Tinkerblue

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has been one of the biggest sporting events in Australia for the last 65 years or so.  It starts in Sydney at 1:00pm on December 26th, Boxing Day of each year and finishes in Hobart.  It is 628 nautical miles of frustration, fear, exhilaration, excitement and more.

 

The first year hubby come home to Australia with me was 1998.  The worst year ever in the history of the race.  6 lives were lost in a storm that decimated the fleet.  When Sayonnara sailed in to Hobart as the line honours winner the celebration was muted.  There was no champagne etc to greet the crews. It was more relief that they had made it.  There was a minute of silence for those who did not.

 

2006 was the next time we were home over Christmas.  And the first few yachts came in around 3am. Dad and I tried to get hubby out of bed to watch the finish, but it was no go.

This year... We were down at the Taste of Tasmania having dinner.  According to the official website and the news reports the first boat, Wild Oats, was not expected until 1:00am. Hubby was not sure he could stay up that long.  After dinner we were walking back to the car, and there was an announcement over the loud speakers at the dock, that Wild Oats had entered the Derwent River and was expected to cross the finish line at 830pm. 

 

With only 30 mins until the expected finish we decided to wait it out.  We walked along to the CSIRO pier with about 50+ other people. The CSIRO pier is right at the finish line.  First we saw the news helicopters, then we saw the flotilla of boats start to move and then hubby saw the top of the mainsail and finally we could see Wild Oats. She was still a fair way away. But come up the river fairly quickly and in no time she was crossing the finish line to cheers from the crowd, the canon firing  and the horns of every single boat out on the river.

We then walked back round to Constitution dock where all the media were waiting and watched them do their lap of honour.  it was not as crowded as we expected. We guess that the earlier than expected arrived (830pm as opposed to 100am) caught quite a few people unaware.

 

Santa Checked His List and We Were All Good

We had Christmas lunch at Shaun and Kelly's. We were all there, Mum and Dad, Shaun and Kelly, my Nanna and Dave and I. Christmas is a much more relaxed and informal affair here than it is in Canada. It's not better or worse, just different. This is the third Christmas in 20 years that I've been home for. I love spending Christmas with my family.

 

 

 

 

Turkey was ate. As was ham and pork, cheese bomb and bread bowl, garlic bread, and pavlova. Bonbons (crackers) were pulled. Silly paper hats were worn. Even sillier Christmas jokes were told. Bubbly was drunk. Gifts were opened. Games were played.  A good day was had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

The Christmas tree was tiny, but the pile of presents were huge.  There was wine, chocolates, books,  games,puzzles,  t-shirts, jewelry,  socks, laughter, tears and more.

 

 

We spent the afternoon playing games. It wasn't really warm enough for cricket on the beach, so we played with Hubby's present - Wii Cricket. He doesn't understand the whole concept of cricket. A game that goes for 5 days, where they stop for tea and both teams wear all white. We are trying to indoctrinate him. Let's just say hubby's not very good at bowling or batting.

 

We interrupted Christmas lunch so that Shaun and Kelly could install their Christmas tree. Yep, we gave Shaun and Kelly a Telly antenna. They were living in the dark ages. Dial-up and snow telly. We fixed the snowy telly, they can deal with the Internet.

 

Christmas Day is winding down here. (technically it's done at it's after midnight and my dad and I are the only ones still awake). Just as all our friends and family in BC are about to start their Christmas Day.

 

I hope everyone here and around the world has had or will have, a wonderful Christmas filled with love and laughter, family and friends and that Santa was/is good to you all.

 

Sweet Dreams on Christmas Eve

Presents are wrapped

Stockings are hung

Carols are sung (Carols by Candlelight from Melbourne)

Crackers are made

A Very Specky Christmas was watched

Love to all and to all a goodnight

 

Buckle Your Seat Belt, Hubby is Landing the 737

My parents gave hubby his Christmas present early.  They gave him a gift certificate for 2 hours in a 737 fixed based simulator at Simsation.

 

They gave it to him the night we arrived in Tasmania, so that he could make a booking and actually use it before we leave in mid January.

 

 

What better way to spend the late afternoon on Christmas Eve? He couldn't do his usual thing and leave his Christmas shopping for tonight because all the shops closed early!  So this was perfect.

 

His two hour flight was from Memphis to New Orleans.  I went along as a passenger.  And just like a real flight I reclined the seat and read my book.

 

 

Good choice on the gift, Mum and Dad. Now if we win big with the New Years Eve Lottery Ticket you gave him, you'll have done really well.!

The King of Gingerbread Houses

Mum gave us a gingerbread house to decorate.

 

Hubby wanted nothing to do with it. We made him.

 

Then he found out he got to use a power tool.  Well a battery operated icing gun.

 

He got creative and added falling snow and icicles.

 

Now he wants to know how much he could sell it for.

Geilston Bay High School 25 Years Ago

25 years ago:

From the above photo only 3 of us made it to the reunion last Saturday. Sharyn, Matthew and I. This is was not our whole grade 10, just our tutor group. 

 

40 years on:

Sharyn & me

Linda, me, Michelle, Leanne, Sandra & Sharyn

 

Grant, Graeme, Michael A, Matthew M

I wish I'd taken more photos.

25 years ago:

• I wanted to go to Uni and be a teacher
• I played basketball, netball and ran for Eastern Suburbs Athletic Club
• I was a Ranger Guide and a Brownie leader
• I worked part-time at Kentucky Fried Chicken ( before it changed it's name to KFC)
• I was on the debating team with Sharyn, Jayne, Michael, Matthew and Miles
• I had the first of 3 surgeries on my knee
• I did not yet have a driver's license. I caught the bus or Mum and Dad had to drive me everywhere
• I hated my school uniform.  Why would any school choose yellow and brown as their school colours?

In the next 25 years:

• I went to Drysdale House and studied Travel and Tourism
• I've lived in Tokyo, London, Sydney, Cuernavaca (Mexico) and Vancouver
• I've worked in hotels, girl scout camps, banking, Ikea and for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
• I married a Canadian, which is why we live in Canada
• We don't have kids, we can't afford them - we have an airplane instead
• I love coming home to visit family and friends and wish we could come more often
• Sharyn is the one friend from high school that I have kept in regular contact with
• I like Facebook, because now I am in touch with more of my old friends from high school
• When we get back to Canada in February I have to decide what I want to be when I grow up!

Monday December 13th

Last couple of hours at Disney before we board our flight to Australia.

Holiday Traditions at Disneyland

 

Sunday was our Disneyland day. Our day for the big rides, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain, plus a few of the not so big rides.  

 

The highlight of the day for me was seeing all the Christmas decorations and overlays.  It’s a Small World and the Haunted Mansion; both shut down for a month or so before US Thanksgiving and are given a complete makeover for the holidays. I really like the Haunted Mansion Holiday theming based on The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

It's a Small World is far from my favourite ride. It has got to be one of the most annoying.  But...I do like all the Christmas additions and the lights. The lights are stunning.  

 

 

 

Normally Hubby and I don't watch the parades, we take advantage of the shorter queues on the rides, but we did watch the Christmas Fantasy Parade.  Mainly because I had been given some premium viewing vouchers. Which meant we didn't have to stake out a spot on the curb hours in advance.  

 

 Santa's Reindeer Roundup. Yep all the reindeer are hanging out at Disneyland, having a rest before the big night.

 

Disney's World of Color

 photo by C Kim Miles

That is not a typing error, in the US they don't use the u in colour.  The World of Color is a new attraction at California Adventure.  It's not even a year old and it's very popular. While we were at Disney, there were two showings a night.  It was quite the palaver to get tickets.  

 

 photo by C Kim Miles

• join the line up to get into California Adventure.  
• once they let you into the park, head over to join the fast pass queue
• give the cast member your park passes and they will give you the equal number of fast passes
• make sure they give you back your park passes as well as the fast passes.  Make sure you don't lose the either as they can't be replaced.
• about an hour before the show, join the queue at your viewing area.

 

 

 photo by C Kim Miles

We were late getting to our viewing area, so we were in the best of spots. We missed some of the low stuff, and we were slightly off to one side.  Even so, it was awesome.  Well worth seeing.  

 

 photo by C Kim Miles

Disney's official description is:  The World of Color nighttime water spectacular weaves water, color, fire and light into a kaleidoscope of fantasy and imagination. More than 1,000 jets of water form incredible shapes in time to the music as Disney characters come to life on a shimmering veil of mist.

I didn't get many/any photos, my camera battery died, and I don't have a spare.  All 4 photos above were taken by C Kim Miles.

World's Best Fries

or pretty close to it. Although we spent the day in California Adventure we hopped over to Disneyland to have dinner at New Orleans Cafe. It was so good. We all ate too much and had to be rolled down main street afterwards.

 

 excuse the photo, we just discovered a finger print on my camera lens, so everything is out of focus!

Pommes Frites - Traditional French-fried potatoes tossed with Parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley, served with a Cajun spice remoulade. Seriously the best fries I can remember eating.  Can we make these at home? Probably but I bet they don't taste as good.  Hubby and I shared a basket, Kim and Joanna shared a basket.  We could have skipped everything else and just had a basket of Pommes Frites each. Although that wouldn't have been very healthy.  Who am I kidding? Not one part of this meal was remotely healthy.  

We did other dishes besides the Pommes Frites.  Hubby and I split a bowl of Gumbo - A rich, flavorful stew with chicken, andouille sausage and tasso ham, served with Cajun-style "dirty rice":

 

 

And a blackened chicken caeser salad - Romaine Hearts tossed in a traditional Caesar Dressing topped with Blackened Chicken and shaved Grana Padano Cheese:

 

 

And to finish it all off?  Mickey shaped Beignets - Topped with Powdered Sugar served with Raspberry Coulis and vanilla Bean Creme Anglaise.  

 

 

And this photo just makes me laugh. Hubby looks guilty about something. Or maybe it's just embarrassment at his rather girly purse.