Southerlies and yet more southerlies! We had so hoped to make it down to Hobart for the biennial Wooden Boat Festival but were completely thwarted by the "unseasonal" - so everyone assured us - winds.

While we waited we made our way back to Rozelle Bay alongside OWT, its Canadian flag flying as proudly as ever. During this time we were fortunate enough to meet two other very interesting boats: Hello World, solo-sailed by already twice-around, former mathematician Rona House from the UK. What a treat to meet such a cool, fascinating lady, who has been not only through the NW Passage but also down to Antarctica. As well we met an Australian couple, he a retired electrician, who sold their house to live on a catamaran called Ohmless. Despite considering monohulls, half-boats (there being an ongoing and light-hearted rivalry between the two sets of sailors) , they invited us over. They shared their experience of exploring the Kimberlies in the NW corner of Australia. As we are unlikely to ever sail there we enjoyed learning about this majestic area and seeing their photos, including some of 45,000+ year-old rock paintings. Australia, despite its apparent commemoration of everything post Contact (as Canada and all other colonized countries are wont to do), is one of the most ancient lands on earth with an astoundingly long cultural history.

During a 24-hour lull in the blow we scooted out through the headlands of Sydney Harbour down the coast and past the aptly named Point Perpendicular into beautiful Jervis Bay, where we joined Carbon Neutral for a fun and interesting week.

The Australian Navy was holding exercises in the bay so there were plenty of muscular ships about, laying claim to many of the coves. This meant we had to keep on the move and out of their way in the effort to find protected anchorages as the winds swung around seemingly every 12 hours!

Guy and Helene are always very friendly, hospitable, knowledgeable about Nature and keen to share their ability to get around on wheels - a car! It might strike many of our readers as strange but we rarely travel by car anymore and find it quite a novel experience. We had some great outings with them, including a good, sweaty hike up Pidgeon House Hill (which resembles Auckland's Rangitoto). We stopped by a dinghy ("rubber ducky") making outfit, the owner of which swore that since having sailed to Heard Island in the Southern Ocean he has always preferred "stinkboats to stickboats".

Many white-bellied sea eagles and dolphins call Jervis Bay home. White sand stretches for miles, including on the whitest sand beach in the world. The waters of the bay could get a bit choppy at times when the wind blew, but compared to the ever-present churning and excitement of Sydney Harbour waters, it was peaceful.

As fortune would have it, that grand dame of the late 1800s, the James Craig anchored in the bay one evening, prompting Sonsie to sail over and around her as close as we dared in the fading light. Come visit! Her captain bellowed at us. We promised to first thing the following morning. She was a stirring sight lying dark-hulled with her rigging silhouetted in the setting sun.

After breakfast, Guy and Helene joined us on Sonsie and we anchored 3:1 in 45' of water (i.e. with 135' of chain, so three times the depth), near enough to dinghy over. Barefoot as sailors of yore are thought to have been, we climbed aboard the rope ladder hanging down over her port side. What a great visit! We even got invited to lunch. Our gracious hosts are all volunteers and were keen to answer our questions.

We'd probably still be onboard but Sonsie's anchor began to drag as the waves picked up the afternoon wind. We should have let out 215', or 5:1! So down the ladder we scrambled, and off we went back to the 21st century.