Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Arrived back in San Francisco officially bringing Leg 1 of our trip to an end. It is good to back, even if it is only for 5 days. And the weather gods are being good to us and turning on the sunshine. We are staying with our ex-neighbor and good friend Anjou about 30 feet from where we use to live. So everything is very familiar.
We ended the day with a quick drink in 21st Amendment and planned the start of Leg 2 to Australia.
Our wonderful car “Sterlin” is still in Los Angeles waiting for a sail date. We were really hoping by now Sterlin would be on the way to Australia and we would be flying arriving just in time to receive her. But this plan is obviously not going to work and we need to start Leg 2. So the revised plan has us traveling to Australia on Saturday (July 6) and launching ourselves directly into the Tasmanian portion of the Australian leg. Sterlin will be temporarily replaced with a rental car and we will fly instead of taking the Roll On Roll Off ferry from Melbourne. The new plan has us spending about 25 days in Tasmania during
which time it is hoped that Sterlin will make it. The original plan had Sterlin arriving around July 9th, so while we are on schedule, Sterlin is about a month delayed and still slipping.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Organization morning this morning. Dentist, haircut, contact the banks and credit companies, cancel the internet which I should have done a month ago, book flights to Australia, book flight to Tasmania, reserve a rental car, reserve a hotel in Launceston etc. Good news, since it is July 4th weekend here in the states, nobody is flying internationally and we were able to get first class tickets to Sydney on points, woo hoo.
In the evening we had a little going away party hosted at 21st Amendment. It was a good time with Claudia serving drinks and our friends drinking them. We will miss San Francisco and everyone here.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy Birthday America. Spent a lazy morning just relaxing after the party. Wonderful fire works in the evening.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Today the serious packing for the rest of the trip began. We had to decide what to take and what to leave behind. Never easy. We finally got everything consolidated down to 3 Pelican Cases, 1 Duffle Bag and a Suitcase.
Spent a wonderful evening and BBQ dinner with Marc, Inge, Dirk and Marina. Good friends and good food is a great way to leave San Francisco.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Today was the day we were scheduled to fly to Australia. Unfortunately due an air crash at San Francisco and closure of the airport our flight was delayed 24 hours. Everything was rebooked and now we fly on the 7th.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Not everything is working to plan. Another cancelled flight and another 24 hour delay and another day in San Francisco. I think the catch-phrase for this trip with be “flexibility is the key”. So fingers crossed, we fly on the night of the 8th.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Spent the day being a tourist in our own town, and visited Angel Island. Rented bikes and enjoyed the good weather. The weather in Tasmania is going to be a little cooler. And good news, we are still confirmed for a departure tonight.
