 7 months surfing all over the world in 11 competitions.  During the finals the top 5 men and the top 5 women compete to be world champion.

Michelle on Beleza shared some of her photos since I don’t have my phone (it died many months ago).

The waves started out slow but by mid-morning they filled in and provided a beautiful landscape for the athletes.

The wave curls around so we were only able to see about half of the surfable wave.  But still very impressive.

At times we had a 3meter swell pushing all of the boats and dinghies up and over. 

Cover photo by Ed Sloane, World Surf League

Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual live events.  We enjoyed the WSL on 2 September 2025.

In our last blog post, we finally fix the last part of our standing rigging by replacing the furler and foils on our forestay. 

20th Anniversary of Adventuring

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Matt and I were married in St. Thomas during an intimate ceremony on the beach at sunset.  And today, we celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary overlooking the beach at sunset!

Our marriage has been full of great adventures spreading across 33 countries and over 50,000 nautical miles. 

We’ve learned new languages, tried unique foods, and experienced many different cultures and spectacular escapades. 

And we’ve done it together without kicking the other off the boat.

20th Anniversary

We enjoyed some lovely cocktails and dinner at the Quay Restaurant.  I highly recommend the Autumn Sun cocktail decorated with little pink hearts.

The Surprise

Matt had mentioned going to Whangarei Heads to watch the sunset. 

However, after driving around for a little bit he turned onto a super sharp, steep driveway. 

I was totally confused and had no idea where we were going or what he was doing.  

SURPRISE!  He rented a bach (beach house) for the night!  We did not have to spend our anniversary in the boat yard!

What a lovely and romantic surprise. 

It was a sweet, little bach with sweeping views over the river!  Perfect sunset viewing.

The beautifully decorated bach has 3 bedrooms that sleeps 7 people.

There are 2 stories, a large deck, a patio with a pizza over, a game room, laundry room, and access to the beach.

We enjoyed a lovely bottom of rose as the sun set.  

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on 11 November 2025.