The Hawkesbury River Houseboat Extravaganza!

So last weekend 18 of us headed north, an hour out of Sydney, to the beautiful Hawkesbury River, where we'd hired two houseboats.







H and I have nearly been here for 6 months now and it was the first time we have left the City (although it feels like we do every day when we return to Manly). This trip had been in the pipeline for a few months now and all of a sudden it was here. Thanks to excellent planning and preparation by Will, Julia and Simo we all arrived on time with hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of booze and food already brought. Result! Naturally all of the booze for the weekend was pretty much drunk in the first night. The meals had been planned with military precision and no-one went hungry. We BBQ’d anything and everything.

The weather was very kind to us as well. The temperature hit the mid-thirties on Friday and Saturday, and although we didn’t arrive until about 3pm on the Friday, it meant for a warm, balmy evening lying on the deck, listening to tunes and watching the most beautiful night sky (with very little light pollution). I saw two shooting stars which is always nice.















Jumping off the boat into the pitch black river was good fun, although perhaps a little unnerving. Sharks have been pulled out of the Hawkesbury before. The phosphorescence was something else! Saturday meant a day of sunbathing, diving, swimming, drinking and eating. I think most people started polishing off the booze that was leftover before 8am on the Saturday. And even I was sensible with the suntan lotion. I hate the stuff but I have noticed myself getting more and more conscious of just how dangerous it can be down here. For the first time in my life I found myself using some Factor 30!





























The weather changed on Saturday night and the winds hit. I thought a rubbish bag had been blown over when I saw a shape in the water. It was very dark so I took a picture to see what it was.















It was a manta ray, honest.

Being in a houseboat.....















.....reminded me of being in a static caravan.















Except the scenery moves, thus making it anything but static, and there are no chav pubs or entertainment centres (Fat, sweaty comedians entertaining fat British Bulldogs and fat Gold Hoops) within a zillion miles. The set-up though, is essentially the same. Just add a top bunch of people and away you go. Who’d of thought you’d be able to draw comparisons between the Hawkesbury River in NSW and Chav Bay in Devon? Well you can, and I did.

The constant swaying played havoc with my 32 year old ear canals though. I managed to walk into two walls at work on Monday.

Although I took my camera with me on the trip I didn't take as many pictures as I'd like because my camera was often on the other boat. Simo took some great shots though and you can see them here. If you're interested you can also see his Parklife pictures on the same site.