The old
home town looks the same ... - except for more people, more traffic, more boats
on the harbour. It’s been 25 years since
we lived here and it’s nice to be able to see the harbour from our own boat. So different from the water, it can be
disorientating at times.
During the
week it’s fairly quiet on the water, but on weekends it’s madness! A few boats keep to the speed limits, but
most seem to be in a tearing hurry, powering though the little sailing skiffs
and kayaks without even seeing them.
On Middle
Harbour the 12 foot skiffs that Toni used to sail with her Dad, still look the
same, though they need more support vessels to help them with the traffic.
With strong
southerlies predicted, we headed up to Sugarloaf Bay, under the Spit
Bridge. Opening bridges never seem wide
enough until you are through to the other side.
Sydney is
also a bit different in that very few people wave or say g’day, unlike Lake
Macquarie where it’s hard to walk down the street without someone having a
yarn.
The old
Quarantine Station is looking great, now with a restaurant and accommodation. We took the Ghost Tour many years ago and it
was brilliant. The buildings have all
been well maintained, surrounding bush full of bird calls, and there are public
moorings in the bay, though you do get some wake from the Manly ferries and
Fastcats.
Rain had
settled in by the time we sailed up the harbour to the famous Opera House and Sydney
Harbour Bridge, but we still sailed under the bridge, after dodging lots of
ferries in all directions.
Before
Anzac Bridge we had to pass the old 1903 Glebe Island Bridge (more memories),
which is permanently open now, the timber footings all slowly collapsing into
the harbour.
Meanwhile, here in
Rozelle Bay the neighbours are getting bigger...