Home From Tasmania

All I've got to say right now is "Ow." Followed by beer. And "Wow." And snoring.

More soon, including lots of pics and video. Here's one for now, taken from Bruny Island, just off Hobart, Tasmania.

And here's a picture of a home appliance:

That, my friends, is an LG washer/dryer combo. It washes - and it dries! (Some please tell Jack to look at this photo. And tell him I have closeups too. Thank you.)

Sydney to Hobart, Day 8: Goodbye Eden

We were scheduled to leave late this afternoon. Sitting in the boat this morning we listened to boats radio in to Marine Rescue Eden: "Marine Rescue Eden, yeah, look, we've just left Twofold Bay and we're headed down to Tassie. Just checking in..."

The fleet is headed out - and we're following their lead. Off in an hour. We'll have cell phones until tomorrow, maybe, maybe tonight, then out for three days or so.

It's sunny and calm, another beautiful day in Eden. Another good day for leaving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hardest day of the year to not be with you, my family and my friends in the good ol' USA. Ow.

Sydney to Hobart, Day 7: Off From Eden Tomorrow

November 23: After four full nights at anchor or on the jetty here in Eden, NSW, the winds in the Bass Strait are finally shifting, spinning from the southwest to the northwest—"She'll be right up your ass"—so tomorrow afternoon we'll be setting off south on the second and larger (in many ways) leg of the great Sydney to Hobart Sail 2011. Hoping for four to five days, three or so of them will be out of contact.

Back out to where the albatross goes...

I hear you smiling, baby...

Sydney to Hobart, Day 6: Eden House

Christine?

 

Sydney to Hobart,Day 5: Quick Video

It's now Day 5 of the great Sydney to Hobart sail with Skipper Craig aboard the Southern Ocean. I wish I'd written more, but the first two days were spent in various states of wretchedness, up to and including actual wretching. (Kids, if you want some real excitement some Friday night, try taking a dump in a bucket in the belly of moving sailboat on a sloppy sea, all while trying not to vomit—only one bucket available! Whoopee!) The last day of travel was good, I spent a good amount of time at the wheel, day and night hours, so I may finally have my legs. We'll see. I don't care—if I can do those first two days I can do damned anything.

We're in Eden, NSW, now, 300 miles south of Sydney, waiting for a handful of weather systems to move through the Bass Strait before we can head off to Tassie. May have to wait until Friday. That means I have actual work to do for my real job—so just a quick video here, and a pic or two.

First, Craig proves that I actually drove the boat:

I almost yelled, "Hello, Lieutenant Dan!"

Look at this:

It's so weird: I just recently learned bout these clouds by reading and writing about them for work. I'll do a post on them later—just wanted you to see that shot. There are better ones, and there's video, too.

Here's a Pacific gull, native of —twice as large at least as regular old gulls.

Sydney to Hobart, Day 5: Eden, New South Wales

Monday, November 21: It's now Day 5 of the great Sydney to Hobart Sail with Skipper Craig aboard the Southern Ocean. I wish I'd written more, but the first two-plus days for myself were spent in various states of wretchedness, up to and including actual wretching. (Kids, if you want some real excitement some Friday night, try taking a dump in a bucket in the belly of moving sailboat on a sloppy sea, all while trying not to vomit—only one bucket available! Whoopee!) The last day of travel was good, I spent a good amount of time at the wheel, day and night hours, so I may finally have my legs. We'll see. I don't care—if I can do those first two days I can do damned anything.

We're in Eden, NSW, now, 300 miles south of Sydney, waiting for a handful of weather systems to move through the Bass Strait before we can head off to Tassie. May have to wait until Friday. That means that while I'm here I have actual work to do for my real job—so just a quick video here, and a pic or two.

Pics and video. (Click on pics to get larger, clearer versions.)

First, Craig proves that I actually drove the boat. We're five or so nautical miles offshore at this point. (We got as far as 23 miles off on the way down.)

I almost yelled, "Hello, Lieutenant Dan!" I guess it's better I didn't.

Look at this:

It's so weird: I just recently learned about this cloud phenomenon by reading and writing about them for work. They're very rare—and we drove right under that sucker! I'll do a post on them later—just wanted you to see that shot. There are better ones, and there's video, too.

Here's Eden's Killer Whale Museum, home of the skeleton of "Old Tom"—the orca that helped whalers get their whales that Christine had told me about ages ago. (More about that later, too.) Eden Cove behind.

We'll finish with a Pacific Gull, found only in Southern Australia, and huge—twice as large as average gulls. Look at this beauty:

That's all. More soon. Love to you, Christine...

Sydney to Hobart, Day 1: Off to Hobart

Sailing From Sydney to Hobart, Tasmania

I mentioned the other day that I may be going on a sailing trip. Well, the details have been worked out, and tomorrow or Thursday (Australia time) I'll be headed to Hobart, Tasmania, on a 38-foot sailboat. Skipper: Craig. Crew: Me. (Home, gnawing fingernails on walls, ceiling: Christine.)

Short story shorter: Craig, friend of Christine's who lives in Hobart, bought a sailboat on the internet a few months ago. It's here in Sydney, so he flew up last Thursday to get it ready and sail it back home. I had expressed interest in tagging along when I first heard about this some months ago, but Craig said he had had a close friend going back with him, and said no. I forgot about it. On Thursday, when Craig got here, he said that his friend had backed out. There ya go. 

It's take up to two weeks. Highlight of the trip: the Bass Strait.

I'll be out of internet and phone range for much or all of that time. Hobart is way down there: Nothing but open water between us and Antarctica. I will of course have much to post here when I return.

The route is the same as taken in a what is a very famous race here, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, held every year stating Boxing Day.

Did I mention I've never sailed before? (I have been on the sea, as I said in that other post.)

Here's the boat (second one out). Best I could do for now:

Here's Craig showing Christine around, up on the bow:

Skipper Craig and Christine on the Southern Ocean.

Wild Kangaroos Give Me a Boxing Show

This is a video I took in 2006, on my first trip to Australia. (This is a repost, rewritten, from January.)

I hadn't been in the country long when, one very early morning, probably 5:30 a.m. or so, I was walking in the capital city of Canberra, not far from the city proper (though you wouldn't think that seeing the video). Suddenly, there they were: The first two wild kangaroos I had ever seen. They were hanging out in front of a high school. I immediately became transmogrified into the worst videographer in history, which will you see in a second.

After what would likely be considered "cardiac event," I managed to remember how my lungs, eyes, legs, arms, hands, and fingers worked, and started videoing. The kangaroos are immediately seen disappearing behind a small clump of trees. Great. While mimicking the camera work in The Blair Witch Project, I make my way around the trees.

Then something truly remarkable happens: As my camera peers around the end of the tree clump, the two kangaroos are standing there, looking at me. They're looking straight at me, like they were waiting for me. As Christine says, "You can almost hear one of them sigh, and say to the other, 'Well, come on Meryl, let's give the doofus tourist a show.'" And HOLY CRAP THEY DO. They rear up on their tippy-toes, lean back on their tails, and go to town, kicking, punching, heads flapping around like punching bags. And when the camera inexplicably starts videoing the sky at one point—I may have been losing consciousness from the excitement—the kangaroos actually stop and look (at the 39-second mark), seemingly waiting to make sure I'm not screwing up.

Two Blind Indus River Dolphins Found Dead

Tragic:

Two more blind dolphins were found dead in the Indus River here on Saturday, putting the number of dead dolphins found in Sukkur to 28 in six months.

The Wildlife Department shifted the two dead blind dolphins to Dolphin Research Institute for post- mortem. 

The wildlife and the fisheries departments have so far failed to find the possible cause of the deaths of the precious specie. Sources said that the higher authorities recently formed a probe committee, which had revealed that some fisherman threw poisonous substance into the river which is causing deaths of the endangered fish found only in two rivers Asia-Ganges and the Indus River.

I've seen those dolphins, or a closely related species, in the Ganges River. Just magical creatures, so elusive—I could only ever see them for a second as they curved up out of the water and down again quickly. Nobody else was seeing them—I thought I was seeing things. The imprint off their shape—especially the very long beak—seemed to be burned into my cornea.

Let's hope they figure out what the hell's going on.