The Question of Going Ashore

It's not something that one thinks of much but if you want to go ashore, how is it best to achieve that exactly?  In many instances we've anchored and taken the dinghy ashore, or picked up a mooring and taken a dinghy ashore or tied up to a jetty or gone into a marina. Being invited ashore for a meal presents it's own problems. We are conditioned to always say YES but how do we re-join the normal world, even if a dinghy ride is possible. What to do with the dinghy? All one might have achieved is to replace a big boat problem with a smaller boat problem. It all comes down to 'parking'.

Our dinner invitation to Milsons Point to visit Peter and Ronnie presented us with exactly this type of dilemma. Where to park Zofia, where to leave the dinghy etc... We resolved this by taking a spot on the collector jetty at the RSYS which is right next to Kirrabilli House and within walking distance of Peter and Ronnie's. A perfect solution as it turned out because we could also collect Peter from the same jetty in the morning so he could come out onto the harbour for the day. 

The plan got even better because we made a complete crew swap for the day. As Peter stepped aboard I stepped off. This was a win, win, win. The Bloke and Peter would be able to reminisce and exchange goalkeeping war stories, Peter would escape the office and pilot The Bloke around these stomping grounds and I could go ashore and have some time with the daughter of a childhood bestie who happened to also be in Sydney. All the planets were aligning.

Although my Plan A was to catch a ferry or the train across to the City Centre, the sight of the Harbour Bridge and it being a fine day made it irresistible.  Days don't get better that this to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bloke was not with me to try to talk me out of it. Yesssssss...!

 The caged pedestrian path which is supervised by, mostly bearded, men in hi-viz kit.

Once off the bridge I was able to walk through and past plenty of other interesting spots including the Sydney Observatory where I was able to personally observe the fitness instructors busy bullying office workers to 'lift those knees and pump those arms...". I'm quite certain they all wanted to be seen. So I gave them a proper looking at as I marched past.

 Inside the Victoria Building where I was to meet Skye.

I last saw Skye when she was a child. As she's now in her 30's, there was some terrain to cover so some robust German cuisine was enlisted as well as a couple of glasses of wine. We resisted the beer steins and ignored the waiters in Lederhosen.

The day was crowned with two glowing Blokes, who had clearly had a stellar day discussing, boating, golfing and hockey goalkeeping, plus a fabulous roast prepared by Ronnie. We retired to a safe jetty in the heart of Sydney and pinching ourselves to make sure this was all real. A truly top day!