Mystic Moon enters Sydney Harbor

Hi All,

Yes….we did it!!! We have entered Sydney Harbor and anchored in Rose Bay ….yahoo!!!

We probably have not entered a more iconic and photographed harbor since Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It was indeed a thrill and we both had another great sense of accomplishment. Of course, it was early, about mid-morning, so we celebrated with one of Kathy’s famous Bloody Mary’s!!!!

We left the marina @ 5:40 this am. It seems the winds calm overnight and stay calm until mid-morning….perfect trawler weather. We indeed had 5-10kts NE winds but had a rather choppy 3-4′ wave action that was off the beam for the first 1-2 miles then as we turned almost due south it was 60 points off the port beam…sweet ride indeed!!! Once we were safely anchored the winds have picked up to 15-25kt and predicted to gust to around 30kts tonight before turning from the SE tomorrow morning early. We chose to come today because tomorrow the winds would be right on the nose and not fun.

It has been quite a challenge to get here. Kathy is doing fine albeit her hip is still rather sore. She had quite a travel saga…her flight to Auckland was fine but just as her plane was landing in Sydney there was a huge thunderstorm with a wicked tornado of Cat 3 winds….the strongest winds ever recorded in Sydney!!! Here is how she described it in an email:

Our pilot actually tried to land in Sydney, after we had been circling for 30-45 minutes. It was downright scary. We were rocking and rolling like Mystic on the high seas. The plane actually dropped, I don’t know how many feet, at one point. Shortly thereafter, I heard the engines revving up, and the pilot started a steep ascent, up and out of the clouds and took a course straight to Brisbane. That’s when I knew we weren’t going to get to land in Sydney. A bit later came the announcement, and sure enough, they had closed the Sydney airport and we were diverted to Brisbane.

If you’ve ever been diverted or missed a flight, you know the drill. Deplane, collect your luggage, go through immigration and customs (first port in a foreign country) and go to the help desk where everyone and their brother is in line in the same pickle. They ended up bussing those of us in 1st class to a lovely hotel in downtown Brisbane overlooking the river. 1/2 hour away from the airport. Very nice, but what the hay?? Nothing closer to the airport?? Have no idea where they put the other hundreds of passengers, but they managed to get all of us on buses with a hug and a kiss and a promise to let us know as soon as possible about which flights we would be put on.

Ummmm, no. As soon as I got to the hotel, John texted me with the number to the US office of ANZ. I called them and they very helpfully got me on a Quantas flight for the following morning. The agent also told me I’d need to go the ANZ help desk before I went to Quantas, as I would need a paper ticket to present to Quantas. Ok. Order wine and room service for dinner and crash in bed….

Up early the next morning, as I was really concerned there could be snafus and so out the door of the hotel by 6am for my 8:30 flight. In talking with the Taxi driver, he informs me that there is no ANZ desk in the domestic terminal. Oh great….A beautiful beginning to another lovely day. So, he takes me to the international terminal where, kindly, he agrees to wait while I run in. No stopping zone, of course, but he manages to find a buddy of his that allows him to stop and wait for a little while. I race in, and what the hell?? ANZ desk is dark and quiet. Not a living, breathing person to be seen. Okie dokie….apparently they have no scheduled flights that early, so no one there. I shrug my shoulders, race back out and tell my taxi driver I give up. Take me to the domestic terminal and let the chips
fall…..

Pay my oh so kind driver, give him a nice tip and struggle up to the Quantas desk. Very nice guy, and basically says I don’t need no stinkin’ paper ticket, and he checks me in with all my luggage, no charge. I’m near giddy at this point, and collect my ticket like it’s a precious piece of gold and head for security. Glide through xray, body and bags, and oops…Guy at the very end wants to swab me and my bags. All is going splendidly until he lifts my roller bag and comments that it could be possibly be over the 7kg limit for carry on. Really??? I ask innocently. He doesn’t buy it and sends me back out to the Quantas desk to check my bag. Arrgghhh! So close but so far….

Now, I’m worried I’m gonna miss my flight. Good thing I started early, eh? But, luck holds and the line is short and sure enough…Bag is 13 kg. Really??? I ask. She raises her eyebrows. I tell her to just please check the thing and let me know how much. $30 USD later and a trip to the desk down the corridor to pay the bill, and I’m finally golden. Whip through security (again) and up to my flight. Have about 1/2 hour before boarding and spot a bar just on the other side of the walkway. Yep…enough time. Suck down a bloody mary and am third in line to board the plane. Back of the bus, middle seat….Could it get any better?? ;)))) Am near hysteria at this point, and can’t stop giggling….Ha!!
So no rest for her as we got her unpacked and all the stuff put away the first day. The 2nd day we had a marathon provisioning and stowing day. We also had a very delightful dinner with 2 other Selene owners, Terry and Diana on Calypso and Darryl and Liane on Sapphire Blu. They have figured out we love wines so we had a rather long and very delightful tasting and drinking of some excellent red wines from several wine regions.

So here we are finally….with Kathy’s surgery and me bringing the boat down from Brisbane and then the saga of her travels and then cramming 4 days of work into 2 we are just almost giddy to be here….now, after a few days of doing absolutely nothing we will be ready to Let the Games Begin!!!!

Hope all is well!

John
Mystic Moon

Brett and Stacy and Darryl and Liane having a coldie!! Brett and Stacey came by for dinner on their way from Sydney to Newcastle. We had a scrumptious steak dinner, albeit we did the missing chair formation for Kathy!!