A New Australian Hero

This Saturday I was a part of history. Yesterday morning, Jessica Watson sailed into Sydney Harbour on her pink yacht after an almost 7 month solo journey around the world with no stops. At 16, she was attempting to win the record for the youngest ever to sail solo around the world. Unfortunately, the 17 year old boy who currently holds the record gets to keep his title, because Jessica didn’t make her trip up over South America and instead went straight across the bottom of the globe. In her own words, Jessica says if she didn’t just sail around the world, she’s at a loss for what she’s been doing the last 7 months.

So yesterday, Jessica sailed into the Harbour, scheduled to cross the headlands at 11:30 am. I decided to go see what all the fuss was about. The news was forecasting thousands of people and hundreds of boats would be there to greet her. They were absolutely right. Jessica was going to sail past the headlands, which was her official finish line, and then make her way down the harbour to the Opera House, where she would finally step onto land and make a public appearance in front of the crowd at the Opera House.

I went down to the Opera House and found a great spot along the water with a clear view of the wharf she would land at. As it turns out, she was 2 and a half hours late to the headlands and by the time she reached the Opera House is was at least 2:30. Since I was by myself I was quite bored. A huge stage was set up in front of the Opera House where the stairs were turned into a stadium. The media was playing the coverage on a large screen for the crowd to see. From my spot on the wall I could hear what was going on. After she crossed the headlands I decided I’d had enough of standing by the wall, so I gave up my spot and went to take pictures of the hubbub before she sailed in. Seeing all the media and the thousands of people was spectacle enough.

When she finally did arrive it wasn’t too hard to find a good spot on the hill overlooking the wharf to see her take her first step onto land. Hundreds of boats sailed all the way up the harbour with her and a huge boat in front sprayed gallons of water like a fire hose over the whole fleet. I couldn’t see Jessica’s boat until she came right out to the wharf but everyone around me kept insisting they could see her boat amid all the other larger boats. Everyone cheered when she finally came into view and then took her first step onto the wharf. Helicoptors were flying overhead to capture the action. It was quite dramatic. I left right away after that, thinking April and Mike and I were going to do something during the afternoon, which we didn’t end up doing. My patience was about shot though so I beat the crowds out of the city and went home.

On the news later they showed Jessica hugging her family for the first time, making a statement to the crowds and enduring a press conference in the Opera House. Anyway, my waiting paid off and I got to experience a real Aussie event. Jessica Watson is the newest Australian hero, with a book and a documentary already on the way, and rights to a movie about her still pending. And she’s only 16! So I guess I can say my waiting paid off and it was totally worth seeing. Kevin Rudd was there, people watched from atop the Harbour Bridge, it was amazing. I hope you all saw it on TV in the US, because I was there!