Life carried on in Hobart & we eventually got our new toilet holding tank from the plastics man at a very reasonable price. Had a battle with Telstra to have the phone we bought from them "unlocked" from their service as we thought that we had bought the phone outright & did not see that we should pay a hidden $100 unlocking fee to use the phone with other simcards as we travelled - success after hours of phone calls & threatening behaviour at the Telstra Shop!

With the Sydney Hobart Race commencing we had to vacate Constitution Dock, so we sailed to Barnes Bay, and then the Duck Pond on Bruny Island, along with other friends. A good time collecting oysters & having a BBQ ashore. We then sailed back to Hobart to anchor off Wrest Point Casino & wait for my brother's boat Charlie's Dream arrive in the Syd - Hob race. The yacht tracker showing race yacht positions was obviously not being updated regularly so we were surprised to get a phone call from Peter putting him much closer to us - we sailed out to rendezvous only a few miles from the finish, reanchored, then dinghied a couple of miles over to Constitution Dock / Kings Pier to enjoy the euphoria of everyone arriving safe and sound on Peter's 3rd Syd - Hob.

New Year's Eve was spent at the Taste of Tasmania food festival with Charlie's Dream crew - expensive to attend, but a good view of the fireworks. We slept onboard CD and returned to Expeditus the next morning. On 3rd January we slipped Expeditus at the Royal Tasmanian Yacht Club, cleaned, antifouled, touched up some blemishes on the topsides, removed the propshaft & had a propellor key remade and a zinc prop anode fitted. Said goodbye to CD as they were on a quick turnaround to sail back to Brisbane. Made a few new friends at the club & had an enjoyable dinner with Mal & Mieke. Relaunched on 7th Jan. refuelled, and then moved to King's Pier Marina where we had managed to secure an empty berth for a while (Thanks Kerry & Kim!)

Our next move was down to Cygnet about 40 miles away for a folk festival - met up with Rod & Brenda from "State of Mind", Jean Yves, Laurence, & the 4 "Enfants" from "Himayana", Di & Ian from "Piping Shrike 2" from Adelaide, Mal & Mieke from Moonwatch.  The wind blew pretty hard for a while but we managed to get ashore & enjoy some of the entertainment for a few days - some very good talent there.

Finally we had to return to RYCT to get our Customs clearance for New Zealand, stopping overnight to catch up with Christine & Dennis from "Tunis" who were alongside at Kettering Marina.  Had a meal at the local hotel & started to feel the pangs of moving on from new found friends & country.