G'Day Mates!

G'day Mates!

We arrived in Sydney on Christmas Eve, and were wonderfully hosted by our friends Rob and Nikky, and their two lovely children Ben (2.5) & Jake (2 months). We had a wonderful Christmas Day in shorts, a swim in their pool, and enjoying barbequed turkey. Thanks again for a very pleasant Christmas! While playing with Ben & Jake makes us miss our nieces and Godson Owen even more, it was a wonderful honor to become adopted Aunt & Uncle! We look forward to some fun babysitting opportunities. While I haven't got Ben saying "Go Tarheels" yet, I have taught him knuckles, airplane, and a few other things Mom isn't too happy about. :)

Nikky, Ben & Jake

Jason & Ben

By the way...check out the toilets! Guess what the two buttons are for...

On December 26th, we were fortunate enough to meet up with Michael and Meka Roper, along with their friends Stephen & Liz. I had contacted Michael from the States beforehand, as we were on the Beneteau (sailboat) owners email listserve, and Bill Jarvis let Michael know we were coming over. Michael was kind enough to arrange for us to go out on the Sydney harbor on Stephen's boat to see the start of the famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. What an amazing day! Stephen got us right at the starting line. I've got a video of the start...you can see ABN-Amro as well as Skandia (placed 3rd) at the starting line dumping air to stop from going over early. Also, we have a nice pre-race pic of Wild Oats, who won the race, as well as a fun boat "Holy Cow". The harbor was mad with gazillions of boats. Polly and I were like kids at Christmas.

Jason at the helm

Great shots of starting line...





Polly & Michael

Holy Cow!

Wild Oats pre-race

Great view of opera house & bridge.

Chaos after the start...

Afterwards, the gang was kind enough to take us to an early dinner to a Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese place (yes Todd & Jim, I ate and drank things I couldn't pronounce), and then to their home for a few drinks. Thanks for being great hosts on an unforgettable day.

What a great first 2 days to start our adventure!

Hope to hear from you soon.

Jason & Polly