heinpit.de

Waiting for the ferry

Way to work. We are abroad for more than a month now and slowly, many things become more familiar to us. Peter has the choice of two "regular ferries" to go to work in the morning. Most oftenly, he takes the 7:43 a.m., seldomly the 8:28 a.m. ferry. From our front door to the ferry it takes 10 walking minutes, including fantastic views to Sydney's CBD (Central Business District). The wharf itself offers a dream view to the Harbour Bridge. And since way and views are so nice, this is accounted to the daily spare time. Anouncements of traffic jams in the radio broadcast don't interest us no more ;-) Only in case of emergency and in pouring rain there is still the possibility to take the bus to go to work. Peter tries it once, promptly is stucked in a jam – voluntarily no one time more.

Skiff sailors on Sydney harbour

First sailing experiences. Claudia had already contacted the Balmain Sailing Club, our neighbour from downstairs, in May. Since the winter season has just started, many clubs have reduced or stopped their water sport activities until October. However, the sailing club offers sunday races every fortnight during winter. With our neighbour David, sailor of a Laser-I, Claudia went to the club in mid-May and promptly was offered a place as crew on Michael's dinghi. With strong wind (4-5 Beaufort), this dinghi sailing resembles a nutshell race. We now finally know that the water in the Inner Harbour is as salty as offshore.

On June 2nd the next race is scheduled. Since Michael had offered Peter a place on his dinghi in calm weather conditions, Peter as well dresses in old jeans and sandals. In the middle of the preparations – mast and boom have to be mounted and the sails are set yet on land – Poppy as well looks out for a crew. So Claudia changes over to Poppy and Peter – who never before was on a boat – finds himself as Michael's crew in a race! The weather is capricious: The wind comes from hundreds of different directions, permanently changing its power. With the starting horn, the wind increases from fair to strong. If only we would have the trapeze at hand that we left at land in expectation of a leisurely afternoon! So Claudia tries to keep the boat horizontal by standing on the high edge, which is strenuous and demands very quick reactions. Shortly later, an unexpected gust arrives and simultaneously, David's Laser blocks our way – and standing on the high edge Claudia sees how the mast touches the water and sinks ever deeper until we float upside down. Poppy swims in the water, Claudia pulls her onto the downside of the dinghi. Poppy hangs at the center board, Claudia pushes from above; slowly, the boat turns back, now the mast floats on the water. Claudia is still dry, now the critical moment approaches. And she succeeds! At the very moment when the boat gets upright, Claudia once again climbs over the high edge and finally pulls Poppy out of the water. With the winterly temperatures (approx. 10°C plus wind) Claudia is happy about her dry clothes. Was is this manoeuver of capsizing or was it simply the fun on board? From now on, we are booked as regular crew for races: Claudia with Poppy and Peter with Michael.

Our belongings have arrived! On June 4 we have our wedding anniversary. On this occasion, our long-expected household is delivered. The van is parked in the street and four packers fill our empty house step by step. Big items are unwrapped directly in the street whilst the boxes with the smaller items are piled up in the rooms. Each box carries a number, a room, and a main description (e.g., 27–living room–porcelain). Claudia ticks the list of the boxes, Peter is in the house and manages the rooms. After 4.5 hours, the van is empty, our unit is a chaos, bed and cupboard are assembled, and a frozen pizza is in the oven. Before, we had made a note of some important boxes: 96–vacuum cleaner and 41–coffee machine. And thus we now fetch our coffee machine and prepare the very first non-café coffee since 8 weeks. Hmmm, delicious! Just incredibly good! In the afternoon, we breathe deeply and then start to fit out the kitchen. It is simply wonderful to again possess more than two knives and two glasses. We very much enjoy opening the many boxes. Every once and a while a "you can't believe it" escapes from our mouths. It is like Christmas: We find a mortar, a kettle, a toaster (how long have we not had toasted toast), egg cups, a tray, a salad spin-drier. And to finalize this really very special anniversary we dress up and eat out in an Indonesian restaurant.

In contrast to our removal from Karlsruhe to Schwetzingen, this time only Peter returns to "shift" on the next day. Claudia uses the following days to decrease the amount of boxes, increasing the amount of furnished rooms. First priority is allotted to the radio. After 8 weeks without TV and radio we urgently long to destroy the silence with classical and Jazz music. We have two small alarm clock radios in the boxes, but they might hide anywhere. It seems easier to set-up the hi-fi. But unfortunately, the cables connecting the equalizer with the components were packed somewhere else. Thus, two more silent days pass until the cables finally show up. And then, it is so incredibly nice to listen to good music! The house's furnishing advances, empty boxes are stacked onto our balcony. In the evening, when Peter has returned, we carry these empty boxes into the garage where they will be picked up later. After 6 days, we are close to finished: The oil lamps are again filled up with petroleum, the spices are arranged, the towels are stored. Some items are still missing: Our bicycles and walking boots haven't yet been delivered (they are in quarantine), our table in the dining area is missing two legs, and the Kudu is missing its horns. There are as well some items damaged. The story is not yet over.

Driving over dirt roads — ... and the result

Trip to Jervis Bay. On Sunday June 9, we allow ourselves a time out. Eric and Bine fetch us at 7 a.m (!) and we exit the city in the south direction towards Jervis Bay where we also find our first Australian dirt roads. Eric enjoys driving his Landcruiser into the many mud puddles ;-) Jervis Bay is said to be one of the most beautiful Australian beaches, and now in winter many dolphins and whales are expected to show up. We don't see any – and actually, we don't believe that they will really show up in this narrow bay –, but anyhow we greatly enjoy the beach. It is much warmer than a German winter, no doubt. However, the flair is exactly as winter at the North Sea: strong winds and mile-long beaches for us alone. Finally, we observe three fishermen cleaning and scaling their catch of the day on a rock in the swallow water. Supposedly, they are well known amongst the local pelicans: The pelicans gather around the three and patiently wait for the innards, skin, and (some fish are filleted) fishbone with head. It is a superb spectacle: The powerful and elegant pelicans await their turn patiently; they even seem to queue up in the British manner. Whenever one of them has received a fish head, he realigns at the end. Not so the quarreling seagulls...

Gulls and pelicans waiting for the feeding

Peter's first winter birthday. In mid-June the temperatures get lower: Under a cloudless sky the starlit nights go down to 8°C, while the days still reach lovely 25°C. Many restaurants in Sydney put up gas heaters, thus one can still enjoy the evenings outside in the cold. On June 25, Peter celebrates his first winter-birthday: After work, we meet Bine and Eric at a café at the Opera House. There are seagulls above us, ferries beneath us in the waters reflecting the lights of the CBD, and a birthday cake from Claudia together with a glass of wine in front of the Harbour Bridge in the full moon. Winter-birthdays in June offer as well quite a lot ;-) Already in Karlsruhe, Peter had often eagerly observed paddlers crossing our garden on our river Alb. Now we live so close to the water that we have shifted our preferences: We still don't have a car, but Peter gets a kayak as birthday present. And Bine and Eric offer a wet-suit in kayak-yellow. When will Peter switch from the ferry to the kayak to get to work in the mornings...?