New Year in Hobart

With Henry Lloyd having problems with her rudder the next race start to Brisbane was put back by a day, which was great as it gave me 3 days to see Hobart. Luckily I was able to stay off the boat with Steve and Sue McQueeney, Steve works for The Friends' School Hobart, the only Quaker school in the Southern Hemisphere and it has close links with The Mount School. In fact I had quite a suprise when I arrived into Constitution dock at race finish to find out that the Commodores of the yacht clubs at both the race start (Howard Piggott of The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) and the race finish (Richard Batt of The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania), were both Old Scholars of The Friends' School, so I have a great picture of us all next to Mission Performance upon my arrival into the dock, another link to bring the two schools even closer!

With the race finishing just before New Years' Eve, Hobart knew how to put on a big party, my Dad and I spent it with all the other race competitors and thousands of Tasmanians next to the dock at a festival called the 'Taste of Tasmania' serving local produce, from kangaroo burger and possum pie to local wines and ciders, then to see in the New Year 11 hours before the UK with fireworks and music.

On New Years' Day my Dad drove me, Neil and Rob up Mt Wellington which sits as a back drop to Hobart and at 1270mts is higher than any mountain in England. We were not only able to get some great views of Hobart, but also see where we were going to start the next race and the points we would pass. As the last race wasn't very long, we didn't have a do lot to Mission Performance to ready her for race start on the 2nd, apart from the normal pre race talk from Matt on how he hoped the race to Brisbane would work out, so after a quick bite to eat with some friends, it was an early night to bed, making up for New Years Eve.