Thursday 15 March 2012

Sailing and Rotto

One of my new-found favorite past times here is sailing! We go with family friends named Kevin and Michelle. They have a little boy named Jackson(5) and two girls, Evie(17) and Ally(14). They have the most amazing boat I have ever seen. Its a white catamaran called "Tomcattin'." About 2 weeks before I arrived in Australia Sue told my mum that during my first week I would be going on a boat trip with my family here and Michelle and Kevins family and that we were going to Rottnest Island. All I knew about Rottnest then was that it was 11 miles off shore from Perth, not much info but I was down for the boat trip! My jet lag was just about over by the time the trip rolled around so it was a perfect first welcoming to the Australian sailing life and I was so excited. When we got to the sailing club my first reaction was 'wow, google earth didn't do this place justice.' When you first get out of the car there you see to the left of you perfectly kept green grass that goes right up to the edge of the jetty and on your right and in front of you all you can see is boats, miles and miles of boats. But to get to the docks and boats you walk through the sailing club. The inside of the club is very flash, dark glass sliding doors that lead you into the marble floored entrance surrounded by framed photos of members of the club sailing in competitions and around the world, then the entrance leads you into the main room which is carpeted in dark blue like the ocean and is fully surrounded by glass windows looking out onto the harbor. Its very beautiful. As we started to walk down the docks to Kevins boat there was a lot to take in. First off, to put things into perspective for people reading this, the biggest boat in the north river would be one of the very smallest boats here. As you walk down the docks the boats get bigger and bigger each few feet and the names of the boats start to sound less like 'Sassy Too' and more like 'Nicola Xavier: Adventurer III'. But there are some exceptions to that rule, for instance the 'Zig Zag' is truly the biggest boat I have ever seen that wasn't a cruise ship. Kevins boat is at the very end of the dock. We all put our bags in our bedrooms (the boat has 4 bedrooms, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a living room and a deck off the back of the boat...saweet.) After that me and Lara went up to the front of the boat where there are 2 seats that go on either side of the two hulls of the boat. Its the most amazing view! I could honestly have stayed out there for hours watching my feet dangle over the turquoise water. After about 2 hours of sailing we arrived at Rottnest. It was hot, very very hot. 42 degrees celsius, which is 110 degrees in Fahrenheit. But perfect weather for Rottnest. We were all diving in and out of the crystal clear blue water all day until we were tired enough for bed. I also got to celebrate Australia day while on this trip! Its basically Australias 4th of July, my favorite holiday! We got to watch fireworks being set off in Perth from the roof of the boat, it was absolute paradise and so hard to leave such a beautiful place but I knew I would be back soon enough. And in fact I was! Me, my family here, and more family friends all went to Rottnest for the day. We spent the whole day swimming and fishing and just having a great time, and ofcorse, no one wanted to leave! But on the way back everyone seemed to find their own little nook of the boat and chill out til we got back. I fell asleep a little too easily atop the boat and woke up just in time to see 4 wild dolphins swim past the boat. That now makes 10 wild dolphins I have seen in Australia, which even thinking to myself is absolutely amazing.

No comments:

Post a Comment