Cousins

We are having a great time in Cronulla. Lots of swimming at the beach which is just 5 mins walk away from the boat. Best of all has been catching up with family and seeing the kids play with their cousins. A real theme of our trip away this year is to see family and friends along the way as much as we can. We have such great friends in Hobart yet it is still such a special thing for the girls to be with their cousins and family and for Em and I to catch up with them all as well.

Swimming in Botany Bay

 On arrival we were given a huge tray of mangoes by Uncle Andrew and Aunt Megan and these have been put to good use and were polished off very quickly. The regular weekend pancake session on Aratika 2 this last Sunday included loads of very decadent mango pancakes.

Ava tucking into pancake number 4, or is it 5! 

 Continuing on our non nautical theme at the moment we left Aratika 2 tied up in Cronulla this morning and boarded the train to travel up the Blue Mountains to visit Em's mum and her partner Herb on their farm.

All aboard

We negotiated our way through central station and then onto the Blue mountains line and up through a series of fantastic old train stations to Mount Victoria where Em's mum Karen met us. 

There was a bit of a nautical theme to the train trip however, as we were downloading the NZ Met service forecasts for Puysegur Point and Foveaux Strait and emailing them to our good friends on the yacht Galactic as they near the end of their crossing from Hobart to Bluff, NZ. Technology is amazing that we can do this while on the train in NSW to a small boat at sea on the Tasman!! 

Through central station

Fantastic old station at Mount Victoria

Well away from the sea now

Grandma picks us up

So now it's a week on the farm with Grandma and Herb to look forward to. No rocking boat and passing ferries.Instead it's cows, dogs, cats, chooks and the nearby Jenolan Caves and Blue Mountains.