January 2025
Hello everyone,
Transhumance!
Like the sheep that our neighbor Françoise used to take to the mountains, we left our pastures in Combrailles - one day when the sunrise had been particularly spectacular over the Forez mountains - and took the plane again for our annual stay on the other side of the planet, on our floating paradise, aka Banana Split, which has just passed the thirty-five year mark and is preparing for new adventures, I will tell you about them soon.
After a brief stopover in Polynesia, to visit, this time in Moorea, our friends Bernard and Doudou, who showed us the superb museum designed by architect Jacques Rougerie and dedicated to the preservation of the Sea and the Earth, we finally reached Sydney, and found Banana Split well behaved in the garden of our friend Greg, who kept it for us for more than nine months.
Relaunching was without problems (at a spring tide), and then a few days in Hervey Bay, and in quiet Pelican Bay (there it was the sunset which was breathtaking) before a peaceful crossing to Brisbane, where we were delighted to return to the small marina of Dockside, one of our favorites in the World, in particular for its environment : Kangaroo Point, which a new spectacular footbridge currently connects to the City Centre and the Botanical Gardens (in addition to the cute little free ferry, the City Hopper), and where we enjoyed, from the comfort of our cockpit, the magnificent light show of the Story Bridge day and night, and spent Christmas with my son Manea's family, Justine and Charlie.
A little scare just before leaving Brisbane, the sudden failure of the hydraulic circuit of the steering wheel... we were kindly towed to a pontoon in Rivergate, where the problem seems to have been resolved; it is a corollary of Antoine's principle: when you have no technical problem on your boat, it is because there is one that is being preparing in secret !
We will keep you informed of our route to New South Wales; today rain and DIY… and writing of this monthly letter
We wish you all an excellent year 2025
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