OK, so following our return crossing of Bass Strait, which took us to some great places but which much of the family felt that they endured, rather than enjoyed, we have done some thinking about what we're trying to achieve with this trip and therefore what we should do with our time.
What we've decided is that, especially with the kids on board, it really doesn't matter where we are exactly, as long as it is pleasant and interesting to explore. It also seems to us that exploring takes place on many different levels of detail. Some people come and visit Australia for a week or two and go home having "explored" the country. Others take several months to explore the east coast of Australia by boat (or car). We know others who have done this for several years and still don't feel like they have run out of places to explore. Ourselves, we have just spent 8 weeks on the Gippsland Lakes and have only just started to feel that perhaps we have pretty much "been there, done that, and got the tee shirt" and perhaps it is time to move on...
What I'm trying to say is that we have found that we don't have to travel very far to find plenty to explore and, seeing that some of the family finds the longer coastal passages unpleasant, we really have to ask ourselves why aim to travel long distances? Sure it would be nice to get up to Queensland and soak up the sunshine, but Queensland is a long way away and it looks like if we were to get there then it would be by "delivery" voyages there and back - much as we did when we first bought Meander up in Brisbane. We considered this for a while but decided that no, we have other ideas that we think will achieve our original aims (spending time together as a family) just as well, or even better...
So, what we are planning on doing is to leave Meander in a borrowed pen in Paynesville for 3 months over the depths of winter. During this time we will head over to New Zealand and spend time with the kids grandparents who we see all too seldom. It will be nice to have an extended visit without the complications of Christmas and other family. We will then return to Meander in September and carry on "around the corner" to Eden and the NSW coast. Our rough plan being to spend October, November, and December exploring the NSW coast including Port Jackson (Sydney), Pittwater/Hawksbury, Lake Macquarie, and Port Stephens.
Our impression is that there are plenty of nice sheltered waterways and interesting places to explore in NSW to keep us busy, and the weather should be improving, so why not do that? With a bit of luck we may get to see the Sydney-Hobart yachts leave and get to spend New Years Eve in the craziness of Sydney Harbour before bringing (delivering) Meander back to Melbourne in January. We'll save Queensland for another time...
So, that is as the plan now stands. Although, as we all know, plans aren't worth the paper they are written on, and this one isn't even written on paper! Just today a friend from HBYC was trying to convince me that we should head over to Vanuatu ("just a few 2-day hops"...). Sounds lovely, but I suspect that might also need to wait until "next time". Maybe we could do that "on the way" to Queensland...
To illustrate what you can find without going very far at all, I leave you with a few photos from our last few days on the Gippsland Lakes. After 8 weeks were still finding new things to do...!
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