Naked men; moving friends and more HEAT!

I haven't blogged for a while (sorry) because (1) we were on the boat and in an Internet black hole and (2) we helped a friend move some furniture. 

Mr G and molly in a roadside stopover.

The furniture move happened yesterday for our friend, Leona, who had her furniture in long term storage.  Taking on her long term dream, Leona took the brave step of moving to Paris to learn and live the French way for awhile.  Returning late in 2012 was tough because it took some time to find a job and, in turn, to really know where she would live.  Now that she's settled in a job in Canberra she wanted to move some of her belongings out of storage and to a friend's farm in the Southern Highlands. 

Mr G, being the good man that he is, offered to move the furniture in his truck so the 3 of us - Molly came along too - drove to the small community of Murulan to the "farm".  I emphasise the word "farm" because I had heard her talk so much about this place and, as you do, had a clear visual picture of it in my mind.  In my imagination the "farm" looked like something out of an old western movie....big old wooden farmhouse, dirt roads, and old wooden fences with worn out buildings all around.   Boy was I surprised to see a modern looking brick home with a newish brick shed with glass sliding doors.  All in all the drive was very enjoyable, pretty scenery and something different to do for the day. 

Naked men - What?  When we were on the boat last week we moored in a spot we don't usually go to...America Bay.  It's still in the Ku-ring-gai National Park and just around from our usual spot in Refuge Bay near the waterfall (or the fountain of youth as my friend Donna named it).  It was late in the afternoon, Mr G was reading in the boat and I was sitting in the cockpit peering at the cliff and woods through the binoculars looking for birds.  Much to my surprise I saw this man standing up on a cliff top looking out over the bay completely starkers - Naked - just standing there enjoying the fresh air.  He was too far away for a photo or I would show you exactly what I saw! Well you can imagine I kept the binoculars on him for some time.  There is a bush walk that goes down to that area so I suppose he was there to take in the sun and some isolation but he must have thought the 10 or so boats in the bay below could see him.  Guess he didn't care...I applaud his sense of freedom!  The things you see when you just take the time to have a good look around!

Finally I have to mention the record setting HOT day we had on Friday.  It was 45.8 C (well over 110 F) here in Sydney - a record.  That day was unbearable.  We got to our mooring at Claireville Beach about 9:30 Friday morning and by the time we had cleaned up and made it to the beach it was already in the mid 30s.  By the time we got back to the house it was 40 C and it kept going.   It hit 45 just in our backyard - in the shade!  We did get relief in the form of a southerly change that blew in about 8:30 that night.  It has stayed cool this weekend - thank goodness.  There are still so many fires burning all over Australia and so many people and animals have lost their homes... it is very sad and tragic.  We are certainly getting the summer from HELL this year.