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| Sophrosyne is tied up at NCYC -- our home for the past month. Great facility with good showers (important) and a Happy Hour every day (more important). Tonight we are having American Thanksgiving at the Club prepared in the finest Australian Tradition. |
S.L.S.C. – That means, I think, Surfing and Life Saving
Club, and there are lots of them. Maureen and I went for a walk the other day
along the Memorial Walkway which is a suspended walkway connecting Newcastle’s
downtown residential area with a series of beaches and ocean baths. We walked
past Beach Bar SLSC, Meriweather SLSC, Newcastle SLSC and a couple of other
ones besides. It was the weekend and each of these clubs had swimming lessons
and shoreside activities for 100s of kids ranging from 3 to 16. The most
familiar part of the experience for us was the smell of frying onions though as
some parents were working the concessions while all the rest donned brightly
coloured pinny’s and bathing caps and were shepherding the ‘little nippers’
back and forth across the surf. Everyone was having a grand time and the time
honoured ballet unfolded seemingly without effort.
We were thinking of the ‘little nippers’ yesterday when we
went for a swim. It was 42 deg. C and the wind was humming so we hopped into our
rented car (because it had air conditioning) and drove to the beach. At 42 deg.
C even Maureen goes for a swim -- but it is not really straightforward. We know
enough to swim between the flags (we had been told they are pretty good at spotting
the riptide). But there are still waves, and they were pretty big. Maureen was
walking out slowly getting used to the still pretty cold water – until the
first wave came through -- and then that was pretty much it. Once I found her
again she was ready to head out into the deeper water past the biggest breaking
waves. It was fun.
Later in the day Maureen was chuckling when she bent over noticing
that the ocean was running out through her nose. At least she said it was water.
I was thinking to myself that even girls think snot is funny.
Later in the day we went to join in with some of the other
rally members for Sundowners and then out to the most amazing Jazz club I have
even seen! We had been told about Jack McLaughin’s jazz band, but just like you
are thinking right now, I said to myself. ‘Whatever’.
Well, Jack had his 81st birthday last night and
he celebrated playing at the Carrington with his son-in-law who also had his 41st
birthday. They were serenaded by the lead singer who was a gal who looked like
she had just finished up at the library, except that when she sang it made
Norah Jones look like an amateur. There were only about 30 or 40 of us at the
bar so we all pretty much had front row seats. I visited with the bass player
during their break just to say how much we were enjoying the music. He told me
that he was 66 and had been playing with Jack for 42 years. And I haven’t even
mentioned the drummer!
I know it sounds like all we do is visit the beach and have
fun, but we have been to a couple of wine tastings in the Hunter Valley too!
It has been a fun couple of weeks. Fun for us because
Australia is the first point on this trip where we have been able to source
boat parts without needing to arrange complex shipping. Don’t get me started on
“the pallet”.
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| Maureen models our new salad tongs. Purchased from K-Mart for $2 they fill a significant deficiency aboard Sophrosyne. Hopefully now we can keep the salad in the bowl and not on the floor? |
What does that mean? Well it means we have a new toilet! We
went in to the shop to get a gasket kit for the old toilet but since the whole toilet
was on sale we got rid of the old scratched seat at the same time. Maureen was
happy!
For my part I found I could finally get good quality stainless
hose clamps – I was happy. I mean, it is not such a pleasant job that I am keen
to do it again real soon so I just bought the good hose clamps.
That is just the beginning of the bathroom renovation. We
have also replaced our broken plexiglass shower enclosure. We found some
beautiful frameless mirrors that were big enough to cover the holes from the
PFO. And on a boat that is pretty much a complete renovation – there really isn’t
anything else in there. It looks good!
With that success under our belt you can imagine that the
kitchen was next. New custom carpets (from Bunnings) and a fire blanket to hang
next to the stove. Not having a fire blanket has been bugging me ever since
Yacht Kate asked us back in Fiji “do you guys have a fire blanket?”
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| Allan, from A&R Mobile Sharpening came to the club parking lot and sharpened all of our knives and scissors. That is good service! |
And more besides. We now have a nice small pair of salad
tongs so that when you set them down on the bowl they don’t tip the salad bowl
onto the floor. And the high point -- for Gord, and Brent, but everyone else
besides -- we have sharp kitchen knives. It takes a larger population to have a
mobile sharpening truck that will come to the Yacht Club parking lot to sharpen
knives and scissors. And I really do think it takes Australia to have that
truck kitted out with a 1000 watt Yamaha gas generator (inside the truck) to
provide the electricity to run the sharpening tools.
You won’t believe me, but space allows me to report on only the most significant boat improvements made in Newcastle. There were many
more besides!
Well tomorrow we will sail down to Pittwater. We have been
told that this is a pretty special part of Australia so we are looking forward
to the visit. After that we will sneak around the corner and spend a couple of
weeks in Sydney Harbour. Should be fun.
