Made it to Oz!

So we crossed the Southern Ocean which is pretty cool, and arriving here in Oz was great. The finish line was a really narrow harbour, so we had to tack up and down to get in. But when we arrived they confirmed that we had made it in third place - which was great. Qingdao's first podium position ever apparently. So we drank some beer and sprayed champagne around!
Oz is v cool, though in reality v hot. I heard that Perth was the hottest place in the world on xmas day, and it was their hottest xmas ever - no wonder I felt like I was going to die at times! We went to the beach for a bar-b-cue on xmas day, which was great - though it is not at all christmassy swimming in the sea and cooking prawns on a bar-b-cue!

Have been to try and swim with the dolphins this week. Sad I know - and also they didn't come and play with us, so a bit of a non-event in the end, as its not as though I haven't seen lots of dolphins off of the boat! In the past few days I have been kitesurfing - which is really cool, though I have only had a few lessons, so am not really wizzing it around yet. But apparently Hawaii is the home of kite surfing, so I can brush up on my skills there.... Tomorrow it is back to the boat before we leave on 1 Jan - so it may have to be a night in on NYE as I deal with all of my kit and get a good sleep in a nice bed before we leave again!

Hope everyone had a great xmas and new year
Love Nicole

Message From nicole

We are a day from Fremantle and I was expecting it to be nice and hot by now - isn't Oz supposed to be hot? But no. It's quite cold still and we are stuck in some savage weather- strong winds and big waves. Sails have been up and down all over the place and I am feeling pretty tired after my last action filled watch. We got hit by so many big waves that in the end it barely seemed worth ducking aound them any more! Helming is pretty crazy in this weather- fun, but also a bit scary when you reach the crest of a wave and there is a huge gaping hole in front of you! Sometimes you can sail down into it. Other times you hit the trough of the wave with a big crash! As you can imagine, I don't think that my course was the straightest! Hope everyone has a great christmas - not sure what I will be up to yet, but it will be my first one in the sun. love Nic

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Message From nicole

Although the wind and waves have been smaller than I expected for the Southern Ocean, this has been a tough leg. The cold makes it more difficult to cope with, especially when there is little to do. And when you do have to leap into action, then I find it really hard to move with all of the layers on! We had a bit of excitement a few nights ago. Firstly on the nightwatch we smelt a fishy smell that is apparently the smell of an iceberg (no I didn't know that either) so we were all shitting it and on full alert to spot the berg. None in sight - maybe it was just some fish! Then on our next watch (now daylight) we spotted the berg on the horizon. Now some claim it was just a cloud but it was sharply defined, and in the sea not the sky, and I am convinced that I saw my first iceberg. Now that is pretty cool! This morning we had a halfway party with beer, as we are now more than half the way to Oz! xx