Sydney to Hobart 2011: the madness of Christmas and the rush to 2012

How beautiful is this: playground of the rich - accessible to all  

Arrrgggghhh. Christmas has already come and gone and I don't know which way is up (not good when you've just been dumped by a wave).

Traditionally, Boxing Day in Sydney is spent watching the Cricket Test Match (at the MCG - Australia versus India) or the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

In our house, it's always the latter so Spanner, Miss Hissy and I rocked up to Watson's Bay at 9.30am - the race didn't start until 1pm so I had time for a swim before we found a comfy spot close to the cliff edge (you're not allowed to get too close anymore because of all the stupid OHS rules) to observe the 88 boats cruise through the heads accompanied by a huge flotilla of spectator craft and helicopters manned by the media.

I'm writing this at 9.30pm on December 27, which is about 12 hours or so (?) before the maxi yacht Wild Oats XI cruises into the harbour in Hobart, Tasmania to take line honours (as usual)*. Enjoy these happy snaps that capture the beauty of Sydney Harbour on a humid day when the Southerly blew in to make it more challenging for the competitors heading down south:

*amendment: as I write (at 8.15am on December 28) the other maxi-yacht Loyal is also in the running for first across the line. Update on December 29: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/protest-knocks-wind-out-of-winners-sails-20111228-1pcz9.html

The Hiss and Spanner found the best spot to watch the yachts sail through Sydney Heads but later on two German girls came and plonked themselves right in front of us. You can't be mean to tourists so I just scowled and tried to make them feel uncomfortable. It didn't work.

Wild Oats XI has the Channel 7 logo on its mainsail while Loyal has a zebra

Constitution Dock and swimming at Bridport in Tasmania

Here's a couple of my pics from our recent trip to Tasmania. I took the photo on the left at Constitution Dock in Hobart - where the Sydney to Hobart yacht race ends.

The fishing boat Annie B had just arrived back in port from a week at sea. If you look closely at the boat you can see what looks like rows of Cianti bottles. They are actually lights, which attract squid. The fishermen, a terse uncommunicative lot, were hauling off squid by the bucket load. I might try and put up a couple more of the pics of the boat in the next few days. I think the file size is making it hard for me to load them simultaneously.

Constitution Dock is an amazing place. I live in Sydney where old things are often pulled down. But Hobart is a true snapshot of Australia's colonial past. Recommended.

The photo on the right was taken at Bridport, a holiday town on the north-east coast. Tassie has a reputation for being a cold place. After all, it's not that far from the Antarctic. But it was stinking hot the day I drove to Bridport. I swam there - my first swim ever in Bass Strait - and I reckon the water temperature was around 23 degrees Celcius. Gorgeous.

And geez, don't the beaches get crowded in Tassie?

I don't know about you, but life has its heavenly moments and my swim at Bridport was one of these.

Time slows down a little bit in Tassie.

But that was last week. Back in Sydney, I'm off to swim in the Pacific tomorrow with a horde of mad ocean swimmers.

Deep breath. Visualise floating like an otter in Bridport...

She's back... from Tasmania

Welcome back blogsters.

I have just returned from an epic journey to Tasmania (one week actually) the smallish island at the bottom right-hand corner of Australia, which is separated from the mainland by Bass Strait.

A lot of mainlanders disregard Tassie, but it's a beeee-uuuu-di-full place.

No traffic (asset), but heaps of roadkill (drawback). The latter phenomenom is because the poor hapless wallabies, possums and wombats hang out on the roads at night only to be scrunched and squelched by the poor hapless drivers who spot them too late to swerve.

Deadset, the only wildlife I saw in Tassie was one echidna (probably about to be scrunched by a car) and zillions of rabbits (vermin that seems to be thriving on the golf course near our accommodation). No Tasmanian Devils (maybe one squelched). And definitely no thylacines (I reckon the last one standing was run down by a car).

I was down south with Spanner and Miss Hissy, as Miss Hiss was in a big sailing regatta in the north-east of the island.

Once I got over the proliferation of dead meat (dinner for the crows), I had an abfab time.

I'm having trouble loading my pics, so this one will have to do for the time being - it's a promo pic taken from the internet of Cataract Gorge in Launceston.

More soon, then back to swimming and romance. XXXX