Land Ho! by Jet Mante

Australia is HOT! (spot my earrings!)

We made it to Australia! The first first-world country since the USA. After stunning nature, wonderful untouched cultures, and places right out of vacation brochures, I was personally very glad to be back in a city! I absolutely loved the (hopefully not) once-in-a-life-time experiences, but after a year in the Pacific I must confess to enjoying such little things as the hustle and bustle of people, and traffic lights. Even traffic jams can seem wonderful.


As soon as we were through customs, we met lovely people. Especially Susanne and Jerry (long term Australian cruisers) made us feel very welcome. For those of you who know Lisa Peery, Semiti Saini, Martin Livingstone, Kelly & Al Chan, Don Raymond from SDYC, Paul and Tamar, Pamela from Precious Metal, Lupe from Moon and Stars, and many, many others, you will know one of the greatest joys of cruising is meeting such extraordinary people!

Australian welcome committee, the wonderful Susanne and Jerry

On Saturday we, Jerry, Susanne, and the Mante family, went shopping at the Outlets. The funniest thing that happened was that Dad bought two new pairs of shorts and a new polo-shirt, but when he put them on Hein and Eltjo refused to believe that they were new. They said that they were exactly like the old ones!

OLD	NEW

Spot the ten differences, it's not easy!

On Sunday we visited Mom’s old school friend’s younger brother: Joris Eerkens. I had great fun playing Scrabble with Yinte (8), and Torwen (7), Joris’ two eldest daughters. After Scrabble we jumped into the pool and splashed about with them and their younger siblings Mognild (5) and Jeurt (3).

What do all children like?

Today I sorted out my cupboard and made a pile of clothing that was 1/2 a meter high, for Yinte, Torwen and Mognild. Not only did I realize that I am either really spoilt, or a packrat, but I also managed to procrastinate writing this blog post for over half an hour! I definitely decided that I should clean out my closet (if you can call it a that) more often.

The pile I cleared out is too high. I need a LONGER ruler!

On Wednesday Joris and Co. will visit and have dinner on the boat, which I am really looking forward to. Afterwards I will go to a 'Twilight Saga New Moon' party, which I will be going to alone because it starts at seven and we don’t know how long Joris will stay. Even though I will have to go alone I still insist on going, because I am obsessed about this book the way I sometimes can be about books.


Before the internet connection breaks off I must tell everyone who knows Dad, and his policy about pets, the amazing breakthrough: I am now not only allowed to have virtual and imaginary pets, but also ladybugs! Yes! I hope to even get Dad so far as allowing geckos, or hermit crabs.