Flashback to New Years and the Hobart stopover that was missed....
We only had a few days to spend in Hobart, but we sure made them memorable! I think it helps that Hobart puts on several events for the incoming sailors finishing up the Sydney to Hobart race. As noted, we had a ridiculous greeting as we sailed into the marina, being welcomed by all the locals and the other boats who had already finished. We had a welcome brief with Sarah and then it was time to celebrate with a few beers and champagne, which Christine, Chris's wife, so kindly provided for us! After a few drinks, Karri and I were swiftly off to the showers while the others continued the celebrations on the boat. The team had not so surprisingly made it to the bar yet by the time we came back and were a few sheets to the wind. We all headed over to the local bar for a drink. Considering there were only a few bars to choose from, this place was beyond packed! So after a drink or two, we headed to find food. Since it was a bit later in the evening, the only place serving food was the local Aussie pie shop, so we got a ton of pies and went to town! I made it a somewhat early evening and headed back to the boat afterwards to get some rest before New Year's Eve which was the next day!
The next morning, we were up early, got some breakfast adjacent to where our boats were docked and then it was back to the boat for our one major day of deep clean, sail repair, etc. Once Karri and I were done with our work, we had the afternoon to ourselves. We got our nails done and then met up with Jan who was randomly sleeping under a tree in a park...why would I be surprised by that? The three of us spent the rest of the afternoon having drinks and food and I may have started on my espresso martinis, but to be fair, I was falling asleep at the bar so needed a bit of a pick me up for the big night!
We headed back to the boat, where I happily ran into Patsy who lent me her hotel key to have a real shower at her place instead of using the marina showers. I parted my way and was meant to meet up with the crew on another boat who were "having people over". Of course, by the time I made it back to the boat, no one had left yet. Most of our crew ended up meeting up on our boat where we had a pre-party of sorts, drinking red wine and eating my favorite cheese crackers! I also managed to sneak a few espresso martinis on the boat from the restaurant next to us. We were all still around at midnight and in the true Spanish tradition, we ate or rather scarfed down 12 grapes at midnight. I used to do this with my family as well at new year's but not sure if there was ever any meaning behind it. Hobart supplied us with a lovely display of fireworks and it was quite a sight, seeing all the boats with people celebrating on the bows watching the show.
Ready to party!
Karri and Jan waving to Reero...
And vice versa...no, Reero wasn't actually there, just in spirit!
And this was just too funny to keep out!
At some point, I was lying on the deck next to split wine while being outlined with white electrical tape as if I was a dead body...
After midnight, we headed over to the LMAX boat where the unofficial gathering was being held. As we arrived, we noticed a shopping cart had been hoisted up the mast and there were two other shopping carts on the bow...we sure know how to keep it classy! I may have partaken in a few shopping cart races on the bow while inside the cart, had a bit of a dance party in the cockpit per usual, and managed not to fall off the boat! We then somehow managed to find another bar to continue the celebrations and it was the wee or rather later hours of the morning that we finally made it back to our boat.
New Year's day was the worst day of my life! I thought I was going to die...literally! But, I did not and managed to get out of bed to have breakfast with Ros. What I had forgotten was that I decided to go to a museum that day with a few others of our crew. So Jan and Karri dragged me along with them, where Amancio, Luke and his friends met up with us. Turns out it was quite the thing to do on New Year's day and there were a few other fellow Clipper people on the boat as well. We took a ferry over to the museum, where I had a coke and slept. Once we got there, we had about three hours to roam the museum and check out the art displays. It was quite an interesting place with very, shall we say modern art. After that, we were ushered out to a big grassy area with a stage and food stands set up. What I didn't realize was there was a bit of a music concert after the museum part! It was actually quite nice. However, I didn't have much time to get dressed and happened to still be in my wine stained shirt from the night before, so had to walk around in the blazing heat hiding my shirt behind a sweater, again, so classy. It ended up being quite an enjoyable afternoon with good company, food and drinks. We left the place on the first ferry back around 8 and then it was finally back to the boat for a shower and some much needed sleep before the race 3 start the next day!
VS crew chillin on the grass
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