You know you are approaching You Know You Are in Australia...Australia when the "r"s start to disappear from words ending in r. At the end of each radio transmission from Sydney Rescue coming over the radio had a vaguely familiar ring, almost like voices from my childhood New Hampshire or New Hamsha, Each transmission was finished with "This is Sydney Rescue. Ova."

You know you are in Australia when the color of the cliffs changes. Across the Pacific black basalt cliffs loomed over the anchorages and dark bits of sand clung to our feet when we climbed out of the kayaks. Tonight we strolled along a big open sandy beach to the light colored cliffs, red white and yellow sediments that were once at the bottom the Tasman Sea. The sand on our feet is light brown and the bits of black are bits of charcoal from the shoreside barbecues and bushfires.

You know you are in Australia when while people are wearing down coats under palm trees. The cars have paddle boards not snow boards strapped to the tops. The sports of choice in this holiday week are a volleyball, paddle boarding and fishing.

You know you are in Australia when the birds should be in a children's book. The long necked black bird with spiked bill is not a Cormorant but an Australasian Darter who spears fish underwater and tosses the into the air. The crowds of bird are lily white wearing circles of giant blue mascara around their eyes. Sitting in the tree is the long beaked kookaburra from the song where it laughed and laughed.

A restful day at anchor reading about aboriginal farming before the Europeans arrived, studying the harbors in Tasmania, archiving photos and playing with my new camera. We snagged amazing photos of a darter, little Corellas, galahs and a kookaburra on our afternoon beach walk. Plans are up in the air with biosecurity clearances and iffy weather to move either north or south.