Moving Day

SYD > AKL > SFO. Farewell, Sydney. We'll miss you!

Goodbye to Mackenzie

Our Guide Dogs coordinator just picked up Mackenzie. :(

Farewell, buddy. Good luck in Guide Dogs training. We're so proud of you, and we'll miss you very much. xoxo

Countdown

19 days until the movers arrive; 38 days until we leave for the USA.

Photos from Tasmania Trip

We loved our trip to Tassie. We flew into Launceston, where we went to the Trowunna Wildlife Park, did a Tamar Valley wine tour, etc.

Then we drove to Hobart, stopping along the way at Nant Distillery in Bothwell for a tour and whiskey tasting. In Hobart, we went to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), had dinner at Garagistes, went on a Gourmania Food Tour, went to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, and toured the Cascade Brewery.

It was a pretty great time, mostly just food, wine, art and animals! We got a pat a Tassie devil, and got to hold a wombat joey, which made me very happy! :)

A very happy Amanda - holding a wombat joey

Nant Distillery in Bothwell

MONA

Matthew giving food and scratches at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Here's the album with our photos from the trip, and a couple of videos. 

Tasmania Trip

Feeling sad about Mackenzie

Our date to say goodbye to Mackenzie is just over a month away. :(  It's been a wonderful experience fostering him, and I'll miss him so much.  

He's so cute, sweet and smart. If Matthew gets out of bed before me, he'll let Mackenzie outside and give him breakfast. Sometimes after Mac's finished eating, he'll sit at the bottom of the stairs and wait for me to come down. It's so sweet and makes me smile every time!

xoxo

Mackenzie's new hairstyle

Photos from Our Sailing Trip to the Whitsunday Islands

Matthew and I had a wonderful time on our 4 day sailing trip to the Whitsundays. We booked with Intrepid Tours again, and once we were there, we learned this is a new area for them, and they rent the boats from Sunsail Yacht Charters. We were on Sunshine, a 4-cabin cataraman, which was about 38 feet or so.

It was a very small group -- just our skipper Lance, a Kiwi who's been sailing for more than 15 years, and only one other passenger, Mairead, from Ireland.

Day 1: Arrived early afternoon and wandered around Hamilton Island on our own before meeting up with the tour at 5 pm for a quick introduction on the boat, and then dinner at the Marina Tavern. We slept on the boat in the marina, and sailed the next day.

Rainbow at Hamilton Island Marina

Day 2: leisurely breakfast on the boat, picked up snorkel gear, then headed out! The sailing was okay at first, but then it got pretty choppy. I felt uncomfortable, but not ill. Poor Mairead was quite seasick. We finally got into calmer waters - yay! First stop was snorkeling at Chalkies Beach, which was fun, but the water was chilly, and we couldn't stay out as long as we would have liked.

Matthew at Chalkies Beach

Headed over to Whitehaven Beach, where we anchored for the night. Champagne at sunset, then took the dinghy for a twilight walk along the fine white sand beach, which is 98% silica.

Lance, Matthew and Mairead walking along Whitehaven Beach at sunset

Day 3: From Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island, we headed to Dumbbell Island where we anchored at a public mooring and went snorkeling right off the boat. The snorkeling was even better than at Chalkies Beach, and we saw so many cool, colorful fish. Again, the water was chilly, so we had to head back sooner than we'd have liked.

Lunch on the boat, then we sailed to Nara Inlet on Hook Island. I got to pilot the boat a bit, which was fun, but also a little nerve-wracking as I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing! ;) Matthew took over when we got to Nara Inlet, and Lance let him pilot the boat up the beautiful inlet, where we anchored for the night.

Nara Inlet, Hook Island

Day 4: Rained again overnight, so everything was damp. We took the dinghy to a rocky beach where there are steps up to a cave with Aboriginal rock paintings. The signs said that there's evidence that Aborigines have been using the caves in the area for for the past 9,000 years.

Next we sailed to Cid Harbor on Whitsunday Island. We anchored and took the dinghy to the beach to do a 3-hour bushwalk from Sawmill Beach to Whitsunday Peak. The walk was very humid!

Back at the boat, we packed up and relaxed while waiting for the chase boat to pick us up and take us back to Hamilton Island. We only opted for the 4-day tour, while Mairead was on the 7-day tour, so it was just Lance and her for the rest of the trip!

The chase boat was a large dingy with a faster engine and a canopy top, but otherwise all open and we got quite wet. Partway through, we stopped and Luke said, "Just a little steering trouble, guys." He called the base to say he'd lost the steering. It was cold and windy, we were in open water, and only able to go in circles! Lots of deep breathing! Another call, and he was able to fix it. We made it safely back to Hamilton Island, thank goodness!!

Sunsail dropped us off at our hotel, and we took a nice, long hot shower before a relaxing dinner at the Beach Club. Then, flew back to Sydney the next day. It was a great trip!

Here's the album with our photos from the trip.

Whitsunday Islands Sailing Trip

P.S. Wildlife spotted: lizards, green tree ants, osprey, oystercatchers, sea turtles, 1 spider, 1 snake, bats, beach stone-curlews, heaps of seagulls, and heaps of fish (parrotfish, five-banded wrasse, moon wrasse, etc).