Our last few weeks in Oz

The environment of our second house sitting was the polar opposite of our first.  We went from a brand new, rather stark new development of medium density housing to a well established country setting of large houses on five acre blocks near Picton.  The comfortable house was filled to the brim with 40 years of living.  We had two dogs and two goats to look after.  One of the dogs, Torro, kept us busy throwing balls and playing tug.

The driveway up to the house outside Picton

Some of the beautiful visitors to the house - Rainbow Lorikeet

Female King Parrot

Playful Torro

Quiet Ishie

The goats Carmel and Petal

Picton is located off the Hume Highway, the main route from Canberra to Sydney, and we had passed by hundreds of times but never explored the area.  This was our opportunity and we had several very pleasant walks along the Nepean and Bargo rivers.  Picton is a quaint little town.  We got to know the local librarian quite well as we used the printer at the library several times to print off various boarding passes for the next leg of our travels.  The town also has one of the best quilting shops I have seen.  The visit to the shop made me a bit melancholy as quilting is one of the activities I miss the most while living this nomadic life.

Nepean River at Picton

Steps along the river walk

Mermaid Pools on the Bargo River - we had a wonderful swim here

We took the train into Sydney twice to go to the Greek Consulate for my long stay visa.  I now will be able to stay in Greece for a year.  I am very pleased!  No more counting the 90 in 180 Schengen days and juggling passports.  We also visited some of my old stomping grounds around Sydney when I lived there in the late 1980's.

The little two up - two down terrace in Surrey Hills which I owned 1987- 1991- now worth 10 times what I sold it for!

Another day we drove into Sydney for a British Cruising Association Antipodean section luncheon at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Kirribilli.  We had a great lunch with great company in a beautiful setting.  To our surprise most of the attendees have their boats in the Eastern Mediterranean and we had probably had crossed paths (wakes) over the past two years and may meet again in the upcoming season.  No matter what our backgrounds there is always something to talk about among other yachties.

Beautiful Sydney Harbour

The Antipodean CA group

After two weeks in Picton we finished our house sitting and made a lightening trip to Canberra to have a last dinner with the boys and say goodbye to some friends.  What a mix of emotions!  Miss you already, my handsome sons.  We are very proud of you both.