Jason had an "oops" this month. I was caught doing 63km/h in a 40km/h zone (like 40mph in a 25) via a speed camera at freaking 4am while taking Polly and her folks to the airport. Oops. It's a huge, empty road that has a variable speed limit and got me on camera. There went my extra money I earned from the boat show.
The highlight of the month and one of the highlights of the year was participating in Hamilton Island Race Week. Hamilton Island is situated in the Whitsunday Islands, a group of 74 islaned in the Great Barrier Reef. Hamo Race Week featured 217 boats in 8 divisions and is the largest regatta in Australia. We raced on a 60 foot racing yacht called "You're Hired" in IRC (the top division) and placed a very respectable 7th of 27 boats. I'm very pleased with our result, especially considering the boats that placed ahead of us were much newer, multi-million dollar yacths staffed with professional sailors.
Our boat "You're Hired" (I'm 3rd from front, Polly is at the back):
Crew - we also won "Best Dressed" - thanks to Ros for our stand-out uniforms:
While at Hamo, we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary! I surprised Polly with a well earned 2 hour treatment at the spa to help relieve the aches and pains of the week. It was a great place to celebrate an anniversary. We had great views from our Hotel:
View from hotel balcony
The Cockatiels here are not exactly shy or sparse:
We had some great experiences at Hamo, and made some great friends. We were fortunate to share a room with John & Catherine Crawford, who took me on a nice 10k hike with great views of the Islands. Polly and I also snorkeled and saw a huge turtle that hung out with us only a few feet away. We were blessed with great weather, and due to the more than 3000 people on the island there for race week, were treated to bands, lots of beer, and great entertainment. One of the days was a short race day and we all went to the famous Whitehaven Beach Party. Whitehaven beach is claimed as one of the to worlds 10 most beautiful beaches, and I would have to agree.
John & Catherine
View of our hotel and beach from Passage Peak:
Whitehaven Beach Party
We had a little gift in August. A gentleman named Andy from Switzerland who was in Australia for a few months had a little beat up Toyota. He was just going to leave it on the curb when he flew home, so we told him we would take care of it for him. So, we've been driving around this car, affectionately named "The Beast", and probably will until it's registration expires. Andy had taken it to the Outback (it has 275,000 kms/172,000 miles on it), so it was caked in dirt and mud which Polly made short work of.
The Beast:
.JPG)
Turns out, it has come very much at a great time, as Polly was hit in a gas station lot by a "ute" (like a flat bed pickup truck with no tailgate). She was fine, but it made a nasty dent in our good car and the passenger door wouldn't open easily. Timing wise it worked out as we were able to leave it while we were at Hamo and their insurance covered it. Polly tried to play the Good Samaritan, as the guy who backed into us admitted fault, and gave her all of his details, and asked for 2 quotes and would pay of pocket. Seemed reasonable, and Polly proceeded as promised. After receiving the quotes (~$2,500), he suddenly stopped answering the phone. Our insurance is following up with his, and we have the car fixed. However, the guy is now claiming somehow we hit him! Considering the dent was in the front quarter panel from behind the front tire backwards to the passenger side door - it is physically impossible to hit another car so I'm sure logic will prevail. Still, I've lost a bit of faith in the good will of the common person.
Please keep in touch - we love hearing from our friends and family back home. Do know we miss you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment