Sydney to Hobart Regatta

Our first Boxing Day here, we went to the Sydney to Hobart Regatta. It's a huge sailing race that leaves out of the Sydney Harbour and goes down to Hobart, Tasmania. The boats are really serious sailing boats, and the race takes a few days to finish. This year, the race was predicted to have some pretty rough weather, especially down toward the southern part of Australia. So we were excited to see the boats off!

We caught an early ferry over to Watson Bay. The boats all leave from within the actual harbour, which means you can watch them line up for the start and see who gets an early lead if you get a vantage point on the South or North Head. We opted for the South, as it's a bit easier to get to on public transport.

On the ferry over to Circular Quay, we passed one of the boats practicing before the start. That particular boat did really well in the race - in the top 5 finishers.

We also saw this disaster heading out in the harbour; I think it was basically a floating bar pushed by a tugboat. 

We found a spot in the shade and somewhat out of the wind and had our picnic. 

There were tons of spectators up on the cliffside with us - I think more than the first year we came. 

We were there about an hour and a half early. By that time, all the contestant boats were in the harbour, sailing around and waiting for the start. It looks a bit like this: 

The race starts at 1, so toward then, all the boats start making their run up to the line. It's like order coming out of chaos. 

This happened to be a pretty unique race. There was supposed to be a starting cannon that fires to indicate the race start, but the usual boat that coordinates that started taking on water! So there was some other starting indicator that we couldn't really see from our distance. Also, the winds were really poor for getting momentum out of the harbour, so you can see the boats start tacking and pulling some crazy maneuvers right after the start. 

It was so crazy down in the harbour that several boats collided and some were out of the race immediately. 

We walked across to the other side of the point so we could see the boats heading out into the sea. 

The weather got really rough for these guys over the next couple days. Most of the boats that were leading out of the harbour had to withdraw with boat damage, and in total, a third of the boats ended up retiring throughout the race. It's high drama and so fun to follow!

Merry Christmas from Sydney!

We weren't back in Sydney very long before it was Christmastime. This was our first solo Christmas in Sydney since our first one here, and having just gotten back from New Zealand, we were looking forward to a quiet holiday.

Of course, there are lots of fun things in the city around the holiday. Every year it seems to be getting bigger.

Christmas in Manly

The Christmas tree in Martin Place

We decorated in our apartment too.

This Christmas was a happy contrast to our first one here. That Christmas we didn't have much to do. We knew a few people and I started making friends at work. But for the most part, we were mostly alone over the holiday. This one was quite a bit different, with social activities going on every day leading up to Christmas. We played some games with friends the weekend before.

We went to see Star Wars. My entire office went together on opening day and people really, really got into it. 

But I waited and went with T that night. He was verrry excited. 

We also went to see a "Christmas" movie at work: Die Hard. I very much believe that it's not a Christmas movie, but I was in a room of a hundred people that thought otherwise, so I kept my mouth shut! =D

We also went to an expats Christmas Eve BBQ. Everyone brought traditional food from their home country, so we had fun things like Russian crepes, Spanish tapas, Aussie prawns, and tons of meat Argentina-style. We made spinach balls and eggnog, which surprisingly was a huge hit! Most people had seen eggnog on movies, so they were really excited to try it.

Our Christmas Day was lazy, cozy, and fun. We did some skyping with the family.

Opened a few gifts.

These socks might be framed and hung up. I'm afraid he won't see them enough when they're on his feet.

And generally were happy to be celebrating Christmas!

New Zealand... that's a wrap!

Our New Zealand trip was beyond fun and amazing. It truly is as beautiful as everyone says it is. I have to admit that my picture taking dropped off toward the end of the trip, as I had gotten accustomed to seeing unreal scenery all around me. It's hard when you see beautiful things all day every day to not start getting used to it!

Here are just a few pictures to wrap up my posts about the trip. Some of these capture some aspects of the trip that were funny or unusual or interesting. And then a few favorites thrown in!

Without fail, at every place we stayed, there was milk in the fridge. Or the front desk offered us some when we checked in. Without. Fail. Since none of us really drink tea in the morning as a ritual, we never needed it, and this was always surprising to the people offering it to us. Even at the gas station coffee machines, there was fresh milk involved. These New Zealanders really like their tea and milk!

Christchurch was where we spent the most cumulative time. It's an interesting city, but really a very sad one. Hopefully the earthquake repairs hit their stride in the coming year - as it seems they are doing - and the city is built back better than ever. For certain though, it will be a while before it's a fully thriving city.

This was a trip of photography. It's pretty much impossible to capture just how amazing the surroundings are, but you have to try. I, of course, just used my iPhone camera, but Dad had a grown-up camera and got some amazing shots. We also spent some time capturing Luke, a tiny little toy owl. Mom is sending pictures of him traveling to one of her friend's first grade classes. He made it into a lot of pictures, and I'm sure we were noticed as the people making a lot of effort to photograph a toy owl. 

Luke being photographed

Everyone being photographed

One of the most stressful parts of the trip was driving this beast of a car around. I got a free upgrade at the Christchurch airport, but it never occurred to me that the upgrade size was bigger than would actually fit on New Zealand roads. Or in parking spots. Pretty much every time we parked, Dad had to get out and check how we were fitting in the lines. Usually we were on at least one of them, and I called that good enough.

The car fitting into a spot under the balcony of our hotel. Barely.

One of the fun things about exploring is stumbling across little gems. We got lucky by finding little places like this bakery that were open early or at times when the rest of the town seemed to be shut down. Thank goodness for tiny little shops that keep more hours than the standard New Zealand shop!

We also got to try things that we normally wouldn't. Like organic coke. And sausage rolls and pies.

We also got the added bonus of traveling while everyone was preparing for Christmas. So all the towns were just that much cuter and cheerier!

One of the great things about New Zealand is just how laid back and slower paced life is there. The towns are small, the people are friendly, and everything just operates with a bit more flexibility than it does some other places. 

The police station had a "Closed" sign in the window when we walked by

You've gotta be quick to catch happy hour here

For a small island, the weather can change A LOT. And it can be really cold, even in summer. Which, if you are underprepared like me, can mean that you have to wear all of your jackets, one on top of the other. 

All the clothes laid out for our night at the observatory

We learned some things about life as a Kiwi. For example, how to order at a tiny, hole-in-the-wall pub. And how to do laundry the old fashioned way. 

When I was little and we'd go to the beach for vacation, one of the things that made it a vacation was getting ice cream at night from an ice cream stand. If it ain't broke you shouldn't fix it, so we didn't.   We found these super fun ice cream bars called Memphis Bars, which we found in a lot of the little towns we stayed in. The company probably had a huge boost in profits in the two weeks we were there. 

Old fashioned ice cream in a cone is good too!

There were some oddities in the food we had and saw. Lots of breakfast items on toast, including baked beans or spaghetti. We never tried it, so hard to say what the appeal is! We also found the occasional "American hotdog." 

We also got to meet quite a few doggies around too!

The best thing about New Zealand is how many different types of places you can see, just in a few days. It's truly amazing what a few hours' drive will take you too, but if you drive for 2 weeks, you can see a lot and feel like you've visited dozens of countries. 

But the best, best part about New Zealand was getting to spend time with people that I love and experience so many new, fun, and interesting things together.  

 

And that's a wrap!