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We had practically abandoned it , but we received so many Christmas letters in which people said they were wondering what would be in ours that we thought we 'd better put in a final effort to end the news blackout . Ian was staying with the Andreaes ( in whose house , we guess , Anna was conceived 23 years ago ) , and Anna joined them for some nice meals . Hobart , in particular , is a most attractive small city , with a mountain towering over it that you can drive up and look down from-not unlike Cape Town , in fact . She lives in a flat with seven Kiwi guys ( just as she did in London ) , and ( unlike London ) they barbecue on the beach every week . It was Ian and Nikki , who had also talked themselves through the roadblock . Judy ( a long time ago Saul was Ian 's graduate student , now he 's a professor too ) and their two kids in their gorgeous house looking up to the Three Sisters . Half an hour ago a bird banged into the low glass half-wall that surrounds our patio and swimming pool , which we erected a few years ago ( at great expense , and at the Council 's insistence ) to fence out possible , and mythical , stray children . On an adventurous day we left this haven and sailed north in blustery winds through dauntingly high seas , almost out of sight of land , alone in the vast Pacific seascape , to a tiny outcropping of islets called Mokohinau topped by a prominent lighthouse . " international " event that is always held in the US - - it is unusual ( unique , actually ) for a non-American to be in charge . We leave the marina at 10 am and Graham steers us through the channel while the captain hoists the mainsail and the large jib . No problem sailing alone round the Pacific , he explained : he had US Navy charts that showed where and when the wind would be under 35 knots 99 % of the time , and he stuck to those . One boy put his fist through our garage wall ( no , not brick , and easy enough to fix ) : interestingly , he is an accomplished violin player who was going through serious depression following the theft of his rare , exquisite , and extremely expensive violin . Imagine a hundred thousand books in tottering heaps on the floor in a room maybe 10 feet by 15 , threaded by a snaky passageway that you can just squeeze through to a miniscule desk at the back . Great Barrier has an enormous , and very sheltered , harbour called Port Fitzroy , not unlike Strangford Lough in N. Ireland where Ian learned to sail as a child - - but with far more dramatic scenery . ) Unlike Pippa and John this was not his first trip , and he came for the sailing .