Home From Australia

 I returned home from Australia after a 45+ hour journey from Tamania via Melbourne- Los Angeles- Portland-Anchorage-Kodiak. I calculated it was 24 hours total of airplane travel and nearly 24 of layover time. But hey-without kids...a cake walk.

Alisa and I took the picture above next to the "Alaska Girls Kick Ass" Bumper sticker on her car the night before I left. It was fun to see signs of Alaska on their boat as well--under Galactic reads "Kodiak Alaska" and the Alaska flag waves on the back of their boat.

 It was truly a trip of a lifetime. Alisa and I remarked to each other as we hugged goodbye that we enjoyed every second of the time together. She is a remarkable friend and person. She is always so positive, caring and energetic. We shared lots of laughs together!

The journey across the globe which she and Mike undertook is amazing and it was so fun to hear stories and she would answer my questions such as "So when you were crossing the Ocean, did you get lots of bugs on the boat? Or How did you make fresh water last so long on open ocean crossings? What do you miss most about living in a house?" Or we talked about the stars in the sky and I learned how she knew the sky well from living and Fairbanks, Alaska. She said she has to look at it "upside down form the Southern Hemisphere". I said, "wow-thats so cool that you know about the stars and planets and where they are. And you're able to flip it all upside down here in the Southern Hemisphere. I know so little about the stars." Alisa smiled as we walked and said, "its not too late, Zoya!". I just may have to start doing that..learning about where Venus is and more about the galaxies. But will have to  wait until it is dark again here in Alaska.

My last 3 days in Tasmania we went on a fabulous sail trip to the bays down the coast from Hobart. The winds were great for sailing and it was fun to see how fast and smooth the boat moves with the sails up! It was cool to watch Alisa and Mike work together to operate the boat from leaving dock, to prepping to put the raft in the water-with how they have done these procedures so many times together that there isn't a lot of questioning or discussion needed amongst the two of them. Their actions are routine with thinking about the boys and their safety and what needs to be done on the boat to make the basic operations seamless and efficient. 

 In the galley hung a blow up globe which had their across the world trip on it in marker.

 Alisa with ocean charts and Eric.

  At night I was tucked into my bunk (on the couch) and a "lee cloth" was hooked in to hold me in place. It was nice to wake up in the middle of the night and know that I couldn't roll away...

More blog posts to come about the food Alisa prepared on the boat, as well as more pics and videos of Mike and Alisa sailing the Galactic. Now off to get some much needed zzzz's....

Zoya