Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Ah that's where the waterfall is....



Xave's eldest son Alex has just been to stay for a couple of nights - as always, Roo & Cooks were soooo excited to see their big big brother again.



We sailed away to Refuge Bay through a terrifying swell (apparently the biggest wave was only 1.5 metres - which is quite ridiculous as to me it looked at least 5 metres tall...). Anyway, it was enough to scramble the kids together in the 'safe zone' (which for us is the dog house). Unfortunately they both felt quite seasick before their defense mechanisms kicked in and fell asleep.

Poor little mites.





They woke feeling fine, and we spent 2 blissful days lazing on the boat and the beach with handfuls of happy-go-lucky kids for Roo & Cooks to play with.

What a great spot.





Q: What do you do when 2 boatloads of Beautiful Tall Fit Canadian Male Medical Students appear glistening out of the water on your beach.....

A: sigh appreciatively....... ahhhh........
( Then snap back to reality, run for my sarong, sidle up a bit closer, in case I can answer any of their questions ).

Xave, in all his tact, suggested in front of them that I might like to go party with them. They laughed. Nervously.

What would YOU do?....

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Whirlwind visitors....

So, what to report?....

We had a brilliant (if not tooooo short) visit from Em and the girls at the start of last week...

24 hours of sailing, swimming, canoeing, bbqing and sunning with family is THE. BEST. TONIC.

Thanks so much for staying with us.











The end of the week was spent in Sydney with Xave's school friend Nick and his various young French friends. 3 days of museums, wine, cheese, dogs, playgrounds & passionate conversation.

BLISS.

Xave's oldest son Alex arrives tomorrow for a couple of days.

Time to handwash some sheets. Now that WILL be fun. x

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

pics....


Typical waterscape


and again...


Cottage Point Kiosk


Cottage Point Inn


Canoedling


Helmsfeet

Sunday, September 26, 2010

and then there was none.

I am talking about communication devices.

No phone.

No internet.

No Tara on catch up tv.

is this some kind of joke?

But I made it. I made it through the 'black hole', and I have lived to tell the tale.


We have spent the last few days chugging peacefully up Cowan Creek through the KRG Chase NP, our anchorages have included America Bay, Hallets Beach (one of the few spots the kids have been able to go to shore) where they were rewarded with a massive Monitor lizard, Smiths Creek, and now Pinta Bay, off Jerusalem Bay. We took the dinghy to Cottage Point Kiosk yesterday for 'treats' and Coopers. I loved that kiosk, which belongs to a bloke from Anglesea. Cooks was given some burnt toast to feed the fish below the balcony. She ate most of it - (hope they didn't get it out of the bin).

We also putted past Cottage Point Inn - the restaurant whom I communicated with earlier on in the year about possible work. With nowhere to moor our yacht, it would be impossible to work there. Cottage Point, has no public moorings - all club or private -which is disappointing, as I liked the feel of it.

We did manage a staccato phone call from my sis Em yesterday with the surprise that they are coming to visit - tomorrow!
Em was trying to keep it a secret, and ferociously following the blog to find out where we are, but of course with no internet coverage, she had to let the cat out of the bag and ask.

HOORAY!!!! The kids, Xave & I are very very excited.

but I can't finish this post without commenting on the AFL - a tie. That is a pisser! Love it.

trying to upload pics, but I don't think there's enough signal strength, will do it anon.

Friday, September 24, 2010

One bar of internet coverage and heading further up stream…

We've had a mixed bag of sweets for the week, beginning with me having a quite alarming MOTHER of all meltdowns, as a result of missing my family and friends, and ending in a contented dinner aboard Awaitea with GUESTS. Yes GUESTS! Can you imagine?

Reality check:

Al needs socialisation. (and a cafe on her own every 4th day).
Roo needs kids to wrestle with (Cooks is no match for Roo, she is far too strong).
Cooks needs boys to flirt with.
and Xave needs a wife who is NOT a bunny boiler, and of course a bit more of the obvious….

So with all that in mind, we've adjusted our lifestyle to suit.

My cousin Jules became our very first visitor on board Awaitea, and we spent a lovely day cruising - I even pulled a couple of ropes, I mean sheets - around Scotland Island and Morning Bay. It was lovely to have someone new to share our day with, and Jules is such easy company!



We've had a day at Taronga Zoo, which the kids of course enjoyed - I was too busy marvelling at the view to notice the animals.



I went for a 30 minute 'run' which took 2 hours by the time I'd stopped at a cafe on the way home to skull a latte, and dribble the last mouthful all down my singlet - classy - drop in at the local Palm Beach Kinder and chat to the kinder teacher about guilt (and casual kinder days, of which there aren't any) - she did however tell me which parks to stalk at what time on which days for a bit of 4 yr old wrestle mania, thanks Kerryn, Then dropped by to check on mail at the local yacht sails office and managed to talk their ears off etc etc until I finally returned to the boat.

Xave was glad I'd gotten my 'fix'.

We then headed off to the other side of Pitty to rendezvous with our mate Simon whom we'd not seen since Queenscliff Harbour, in America Bay - a very quiet and still anchorage, with steep bushy hills all around, and oysters threatening to cut our dinghy to shreds if we dared to take her ashore…. thankfully we have a tender for our tender, in the form of our canoe, so we made it ashore to explore a bit, and try to climb up to the waterfall - slippery rocks and little feet did not go well together, but we managed to scramble around a bit nevertheless. Having just visited the reptile enclosure at the zoo, I was slightly paranoid about snakes, and nearly jumped out of my natives when I spied a skink. Pathetic.

Last night, Simon and his young crew, joined us for dinner, which I prepared - keeping the charade going as perfect wifey - and it was again, good to have some company aboard Awaitea. Cooks was so thrilled to see Simon again, that at once, she took him by the hand and suggested they play mummies and daddies. Simon suggested it was a game better left for Al & Xave. I'll be telling that one at your 21st young lady, she then proceeded to have about 5 costume changes for the boys throughout the evening - she's certainly ticked her 'need' off for the week...




Simon's nephew Jake thrilling the kids.


which he had to repeat due to Roo stating: Gee Mum, we'll have to see THAT again.

Today has dawned bright and sunny. There is not a breath of wind, the water is like glass, we've just said goodbye to the boys who have just putted by on their way to the Goldy, and we're preparing to head up the creek towards Cottage Point.

and I've done my research…. there IS a cafe there.

TICK.

Monday, September 20, 2010

There's an autopilot in my closet...

There's an autopilot in my closet, there are Mi Goreng noodles next to my thongs and I can't turn around without shoving my arse in someone's face.

Struggling.