My visit to the Opera....

I was born an hour south of Sydney, and I have been on a whole lot of weird and wonderful adventures around the world.... but up until last weekend I had never been to the Sydney Opera House.

My daughter's dance school organized a dance trip to Sydney and we went to see West Side Story at the Opera House.

WOW, what a night to remember....

and I don't know what happened to my little boat baby, but all of a sudden she is wearing heels and trying to be taller than me.

There we are on the dinghy in Bequia together one minute..... and in the blink of an eye.... this....

It was a special weekend away, but one that was punctuated with my obsessive 3 hourly checks on the progress of Hurricane Dorian.  Here are a series of screenshots on my phone from the weekend...

Which island was it going to hit, who would be affected, which stores do we have in these islands.... oh no, what about Florida - millions of people live in Florida.... Lauren lives in Stuart FL, just north of West Palm Beach.... at stages of the weekend, she was in direct line of fire.... these are places I have visited twice a year for the last 10 or more years.  Will Lauren be ok?  Her family, her elderly parents, her house on the canals, her boat... Ok, my warehouse is now in Tennessee, safe from hurricane madness, so I didn't have to worry about my own possible losses, only the losses of my friends.  Aside from that, after getting home from this Sydney weekend, I was supposed to be a flight to Orlando FL on Tuesday.... Orlando was supposed to be HIT by the hurricane the night I was to fly in.

My mind was a mess.  Surf Expo eventually made the announcement that the show would be cancelled.  I was actually relieved I wouldn't have to go, as my experience with Hurricane Irma is still a little raw.... now I just got to figure out how I will show the line to my buyers from the other side of the planet!

 

Well we all know what has happened with the hurricane from hell.... The storm stalled over the northern Bahamas for 48 hours and absolutely annihilated them. Remember this is not the ENTIRE Bahamas.  These storms are so tight and powerful and isolated, that neighboring islands had very little damage.  Here is a little map to put it in perspective.

So please DO NOT boycott the Bahamas or the thought of taking a cruise there this Winter.... most of the islands are ok, and goodness knows they need your tourist dollars.  If anything, DEFINITELY plan a trip to the Bahamas this season.

My heart is broken for the islands that are in really bad shape.  This photo was taken in the Abaco's, and rather than share destruction, I would rather share the paradise that they will rebuild to be.

I made a little video about my weekend.... and included a little snippet of something new for 2020.

I also made another cute video while I was in Sydney, I caught a ferry across from Darling Harbour to Balmain East.  It was literally a 5 minute ferry ride, and I went from the centre of the city to this quiet and very quaint little street.

 

I am still a little off balance about what to do to help these islands that have been devastated by the hurricane.  My plan is to do some fundraising over the coming weeks, but I first need to do some research to figure out where to send our fundraising $ that is going to get the most help to the people who really need it.

 

If you have suggestions please email me directly.  If you want to help, please follow us on social media, and join our mailing list and STAY TUNED.

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One love x