It's May Day, on which the workers of the world unite. Well, those in Sydney would, if they had any sense, unite to move to where it's not getting cold. It's really cooling down now, and at home we're needing a blanket at night - Shauna says it's time to go north and John agrees. We have a few more commitments in Sydney (including a concert to see the jazz legend Ahmad Jamal at the Sydney Opera House next Monday) and we will then ASAP load up some provisions and make northwards to Coffs Harbour to, you guessed it, wait for weather.
This year we are taking a big load of clothes, books and useful items for the Ni-Vans, and as we hope to be in the remote north of the archipelago this time, where supplies of such things are sparse, we know they'll be welcome. Most of these came from the people at the Skin and Cancer Foundation and at Concord Hospital - thanks guys!
We have re-met an old sailing acquaintance, Alex Nemeth, who is heading in the same direction as we are later this month with his partner Diana, in their very seaworthy and well-equipped Malo 39 "Kukka". We have enjoyed some good food and wine with them, discussing our plans, as we both prepare for the cruising this year. We really look forward to some good times with them this season.
We had some terrible news two weeks ago. A good friend of ours, Ted Scardfield, died suddenly at 57 year old as he walked off a 747 at Sydney Airport after a holiday with his wife. Ted was a good man with an irrepressible Yorkshire humour, a keen and good sailor and a wonderful father. He was a member at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron where he was one of the original motivators of the Easter Cruise in his little Cavalier "Cavatina". We'll miss Ted a lot.
Last Tuesday John ordered a floating handheld VHF with DSC from the US (from Defender.com) and it arrived in Sydney on Friday morning, 72 hours later - how efficient is that? Service really is the keyword in the States. By contrast, he ordered a new battery for one of the laptops a month ago and it has yet to arrive from French's Forest which is just about 10 km away from our home, and the company has no firm idea when it will!!!
On a nice note, we had a lovely visit to the national capital Canberra to visit our son Tom and his girl Amanda; our other son Matt and his girl Jane came, and Tom cooked up his usual gargantuan feast of Sri Lankan and Asian delights. We hope to all get together again before "Destiny" turns her stem northwards.
We're back now, so keep an eye out for regular updates. Cheers to all!
John and Shauna