a small engine fire and some flooding??
On the road again. Today was my last day with the Edwards. It is time to get travelling again and plans have been made. A travelling companion, Kristal (also from Langley), and I have booked a ferry to Tasmania Jan 11. Meanwhile we'll bus to Canberra Jan 4 and onto Melbourne after a few days, which is where we will catch the ferry.
I met up with Kristal and her Uncle Rick for new year's eve. Rick picked me up at Milson's Point (Sydney Harbour)about mid day in the tinney. Yes, the tinney, a small motor boat which managed to conquer the rough harbour waters. He explained to me that there was a change in plans and instead of heading out to his katamaran, he would be taking me to work with him for a few hours. Rick is Mr. Boatman. He's been hired to sail a $650,000 yacht up and down the harbour to advertise for Carlton beer's new unbreakable water. The yacht, the Madison, is beautiful. It sleeps twelve and has full living quarters. I now understand how one can live on a boat. We didn't make it out far today as a few minutes into our journey there were some complications (a small engine fire and some flooding??).
Rick and I headed back across the harbour in the tinney to Taronga which is where the kat was anchored amongst many other boats. Kristal was aboard and a german couple, Ula and Andreas, ended up joining us a little later on.
The first set of fireworks, and the bigger show (1.5 million dollars worth) was scheduled for 9pm. Apparently Sydney is the only city in the world with a harbour that allows for such a great display. It was amazing, with the harbour bridge in full view, there were fireworks going off on either side and the bridge was lit up a few times as well.
Rick then lit up the barbie and we had snags (sausages are very popular here). Then he cooked up the bluefish that he and Kristal had caught on their sail up to the harbour. It was fishy. I learned about the euro for the first time from Andreas, and how all 18 year old german males are required to put in a year with the army.
Midnight rolled around quickly and the second set of fireworks went off. This show was smaller and estimated to cost about $0.5 million. Other than distant music that could be heard from other boats, all was relatively quiet on the water. We were all asleep on the trampoline of the boat by about 1:30 am.
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