Since I last blogged (yes, I know it has been a month!) we have been getting organised and doing quite a bit of dreaming.

I know we have been saying we will work out what we are doing next when we reach that point, well that point is not here but we made a decision anyway. We are going to do the liveaboard cruising, oceanic nomadic, salty skin drifting with the winds and currents (whichever is stronger) adventure next. That’s right we are buying a yacht and setting sail. There are some ducks to line before the fruit is ripe however that is just life.

I am dreaming about where we will go, the experiences we will have. I can’t wait for this next adventure and I hope you guys will stick around to experience it with us. I want to have the simplicity of waiting for the winds and the right weather. Learn the complexity of sailing. Have my to do list filled with catching the next meal and keeping up with boat maintenance. I want to get into photography more and take some incredible underwater pics. I miss the simplicity of hiking Aotearoa and the freedom that it had. I am lucky that Rowan has an incredible amount of sailing experience and qualifications, I just get to be the rookie and learn the ropes. It may be time to join scouts to learn my knots, haha.

Starting to change our logo, whatcha think?

Clearing out the muck. Well not muck, but loads of stuff. I have made connections with a couple of shops in town who are happy to grab a few things off our hands. Also been utilising the market place to get rid of a few things. The bigger the item it is the more keen I am to get it gone. One place in particular is wanting loads and loves our collection. They want about 20 banana box lots of goodies. There are a couple of places I can get the boxes for it and I am hoping we can organise that soon. It will be great to have a good clear out. It is a shame to have such cool stuff sitting in the container not being used.

The lady who purchased the house we renovated last year took us to the dispute tribunal for misrepresentation. Which obviously we argued we didn’t do. Anyway cut a long story short, just like we expected and heard through friends the tribunal cuts it down the middle. So we have $19k to pay. The most annoying thing about it all was how long it took.

On the to do list is a few tidy up jobs down in Palmerston. Birds have been getting into Brough St via the vent holes, so once they have left the nest I will do a good tidy up in there. Also all those cluster flies that went there for the winter are all over the place so will sort that out too. I have the last coat of paint to do on the exterior. The container needs to be reorganised. Joanne has asked for us to bring her stuff on our next flight to Sydney. So we will start to bring extra luggage for her. There is definitely a bunch of furniture we don’t really want anymore. So if you’re in need of a shop counter or haberdashery let me know.

We are in Sydney for a couple of weeks visiting Joanne and Bette. Bette is doing pretty well, she is really just living in her bedroom. A nurse comes three days a week to shower her and take her vitals. I did manage to kick her out of her room for a full day to do a deep clean. We ended up talking for hours and Rowan watched TV with her.

On a hot tip from our friend Paul we went to Fairfield Pickers Market. A huge place where we found a bargain or two. I picked up some Pokémon cards sealed in a pack for $10 my plan with them was to give them to my niece and nephew who collect. Later on I discovered their worth and sorry kids but $450 Pokémon cards will need to go on trademe. I will find something else. there were lots of interesting things and it was a lively experience.

Rowan’s childhood friend Tynan has opened his bar, three years in the making. It is doing extremely well and it was plenty of awards already. So if you’re into Whiskey, (he has a large range including vintage collectables) or just love a bloody good cocktail go to Silvers Motel in Enmore. It is a bit of a hidden gem with no signage out the front. We tried four cocktails, once had cacao nibs, another had burnt mandarin, two were sours that had unusual items like marigold flowers and poached quince.

We did quite a few different things this time in Sydney. Joanne and I went to the Opera House and saw Sleeping Beauty Ballet. Joanne has season tickets and I was great fun to come along and see a show. For the many times I have been in Sydney I have never seen a show at the Opera House. The stage, costumes and props were fantastic. Of course the dancing was too. It was great, I really enjoyed it.

All three of us went to see Tim Minchin who started the show with a hilarious song to get us all to turn our phones off. Rowan and I had just been discussing how many people we could see on their phones and how much we rely on them.

Random side note, very interesting article here that Joanne sent me. Scary predictions like students are destined to spend an average 25 years of their waking life their phone eek!

https://jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-of-the-post-literate-society-aa1

Any way back to Tim, he was entertaining, funny and showed off his great skills with a piano. It was a great evening.

The three of us spent a fun morning at the Museum. I didn’t take many photos sorry but loved seeing in the Australian Geographic Photographic Awards with our friend Marley Butler winner of the Astrophotographer category up on the wall. We met Marley and Catherine in Tapawera when we first transitioned from foot to bike. They had just done the same! He took an amazing photo with the Aurora and Western Arthurs in Tasmania.

Rowan and I went down the road in Aussie terms but a bloody long way in NZ terms. We set off on a roadie to Coffs Harbour 6ish hours north. We did it in a day with an early start. I baked a cake and we headed to Dean (Rowans school friend) he just had is 40th Birthday and we couldn’t make it to the party however we made it the next day. It was a surpise and it was great to see him and his family. We also did a quick drop in on his Aunty and Uncle while there too. Unfortunately we couldn’t meet up with Heather and Katie on our way back in Dungog. Next time! Quite a long day, we started at 4am, left Coffs at 3pm and got back at 9pm.

Rowan’s cousin Justin has joined the Navy and is posted out in Mosman while he trains to be a diver. We got a chance to hang out a couple of times and we had a good snorkel out at La Perouse. We saw a lot of different fish and Rowan mistook a catfish for a sand shark. It promptly put a spine in him while he tried to get it out of its hiding spot. Silly sausage!

We went out for lunch at Maroubra right on the beach and our waiter Steven is an Ōamaruvian. He went to Waitaki Boys and said he has been here for 15 years and has only met one other since being here haha. He says Hi to our neighbour who we call Mr Organ, his name is Ron and he tunes and repairs organs. What a small world!

Our flight home is a late one with an arrival of 1.30am. It is making me tired thinking about it. I hope our motorbike helmets haven’t been stolen.