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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Catching up on our travels

Our last post was from Denarau Island in Fiji, last September, we've visited Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania in Australia. We had a wonderful time everywhere and no serious mishaps..

So, to continue in brief, we spent a couple idyllic weeks in Fiji's Yasawa islands.
That was some of our best cruising: turquoise waters, benign weather, great snorkeling and we even caught a fish!

On September 21st, we checked out of Lautoka for an uneventful sail to Port Vila on the island of Efate in Vanuatua. We really enjoyed our 3 weeks there.
We spent a few nights at Havanah Harbor, Port Resolution on Tanna Island, and several lovely days at Aneityum

After 3 weeks in Vanuatu, we checked out of Aneityum and left after dark. Bad idea....But we managed OK and the rest of the passage was easy and uneventful passage,, we arrived in Noumea, New Caledonia and enjoyed some lovely anchorages and French food there. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Loyalty Islands or Isle des Pins.

Our friend Seth Seigal joined us for a great 6 day beam reach to Bundaberg, Queensland in Australia. (Seth found the best Black Forest cake EVER at the local patisserie! )
We arrived in Bundaberg November 10th.

We spent a few weeks cruising the Hervy Bay and Moreton Bay, stopping at RQYC in Manly for awhile. Brisbane is a great city with terrific museums, especially the Maritime Museum.

Traveling south, we stopped in Port Stephens and met Jim and Barbara Cole from Seattle. Jim is one of several Boeing employees working at a nearby Aussie Air Force base.
They showered us with hospitality, even taking us to the office Christmas party in Newcastle, which was very nice indeed.

We did manage a short stop in Pittwater, a popular cruising ground just north of Sydney.
We arrived in Sydney December 20th. What a fantastic place. We spent 10 days and lots of money at Cammeray Marina with Totem. We were able to watch the start of the Sydney-Hobart Race from a tall bluff. The boats came quite close and the big boats' mastheads were higher than us. What a sight.

On New Years Eve, we anchored with friends in sight of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge for the fireworks. What a show! It's incredible, and warm!!!!

We spent 10 days anchored in Blackwattle Bay in Sydney along side Don and Bonnie on Minerva and really enjoyed the city. And Costco! Yay!

On January 20th, we sailed south to Jervis Bay, Eden and Tasmania. Tassie has spectacular scenery, great anchorages and very friendly people. We had a wonderful time visiting Howard and Lorraine Smith of Nomzamo who lavished us with fine food, drink and a cozy bed in their beautiful home. Three weeks in Hobart flew by and we were really sad to leave.

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