Thursday
Shopping – flash of sunshine – Marrickville - Greek food - Nick at airport

Yes a tiny flash of sunshine this morning, around 11am! I was so excited I nearly tore off all my clothes and leapt into Middle Harbour. But no…within minutes it was cold, windy and sleety again.

This wasn’t a very boat-y day. I spent a lot of hours in (what fresh hell is this…) Warringah Mall… Those who know me well will know that this is not the pleasure it should and could be… I get freaked out in big shopping malls. I like cities with streets, shops, little arcades… Big shopping malls are just a maze, totally confusing and sapping of energy… I found my way uneasily to book shop, newsagent, post office, and then, many many hours later, met Pete at one of the huge supermarkets so we could stock the boat with food food FOOD. He had been wearily trudging around his Brookvale traps. Possibly less daunting for him than Warringah Mall for me but…maybe not!

The boat is now heaving with food. I have made two loaves of bread into ham and cheese sandwiches, ready to be toasted for lunches when we (finally!) sail off into the blue. One of the bedrooms (sorry, cabins!) has so much food in it I don’t know how John will be able to sleep when he arrives tomorrow…with the scent of cauliflower and cabbage and pumpkin wafting out from a lower cupboard… We want to buy string bags so we can dangle our vegetables, hammock-like, from hooks in the galley and spare cabin (the one where the bikes lived) but – where do you buy string bags?? Anybody? We need to know by tomorrow!

At five we set off for the airport to pick up the first of our trusty crew members, Nick Wood. We were hoping to go to see the Archibald Prize exhibition but…much to Pete’s disgust, it closes at 5pm each day.

So instead of Art, we did Culture. Marrickville… Last year we stopped in this suburb for an early dinner before I flew back to Hobart, after our Whitsundays-Sydney trip. Pete had been impressed by the variety of food on offer – every nationality imaginable up and down the street. The other advantage of Marrickville is that it is only a few kilometres from the airport.

We had a lovely stroll along the main drag. Lots of Vietnamese shops. I particularly loved Sincere Florists. One of the pharmacies was quite alarming; it had two if not THREE huge great Islander bouncers. We looked around - was there a disco, at 5.30, in Marrickville? A meths lab? No, it was the pharmacy! There was another one across the road, innocent of bouncers. I popped in for some painkillers (the new bed arrangement, while very good for moisture, is just that bit harder on my poor achey-breaky back…) and as I handed over my $4.95 (last of the big spenders!) I asked the pharmacist why he didn’t have bouncers at his pharmacy. He looked a bit shifty and said, “Maybe this is a bad neighbourhood. On the other side of the road… We haven’t had any trouble…yet…”

Pete apparently had his heart set on Greek food and we found the most authentic restaurant this side of Athens. Within minutes of ordering, I had a huge plate of moussaka with vegetables, cooked within an inch of their lives, and Pete had the lamb roast to beat all lamb roasts.

Nick’s plane was on time – no problems with Chilean volcanoes – so we scooped him up and brought him back to 2XS with only one or two minor altercations with NavMan along our way…

Tomorrow…well tomorrow night we are going to dinner…at Chris and Karen’s…again…this time with John and Nick in tow. Pete and I have insisted that we will bring FOOD so I am cooking hard boiled eggs and potatoes as I write, so that we can arrive with a large potato salad and some (bought) roast chickens under our arms.

Other than that…Nick and Pete have many boat-y plans and I hope…to go for a walk!! Yes, at last! If it isn’t sleeting and blowing in a violent and terrifying way, I am going to stroll down to Neutral Bay and wander around for an hour or so.

Wee hee!

John, our other crew member, arrives around 2pm and maybe we can go and see the Archibald Prize exhibition on our way back to Middle Harbour when we have picked him up. Pete has organised with Chris to go out for a test sail (new – I mean second hand - spinnaker) at 4pm so I’m not sure how everything will fit in but…we will see…