Fully alive

There are moments in life when you just want to swallow a huge chunk of air, hold it in, smile, and hope that you'll remember the scene forever.

Yesterday I joined a dozen mates on board a two deck cruiser we'd rented to travel around Pittwater, the large harbour on the western side of Sydney's Northern Beaches peninsula. We had it all. A beautiful day, beer, meat for the BBQ, good humour, the celebration of one guy's impending marriage, and the chance to cast aside responsibilities and thoughts about work.

As we sat around at the beginning of our trip, feeling very pleased with ourselves, one guy remarked to me that there was nowhere else in the world he would rather be right now. This picture, taken on my camera phone, captured the moment for me as we dived off our anchored boat into the water.

Comments

[Asher Moses]

Ahhh, yes -- that's what's great about Sydney. There are plenty of areas just outside of the CBD that offer copious opportunities to escape the daily grind.

I'm living minutes from the beach myself, so each weekend it feels like i'm on holidays.

[Shane Williamson]

Harbour cruise with your mates $500.

Latest picture phone to capture the moments $800.

Watching the look on your face when you realise it doesn't take underwater shots....... priceless.

[Rob Irwin]

This was nice, Mark. You should toss in the odd human interest piece more often. It really adds something new to the blog.

[Mark Aufflick]

I'm stuck here in London where it is cold, grey and raining.

I had almost forgotton the beautiful joys of Sydney - I can't wait to get back next week!