A narrowboat chat in Sydney

On Tuesday we began our journey back to England and Northern Pride via Sydney - my first visit to Australia.  After a very early start (we were up before 5am), we chilled for a few hours in the 'Koru' lounge at Auckland airport, as Barry had accumulated sufficient airpoints from travelling to UK and back twice last year.  So we had a chilled morning eating and drinking and relaxing - Barry had his first glass of wine about 10am!

Barry looking laid back - having a massage at the airport before leaving Auckland ...

... and the entrance to 'Luna Park' in Auckland

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arriving across the ditch (as they say down under!) mid-afternoon on Tuesday, the weather was very grey and miserable, cloudy and raining but Barry still managed to find a smile in 'Luna Park', a funfair across from the Harbour Bridge.  Can you see the scary resemblance between the two faces ...

Luckily the rain abated on Wednesday and we had a fun day exploring Sydney's sights, including a vast array of sea-faring vessels from a P & O cruiser, a replica of the Endeavour (the ship that Captain Cook sailed to NZ and Australia) to Jessica Watson's 'Pink Lady' - the boat the 16 year old Aussie completed her nine month 'round the world' trip in last Saturday.  I couldn't believe how tiny it is - about 33 foot long.  And there's us thinking our narrowboat is small, what an incredible young woman she must be.

 "Ella's Pink Lady" - not sure who 'Ella' is, but that's the name on the boat!

 

'The Bounty' replica - up close and personal

Having a coffee break

 

Inside the famous 'Queen Victoria Building' shopping complex in the city centre

 

A view vertically upwards at one of the stained glass domes

 

 

An interesting mix of old and new in the city

We wandered around the town centre feeling oppressed by the huge buildings - amazing as they all are we're just not city people and both visibly breathed a sigh of relief when we arrived at the Botanical Gardens and open spaces.  These are stunning - there are 'flying foxes' in many of the trees - bats just hanging around waiting for their nightly flying missions.  Unfortunately these fascinating creatures are destroying the vegetation so they're trying to find humane methods of moving them on which is sad ...

 

One of the bats stretches its wings mid-afternoon

 

 

There are some interesting trees in the gardens - this one looks as though it's about to fall down - it's actually tied to another tree!

 

 

Various views of spectacular Sydney Harbour

 

 

In the evening we took the ferry to Manly to see Paul and Elaine, a couple originally from England who've lived in Sydney for many years and got in touch with us through the blog last year, as they're considering buying a narrowboat and becoming 'continuous cruisers' for a few years in the not too distant future. 

Paul sounded as enthusiastic as Barry had been in the 18 months prior to us following our (well his really!) dream, soaking up UK Waterways Sites blogs with a passion, and he and Barry chatted away companionably.  Elaine sounded a little cynical - I can definitely understand how she feels, must be a female thing - so we hope to be able to bring her encouragement through our blog in the coming five months.  Paul had very kindly bought us a bilge alarm for Northern Pride which will warn us of impending disaster - so hopefully it won't be put to good use at any time!!

We had a lovely evening having drinks and dinner at the Manly 16' Skiff yacht club -not the 14' or 18' Skiff yacht clubs which are nearby!  It's all about size you know ...

We leave Sydney for England tomorrow evening and according to the internet the flights to UK are all on schedule so far, but of course things could change at any time.  Fingers and toes still crossed ...

The journey north begins again ...

Having packed, unpacked and taken 'stuff' out of the case a number of times (and transferred one or two items into Barry's lighter case!), I think we're just about set for our flight to Auckland and then Sydney tomorrow.  We're still each about 5kg over the 20kg limit (it's just far too little for a 5 month stay!!), but hopefully they'll let us off or allow us to pay a small excess baggage fee.

I had my last walk on Wainui beach late in the afternoon on Friday - the weather here is still warmer most days in late autumn than UK in late spring at around 20 to 22 degrees, but I'm hoping the sunshine is just around the corner up there?  Maybe the weather is feeling as glum as some people who seem concerned about what the 'new' government is planning - interesting times ahead I'm sure ..

Last year I grew my hair long for our trip so that I could tie it back on the boat, but on Saturday I finally plucked up the courage to have a short crop to see if that's simpler to manage without the luxury of hair straighteners - the previous version was a bit of a pain with my unruly locks!  Barry reckons he'll have to keep his beard now or people won't be able to tell us apart!

 

Charlie (bless him) has been back to Northern Pride last week and fitted us with 3 new batteries, so she should be 'ship shape' and ready for us to board next Thursday - assuming that we'll arrive in England on schedule rather than be stranded in either Sydney or Dubai (I can think of worse places to be stuck).  Que sera, sera ...

In the hands of fate …

Barry flew down to Wellington yesterday to see his son Tom for a few days before we abandon him and leave NZ for another five and a half months – he’ll be 20 in August so I’m sure he’ll survive OK.

Today was mothers day in NZ so I took Barry’s mum out on the local steam train from Gisborne to Muriwai (just a half hour jaunt each way) and then out for lunch at his brother’s cafe in town.  It’s also her birthday on Friday when she’ll be 86 years young – wow!  She just missed getting the prize for the oldest mother on the train this morning – pipped to the post by another passenger who was 86 last December!

I have just four days left to work, then four days off to help Barry get everything sorted before we head to Sydney next Tuesday.  I may get more excited once I’ve finished work – so much to complete there and so little time; but whatever isn’t finished will have to wait until they find someone else to take over my job, I’m sure lives won’t be lost!

It’s getting pretty cold here in the evenings and mornings – down to about 7 or 8 degrees C – by Gisborne standards that’s blooming freezing though possibly not by UK ones!  Our log burner is keeping the house warm – no such thing as central heating here for the vast majority of kiwis.  But then when the North Sea gas supply runs out in the northern hemisphere, everyone who’s grown up with and can’t live without gas central heating will have to find another way – and it’s not so bad honest!

Unfortunately the news seems to be that there are still some issues with the volcano in Iceland so it’s in fate’s hands as to whether we actually fly according to our schedule - we can only hope for the best.  Tragically, a friend of Barry’s who he talked to a number of times before we planned our narrowboat trip last year, passed away suddenly last week.  He’s been going to UK or Europe for the past few years, buying a narrowboat, travelling around for up to six months and then normally selling it before returning to Gisborne.  Barry was inspired by him and gained some really useful advice.  Apparently, on his way to France a couple of weeks ago, his flight was diverted due to the volcano and he was stuck in Korea.  I believe that the minibus he was in crashed and he sustained a few broken ribs and was hospitalised.  He improved over a few days and was about to leave hospital when he had a heart attack and died.  It’s so sad, he should’ve been on his boat now cruising along.  Once again it brings me back to the adage of seizing the day – but at least he’s been having some fabulous boating adventures for the past few years.  May he rest in peace …