Bulletin No 5.  Cycling Insanity or Cycling in Sydney? Both!

For our first couple of nights in Sydney Harbour we anchored at Store Bay, a pretty little bay tucked behind North Head near the old Quarantine Station.  What we didn’t realize was that Sydney-siders flock to this bay in their yachts and powerboats each Sunday.  By lunchtime it was gunwale to gunwale with boats, and when the motor cruiser in front of us decided to leave, it appeared he was taking us with him!  We’ve found “anchor knitting” an entertaining spectator sport while cruising in Turkey, but fortunately haven’t been involved in it too often ourselves.

If you want to add a bit of excitement to your next visit to Sydney, try bike riding.  At the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Rushcutters Bay, we were only a few kilometers from the centre of the city, so decided to employ our bikes rather than public transport, using parks where possible, footpaths when desperate, and fortunately only finding ourselves in a Sydney tunnel for a short distance.  A ride up and down the steep narrow lanes and cul-de-sacs behind the mansions of Darling Point, just a stone’s throw from the CYCA, was fascinating.  We also took our bikes on the train to the Blue Mountains on a day the weather bureau predicted “showers clearing.” Unfortunately Katoomba had the highest rainfall for the state on that day (73mm) and we couldn’t see beyond our noses for mist.  Our scenic route emerged onto the Great Western Highway and  David, riding behind in a gallant effort to protect me from the traffic and trucks in teeming rain [he had the LED flashing red tail light], was oblivious to a ridge in the road surface ahead that ended in a steel barrier, and came off his bike. I was oblivious to his demise and wondered where the heck he was when I stopped several km’s further on.  Luckily no major damage.  We arrived at our B&B in Springwood like two drowned rats, but nothing a spa, champagne and an open fire couldn’t remedy.

Culinary Corner:  Oysters au Naturelle.

At Port Stephens we discovered an inexhaustible supply of oysters growing on pylons just outside an oyster farm.  What’s more, you could easily dislodge them by hand!

Good Friday was looking grim with the KRUPS expresso machine severely disabled and no hot cross buns.  We had to make do with plunger coffee and Christmas Cake!  David worked for 6 hours on the KRUPS, fixed it, and now knows it just as intimately as the workings of the desalinator.
 
We’ve caught another Stripy tuna (which the game fishermen at Lord Howe Island consider suitable only as pet meat) and a Bonito (which the fishermen at Crowdy Head export to be boiled down as fish stock). Both were delicious stir fried with garlic, onion, tomato and various combinations of ginger, 5 spice, olives, aubergines and parsley.  Tonight – Longtail tuna on the Barbie. No need for Omega 3 supplements around here!

I’ll pass you over to David.  With love, Heather.


Don’t let anyone tell you the NSW coast has better weather than waterless Melbourne; it’s been very wet here the last few months and the vegetation loves it.

We had a lovely reunion with our Sydney based Pacific cruising friends, otherwise known as “The Planter’s Club,” in fact the numbers are increasing now that Cass and Ben have the gorgeous Bradley Chesterfield, [named after the reef they dried out on after being rolled on the trip back to OZ from Vanuatu]. It was good to bring back some of the fantastic memories of that season in the Pacific, even if it did stir the braces and sheets of those who have at least currently “swallowed the anchor.”

We also were privileged to be included in a celebratory dinner for my cousin
“Don Two” Mickleborough  [so named cause Don Juan is dead]. Don has been a member of the CYCA for 50 years now and is certainly one of its most celebrated characters. After the club put on a do, Don, who is 85, put on a dinner the next night at his place in Balmoral for 13 guests: his trusty crew from his yacht Southerly and their lovely ladies, and Hez and me.  Talk about gate crashing relatives! Don was the consummate host and it really was a thrill to be amongst sailors who had raced hard, respected and loved the ocean, but partied even harder than they sailed! In fact, what Don cooked was a meal he would often prepare during the Sydney – Hobart race.  He reckons the almost 40 times he did that were good preparation for big dinner parties on dry land!

We enjoyed Pittwater and the Hawkesbury, particularly being able to ride in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. It’s 24 km’s from the centre of Sydney and there we are walking through areas of Koori rock carvings, surrounded by a landscape that hasn’t changed in 1000’s of years.

Tied up on the dock at RPAYC next to After Shock, Wild Oats and other thorough bred  high tech racing yachts, Courtesan looked out of place, but she’s ready to go places these racing machines with all their speed can’t !! 

Kind regards,   David

If you want to see our voyage so far on google earth, click this link to yotreps and it will take you there...just add water!
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=VJN2870