For over a year we have spent many days and nights hanging out with our friends on s/v Stray Kitty, a family with three kids who sailed from Canada on a catamaran. We met up with them dozens of times on different islands across the Pacific. They have become like family for us and the kids always loved to come to our boat to play on our computer games.

When they came to Australia a few months ago, they decided to see if they could sell their boat. It turns out they were lucky and found a buyer. We were kind of hoping they wouldn’t so we could keep sailing with them. They finally sold their boat this past week and they came down to Sydney for a few days to do some sightseeing. We of course invited them to stay on Tahina.

It was a whirlwind tour of the city, but they managed to see a lot. The Opera House, lunch at the Fish Market, Hyde Park, the Cathedral, the Australia Museum, and walks through the city. We also met up with other boaters of s/v Jerana and s/v Quarter Moon. Here’s a slideshow:

It was while we were at the Australia Museum that we found out about the Demon Duck of Doom. Apparently about 15 million years ago there was a large duck, sort of a cross between a velociraptor and a duck, that somehow got the most awesome nickname of Demon Duck of Doom. The kids, especially Andrea, must had repeated its name a hundred times after we found that! Definitely a candidate for a computer game somewhere.

By the way, the Stray Kittys were the best guests ever on Tahina. Not only were they totally familiar with how to live on a boat, but also they washed all the dishes, cooked meals, and even stripped the beds when they were done. Awesome!

Yesterday, they had to leave us to continue sightseeing towards Melbourne. They are going to fly to Asia and do some sightseeing before heading to Canada. We are so sorry to see them go, but hope that we can remain in touch over the Internet and meet up with them again someday. We wish them the best of luck as they continue their Stray Kitty lives – without the kitty.