Day 3,498 - Sydney Harbour (33° 50.8S 151° 14.4E) 20:27hrs - December 27th 2016 A Big Event

We've done it!

After a four hundred nautical mile sleigh ride south down the coast of Australia, Dream Time sailed into Sydney Harbour with a gentle sea breeze and under an absolute blue sky moments before the sun officially declared it to be Boxing Day. The harbour, which just hours later would be in turmoil - churned white by thousands of speeding water crafts participating and supporting the world renowned Sydney Hobart Race - was quiet and perfectly still, it seemed the whole of Sydney was still recovering from Christmas.

For over an hour we had the harbour to ourselves and were free to drift around and enjoy the significance of our arrival in perfect conditions and without distraction. Under mainsail we sailed slowly around Fort Denison, alongside a gleaming Opera house and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And it was a magnificent.

Catherine and I were last in Sydney Harbour twenty-two years ago, but our lives were very different then, New York was a distant destination, building a business was a vague and uncertain ambition, and sailing around the world on our own yacht would have been dismissed as an impossible dream. And although we didn't recognize it at the time, Sydney was where our journey together truly began. It marked a new beginning in our relationship, and our lives, so our arrival here, after a full circumnavigation of the world, most of which under sail, is a significant accomplishment for us.

We later celebrated our arrival with what seemed to be the entire city, who on ferries, fishing boats, jet boats, mega yachts, tall ships, skiffs and kayaks immerged in force to witness the start of the 72nd Sydney Hobart Race. Weather conditions, many authorities claim, could produce record-breaking results this year as the same strong north-northeast winds (20-30 knots) that carried Dream Time south, are forecast to continue, propelling the larger yachts to Tasmania at surfing speeds of up to thirty knots.

The race start was pure chaos, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of boats idling and anchored around the harbour suddenly motored off at full throttle in an effort to keep up with and escort the racing fleet from the harbor, past the Heads and out into the Tasman Sea. As Dream Time's top speed under power is a mere seven knots, glacial compared to the racing yachts, we watched the endless stream of traffic and near collisions comfortably from the foredeck, soaking in the sights, the sun and our accomplishment.

We're anchored now in Athol Bay by Taronga Zoo where the calls of tropical birds and the chatter of monkeys can be heard each morning before the crowds arrive. We're closer to the city and the Sydney Bridge now, although not quite close enough, so tomorrow we'll relocate and reserve our place right next to the Opera House - the epicenter - front row seats for the next big event - New Year's Eve!

Cruising World Read our story in the November / December issue of Cruising World >

Day 3,471 - Peel Island (27° 30.3S 153° 21.6E) 18:42hrs - December 2nd 2016 Our First Kangaroo Sighting

We've been in "Sraylya" for a week and we've have had our first kangaroo sighting! They weren't completely real kangaroos, but kangaroos in Australia none the less, so it counts. We met them in downtown Brisbane quite close to the giant Christmas tree, their natural habitat I believe, a lucky sighting really. You can actually eat them here, along with emus and crocodiles if you like, although I'm not sure I want to do that. Not sure why but we haven't seen any koala jerky yet, maybe they're just too cute to eat?

We spent our first week in Australia in a marina with a flurry of boat projects, re-provisioning and cleaning so it was a lovely treat to end the week with a few nights in a Brisbane city hotel exploring, people watching, shopping and for me languishing in a bath while watching Australian TV with a cup of tea and a ginger nut, ahhh heaven. It has surprised me how much like America it is here, certainly in and around Brisbane anyway. Driving along the highways and seeing the huge shopping malls feels just like being in the States, except maybe cleaner and less busy. But I guess that's the difference between having Australia's population of 22 million people using a country, versus America's 300 million using theirs. But either way it makes for a very pleasant introduction to Australia.

Even the weather has been lovely, lots of sun and wind, great for exploring, sailing and really good for boat battery charging. We have a little sailing around time now so were anchored in Horseshoe Bay outside Brisbane, it's full of Ozzie boats enjoying some lovely sub tropical leisure time, and I'm still keeping a lookout for a real live kangaroo. I don't know if there are any here but I'll let you know if I find any.