Gorgeous hike

Anchored at Waya island with IO, we also were able to catch up with our friends on Syzygy, and planned a little adventure.

We'd been eying the mountains around the bay since we arrived. Even cruising down the west side of the island before turning into the south bay, Niall and I sat on deck and daydreamed about what great hiking was waiting for us there... the ridges positively beckoned!

With the six crew on Syzygy, our group made a long snake up the hillside. It was short, but steep, and we were all sweaty and tired by the time we reached the top. As with the best hikes, though- stunning views make it well worth the effort.

Hiking back down is never as fun for me as going up. The real trick, it turned out, was to look away from the amazing views long enough to make sure you didn't wipe out on the rocky hillside. Trail? Yeah, right...

The kids were amazing, and did great on what was a pretty strenuous half day adventure.

Out for the weekend

This past year has been a relatively land-oriented one for us...it's also been one that once again gave "weekday" and "weekend" definition in our lives. When started to get cold last winter (yes... Australia does have winter), we really went into hibernation. With Totem at the dock, her crew bundled up, our lives felt very different than they had for the prior few years. Our circle of weekend activity involved trips to the garden, or the library, or some Sydney-side destination... very different from the open ended explorations we'd been accustomed to, poking around the corners of our watery habitat.

How nice to have spring arrive to warm us all up, and get us out exploring again. We welcomed it by getting off the dock to anchor in a quiet bay for the weekend not long ago with our neighbors on s/v Kittani. After a season of many enjoyable evenings spent playing cards below deck, keeping warm, it was nice to shift to the cockpit. It is amazing how many corners of Sydney Harbour can make you feel like your are far, far from the madding crowd.


Close to the city of Sydney, but feeling far away


We couldn't quite ditch our "jumpers" (Aussie for sweater) yet.


The girls having a laugh during afternoon tea in Kittani's cockpit.

The children went for a swim. I worried about sharks the entire time. It's not irrational, even in the protected inner bays of Sydney Harbour.


Still a little chilly, but no wetsuits required.

Coming back from a dinghy exploration, we circled around rocks popping up at low tide and temporarily marooned them. This was met with lots of King of the Hill fun, but ended a bit prematurely by sharp oysters.


I still worried about sharks. Love them, but respect them.

It's warmer and warmer. We had a scorcher recently that even cracked 100*F! We're back to "normal" spring temps in the low 70s now... but feeling summer right around the corner... and feeling many more bays beckon for anchoring.