February 16 – 28, 2012 Loving Sydney Again and the Arrival of Scott Morlan

We blew in through the Heads of Sydney Harbour literally in a storm. It was late and as tired as we were all we could do was scramble over to Spring Cove and drop the hook.

We spent the next several days moving about from Blackwattle, where we visited Mark and Heather to Birkenhead Point where I had a few more outings and lunches/coffees with Pauline and Janet, which included a trip t the Picasso exhibit. I could have sent all day there! Then over to MHYC for a tie up, water fill and a boat rinse.

Heather and Paul invited us to join them on another hash run but we could not make it that night and because Frank had a friend arriving next week, we knew it would be fruitless to plan to hash again. I was extremely disappointed but Frank promised to begin getting in shape so that we can really run with the hash again somewhere in the future. We arranged to meet for dinner at Heather's home in Balmoral the next evening. Heather's home is a three-story modern beauty. The top floor opens completely on two sides to reveal an impressive view of Balmoral beach and Middle Harbor. Frank immediately plopped down and felt at home. He said this is the design he wants when we settle down into a house again, although Lord knows when and where that will be.

On Friday, February 24^th, Scott Morlan arrived from Denver. We filled his days and nights as much as possible with the sights of Sydney. Scott being Scott was a bit more interested in where the best bars were and golf.  We walked him through Sydney, much the same as Karen's first day. Heather Olson and Paul had moved her yacht, Billyana over to Blackwattle Bay. We invited them over for Happy Hour with fresh oysters, prawns and sashimi from the Sydney Fish Market. Afterward we piled into Heather's car for a trip to Newtown where we literally feasted at Atom (Thai).  Saturday the boys set off for the Coogee to Bondi walk and were planning to grab the Hop-on-Hop-off bus from there. I spent the day in the Mac Store (Apple) getting tutorials on my new MacBook Air. My original MacBook completely crashed when we were in Virginia recently. I lost everything. When I'd returned to Australia, I'd taken my external hard drive into an Apple Store where they attempted to restore it. We are still trying to get there unfortunately. Heather Olson joined me. She was getting a tutorial on her Mac products. She and I spent the day in town and enjoyed a lovely lunch. Frank and Scott returned SEVERAL hours later very sunburned, very jovial and more than a little tipsy. On Sunday, we walked Scott to some of our other favorite sites in Sydney, and found his favorite spot to be the café/bar outside the QVB (Queen Victoria Building), where we people watched and were entertained by street buskers.

Monday we took Destiny over to Rose Bay so the boys could play golf at the Royal Sydney Golf Club.  Scott returned very happy and exited. They'd had a really great time, at the swanky club and on the beautiful course but the best part for Scott was seeing kangaroos all over the course. He said at one of the holes, he crested a hill to find a herd of camels! What a great experience! Late afternoon we moved over to the MHYC dock to fill up with water and show the place to Scott. We ran in to the Tuppenny girls and some of our other friends there who got to meet Frank's mate. Early the next morning, Janet and Pauline drove over to have breakfast with me before we left Sydney. This meant so very much to me because it was quite a drive for both of them (coming from opposite directions) clear across Sydney just to meet me one last time. It was an emotional goodbye. Today marked the beginning of a lot of goodbyes.

As we sailed out of Sydney Harbour for the last time I teared up, feeling my heart tighten as I felt I was leaving so much love and companionship behind. Door One of many to follow, slowly closed and as we rounded the South Head I swear I heard a faint "click".

Feb 8 – 16, 2012 A Disappointment on Return to Newcastle, Haul-out and a Surprise Visit

Back in Newcastle, we arrived late. Exhausted. It was raining. We wanted to fall into bed but immediately noticed there was no electrical power to the boat. As I am processing this, the awareness that no power meant no fridge or freezer hit me. As Frank raced out to the power unit on the dock, I opened the freezer lid to find its contents swimming, ruined. Oh no, this did not happen.  I braced myself as I opened the refrigerator for the inevitable unpleasant and disgusting results. It was so, so bad.  Some time during our absence our power plug had shorted and blown at the box. While Frank rewired the plug I dove into the sickening task of emptying the contents of fridge and freezer, lamenting the loss of literally hundreds of dollars worth of food. Because of what I'd found growing in there I spent hours cleaning and sanitizing both boxes. The next day Frank spoke to Howard the marina manager, who told him it had rained and stormed nearly every day that we had been gone. He had no idea that our power had blown. None of us had a clue as to how long it had been out, although at this point it didn't really matter.

Obviously we hit the grocery store the next day and then made arrangements for Destiny to be hauled out for a bottom cleaning. We also arranged for some zipper and canvas repairs to a few ripped and worn spots that were appearing on the dodger and bimini. We are praying that the canvas, sails and rigging will remain intact until we reach Thailand at the end of 2012. We have been in so many incidents of high winds and rough weather it is time for replacements.

Rain, rain and more rain tormented us. Pauline phoned telling me she was up the coast at Boomerang and would try to arrange a stop at Newcastle on her way back to Sydney.  I begged her to make it happen. She arrived on Friday, picked me up and we set off for town and a Girl Day. We started with coffee and a catch-up, followed by some serious window-shopping and lunch on Darby St. We ended the afternoon picking up new deck chairs for Destiny before returning to pick up Frank for dinner. We drove back over to Darby Street where we met two of Pauline's good friends and former colleagues, Reece and Rosemary Delaney at the ever-popular restaurant, Goldberg's. Pauline stayed the night with The Delaneys, and early the next morning they picked us up for a trip to the Newcastle Farmers Markets where we shopped and ate to our hearts delight. Afterward, Frank had some work to do, installing our new horn and I was committed to finishing the laundry that had been sitting since before we flew home. Rosemary insisted that I bring the washing to her house, while Reese helped Frank wire the horn. Pauline opted for a nap. We enjoyed a nice afternoon and ended up staying on for dinner. At the end of the night Pauline was itching to get on the road back home, so she ran us back to the marina before setting off for the drive home.

Frank and Reese had toyed with the idea of playing around of golf, but the weather just never gave us a break. We finally got hauled out on the 16^th.  The hull was high-pressure washed, and then some electronic bits were installed that had to be done with the boat out of the water. We splashed just a few hours later and then on Thursday morning we rose early for the long journey back to Sydney.

Jan 1 – 12, 2012 Hello 2012 from Sydney With Love...and Karen’s visit, cont’d.

The first day of 2012 we awoke to lovely blue skies, and the conviviality of good friends. We munched on freshly baked croissants that we'd put into the oven to proof before going to bed. Mark and Heather radioed to ask for a ride back over to Blackwattle with us. As we were loading them aboard I asked Janet and the girls if they fancied a sail through the harbor or if they wanted to depart from the Taronga wharf. They happily elected to ride to Blackwattle Bay with us where they would catch a bus for home. We enjoyed an absolutely lovely sail back, past the Sydney Opera House, under the Harbour Bridge and then a little detour to show them the sights from the water before passing under the Anzac Bridge into Blackwattle Bay. Karen and the others reveled at the sights and the experience of sailing through the harbor. Karen perched herself right up by the bow, snapping photos and waving to other yachts that passed by. It was a perfect day to begin the New Year. We dropped our friends at the little Glebe Point wharf and returned home to phone our loved ones back in the States to wish them all Happy NYE. The father and daughter duo voted for a lazy day of doing nothing this first day of the New Year (could there be a hint of a hangover in there somewhere???)

Over the next several days, we showed Karen "our Sydney", via water and hiking trails. She had made a list of TTD's that we ticked off as we went. Some of those were: Do the Manly to The Spit walk – check! Manly Beach – check! Tour the Opera House – check! Ride the Manly ferry – well we sailed her to Manly on Destiny (even better!) – check! Go to The Rocks – check! Shop for an opal – check! Dinner or lunch at Doyle's Watson's Bay – check! Do the Coogee to Bondi walk – check! In fact, on that day, Janet picked us up early, drove us to her place at Coogee for breakfast where we were joined by Helen and Alicia, and then we walked Coogee to Bondi. Pauline met us at Bondi Icebergs for lunch. Afterward Frank, Karen and I joined the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour. We spent the remainder of the day and the next morning completing the tour. One night, Frank and Karen set off for a Pub Crawl of the oldest pubs in Sydney, including drinks at the Sydney Tower. I opted for dinner and a movie with Pauline and Janet. We dined at Chef's Gallery, which became my favorite Asian restaurant in all of Australia so far. It was nice to have my girlfriends around to hang out with while Frank and Karen scored some Father-Daughter time. We took Karen over up into Bantry Bay, followed by Bernd on UPPS (Tanja had returned to Germany). Pauline and Martin invited us for dinner at their home one night, and we took the train so Karen would have that adventure as well. She literally saw all of Sydney Harbor and most of Sydney.

One particular day, Karen wanted to anchor over by the Opera House, so we moved over to Farm Cove where UPPS was also anchored and then took the dinghy into the Opera House wharf. We had a beautiful day in town; Bernd joined us at the Rocks Markets and then guess where we had lunch!?!? Chef's Gallery.  After lunch we strolled for a while and then Frank and I left Karen in town to wander about and to take photos, arranging to meet back at the Opera House wharf at 4 PM to go into the Sydney Festival's opening night events. When we retrieved the dinghy, however, we lost our dinghy anchor at the wharf, (the waves were so rocky that our line just snapped!). Frank returned to pick up Karen, and when they arrived back at Destiny, the waves were really ripping up and tossing them about, Karen miss-stepped on Destiny's stern platform and went right into the water! She was a great sport about it - just laughed and laughed, bobbing around until Frank could manage to fish her out. Poor girl! We told her that she has now been christened by one of the rituals of being a guest on Destiny – the other is to get sick. She was happy to have gone into the drink instead. We did not make it back to shore for the Sydney Festival, and in fact decided to move out of the now white-capped Farm Cove.

January 12th, Mark and Heather invited us for breakfast on Karen's final day with us before offering her a ride back to the airport. We didn't get to EVERYTHING on her list but managed most of them.


That night,we met up with Heather Olsen and her boyfriend/friend Paul Atwood on Thursday night to run the Hash. Anyone who does not know what this means should “google”: Hash House Harriers.  I was/am a member of the H4 – Houston Hash House Harriers, although it has been years since I ran with them. Heather’s home group is called the “Sydney Thirsty Hash House Harriers.” The theme for the run was to wear your school uniform. We obviously borrowed from Heather and Paul. It was such fun! Although I am ashamed to admit we did not run, as neither of us is in any shape to run 7 km, so we followed the walkers trail. Although I should add another side note that we didn’t actually do the walkers trail – Frank and Paul CHEATED cutting out most of the real trail, resulting in their being forced to drink many down-downs and to received switches from the “matron”. I was happy and relieved to be given gingerbeer for my down-downs. I really didn’t want to waste a beer over my head! We enjoyed dinner with the gang afterward at one of the university campus pizza joints. It was such fun that we vowed to do it again. Here is a link to the pictures.Thirsty Sydney Hash

 

December 29 – 31, 2012 Karen’s visit and Happy NYE from Sydney Harbour

Karen's next was a full day in Sydney. We walked her through the Sydney Fish Market, over to Darling Harbour, through CBD, down George Street and over to Circular Quay. Frank had made a booking for us to tour the Opera House. The tour is worth the price of a ticket. Although we had seen a PBS Special on the history and construction of the Sydney Opera House, nothing like experiencing the real thing can bring it home. It is, even in this day, an architectural marvel. Afterward we lunched at the up-market food court at the opera house's waterfront boardwalk. Afterward, we (they) barhopped our way back up George Street. Frank wanted to show Karen his favorite beer bars. Eventually we arrived back on Destiny, exhausted.

On the 30^th, we took Karen over to Chinatown and to the Haymarket, Paddy's, where she did a fair bit of souvenir shopping. Karen and I hit the party store for streamers, noisemakers, maracas, glow-in-the-dark leis for the ladies and light swords for the guys for the big NYE bash in the harbor. We had invited Heather and Mark, Pauline, Martin, Janet, her sister Helen and Janet's daughter Alicia to come out with us. We told them it would be a sleeping bag night and that they should expect to see and meet a lot of new faces.

NYE morning, because none of our invited guests wanted to make such an early appearance as we had requested Frank, Karen and I headed over to Athol Bay after first hitting the Sydney Fish Market as soon as it opened. We stocked up on fresh oysters, and prawns, and lamb for souvlaki. I had prepared heaps of food and snacks. Russell had anchored Tomkat at Athol Bay since the day after Boxing Day and was staying put. His family would have arrived from Bobbin Head in their smaller launch last night.  As we navigated the minefield of vessels, we began receiving calls on the VHF from Shazaam! and Bliss from MHYC who were already in place and saving a spot for us. Tomkat was too close to the far shore for us to get a good view so we anchored over by the MHYC boats. Mark and Heather had opted to go out with Astrid and Michael on Bliss, probably thinking our boat would be a bit crowded.  Janet, Alicia, Helen, Pauline and Martin had all made arrangements to get to the Taronga Zoo's wharf during the afternoon where we would pick them up in our dinghy. It was a busy afternoon of shuttling back and forth to pick up our friends and stopping by to visit with others. Folks began arriving on Destiny laden with armfuls of food and drinks. Mark, Heather, Astrid, Michael and some of their friends were first to come by followed by Russell, Jan, Tom, Kate and Damo. By mid afternoon we had over 25 people on board Destiny. My gosh, do we have this many friends? Tanja and Bernd from UPPS didn't want to give up their good anchor spot in Farm Cove by the Sydney Opera House, so they braved the busy traffic in the harbor in their dinghy! Talk about risking life and limb. On a normal day crossing the harbor is hazardous, but to do it in a dinghy on NYE is very brave. They arrived a bit breathless and overwhelmed to see the crowd that had gathered aboard Destiny. This was so exciting! We think they all wanted to meet Karen. She was in Heaven. We had so many friends, ice chests and platters of food on board it was tough to get around. How blessed and fortunate we felt to have attracted this many good friends. As dusk approached, several of the others returned to their own yachts to watch the parade. It was even more spectacular than last NYE. At 9:00 the early show began. Tanja and Bernd wanted to get as close as possible to the front line for a better view and jumped into their dinghy. Immediately everyone else began piling into theirs and ours. Good idea! I stayed behind to watch the boat because this is a great time for opportunists to make rounds to unattended vessels for a little five-finger discount shopping. I stood on the ice chest and had a fantastic view of the bridge and the fireworks.  For the midnight show, Martin traded places with me. Thankfully several boats had left before midnight, making it a little easier to get around in the dinghy. We sat right out in the middle of the harbor – waves slapping at us furiously, dousing us all to the bone with cold salty water. There goes my silk blouse! The show was even more spectacular than last year's! We blew our little horns, tossed popped our confetti poppers, whooped and hollered! It was unbelievably exciting and beautiful. Returning to Destiny, Pauline and Martin announced they were going to try to get home. Frank took them back over to the ferry wharf where they managed to get a cab. Tanja and Bernd dinghied back across the harbor to Farm Cove. Janet, Alicia and Helen bedded down in the salon. We retired happy with huge smiles and contentedly fell immediately to sleep. It was a New Year that beat all the others we have ever experienced. Goodbye, 2011!

December 26th – 28th boxing Day, Sydney/Hobart Race and Karen Gladney Arrives

Early wake-up, drive down to Bobbin Head Marina with Russell, Kate and Tom to meet the others who would be joining us for the ride over to Sydney Harbour to watch the start of the world famous Sydney to Hobart Race. Joining us aboard Tomkat were Crossie, Damo and two of his mates. Following us in their own motor yacht were friends of Russell's from Perth.  Jan wisely opted for peace and quiet at home.  Tomcat was fully stocked with a large assortment of food and drinks. Russell provisions for two days what we stock for 2 weeks! Once on board we eased our way to the entrance of Broken Bay where Russell put the pedal to the metal and we shot like a cannon ball over to Sydney Harbor, going about 26 knots. What a ride! His yacht is not only beautiful; it is what my daughter would call badass. He took us all the way up to Middle Harbour, dropped us at Destiny and was back at Spring Cove in less time than it would have taken us to get halfway to the entrance of Sydney Harbor from Bobbin Head. We boarded Destiny and set off to join the others at Spring Cove.  Once we got underway I turned on Skype to call my family back home because today would Christmas for all of them. I managed to reach everyone but my daughter by the time we were scheduled to board Tomkat that would take us out to the start of the race. Disappointingly, I took Frank over in the dinghy, dropped him off and returned to Destiny where I opted to keep trying Jennifer on Skype rather than go out to watch the racers. Because of the time difference here to Houston, if I'd gone with the others it would be much too late to call Houston when we returned. I did manage to get Jen on the phone just as the racing boats left Sydney Harbour. It was well worth missing the race in order to wish Jennifer and Trace Merry Christmas.

The gang returned some hours later looking a bit haggard. Apparently Russ was pushing Tomkat so hard that a few of the guests got a bit sick. Frank described it as a death-defying ride out through the heads trying to keep up with the fleet. Seriously? Russell's Riviera trying to keep up with sailing yachts? These babies are fast! Frank told me that they were speeding past foolish onlookers who had ventured out in kayaks and dinghies that literally got tumbled in the churning waves that the multitude of yachts tossed up. He said aboard Tomkat they were all having a devil of a time holding on, much less taking photos. Eventually all of the youngsters departed leaving just us, Russell, Crossie and the other yacht to a quiet evening. We brought steaks over to grill on Tomkat where the 6 of us settled in for a feast. After dinner, Frank and I retired to Destiny. Sometime during the night a storm brewed, waking us out of a sound sleep. We awoke to hear motors and anchor chains working all around us. Apparently boats are dragging. We popped our heads up to note that Tomkat and many of the others had moved. We stayed firmly planted – thanks to our Rocna!

Frank and I moved over to Blackwattle Bay early Tuesday to get grocery shopping and laundry done in preparation for Karen's arrival. Over the past week we had been putting together a "welcome to Australia" gift pack for Karen. So far we had a basket filled with what we considered to be Aussie icons: Tim Tams, Cherry Ripes, melting moments, a photo book of Oz, a little koala and a koozie with Aussie characters on it, a personalized pen and tote bag. I think there were some other things in there but can't remember it all now. That afternoon, Mark phoned offering to pick Karen up at the airport – what a guy!

December 28^th, Karen's flight was scheduled to arrive at 7:30 AM. Mark drove us to the terminal, dropped us off and waited off premises while we went in to the international arrivals area to meet Karen. We stood poised with cameras in hand to catch her walking under the "Welcome to Sydney" banner.  She finally popped out around 8:45, all smiles and hugs! We stuffed her bags into the back of Mark's SUV and took off. Mark the consummate host, gave Karen a little driving tour of Sydney on the way back, even stopping off at his favorite French bakery for us to pick up a couple dozen frozen croissants. This is where I bought Karen her first Lamington. She liked it a lot. After getting her things stowed on board Destiny, we set off for town.

December 16 – 25, 2011 – Christmas Parties and Celebrations, Aussie Style!!!

Middle Harbour Yacht Club is becoming a big part of our lives. We have become very attached to its group of members; so much in fact that we joined, thanks to the encouragement of the Tuppenny girls Ruth and Gillie. December 16^th we attended the MHYC Christmas party and seafood extravaganza. It was a great opportunity to reconnect with several of the yachties with whom we had spent the previous Easter weekend over at Broken Bay. The evening was festive; the atmosphere charged with the holiday spirit, the attendees were friendly and outgoing. The seafood extravaganza was truly delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with everyone, including Santa, and later on singing carols together. Toward the end of the evening Colin, Scott and the gang asked us if we were going up to Sugarloaf Bay on the 17^th for the Christmas parade of lights? They were planning a big raft up and potluck dinner. We eagerly agreed to join them. Sugarloaf is up toward Bantry Bay and Cammeray. The parade was nice, but not as engaging as the group of friends that converged on Shazaam! Scott and Colin always host the most engaging and hilarious social gatherings. People naturally gravitate to Shazaam! whenever she is part of an event. I love these guys and feel a real ache thinking of leaving Australia in a few months.

December 20^th Mark and Heather sponsored an IPY owner's dinner at a trendy Asian restaurant in Balmoral where we met another couple of 485 owners, Dimitri and Arti who live in Sydney. They are planning a circumnav the other direction, taking off from Sydney. OOOH! We wish them well. After dinner we all retired to Mark and Heather's splendiferous penthouse overlooking Rozelle Bay for a game of cards. Oh no, we played "Oh Shit!" I am terrible at this game. As usual I was the big loser but we had a fantastic evening nonetheless.

December 24^th we joined the Cammeray Yacht Club's Christmas potluck luncheon where we ran into some old acquaintances (Nine of Cups) and met new ones. Consistent with last year's feast, the food was so good we literally stuffed ourselves. I took a Mexican 7-layer Dip, surprising myself at finding enough ingredients to make it work. I found that if I smashed some cannellini beans with some chili powder and taco seasoning then refried them in a skillet I could come up with a reasonable substitute for refritos (and much healthier I'm sure). The dip was a big success. We did not stick around for the afternoon festivities because we had a date with a train at 4 PM. This required sailing back to Middle Harbour, getting fastened onto a mooring and catching the bus into Sydney. If we orchestrated all according to plan we would arrive at Russell and Jan's house in Asquith in time for Christmas Eve dinner. We had been invited to spend an authentic Aussie Christmas with their family.  Everything fell into synch, putting us at the Meggitt home at 6:00 PM.  We settled in to the guest room complete with little filled stockings on our pillows, and then visited and ate a light dinner with Jan, Russell, Kate and Tom, followed by Kate's home made Pavlova, yummmm!

December 25^th – Merry Christmas! Ho, Ho, Ho from Then Land Down Under! Santa managed to track us down, bringing some special Aussie gifts to us: a set of Australian floral placemats depicting varieties of the indigenous eucalypt/gum tree flowers, a local cookbook entitled "Slices of Asquith" and a set of children's books depicting Aussie characters for the traditional ones such as Goldilocks and the Three Koalas. Santa is so clever! I took family gifts for them I'd purchased at some of the local Christmas markets. After the gift exchanging Jan, Kate and I headed out for a walk in the neighborhood whilst Frank and Russell sought out the cold beer. Debbie and Crossie, Jan and Russ's close neighbor friends joined us for Christmas dinner. Jan's dining room was decked out beautifully. Kate had set the table that proudly displayed her gingerbread house as the centerpiece. Dinner was wow! A leg of lamb roast, pork roast with crackling, a leg ham (from Debbie and Crossie), roast vegetables, salads, etc. we ate like royalty. The piece de la resistance however was Jan's Christmas pudding. We have never tasted anything so amazing. And we didn't even think we liked pudding. Hers was out of this world. I think she told me she steamed it for nearly 2 days? To top it off she planted a real 6 pence in each of our servings.

After lunch, the boys set off for the backyard to their favorite spot under the big gum tree, while Debbie, Jan, Kate and I sat on the porch for a relaxing chat. Kate's boyfriend Damo (short for Damien I think) stopped by later. They are so cute together! Tom went off to swim. He is a serious contender for a national championship, and swims or works out nearly every waking moment.

We stayed at the Meggitts again Christmas night and planned a very early wakeup call for Monday, Boxing Day which is also the day of the Sydney-Hobart Race.

November 24 (Happy Thanksgiving, America!) - December 15, 2011 in Sydney

Happy Thanksgiving from Sydney Harbour. Just being here is enough to make us feel grateful. We puttered on over to our familiar anchorage at Blackwattle Bay finding it very crowded. We greeted old friends Kim and Andrew on Artful Dodger, phoned Mark and Heather and Pauline and Martin to let them all know we’re here. Immediately our calendar got booked with lunches, dinners and coffees. I was anxious to hook up with all of them.

December 4, Mark Dent phoned to ask if we were up to a spontaneous road trip. There is an SUV he wanted to test drive for the week and needed to take it on the road. We readily agreed that we could be packed to go the next morning. He and Heather showed up with two vehicles: the one they were planning to “test” and another SUV which he explained is his mother’s car that needs to be driven because it apparently sits in the garage too much. Mark armed us with road maps and an overview of our destination. We will drive/follow them up into the Hunter Valley as far as Gloucester, then loop over to Singleton where we have a two-bedroom apartment booked for the night. We hopped in and followed them out to a beautiful drive on the M1 up the Pacific coast. We passed through picturesque (and at times odd-named) towns, into the lush green valley and much less populated areas of farmland, hills and mining country. Arriving in Singleton, we had difficulty finding a place open for dinner. Monday night the only eatery available was a pub. I felt as though I’d stepped back in time to an old east Texas honky-tonk town. There were a lot of Bubbas in here, and a few Bubbettes! Yee-haw, we had a good time. The meal was a bit under par, but the atmosphere was priceless. Returning to our very nice apartment, Mark broke out a set of playing cards and as he shuffled he asked what was our pleasure? Frank insisted on teaching us Hearts. We were having a fairly good time until he slammed us with some surprise rules and beat us all to a pulp. Funny how the rules kept changing in his favor wink, wink. Tuesday morning we set off to breakfast at a beautifully trendy antique, floral and collector shop that housed a small café in back. Then we hit the road – Putty Road back along the quicker inland route to Sydney. What a marvelous trip! What marvelous friends. But then, we find all of our Aussie friends are marvelous.

On our return Frank tended to do bloke jobs while I spent time with girlfriends. Pauline and I occupied an entire day out shopping one day and then she invited Frank and I to join her for dinner with her very close friend Janet. We ate Thai at “Atom” in Newtown, and found this to be one worthy of a return visit. Frank and I hit it off straight away with Janet. She would become part of our inner circle of Aussie friends.

We took great pleasure discovering new areas of Sydney Harbour, from Manly to 40-Baskets Beach, Iron Cove, Double Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Farm Cove, Middle Harbour all the way up into the secluded and beautiful Bantry Bay and back to Blackwattle. Discovering Sydney in this way is a delight that few travelers will enjoy when they make a trip Down Under. We continue to count our blessings as we explore this city that has much, much more to offer than a bridge and an opera house.

We passed a fair amount of time back and forth to Birkenhead Point where there is a large outlet mall, chandlery and in general good shopping. Mostly we enjoyed the plentiful walking and jogging trails here, and at just about everywhere along the shore in Sydney. The “Manly to The Spit” hike is one of the most popular and one which we did many times. Another favorite of ours is the Coogee to Bondi. Janet lives in Coogee.

The following week while we were anchored at Rose Bay Pauline and Martin picked us up for a drive down to Cronulla, Port Hacking and Botany Bay. Martin wanted us to see the areas we had been thinking of sailing to, explaining that it is good to see it before going all that way in the boat. It was a beautiful drive, along which he also showed us some of the fairly large custom homes he had built around there. We ended the day with dinner at an excellent Greek restaurant in downtown Sydney. The next morning Frank and I watched the Sydney-Hobart race boats doing practice runs just out the harbor from us. Some of them are simply magnificent to watch up close and personal. What a thrill it is to be here – seriously we keep pinching ourselves. That afternoon we decided to get going to Middle Harbour. Rose Bay is nice but with all the traffic of ferries and seaplanes it gets to be a bit too much.

November 19 – 24, 2011- Broken Bay, NSW

Foggy!

Nov 19 - Visibility returned after a couple of hours as we sailed to Broken Bay, going with the current for a good part of it. We called ahead to alert (ha ha, warn) Russell and Jan Meggitt that we were on our way. Russ said to meet them at their mooring ball where we would raft with TomKat for the night. We can always count on them for a good time. Kate was fishing off the back of TomKat as Jan relaxed with a glass of wine on the back deck looking beautiful as always. Several of their friends had joined them onboard for happy hour. Russell was leaning against the side laughing with a beer in his hand. This is so typical of these our wonderful Aussie friends. We enjoyed a really nice visit with them and then as darkness settled in we all retired to our own quarters to prepare dinner.

Sunday mid-morning, Nov 20^th, we set off for Pittwater but as we turned the corner from America Bay out toward the entrance to Broken Bay we were engulfed in fog that was twice as dense as that coming out of Newcastle! This was scary. We could not even see our own mast. Eerily we could hear engines about us indicating powerboats nearby although we could see none of them until after we felt the roll of their wake. What I feared most was encountering another sailing yacht that we would not hear until it was upon us. We crept as slowly as possible keeping the radar active and all running and deck lights on. After 45 tense minutes we eventually began to see clear patches ahead, although the fog remained thick about us all the way over to Pittwater. What would ordinarily have been about an hour journey lasted a nerve-wracking 3 ½. We arrived at Pittwater in the mid afternoon, searched out a courtesy mooring and not unexpectedly ended up dropping the hook over by Currawong Beach. It is rainy, rainy, ugly.

Early Monday morning we moved across the bay to Palm Beach. When the rain diminished to a misty dribble we set off for shore. Gotta get those legs moving. We ambled over to the ocean side of Palm Beach and onto the set of one of the local TV dramas being filmed. This is the set for "Home and Away". Wow they were filming! We watched a few scenes being filmed and walked around past several of the actors. A few said "Hello" or "G'Day" to us. It was real cool hanging out right there on the set! There was no security to run us off, so I snapped photos of some of the actors performing their scenes, while employing evasive maneuvers to get away from the (literally) hundreds of flies that were besieging us. How in the heck do the actors stand it? This is awful, but it was fun. After a while, in spite of the thrill, we just couldn't take the flies any longer so we walked down the way to a little café that appeared to be serving some very nice food. We ordered and then sat down to immediately become savaged by the pesky flies again. Lunch was delicious but overshadowed by the annoyance of our uninvited guests. We set off to walk back to the other side of the bay and back to Palm Beach - then it started to rain. Again. We began hurrying back to the boat when Frank's flip-flop blew out. He was forced to walk the last mile barefooted. Tough guy. We didn't make it back to Destiny before the heavens heaped driving rain on us.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we were absolutely rained in and getting tired of this.  At mid-day we decided to make a break for Sydney. There is just no point sitting here boat-bound. So we weighed anchor and hit it for Sydney Harbour, arriving at Quarantine Bay in late afternoon. The weather was clear and beautiful!

April 21 - 25th , 2011 – Pittwater and Newcastle friends and fun!

Palm Beach – it’s not just in Florida – in Pittwater is just one of dozens of amazing anchorages in this part of Pittwater. We grabbed a mooring ball and awaited the arrival of our friends from Sydney the next morning. When they all arrived we found a happy surprise…Tuppenny was among them. After introductions to the gang they announced that we would be actually spending the night at America Bay! So off we sailed around the head back to the Hawksbury River side of Broken Bay. That night was to be a potluck dinner aboard two of the yachts that were rafted to a buoy. Since we’d had no idea there was an actual agenda and this was news to us, I contributed the dinner I had already prepared for Frank and I: skewered lamb souvlaki with homemade tzakiki and green beans sautéed with garlic and almond slivers. We used the lamb as appetizers for the group.  We feasted on a multitude of goodies and finished up with someone’s birthday cake (another surprise for us – but great fun!), then sat around chatting, until late into the night. What a great bunch this Middle Harbour Yacht Club is.

The next day, we all moved over to Cottage Point for breakfast and then the group dispersed so that everyone could do their own thing. Heather and Mark came aboard for the night with us and we returned to America Bay for the night. Early Sunday morning they all left for Sydney. Russell phoned to say that Jan and Tom were back in town and that they were coming over on Tomkat for a visit and to Spend Sunday night. Frank and I were exhausted and had planned a very early departure for Newcastle but looked forward to seeing Jan and Tom, so we found our second wind.  They arrived with a couple of friends on board and an absolute heap of food and drinks, rafted up to us and once again we feasted and visited into the wee hours.

As promised, we awoke at 5 AM on Monday, Anzac Day, gently cast off from Tomkat and whispered goodbye to Kate and Russell who had awaken to see us off.  We enjoyed a fabulous day of sailing up to Newcastle, arriving with the incoming tide as planned. Newcastle is another of Australia’s hidden secrets. Whoever plans a trip to Australia that includes Newcastle? Unless you travel by yacht you probably would not give it a lot of thought. Originally for us it was just another stop along the way to break up the trip along the coast.

The second largest city in New South Wales (NSW), Newcastle is one of the largest shipping ports in Australia and is currently the largest coal-exporting harbor in the world. Its Aboriginal name is Muloobimba. It has a richly colonial and violent history, including convicts used as laborers, suffering and hard times, but as with many of these fascinating cities this history lends to the charm and attraction of its modern self. 

Our first order of business (always) was to hit the grocery store. As we were checking out I wished the young cashier, “Happy Anzac Day!” and expressed my condolences that he had to work on this big holiday. He replied, “Oh, no worries, I’m not complaining because I’m making $53/hour today!” Uh, no wonder our grocery cost so darn much in this country! I’m thinking of getting a job at Coles, myself!  Back at the marina Frank washed down the boat while I trotted off to the laundry room. We didn’t do much the first night, other than bundle up against the cold drizzle and head to the yacht club for dinner. Tomorrow our Newcastle adventures would begin.

April 11 – 21st, 2011 Back to Sydney and Destiny, and Onward to Broken Bay

Destiny was still on the hardstand when we returned. When she splashed a few days later, our destination was Blackwattle Bay, where we spent the next few days readying to leave Sydney. Our highlight was going to dinner one last time with Heather and Mark. Gosh we will miss these two, but will see them again in the Aussie springtime. We were ready for some adventures and had been in Sydney long enough for now. I was happy that this would be the last time for a long while that I'd have to lug the bags of laundry 2 km up the hill to wash.

We left Sydney Harbour on the morning of April 18th; destination Cowan Creek, just the other side of Pittwater on Broken Bay. Frank had a promise to fulfill to our new friend Russell. Broken Bay is a very large body of water, comprised of many smaller bays and creeks. Cowan Creek is actually large and wide – not like a creek at all rather more akin to a river. We motored up Cowan Creek, meandering past beautiful, lush forests and towering embankments that rose proudly along both sides of the creek, so calm and serene. We motored as silently as possible feeling that to raise the rpm's would disturb the peaceful repose of the nature that surrounded us. The Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park flanked us to port (the left side). Now we understood two things: this is why there is no phone and no internet service in here, and this is why it is so peaceful. Clearly, we could hear the gentle water parting for our bow and closing back in around the stern as we passed. This is not a place to rush for anything. The calm water reflected our profile as though we were passing through a liquid mirror. The sounds of nature were all about us as we drifted along feeling…just feeling.  Eventually we arrived at a beautiful park straight ahead, and noticed a small marina tucked into the cove: Bobbin Head. A few boats were anchored to the side of us. Frank put Destiny in neutral and she just sat. So calm. We did not have a booking for the marina, so we opted to anchor.  Frank had been trying to phone Russell on and off all the way up the Cowan Creek only getting an intermittent signal as we passed a valley here or there. He managed to reach his voicemail and had left him a message that we were on our way to Bobbin Head. Not long after we set the hook and sat back to relax, a runabout motored up to us carrying two surly-looking men. As they closed in we heard a very strong Australian accent yell up at us; " I never thought you bastards would come!" Here, bigger than life, stood Russell Meggitt and the marina manager holding onto our railing and smiling like the Cheshire Cat. Russell was so excited to see us, exclaiming over and over his disbelief that we had finally made an appearance. After meeting us in Sydney Harbour over New Year's Eve and inviting us to stop by for a visit, so many months had passed (it was now Easter time) that he had abandoned all hope of seeing us again. He shared with us that he watched for our arrival for months and finally told his family we must have just been paying him lip service, never really meaning to stop in. Frank defended us explaining that we had just left Sydney, determined to make this our first stop and so here we are. He invited us to his home for dinner, saying that he would return to pick us up at 5 PM. I asked what to wear, and he responded "Ah, Mate, just come as you are…I am!" Well one look at him told me I could come as a ragamuffin.  He was dressed like a homeless person. I told Frank we shouldn't expect too much as Russell and the marina manager sped away.

There was still plenty of time left in the day for us to go into shore for a look around. Truly it was hard to resist. The allure of this place was strongly enticing. Bobbin Head has been awarded the distinguished Five Gold Anchors award by the MIAA and is described as follows:  "Positioned deep into Cowan Creek within the Ku-ring-Gai Chase National Park, the marina is surrounded by virgin natural bushland that tumbles into the tranquil coves and inlets. It's a little urban treasure…" As we walked over to the little park, I exclaimed to Frank that this is just too pretty and serene to be real. Even the visitors at the park, the ducks in the inlet and the little café/gift shop were almost too perfect. We stopped for lunch and a hot coffee (chilly out), and then ventured over to one of the trailheads called the Bobbin Head Loop. The trees and vegetation bore such remarkable colors and patters, I stopped to take picture after picture of various trees and then we came to some Aboriginal markings in stone; axe grinding bowls cast into the rock and sharpening grooves. We were simply fascinated with this place. Eventually, however, we worked our way back to the boat for a quick shower and change for our dinner date. I did not go dresses as I "was", but put on a simple long sleeve T-shirt, sweats and a hoodie. Russell arrived spit and polished looking quite dapper. I could have crawled under a rock!

 His home is located in the small town of Asquith, surrounded by large beautiful trees it backs up to a dramatic golf course. It is an architectural sensation. Russell and Jan built this stunning home on property that could have been stolen directly from a fairy tale setting. I felt I'd just been tripped up again by my own sense of judging a book by its cover. Twice I'd seen Russell and although we had both taken an instant liking to him, thinking he was a great guy, I had never dreamed of what lay under that layer of country bumpkin façade. Shame on me – again! He introduced us to his daughter Kate, explaining that his wife and son, Jan and Tom, were both out of town. Russell and Frank set off to grill some steaks and drink beer while Kate and I got acquainted. We had a lovely evening, although I was truly sorry to have missed seeing Jan. Russell delivered us back to Destiny later that night making us promise to take our dinghy for a float up the creek past the marina at high tide. He promised we would be impressed with how beautiful it is back there. We couldn't imagine it being more beautiful than what we had already seen. We assured him that we would and then bid him goodnight promising to stay in touch.

That evening we received a phone call from Heather and Mark, hoping that we had not ventured too far along yet, informing us that they would be joining an Easter weekend yacht adventure to Pittwater with the Middle Harbour Yacht Club.  They extended an invitation to us as "honorary members" for the event. We replied that we were in no hurry and would be happy to turn back (one bay over) to meet them in Pittwater on Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday morning after another remarkable bush walk, we cruised the dinghy up the creek. This water is so clean and clear I felt I could drink it, the forest (bush) so lush I could smell it, and the rock formations bursting with colorful designs appeared to be carved by the hand of God. An entire universe was teeming below the surface of the crystal water without making a ripple upon the surface. This is the perfect venue for meditation. We slowly cruised along until we realized we had been out for over an hour, and must turn back before low tide. The return journey revealed even more beauty as we enjoyed another perspective from the opposite direction with sun gleaming on the trees and rocks from another angle. Returning to Destiny we weighed anchor and then moved out to America Bay, closer to the exit for Pittwater.

We had just settled in for a quiet evening when we heard something outside. A large motor yacht was bearing down on us. OH MY GOSH! A powerful light shone on us and we thought – Uh, oh, we are on someone's private mooring and the authorities are coming after us. They large yacht slowed and we heard a voice yell out, "Tried to call you, Mate, but you didn't answer the phone". It was Russell. We had no phone service out here so of course we didn't' answer. Next thing I knew he was tossing us lines and we were rafting up stern to bow. He handed Frank a cold beer and invited us over. His boat (a Riviera) is named Tom Kat and is an absolute showboat. So this is how the other half lives! Russell is one surprise after another. I prepared dinner for the three of us and we visited for quite a while, then I left the boys to their beers, hugged Russ goodnight and returned to my book and the warmth of our bed. In the morning we wandered over to Pittwater to meet up with Heather, Mark and the Middle Harbour Cruising Club.

Return to Oz; March 10, 2011

After spending 6 weeks with my daughter, grandson and my parents I was missing Frank and Destiny in a big way. My time with Jennifer and Trace was very special and I took precious memories with me back to Oz.

My biggest challenge on the return was lugging two 50 lb checked bags and two maxed out carry-on bags (I probably carried another 75), out of the terminal to the train.  It was far too much for me to handle without Frank, so I opted to pay the ransom for a cab. It was well worth the exorbitant fare to travel in comfort the last few miles of my journey.  Frank greeted me with the biggest smile and bear hug that he has ever mustered, and then led me to the dinghy.

We spent the first few days doing nothing but enjoying being back together again. Six weeks apart is a fabulous marriage counselor, whether you need it or not!

Over the next few weeks we socialized quite a lot; Frank introduced me to Mark Dent and Heather Heckenberg. Frank had been to dinner with them a few times during my absence. Mark is the IPY dealer for Australia. The four of us hit it off immediately! They live in a beautifully appointed penthouse overlooking Rosetta Bay, which is just adjacent to Blackwattle where we frequently anchor. They showed us areas of Sydney we had not yet enjoyed, and of course introduced us to some fabulous eateries.

Destiny was due to go back on the hardstand for a bit of maintenance work, so we planned a trip away while she was getting her facelift. Our first stop would be a drive along the Great Ocean Road, then a flight over to Tasmania and then on return we would spend a few days with our Melbourne friends, John and Loretta Wise. Hence, the fine-tuning commenced.

Jan 2 - 16, 2011 - Sydney

Jan 2 - 16, 2011
We enjoyed our next two days with the Wise's and the Spencer's seeing
Sydney with them, of course most of it centered on the best
restaurants and bars! We bid a sad farewell to these four dear friends
on Wednesday and then got down to the business of boat chores.
We spent much of the next two weeks going back and forth between
Manly, Middle Harbor and Black Wattle visiting with various cruiser
friends, Gato Go, Endangered Species, Tuppenny, Wasabi and dining with
our new Sydney friends, Mark Dent and Heather Heckenberg.
About a week into the New Year, I made a decision to fly to Houston to
tend to family matters and to help my daughter through a particularly
rough time. So on January 16th, I left my beloved Frank and Destiny
alone together in Sydney and flew home for nearly 2 months. It was a
difficult time for all of us, but necessary, nonetheless.

January 1, 2011 – Happy New Year, Sydney Style!

Our NYE afternoon continued to get more entertaining, and as we
watched the flotilla build around us we broke out some snacks of fresh
Sydney Rock Oysters, peel and eat prawns, cheeses, dips, crackers and
so forth to get us through the daunting anticipation of what was to
come.
At twilight, sparks flew and crackles began all up and down the
harbor, building and building until a full blown 20-30 minute
fireworks show let loose along the waterfront. We were told this is
the early show for the benefit of young families who would want to
see, hear and enjoy the celebration and then get their wee ones safely
returned home before the big blast at midnight. It was quite a show!
We chose this time to have our full on dinner. The grilled fresh
salmon and barramundi and my marinated prawns turned out perfectly. In
fact we had so much food that we had mountains of leftovers. Nearby to
us a large motor yacht had been shuttling loads of party-goers out to
a much larger yacht anchored just a few hundred feet from us and as
time wore on the second launch rafted up to the first making a very
large floating disco with at least 100 party-goers drifting back and
forth between the two. The music was nothing short of obnoxious and
the volume so loud that even a football field's length away, we could
hardly hear each other talk. It was a real pity because this gang just
blasted right over the accompanying music and fireworks we had come
here to enjoy. Boaties all around were yelling and complaining, but
that just made them crank it up even louder. It was a shame really,
but nothing to be done about it.
The evening really began when a large lighted boat parade swept up
through the harbor and came back around several times. The decorated
yachts and large vessels were just incredibly adorned. I've seen a few
boat parades in my years but none to compare to this. It is a pity my
camera didn't get even one good shot. While the parade continued to
circle, sputters and sparks began to erupt once again up and down the
entire harbor! It was a complete over stimulation for my little ADD
addled mind! We didn't know where to look! The Harbour Bridge, The
Opera House and the entire shoreline were in a mad competition for our
eyes, minds and attention. It was everything we had dreamed of and
much, much more. Television does not do this event justice. So instead
of frantically trying to catch it on film, we just sat back in wide-
eyed awe at the splendor about us. Even the grinding disco music
couldn't detract from the wonder of this experience. She how went on
for ages and it seemed billions of fireworks must have been spent, but
we never wanted it to end. Never has this chatty 6-some been this
silent for so long. When the last fizzle settled down in to a rising
wisp of spiraling smoke, we sat still and quiet for a bit, just
feeling the pleasure of the night. This was the most memorable and
happiest New Year Frank and I have ever had. Neither of us can imagine
topping this one.
Eventually, the area settled down into silence but for the obnoxious
floating disco that raged on for anther couple of hours. Most of the
boats, tinnys, yachts, launches and various floating craft thinned out
by the time we were ready for bed. The six of us sat for a while
reliving the night and sharing our thoughts and feelings before
heading off for bed.
Happy 2011!

Dec 27 – 31, 2010, Visit from Melbourne and Brisbane Friends and NYE in Sydney Harbour! Part 1

John and Loretta Wise arrived from Melbourne the morning of Dec. 27^th. They know Sydney quite well, so after stowing their gear we donned walking shoes and took off. For the next few days we explored parts of Sydney that Frank and I may have taken months to discover. This included the Opera House, The Rocks (historic area), China Town, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, The Royal Botanic Gardens, the puppet maker's shop and art galleries. We ate some fabulous meals and walked until our little tootsies ached! One of my favorite days was taking the bus to beautiful Coogee, and then walking the beach trail all the way back to Bondi Beach. It is a magnificent walk, and one we recommend to anyone planning a trip to Sydney.

On January 30^th, after another long sweltering day, Frank cranked on the A/C and we burrowed in to watch the 5:00 news. Within minutes we were pretty well zoned, listening intently to the news when we were jolted out of our cozy little world by a loud and urgent banging on the hull of the boat! Frank and I popped up the companionway hatch to be greeted by a rowing club canoe full of about a dozen rowers, pointing to the shore at a man there waving his arm and yelling for us to turn on our VHF radio. It scared the hell out of us! We turned on the VHF. The man hailed us saying, "Hello Destiny! My name is Mark Dent. I am the Island Packet Yacht dealer in Australia and I want to welcome you to Sydney!" We laughed with relief and started bantering back and forth with Mark. Eventually we relayed our phone #'s to one another, so we could continue our conversation on the phone. He told us he lived there overlooking the bay and, although he doesn't have a boat at this time, he had seen us motoring around looking for a spot to anchor. He had been trying to find a way to get in touch but we never seemed to have our radio on when he hailed us, so he coerced the group of rowers into getting our attention. He invited us all up to his penthouse for a NYE party the next night. We declined because we had our plans set on being on the water, but promised to get in touch with him after our guests returned home. He assured us that if there is anything we need while in Oz to just let him know.

On the morning of Jan 31, while awaiting the arrival of Scott and Muriel Spencer from Brisbane we hit the Sydney Fish Market for "provisions" for our NYE celebration. Frank and John went in one direction, Loretta and I in another. We loaded the fridge and the ice chest (Eskie) with fresh prawns, salmon, barramundi and oysters from the fish market; beer, wine and champagne from the bottle store, and accompaniments from the grocery store. We were equipped to feast until the dawn's early light.

As soon as we picked up Scott and Muriel we headed out of Blackwattle Bay to claim our little piece of prime viewing real estate in Sydney Harbour. We had hoped to anchor at an area in front of the zoo, which many locals had recommended to us. By the time we arrived at midday, the area was abuzz with eager boaters rushing in to drop their anchors. It was a zoo!  I do not know why but some people always want the spot that someone else has. This was the case time & again, as the show in the water around us got more and more entertaining. We sat out on deck sipping our drinks observing the hectic activities about. It reminded me of rude people in a queue at a Denver Broncos football game where people are trying to cram themselves through a very small opening so they can hurry inside. One poor couple with a small child in a very small motor boat had dropped the hook nearby and found themselves overwhelmed by the larger boats squeezing in and tossing them about. We noticed boats dragging, tangling up on other's anchor lines, calling to one another and vying for the perfect spot. After a while, the maritime patrol boats came out and set up perimeter buoys. As they did so lots of lots of boats that had spent lots and lots of time getting situated fell outside the permitted anchorage and were told to move. We got a little tense as they neared Destiny, nodded to us and then literally carved out a spot around us giving us front row advantage – whew! But, oh we did feel badly for those other people who just wanted to get settled and were finding it more and more difficult to squeeze in. It was nerve-wracking at times for all of us because for some it really was amateur hour!

Late in the afternoon a man came by in his runabout, yelled up at Frank, "Hey, you're the American bloke I met in Manly Harbour on Boxing Day, aren't you?" Frank laughed and said, "Yes, and you are the guy who gave me the wrong directions to the Heads!" We invited him up for a beer and after a while he left giving us his phone # and making us promise to look him up when we get to Broken Bay on our way back up the coast. Super nice guy – bigger than life and so typically Australian (from what we always pictured Aussies to be). At the time we never guessed that Russell and his family would come to be very good friends.

December 20-26th; Summertime and Christmas in Sydney

I'd love to say that we did all the fun touristy things that we had planned to do in Sydney, but the truth is I've been dealing with some health issues that have cut into a fair amount of our time here and our time in Brisbane. It is also a small part of the reason I am so delayed posting updates of the last 6 months of our travels.

However, we did some walking around the city, and got to know the place fairly well in between my doctor visits and lab tests. Suffice it to say I will live, and there is nothing that needs to be reported on our blogs.

We had been reunited with some of our cruising friends since arriving here and were planning a busy holiday season. Cammeray Yacht Club extended an invitation to all of us to join them at their annual Christmas Eve party. Cammeray is located over in a whole other area of Sydney Harbour, several bays away from our present anchorage so we made the little journey over there to join our fiends for a few days. We caught up with Renata and Helmut (s/v Nuku a'lofa), whom we hadn't seen in a long while. We all prepared our potluck dishes and piled into the yacht club owner's home. Wow – what a feast! There was so much good food I wish I had two stomachs!

We left early Christmas morning to get over to Manly Bay to celebrate our own private Christmas and to be in position for the start of the Sydney-Hobart race on Dec. 26^th. As Christmas day wore on, we got more and more crowded in by other yachts hoping to gain a good vantage point for the departure.  Finally on Boxing Day, Dec 26^th, the excitement rose to new heights all around. Frank was very eager to hike up to the top of the heads to watch the start. It was pouring rain and I wasn't up to it, so sadly he went at it alone.  I couldn't see much from where we were wedged in so I turned on the TV and watched the race from the dry comfort of Destiny. It was very exciting, nonetheless! What a thrill to be here for such a big event. There were tense moments as one of the spectator boats (other reports said it was actually a media boat) was trying to get as close as possible to the racers and actually got in the course, colliding with one of the racing yachts! Idiots! It was so crowded out in the harbor that I would not be surprised of more such incident occurred during the frenzy.  Frank returned very happy. One more for his Bucket List for sure.

By late afternoon, the carnival atmosphere had settled down as most of the Stickybeaks retreated. Only the die-hards stuck around to finish out the holiday. Manly is a very popular holiday boatie spot. Frank and I made a last minute clean-up and boat check before retiring, making sure everything is ready for the arrival of our friends John and Loretta Wise on the 27^th.

December 19th, 2010 – Sydney At Last!

There are no words to describe the scene, the feeling of awe and the thrill of arriving by yacht into Sydney Harbour for the first time. None.

As we passed through the Heads (South Head & Quarantine Head), and entered the vastness of the harbor, I felt an incredible sense of smallness. Where is the Opera House? Where is the famous Harbour Bridge? Frank laughed and said, "Barb, it's a big place and we have about an hour yet to go". It is a remarkable feeling looking around with childlike wonder, tensing at the busy, busy traffic and noting all the things there are to see both on land and in the water. Sydney Harbour, AKA Port Jackson is tracked with its famous Wedding Cake Lights. They look like miniature lighthouses fixed throughout the port they are solid white and layered as a wedding cake.  Beautiful. There are countless little and not so little islands littered throughout. Ferries, from very large to small fast cats threw us in their wakes. Kayakers, fishermen and dinghies bobbed about. Are they nuts? There are so many bays, anchorages, inlets and coves that it is like a city in the water. Then of course there were the sigh-seeing tours and the cruise ships. This was larger and busier than Auckland by far, but even so more majestic in our minds. I was looking at the chart book to try to figure out where we were at any given time and noted some interesting names and found my favorite among them:  Woolloomooloo Bay.

Finally as we rounded Farm Cove the magnificent Sydney Opera House came into view. Just beyond it stands the notable Harbour Bridge. I scrambled out to the toe rail to get a good enough picture and cursed the ferries and other boats that kept getting between me and my photo op! I looked back at Frank and thought I'd never seen a happier smile on my captain's face. We just got to put one more big check mark on our Bucket List. Yes, we did it! We had sailed into Sydney Harbour on our own yacht. This was a special moment for the two of us. How many people get to say that?

We entered the small (very small) anchorage at Blackwattle Bay, where Wasabi awaited our arrival and pointed us to a spot near them. Frank popped his celebratory beer and I saluted him with my bottle of sparkling water. Big smiles all around!

Dec 17 & 18, 2010 – Pittwater

Thursday we tried to explore Pittwater but it is a busy, busy place
and unless you are a member or a local it doesn't feel as inviting to
us as transients. Terry and Christine invited us over for dinner at
their home, so in the afternoon we went over to their place.
Their home is one of those multilevel ones you'd see along the
shoreline that is built up the side of the hill. It is like a
beautiful resort. Every room faces the water and has a balcony. It is
open and fresh. In the early evening the birds come right onto the
balcony just off their dining room for the daily treats that Terry and
Christine provide to them. We were thrilled to see Cockatoos, parrots
and Kookaburras practically eating out of Terry's hands. They came
right up to us, no fear. Fair dinkum!
After that we dined on Terry's amazingly prepared grilled steaks and
prawns. Ah, it was a lovely evening. Before leaving we agreed that the
next day they would come by for sundowners and then we would head over
to have dinner at their favorite Thai restaurant.
Frank and I spent the next day just doing boat chores and getting
settled from the overnight trips. We are not comfortable here and look
forward to leaving for Sydney tomorrow AM.
Dinner with Terry and Christine was very good. Great Thai food and
company. We all hugged goodbye and then headed home. They sure are a
nice couple.

December 16, Second Day of Overnighter to Pittwater from Pt. Macquarie – Arrival

Continuing this, our most interesting passage since reaching
Australian waters, a dense thick fog settled in around us as the wind
and seas became virtually still. We turned on all of our running
lights and deck lights in an effort to be visible to all traffic,
since some may not have/use or be paying attention to their radar.
Fortunately we forged on without incident.
The going continued at a snail's pace as the countercurrent pushed
against us and as we maneuvered back toward land to make approach at
Pittwater. I was happy to be able to brew up some coffee and prepare
breakfast in the becalmed conditions.
Time passed, the fog lifted we both got some rest and then just after
midday we had a good visual of the entrance to Pittwater. The day
turned out to be beautiful, the water sparkled and the approach into
this huge bay was an inviting and welcome sight. Lots and lots of
activity greeted us, as we passed by several yacht races, bobbing
fishing boats and vacationers participating in all kinds of water
sports. We felt revitalized.
We dug out the phone # of our friends, Terry Moran and Christine Soul
whom we had met in SavuSavu aboard their beautiful big catamaran,
Sedna. We had cruised with them on and off during the season in the
islands. They lived somewhere in Pittwater and had told us to be sure
to ring them when we arrived there. We got in touch with them and
obtained directions to their area of the bay. Pittwater is absolutely
huge; 5 miles long and littered with inlets, bays, lovely beaches,
resorts, yacht clubs, townships and reserves. Terry and Christine
lived on a little private island called Scotland Island, which is at
the far end of Pittwater. We bobbed and weaved, zigged and zagged past
the sailboat racers, fishermen, jet boaters and water skiers taking an
hour to arrive at the little anchorage off Scotland island. The
anchorage was packed and so we motored around for another half hour to
find a suitable place to anchor. Even still it was in the path of the
water taxis and ferry boats but we had no other choice. It was 2:30 PM.
Terry came out in his runabout to tell us the lay of the land and to
invite us to dinner at their house the following night. We unpacked
our deck chairs, the grill and tidied up Destiny before having an
early dinner and settling in for a nice long rest for the evening.