I guess it’s too late to say Merry Christmas but I reckon I can still get away with HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
On 17th December we flew over to Melbourne with Maya to spend Christmas with Neil’s folks. After a happy reunion with Heather and Anthony we all headed down to the very Southeast corner of Australia to spend a few days in Mallacoota. The estuary is surrounded by native bush and is great for walking, fishing and messing around in boats. There is a long sand spit which virtually cuts off the seaward entrance but it s occasionally dredged and fishing boats and power boats can come and go. In it’s heyday steamers brought visitors from Melbourne to the town but with deforestation of the hinterland the estuary has silted up and so the steamers are long gone. However the tourists still come and Mallcoota was gearing up for the post-Christmas flocks.
The bush is full of wild birds and they are particularly vocal at sunset. On the balcony at “drink-o-clock” we were visited by kookaburras, lorikeets, rosellas and magpies and I even spotted a lyre bird. One evening we were lucky to see a koala up a gum tree having a good feed of crunchy green eucalyptus leaves. Neil and Anthony fished most days with more enthusiasm than success. One evening we loaded the tinny up with good food and wine and headed off up the river for a spot of fishing and a picnic. We all got roped into the cause but despite our best efforts we only bagged a small bream, still the evening was beautiful and the picnic was a great success.
We returned to Melbourne and the next day we had a huge shopping expedition especially for Maya. Melbourne has some great shops, particularly if you are in the market for Chanel, Gucci and Armani. Nice to look at but not quite our price range, although Maya was quite taken with a pair of spotty shoes. It didn’t take long to find the sales, bargains and plenty of bags to carry, lucky we took Neil!
After picking up Shirley and Jim from the airport we headed up to H & A’s farm. The weather was warm and sunny and it was great to be in the country Aus for a few days. On Christmas Eve us girls enjoyed a trip into Bendigo (about half an hour north of the farm) to see an haute couture exhibition from a collection from the V & A. Neil and Jim came along but baulked at the dresses and opted for of the sights (pubs?) of the town.
We had a wonderful Christmas relaxing, swimming (in the pool as the river had virtually dried up), and of course enjoying delicious food and wine. Other visitors popped in and out but it was lovely to have time to spend with Neil’s family. In the evening I enjoyed talking to the family on the chillier side of the world – thanks for ringing folks.
We spent New Year back in NZ, on board Distant Drummer with some friends. We sailed up to Adele Island (west side of Tasman Bay) with Pic and Sandy on DD and Nic, Deb and Hugo in their boat Terafiti. After a couple of days we decided to change the view and moved up to Torrent Bay. It’s a picturesque bay with a lagoon, a small village of bachs, a nice beach and some good walks. One day at high tide we took the dinghies across the lagoon and up the river through the beautiful bush. We walked up to the Emerald Pools, a collection of waterfalls and pools further upstream – the water was freezing.
Then back in Nelson and back to life on board. More soon . . .
Love
Suzy and Neil