Mike wakes me up with a cup of tea and announces that he got the time of our flight wrong and I will have to get up and ask the concierge to book us onto an earlier shuttle bus. I go downstairs but it’s a different guy this morning and he has obviously got out of bed on the wrong side. He announces that they never use that shuttle company as they are so unreliable. He changes the pick up time with them anyway and says he hopes they turn up! Gee, thanks.
Again, Mike dismisses my porridge and goes out to buy breakfast, coming back with two of the most enormous blueberry muffins I have ever seen. He can eat like this all the time and nothing happens. Life is so unfair. I eat half of one – it is very good.
The weather is beautiful. There isn’t a cloud in the sky and the wind has dropped altogether. How I wish I was staying for one more day, for many reasons.
I meet Johanne and Steve at the convention centre. It’s a complicated route through to our apartment, too difficult to describe so collecting them is easier. Their hard disk is ready to go.
Photos: Steve, Johanne and I outside the Sydney Convention Centre
It’s hard to say goodbye, and it inevitably turns out tearful. I feel like I am starting out all over again, only this time I have more sailing to do. I try to tell myself that I am actually on the way home now, but it doesn’t work. When I feel like this, nothing consoles me, which is weird as I know that even with all my homesickness, I wouldn’t have given up the opportunity to do what I have done. After all, I wouldn’t have visited Sydney under any other circumstances, and I have totally fallen in love with it. Johanne and I have talked about her coming out again but the only sensible time is when we are in Mauritius and she can’t come then. We are in South Africa for quite some time but this might be difficult to arrange between Victoria and Ann.
Red eyed, snotty nosed and miserable, I follow Mike downstairs to check out. We wait outside for a shuttle bus and around the allotted time one shoots straight past us so Mike goes back to get the concierge (who has one of those ‘I told you so’ faces on). While he is gone, our shuttle bus turns up, and I go and retrieve Mike, completely ruining the concierge’s day now that he has been proved wrong.
Once checked in, we find the Priority Pass lounge, this time hosted by Virgin. I am dubious as to whether our passes will work as they have run out and our new ones are sitting at home, but they do. It’s a great lounge – good food and very good NZ SB. I don’t normally drink when flying but it’s the end of a beautiful few days and I drink a toast to the friend I have left behind.
Our flight is half an hour late, which makes our connection appear a little risky. I stand and watch our bag being thrown onto the conveyor belt into the plane so I have photographic evidence for when it doesn’t turn up.
Photo: That’s our Henri Lloyd bag on the conveyor belt
Photo: The Virgin Blue planes have some great logos
In the end, the connecting flight in Brisbane is late too, so everything works out fine. We even manage to share a cab with three other guys and end up not having to pay anything as one of them is putting it on his company account.
Just as we get back to the boat, Maggie and Bob are walking past Jeannius, and Maggie leaps to our pontoon trying to make herself look like our welcoming committee. Yeah, good try, Maggie! They also had a great time in Sydney and the outback. Maggie is a great rider and has been herding cattle and watching lambs being castrated by a macho Bruce-type who does it with his teeth. Mmmm. Glad I missed that one although I might have to look at the photos!
We join what’s left of the fleet in the yacht club for ‘a drink’. Heidi and Casey are joining us for a week up to Lizard Island where they will join their boat, Wild Tigris. Offering me a glass of wine, Casey comes back with a bottle for me, although I do share it out. Thanks, Casey. The crew from Ronja are back and joining the fleet up to Darwin and Reiner from Sunrise is there, as well as the crews from Brown Eyed Girl, Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper. We thought we would be leaving with the latter two tomorrow but now they will probably not be leaving until Monday, so we will head out alone tomorrow as planned.
Mike leaves earlier than me. I stay behind with my bottle chatting. When I think he has had enough time to unpack, tidy the boat and make the bed, I head back. He’s done pretty well although has managed to make the bed up without first putting on the freshly laundered mattress cover. He mutters about doing it in the morning but I am a tough task master and make him do it now. I attempt to catch up with the blog but am too tired and fall asleep immediately my head hits the pillow.
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