Australia, Pittwater (NSW) - 4/5/14

We're away again! I'm writing this from a mooring somewhere near Pittwater, just north of Sydney. We had a lot of adventures today without ever leaving the boat. It's blowing a gale, so we wisely decided to stay put for a while. We were all sitting around the saloon having breakfast this morning - I was drinking tea, Sam had a steamy mug of coffee and if I were taking a photo of us I would have shoved a newspaper in Garth's hands in order to complete the picture. It was cosy and relaxed. Then the whole boat lurched sideways, accompanied by a loud crashing noise. My tea ended up in my lap. It was immediately evident that somebody had hit us, and Garth and I tripped over each other running for the deck. There was a big river boat alongside us, with a group of worried looking young men hovering near the back. I felt like they should have looked slightly more worried.

They were caught on our mooring line and trying to untangle themselves. Garth and I were screaming at them, almost in unison, to tell us where they had hit us and they kept yelling back that it was okay. It took a while to determine exactly where the impact had been, and that it was just some scraped paint. Theirs. I was tempted to hand them some sandpaper and a tin of paint to make it pretty again. Their vessel was obviously a hire boat, so they should have probably been freaking out. I hope they were all panicking inside. I yelled out that maybe they shouldn't have been drinking... Which was probably a bit of a presumptuous comment but was based on the music I had heard coming from their boat the night before and the fact that one of them was holding a big plastic cup. The kind you drink beer out of when you're young and stupid. They swore they were sober and muttered something about soft drink. Then they were untangled and drifting away.


I hate when people treat our boat like a car. 'Whoops, scratched it, sorry.' It's not a car! It's my house! Smashing into it is not like putting a dent in my old beaten up Toyota in the supermarket parking lot. It's like crashing a car into my lounge room, then standing there drinking soft drink and yelling out 'sorry' before driving off again.

I turned on the VHF in case they needed help - I had asked if they were okay and they seemed confident in their ability to maneuver. Then they started moving sideways towards the shore and I felt bad for yelling at them. They hovered around the moorings for about half an hour, then slowly started heading away. Occasionally going sideways or backwards. They only had two small outboards and didn't know what to do in all the wind - we were honestly expecting a panicked call for a tow. When they finally got out of the bay they started ducking around the corner to the next one and nearly got blown sideways onto the only other boat in the vicinity. It was a disaster.

So I felt bad for them, but I hope they felt worse. There was a reason we weren't out and about today. I think the wind is funneling from two different directions as well, so we're spinning round in circles on the mooring and our wind gen has been making itself useful. Not ideal conditions for fishing off a river boat. Not to mention that this front has been heading here for the last week. It wasn't like 'surprise, wind!' It's been moving slowly but steadily across the country and we were expecting to be hit with it today or tomorrow.

So that was our excitement for the day. We spent last night moored in another little bay at the entrance to a National Park, which was lovely. We had to motor for almost the whole day to get away from Sydney, but then on our way here yesterday we had a lovely sail with steady winds. So it's been eventful so far, but not too bad on the whole.
I was at the helm as we left Sydney Harbour. As Garth went out to put up the sails and I could see open ocean in front of us, memories of dolphins and night watches and the smell of salt and the feel of the sea breeze came flooding back. I couldn't wait to get out there! I've always loved the water but I'm relatively new to sailing - I knew I enjoyed it and I tolerated the bad bits because the good bits were worth it. But I didn't really know that I loved it until I'd been away from it for four months and I had the open ocean out in front of me. There's something enchanting about having the sea breeze on your face, with the sun shining and nothing to break the silence but the sound of the boat cutting through the water. It's wonderful to be back on board. I hated being offshore because I get so sick, but I miss it already. I love lying under the stars in the middle of nowhere.



The ocean rewarded our efforts immediately, because we saw three whales on that first day. Well, Garth and Sam did. I only saw one. They were moving past us further north, quite close to the boat. They were huge and exciting. It's only just whale season and we were hoping to see some, but didn't imagine they would show up so soon! I tried desperately to take some pictures, but they're like ninjas! You never know where they'll pop up next.

We also caught a fish on the first day, although 'we' is a bit generous - Sam put out the line, noticed we had a fish and then pulled it in. We had no idea what it was or if it was legal but we ate it anyway. It was quite small compared to what we're used to, so Sam was holding it up while Garth and I were googling NSW size limits before it was too late to throw it back. I've saved the list of salt water fish to my phone now, so hopefully we'll be able to figure it out easier next time! We think it was a Bonito and Garth cooked it in garlic and lemon. Our first Australian fish! It was delicious.

I tried fishing off the boat yesterday afternoon with bait and I actually caught one. But it was 15cm long at best. He was about the size of our biggest lure, which put an end to my enthusiasm and patience for bait fishing.


We bought an inflatable kayak just before we left Sydney and it's been amazing. I love it to bits. We get everywhere so much faster than in the dinghy, and it's really fun exploring places now. Instead of sailing in, staying the night and leaving, we can jump in the kayak and go paddling around every day. It means we can go long distances that we'd never dream of trying in the dinghy, and we can play in the shallows with the fish. I found a baby ray in the sand yesterday! It's almost like snorkeling when the water is clear and I don't know how we lived without it. I would happily chuck out all my clothes to make room for it if I had to. It's for two people plus gear, but Sam is tiny and he fits on the back. So we can all go exploring together.







When we got here yesterday we paddled over to the shore to investigate the waterfall that was marked on the charts. It was tiny. But the land around it was covered in caves and cool rocks to climb, so up we went. The view was amazing from the top. I'm glad there wasn't much water, because we got to paddle around in the rock pools on the edge of the cliff. I hate cliffs. Well, I hate the edges of them. But the scenery was stunning and it was great looking down at the bay.

After the excitement of this morning, we spent today tidying. Or organizing I suppose. Sam pulled the kitchen apart and organised all the cupboards. There was a heap of old junk in them along with some expired food. Then he made a partition for our plates cupboard so it's all neat and tidy. Garth fixed a heap of things and I went around securing things, tidying and reducing the amount of junk in our saloon. Now you can sit at the table! So that's exciting. Every time the boat gets tidier and easier to manage I'm happy for days.

It's really beautiful here - it reminds me a lot of the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand. Lots of hills, little bays, trees and small beaches. It's also freezing, so it feels like I'm home again. Well, my adoptive home. I'm actually not loving the cold, believe it or not, and can't wait until we're up north where it's warmer. I'd like to actually go swimming at some point!



Xxx Monique