Pittwater to Sydney Dec 2017 – April 2018

There was so much to see and where to start?  We had three months before our visitor’s visa expired and with 5 weeks to Christmas we elected to sail south to Sydney for the festive season at the Sydney Opera House, the start of the Sydney to Hobart race and New Year celebrations in the Sydney Harbour.  We would be celebrating Kaija's Birthday with thousands of other yachties enjoying one of the most spectacular fireworks displays EVER.   

We had yet to experience some of the challenges of sailing Australian coastal waters at night but we quickly learned to do so at our own peril.  This involved finding the southern current, avoiding fish traps and keeping a close watch on the ever changing weather.  We departed Bundaberg on Nov 15 and arrived in Pittwater on November 29.

Pittwater is located some 20 miles north of Sydney and is home to one of the largest sailing/boating communities we have ever seen.  The Pittwater Bay area of approx. 3 sq. miles is home to more than 5000 water craft, 2 large Yacht clubs, and handful of marinas.  Almost every foot of shoreline is privately owned with homes worth north of One Million dollars and more than a few worth many multiples of that.

 

Sydney is a densely populated cosmopolitan vibrant city and with Christmas around the corner it was abundantly festive.

We had three items on our bucket list that involved spending time in Sydney.  

 The first was to visit the Sydney Opera House for the Christmas rendering of Handel’s Messiah which was outstanding.  A full orchestra accompanying a 600 voice choir made this evening a chilling reminder of the brilliance and talent of this composer and provided a wonderful setting for our Christmas season.  The music was moving and the sound in that amazing acoustical venue was chilling.  It was a fantastic experience setting the tone and Spirit of Christmas.  If given the opportunity it is not be be missed and most assuredly remembered long after.

The second item on the bucket list was watching the start of the renowned Sydney to Hobart yacht race as more than a hundred, million dollar yachts vied for line honors racing out the entrance of Sydney Harbour.  Our Manly Rock Cliff side vantage spot afforded us a ring side seat for this nail biting, spectator packed nautical drama...this year featuring a near collision and protest at the start line by two of the favorites, Wild Oats and Cherokee who went to on to finish First but only by seconds...I dare say, had Wild Oats completed their penalty turn at the start, the results could most likely have been quite different...what a BLAST! to witness this up close and personal.

The piece da resistance was to be aboard our own yacht during the festivities of the sound and light show put on in Sydney Harbour for New Year’s Eve.  This was an exciting evening, made perhaps more so by the number of vessels, of all sizes, most overcrowded and poorly skippered with intoxicated individual who had no business being there in the condition they were in, but despite a few close calls, we did enjoy what is said to be one of the finest displays of  musically synchronized fireworks anywhere on the planet.   At times there were so many electrifying starbursts the entire sky from horizon to horizon was lit up...it was in fact an AMAZING SPECTACLE.

Having done these three things, they are checked off the bucket list and for sure one of them will NEVER be repeated.

It was however, a terrific way to bring in the New Year, and to celebrate Kaija’s birthday and for sure will not soon be forgotten.

A Note to Self re the Down Unda Lingo :o)

The language of this upside down continent may be English but with a very distinct and unique interpretation.  Not only in pronunciation but also word meanings.  Aerial Ping Pong is Australian Rules Football, arguably one of the more brutal full contact sports available, Ankle Biters are Little Children, Bangers are sausages, Tinnies are Beers, Jumpers are sweaters or long sleeved shirts, Beanie’s are toques’, Bugs are Shrimps, Blokes are guys, Budgie smuggler is a nickname for speedo swimming trunks for men, Bushie is someone who lives in the bush, Chippy is a carpenter, Chook is a chicken, Chuck a sickie is call in a sick to work for a day off, The Coat hanger is the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Cozzie is a swimming suit, Dead horse is Tomato sauce, Dogs eye is a meat pie, Dunny is a toilet, Hard yakka is hard work, Joey is a baby kangaroo, No dramas means no worries, Ocker is a person with poor manners, Paddle pop is a popsicle, Poo Man is a plumber and  Poo tickets is toilet paper of course, Ripper mean great and Ropeable is Very Angry, Shark Biscuit is a boogie board rider and Snag bay a sausage roll, Sparky an electrician and Tin Lids are kids, Tosser is a useless idiot and Up the duff is Pregnant, Ute is a pickup truck and Wanker a ridiculous person, Whiteant to deter someone from buying or doing something stupid and Wopp Woop is a made up name for a tiny town in the middle of nowhere of which there are a great many. Mates are friends, Sheilas are gals of a certain moral persuasion (NOTE TO SELF! DO NOT ADDRESS THE HEAVY SET Customs lady as such, a lesson learned the hard way by yours truly). 

All in all the learning curve of acceptable lingo can by quite hazardous but once you get the hang of it is somehow does make a kind of sense...or Not :o).

Australia, The Land of Unusual Creatures

This is the Land Down Unda with some of this planet’s most unusual birds and animals on the planet.  This includes more poisonous crawling, creeping, flying creatures than found anywhere else on our mother Earth.  

From the duck billed beaver like Platypus which are a mammal that lays eggs,

to the ever chitter chattering playful Spotted Quoll a carnivorous marsupial

 

Tasmania Devils,  

Wallabees & Paddy Melons

to Greys and giant Red Kangaroos.  

Cuddly Koalas 

...and the ever humorous and adorable Wambat, 

Black Macaws

 and beautiful Grey and Pink Parrots

and the stately, elegant Black Swan,  

from big and small spiders & even bigger snakes to... 

 of course the infamous and deadly Ol Salty…Sea Croc

It behooves one to pay attention to their surroundings as you may be about to see or step on something you don’t want to miss…or just maybe... You Do.