As so often happens with sailing, as much as you're ready to change your surroundings and move on to someplace new, the weather prevents you from doing so. When the wind was blowing day after day from the SE, we were just getting serious with our scuba tanks. Now we've been ready to bolt for several days (we've been in Port Stephens for over 2 weeks now) but the wind perpetually blows from the NE which is exactly where we need to go. Apparently this is what it does this time of year but none of us knew it until now! Not to mention that now there are 2 cyclones bearing down on the coast further north so maybe this isn't a bad place to be! So... we've been keeping busy while keeping an eye to the forecast for any opportunities to get up to Brisbane. Our slip is calling to us and we need time to get our projects done before heading home for a visit. We will also prep the boat so it's ready for any cyclones that happen while we're gone. Good grief!
From Australia 2015

I turned 46 without too much anguish and even had a nice day! Jon & I took a hot bike ride on some of the paths in town and then went to celebrate for the evening with Jan & Rich on their boat. Popped a bottle of champers like good Aussies and enjoyed a great dinner together. The previous day, we'd moved into a free slip in Nelson Bay and were pretty excited to have a hose and easy shore access for the bikes but we no sooner got tied up and were told that we'd need to leave the next day since there was a fishing tournament and the scale was right in front of our slip. Oh well, we'd get one night anyway. On my birthday morning, I got up bummed out that we'd have to move but was resigned to it. Then I noticed that our fruit basket looked funny. Three nectarines had big holes chewed into them. I went out into the cockpit and saw 3 pellets of mouse or rat droppings which made me shudder. Jon had accidentally left the companionway slide open all night and the mouse must have smelled those nectarines from afar. After that, there was no question we were leaving the dock ASAP! We tried to consider whether our little visitor would want to move in or just come for dinner. We figured only time would tell. We moved back out to a free mooring & carted the bikes ashore by dinghy. That night, we left everything as it was the night before, except added the tempting leftover birthday cake to the counter. And the next morning, I awoke to a great birthday present---- no mouse in the house! Phew.
From Australia 2015

We did a few more dives including ones called the Seahorse Gardens & The Pipeline, very close to the boat. The seahorse gardens were right under the moorings actually and a good intro to what we think muck diving will be like. The bottom was heavy sand and there were plops of growth like purple sponges & soft corals that seahorses like along with rubbly stuff with all manner of life. We did see a seahorse and it did the usual cower and turn it's back when we tried to get a picture. There were loads of large pipefish too that didn't mind being picked up. We also saw a blue lined octopus- pretty much the same as a blue ringed octopus, small & super poisonous. They really blend in with the sandy bottom. You have to be careful where you put your hands down around here! We've seen a couple of these now. The pipeline was just that, a long old pipeline running out into the sandy bay and by following it out, you can study all the life that has grown on & alongside it. The rhinoceros crabs were of all shapes and sizes- everywhere. We did this dive with Jan & Rich and although the vis wasn't great, it was good for looking at small things.
From Australia 2015
We went to dinner at Robert & Tina's house and Tina served prawns & smoked salmon for appetizers, some of the best prawns we've ever had since they tasted like lobster. And then another great dinner last night with Jim & Barbara since we're still anchored at Salamader Bay. This place is really feeling like home.

We've knocked off a few boat projects but we have so much that needs to be done in a slip it is frustrating. Jon now has the solar regulator set so that once the batteries are charged on a sunny day, we heat hot water with the rest of the power. Several years ago, he found a special 12V water heater element that draws less than the usual one. It's fantastic.

A couple of days ago we took the bus to Newcastle with Jan & Rich, a town south of here that we passed on the way up in favor of making all the miles we could in a day. Newcastle is, among other things, the largest exporter of coal of any other port in the world. It comes in by train from inland mines and then they have this massive conveyor system at the port just north of town that loads the ships. They wait offshore until its their turn to come into the harbor. We had to pass this fleet of anchored ships on the way up. We'd never seen equipment this large for scooping up the coal. In town, we went to the museum, walked the foreshore, got some lunch- the usual. At the end of the day, we plopped down in the library for a few minutes and marveled somewhat at what a luxury it is to have one. In the places we're headed, as well as where we've been, there are only three countries that have had them... the USA, New Zealand and Australia. We're lucky.

From Australia 2015

Jon & I took a killer bike ride to the Tilligerry Peninsula (20 miles from here) to visit a koala sanctuary. The weather is gorgeous and the sun just shines & shines but you do get this sensation of being cooked when you're out in in it. Getting into the shade of the eucalyptus trees was too short a break for the length of the bike ride but we did see a koala balanced up in a tree- asleep as usual.

Bike rides, walks, boat projects, planning, ordering packages of things we need for this next season, some socializing: that's pretty much what we've been doing. It's been good but we're ready to be moving again.