Things you notice about Australia

We are tied up at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club today and just getting ourselves prepared to head south to Pittwater in the morning. The trip is only 60 miles but we have been at NCYC for so long and we have enjoyed ourselves so much that we are wondering if we even know how to get the boat untied again. NCYC have been fantastic hosts! There are many lessons about running a successful yacht club that one can learn from these guys. They are very very good at managing their facility. It is busy, friendly, efficient and fun. But then, you notice that about Australia – they are pretty good at their ‘clubs.’

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 81^st birthday last night and he celebrated playing at the Carrington with his son-in-law who also had his 41^st 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”.

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?”

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.