Back to Nelson again! We decided to make the crossing directly from Sydney rarther than head further south down the coast. Not sure if it was the right decision as we ended up back in the centre of a big fat high with no wind again! Prior to that we did have a couple of good days sailing with some strong southerlies, then the wind dropped. We goose-winged the foresail and had a day of lovely smooth downwind sailing and at night we just let the boat drift. A quietly pleasant interlude! Then we rode the top of a small low which skirted across from Tasmania to South Island (more great sailing) and finally ended up motorsailing the rest of the way to New Zealand.

Before we left we spent a week or so exploring around Sydney Harbour. There are quite a few public anchorages where you can stay free-of-charge in some very scenic downtown locales. We anchored in Rozelle Bay for several nights which is very centrally located just along from Darling Harbour with the Fish Market right on the bay. You can buy the fish raw or cooked to eat there on the terrace which, not incidentally, was almost entirely full of Asians – they know a good fish market when they find one!

While we were in Sydney we caught up with Katie and Martin, my step-sister and –brother from my step-mum’s side. I hadn’t seen them since they moved to Sydney 20+ years ago so there was quite a lot of water under the bridge! We visited Martin and Penny in Bondai and then moved the boat and picked up a mooring on the Spit, right next door to the Middle Harbour Yacht Club where Katie and Mike hang out. We really enjoyed catching up again, meeting their families and introducing them to Neil. Good stuff!!

So now we have a new “to do” list to work on over the next couple of weeks. We arrived just ahead of another low system and the weather has been wet and miserable since! The trees are turning golden so I guess that means summer’s over but hopefully we’ll be well on the way to Tahiti before the leaves start to fall.

More soon!  

Suzy and Neil