Tuesday (22 September) Richard finished the anchor locker project – so we now have a lovely clean anchor locker plus a new waterproof panel to protect the teak access panel. I spent most of the day on the computer putting together our travel insurance claim for out-of-pocket expenses relating to Richard’s heart attack in April as he had now been signed off to resume sailing. So I was making the most of having shore power and there was lots of printing, scanning and collating going on. And that was about it for the day.

Wednesday morning Richard stayed on board and did a spring clean while I took myself off to the laundry and the cruisers’ lounge. This time to make the most of the Boatworks internet so I could download some replacement apps for those that we had been informed were being discontinued (particularly Navionics). So downloaded the new app, logged into our Navionics account, and double-checked all our charts were up-to-date and downloaded for off-line use. I also updated all the apps on the phones, the iPad and the computer as we don’t tend to do this via our mobile hotspot as it is so data intensive. I returned with everything up-to-date laden down with clean laundry and of course admired Richard’s handiwork….Morphie was sparkling!

Thursday morning, Richard managed to get a UTE (Australian word for pick-up truck) so left me still working on the computer and headed out to his favourite hardware store Bunnings. He came back with some fridge seal material and a new toilet seat. He then installed the toilet seat in the heads and let some gas out of the freezer as it was working too hard to get down to temperature (as the unit was full) and frosting up the lines inside the fridge. This took a couple of attempts but, finally, the freezer was working again as it should. He then removed the old seals around the fridge and freezer lids and replaced them.

Later on we headed out to the Westfield Mall in Coomera for my physio appointment – wasn’t keen on the guy – but he did give me some useful exercises to do to keep my hip moving and to help my thigh (where I have torn a muscle). After that we had a doctor’s appointment so that the GP could complete the medical section of the insurance claim form as we had failed to get hold of our UK doctor – thankfully the claims team were happy to deal with the Australian GP instead who had treated Richard for the last five months. Oh yes and the surgery confirmed the dietician telephone appointment for 9.45 am now on Friday morning. The physio doesn’t want to see me again until 8 October so we can head out of the marina again for another couple of weeks – yay!

Job done it was getting late so we headed into the fantastic Nahm Thai Restaurant for an early dinner. Suitably full we then went to Coles supermarket for a fresh fruit and vegetable run and a quick trip to the bottle shop for me to get some wine supplies (Richard remains teetotal). Back on board we stowed our goodies and had a movie night.

Friday morning early Richard cleaned the cockpit while I continued with the insurance claim paperwork. Finally everything is ready to go except we are just waiting on one document from the Heart Clinic signing him off. There are so many receipts and evidence of expenditure I’ve had to do two spreadsheets to bring the whole story together. Phew – had been a long time since I sat in front of a computer for days on end LOL. Richard returned the car to the office and confirmed that, because of bad weather forecast for Friday night (strong winds and threat of thunderstorms) we would not now be leaving the marina until Saturday.

At 9.50 I realised that the dietician hadn’t called. So I called the surgery and they said that as I hadn’t responded positively to a text message the appointment had been cancelled. What a stupid system – they arranged it, I confirmed it, and yet because I missed a text she didn’t call. The practice manager was sympathetic to my position and said she would get her to call later in the day. So I kept the phone glued to my side but, of course, she didn’t phone…..so frustrating…..

Later on Richard and I headed to the Galley for coffee and a naughty cake and started checking out anchorages for our departure on Saturday. And, for once, the weather forecast was accurate and we experienced strong winds and saw lightning in the sky south of us. So was happy to have a movie night tucked up securely in the marina especially as I was now feeling the results of the physio session the day before and the subsequent exercises I had done that morning.

Saturday morning and I was struggling badly with my back. So I stayed in bed and Richard took himself off to find the caretaker (the marina office is closed on a weekend) to let him know we were staying an extra day to give me time to recover. Then he took himself off to Garage 25 to see the cars and bikes while I rested up. He returned with some blog photos for me and then went off and did some final bits of laundry making the most of the access to the machines.

Finally late afternoon, after a lazy day just relaxing and using ice / heat and my Tens machine the pain started to ease….so we were definitely going to leave in the morning.

Sunday morning we stowed everything away and left the dock heading towards the top of South Stradbroke Island going with the tide as it went out. Oh yes and going down the river we found what we think is the biggest ugliest house ever!

Crazy busy out with tinnies, jet skis, motorboats you name it….the Broadwater was foaming at times from all the fast traffic. Boats in this area have a 40 knot speed limit and it seems like most of them go as fast as possible!

We saw one jetski rescuing a motor boat and one guy in the water cleaning his hull as he had run the boat aground on the mud flats. We had also heard of one old chap being rescued from his sunken houseboat so wondered if this was it…. Always enjoy seeing the birdlife preening itself on the shallow sand banks as we sail through too. Plenty to keep us on our toes that’s for sure!

Although it was bright and sunny with beautiful blue skies we were actually wind chilled by the time we arrived at Millionaire’s anchorage which is near the top of South Stradbroke Island. Beautiful place and we were looking forward to spending a day exploring there on Monday. So we enjoyed the peace and quiet, had a nice day onboard, and loved seeing another sunset at anchor.

Overnight the wind picked up and we were constantly woken by the noise of the anchor chain as it strained against the hull and we were experiencing wind over tide conditions so lots of slapping and nodding going on. Overall definitely not a relaxing or refreshing night’s sleep…..

At 6am this morning (Monday) we decided to make a quick exit as the forecast had deteriorated and there was not going to be any respite for a few days to come. So we headed back on ourselves and up another river towards the small community of Jacobs Well which would give us more shelter. The route into this anchorage has some shallow spots so we left straight away as it was virtually high tide. We moved through these areas very slowly and cautiously but managed with no problems and anchored out of the channel on the housing side of the public boat ramp (also avoiding the public mooring area behind us). This is a very busy ramp so lots of boat traffic but at least we have some respite from the wind which continues to blow pretty hard.

We’ll stay on board today and catch up on some sleep….and, hopefully, we’ll get better conditions tomorrow so we can go ashore and check this sleepy little place out a bit more. And it’s still pretty chilly….are you sure we’re in Australia LOL?!?

Take care everybody and stay safe. Bye for now.

Jan

Monday (14 September) we were up early: topped up the water tanks; swapped out the tatty Ensign for a brand new one; did a route to our chosen anchorage Tipplers on South Stradbroke Island; stowed everything down below; did engine checks; ensured the Iridium Go! was tracking us; unhooked the power and we were ready to go. We had to wait for the tide so we went and had a coffee in the Galley and did some last minute internet stuff.

Then finally we were off. We motored slowly down the Coomera River admiring the houses and tucked away marinas until we came to the Broadwater which was very busy with speedboats, houseboats, jetskis and tinnies. They were everywhere and they didn’t adhere to any navigation rules (like passing port to port in a channel) so it was a matter of just keeping our eyes open and avoiding them all.

Three hours later and we arrived at Tipplers Passage and made our way through the narrow channel into the anchorage near Tipplers Cafe (which is only accessible from the water). We found a great spot in only 3m of mud and settled down for the afternoon / evening. Was a pretty spot and we had a very quiet night. In fact it was less rocky than in the marina LOL.

Tuesday morning we had a lazy start and had breakfast in the cockpit – it had been a long time since we had done that and it was lovely. The sun was out and the weather had definitely warmed up. Fantastic!

Later on we went ashore and walked the path across the island to the surf beach on the seaward side of the island. The beach was pure white silica and was beautiful and deserted. But it was very windy so we only sat there for a little while before heading back to the riverside anchorage.

We then spent a couple of hours on the beach admiring our girl who was happy to be back on anchor.

We then had afternoon drinks at Tipplers cafe and were fascinated by the birds and wallabies that turned up once the majority of the tourists had left for the day. Guess that’s why they have the logo in the cafe then?!?

We then returned for dinner on board. Followed by a gorgeous sunset. Felt so good to be back out there.

Wednesday morning Richard spent some time looking at the shower sump pump that decided to play up again….and fixed that. He also fixed the inverter but that meant removing power from some other instruments. Everything went smoothly but the AIS wouldn’t restart. Without it’s wifi capabilities we couldn’t do any resetting of the system either as you need to be connected to play around with it. So we were not transmitting or receiving and our anchor alarm was also now useless. All very strange. We did a bit of troubleshooting and then sent off an email to the technical support team for some inspiration. Not a biggie right now as we are not going to sea and have another anchor app so all good for the night.

Later on we went for a bit of a dinghy exploration up to the Dux anchorage where the Southport Yacht Club have some premises. Well the anchorage was pretty tight with lots of long-term boaters there and the SYC area was private to members only, no guests. So we turned around and returned to the beach for a couple of hours before returning for sundowners and dinner onboard followed by a movie night.

Thursday morning and we got a reply from Vesper which was not that helpful in that they suggested checking quite a lot of things but we really couldn’t believe that simply disconnecting the power could have caused the type of problems they were envisaging. Their only other alternative was to return the unit to New Zealand. Hmm….don’t think so unless we get really stuck. Richard then had a brainwave and isolated and disconnected the whole network from the batteries and then reconnected it. Well, the Vesper light (which had been solid red for over 24 hours by now) went orange, then green, and lo and behold the wifi signal started up again so the iPad could connect to it. I quickly turned on the chartplotter and checked that the AIS was working on the network as it should and yes, sorted. Not sure why this worked but so pleased that it did! We told Vesper and they were pretty surprised too LOL.

Mid-afternoon we headed to the beach and set up camp. Around 4pm Richard returned to Morphie to collect our cool bag and I cooked on the (free) gas supplied BBQs. At this point three wallabies came by and we had spare carrots so we treated them to a little munch. One was even brave enough to take the carrot from Richard’s hand….definitely friends for life LOL. We enjoyed our dinner overlooking the anchorage but the bugs descended as the sun went down and we were being bitten so we quickly packed up and headed back to Morphie for the night.

Friday morning it was colder and cloudy with rain that kept threatening – it had poured hard overnight. So we stayed on board for most of the day watching the anchoring shenanigans around us as people descended for the weekend. We went ashore for sundowners and stayed there longer than planned because the heavens opened. But it didn’t seem to deter the day trippers who were turning up in droves. Later on, under heavy cloud cover but thankful that we found a gap in the rain showers, we headed back to Morphie for a quiet night on board.

Saturday morning and it was madness!!! Lots of boats, jetskis, houseboats, ferries you name it they were there. We watched lots of people having fun and the comment of the week had to be from Richard when some stupid blonde woman hung onto the front of the speedboat and was dragged into the water as it reversed off the beach “Don’t drink on an empty head”. Hysterical…. We went ashore and had to queue just for coffees – it was mayhem. It was definitely a people-watching bonanza.

Back on board and we spotted a number of speedboats that had beached themselves and were now stranded as the tide went out. They tried to push the boats back in but couldn’t and, eventually, the rescue boat turned up. We just sat on the coachroof in the sun enjoying the craziness all around us until they had left for the day and we had a quiet and lazy night onboard.

Sunday morning we were up reasonably early and, by 10, we had weighed anchor and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get the thick gloopy mud off Morphie’s anchor / chain / topsides and me. Really gross! We were in slack water so there was no adverse current and we just enjoyed meandering back. By the time we turned into the Coomera River we were on a rising tide so had a bit of a lift from the current back to our destination. Check out a couple of the huge riverside properties in this area. Not sure about the second one…..

Having been in the marina for so long we had spotted a good anchoring spot with ample swinging room just up the river from the Boatworks so we headed there and thankfully it was clear of other boats. So we set our anchor and settled down to a quiet afternoon and evening on board. Was lovely and calm apart from the occasional wake of a tinnie or jetski just to keep us on our toes LOL.

Monday morning, very early, we weighed anchor and maneouvered back into our slip. We quickly hosed and cleaned down Morphie with fresh water and then emptied the anchor locker of all the chain onto the dock which also got a hose down. We had breakfast and restored shore power before I headed to the showers whilst Richard went into the anchor locker tearing out some marine ply which he is replacing with starboard. This plywood panel covers a panel of teak which is at the head of our bed inside the boat. It had rotted over the years because it had been painted rather than epoxied into position. Not sure that was such a good idea in a wet area! Hence replacing it with starboard.

I checked the phone (not sure why) to find that my dietician had cancelled which was very frustrating! We had come back into the marina specifically for that today and physio on Thursday. Never mind…. Apparently the dietician is going to phone me on Friday evening for a consultation instead – not sure how much good that will be as she has never met me. Sigh…. So I started blogging before picking up the courtesy car and heading out to the shops for some fresh provisions.

I’ve now come back, stowed the goodies, and wow it’s hot out there today! Richard has now got all the rubbish out of the locker and removed the solid teak board inside our cabin and has cleaned all the locker out and is now prepping the area for the new panel that he has cut and sized. Here is the man at work….

We had had a great time away from the dock and look forward to exploring properly again come Friday (fingers crossed). We are hoping for a much longer break next time. But I’ll enjoy being back here in the Boatworks for a short time and make the most of the access to the laundry; the internet; and the unlimited fresh hot water LOL.

So that’s it for now. Take care and please stay safe everyone – we are thinking of you all and sending lots of love. We feel very fortunate and lucky to be in an area with virtually no Covid transmission and so few ‘local’ restrictions although the interstate and international borders remain firmly closed.

Jan

Sunday (6 September) it was very cloudy, chilly and the wind was howling. Pre-empting the long-awaited decision that Richard would finally be allowed to go sailing we made the most of our courtesy car and headed to the Westfield Mall where we stocked up with meat for the freezer. We also got another month’s worth of medication to store on board. Once back and everything was stowed we called it a day and relaxed down below getting used to heeling over again despite being tied to a dock LOL.

Monday we got out all our stores and did an inventory whilst creating a shopping list of dried / canned / frozen foods that we needed to purchase. The aim is to avoid doing large supply runs by dinghy! We also ran the engine to check everything was OK and then spent some time troubleshooting the wind generator. It is working fine (in that it is generating power) but the monitor is refusing to tell us exactly how much. We couldn’t resolve it so will need to do a bit more research. Richard had already checked all the wires / fuses etc to ensure it wasn’t something basic. Never mind, it’s not really a big issue. We then went to the office to book more courtesy cars for the next set of medical appointments and called it a day.

Tuesday morning Richard headed off to get his bloods taken. Then we went and did a big shop and got most of the things we needed. It took us a while once back on board to get all our supplies stowed and, afterwards, we just lazed around reading for the rest of the day.

Wednesday morning, very early, we got the staysail hoisted and furled as this was the first low wind day we had had for a while. This went very smoothly but the wind then picked up so we decided to leave the genoa for another day. Then we treated ourselves to breakfast out at the Galley and then got dink down onto the dock for a good scrub down. We then cleaned the tubes and polished them with a special UV protector. Afterwards we got the outboard off the rail and reinstalled it on the transom of dink and Richard took a little test spin up and down the river to check everything was working as it should after it’s stint in the repair shop.

Very happy we then hoisted dink back onto the davits so our tender is now ready to go. We usually stow the outboard on the rail when going to sea but as we plan to just meander around the river networks here for a while we don’t expect large following seas so it is safe for the outboard to stay fixed to dink.

Then it was time to head back to the doctors and, thankfully, the blood test results were good and the GP was happy for us to go sailing. Wow, our enforced stay in the marina had been quite a lengthy one so we were both a bit giddy and happy to finally be able to use Morpheus as a boat once again rather than a floating hotel room. I then talked to the doctor about my left hip which is giving me significant pain and restricting some mobility. He referred me to get a CT scan to identify the issue and, if the left hip is also impinged (as the right one was back in 2018 which necessitated surgery) he agreed that he would refer me onto the consultant’s waiting list. Finally we did a bit more shopping for the items that we couldn’t get the other day and returned to the boat. We spent the rest of the day looking at charts / guides / tides / weather forecasts and planning our escape!

Thursday morning very early we got the genoa hoisted and furled. It was flat calm with no wind at 6.30 in the morning so was worth getting out of bed to do! We then “unpickled” and flushed the watermaker. This piece of kit had been in storage mode for quite some time so we were delighted that it all worked well and we hadn’t sprung any leaks. Richard then installed new filters so we are able to make water again now once we have left the dock.

Early afternoon I headed out for my CT Scan. I had to go on my own as the facility only wanted patients (wearing masks) with no visitors. Not a problem. I turned up, filled in the paperwork and waited to be called. Right on time I went through and had my scan. It is hard to believe the speed in which these appointments can be booked online here in Australia – they are virtually on demand providing you have the referral paperwork. Just amazing.

By the time I returned to Richard and Morphie the skies were really grey and it was drizzly and miserable. So we just hibernated down below for the rest of the day.

Friday morning we awoke to another grey cloudy day having listened to the pouring rain on the coachroof most of the night. We were also heeling over again in the strong winds. We had planned to wash Morphie’s topsides but decided that this wasn’t a good day for it so we just chilled out onboard and relaxed all day.

Saturday morning and we had breakfast at the Galley before heading back to the doctors for my results.

And then we were thrown another curve ball. No, it wasn’t hip impingement it is severe osteoarthritis and basically I need a complete hip replacement as there is no cartilage left and is now bone on bone. The doctor then referred me to the hospital but wasn’t sure how long the waiting list would be for this surgery which is classified as non-urgent and elective. Our travel medical insurance does not cover private hospitals as we have access to the Australian version of the NHS through Medicare and the reciprocal country arrangements with the UK. Damn! Clearly the doctor was shocked with the terrible scan results and so were we. He then said that I would need to see the dietician as losing weight would help (yep knew that…) and also to see the physiotherapist for pain management. Hmm….not sure that is going to help having been down that road before…but have to go along with the process. The clinic nurse who then organised my care plan was very surprised that I was walking at all let alone moving around so well and still smiling!!! We left the doctor feeling quite deflated again particularly after the excitement of only a few days ago of Richard getting signed off. The follow up medical appointments for me were fixed for the week after next so we are still leaving the dock on Monday even if it is only for a week!

Leaving the doctors we headed straight down to Labrador on the coast to get some fresh fish from the Charis seafood market. Had a very successful shop coming away with some lovely mahi mahi, swordfish, mackerel and salmon fillets.

Later in the afternoon Richard took me to the pub so we had a pleasant few hours sitting on the boardwalk at the Hope Island Tavern. We discussed our options – Australian international borders remain closed so even if we were able to get a flight home (doubtful) we would be abandoning Morphie indefinitely with no return date in sight. So we decided that we’ll see what happens about the timing of the referral and take it from there….

Today, Sunday, we’ve been out shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables. All stowed I left Richard filling up the water tanks, cleaning the boat and reinstalling the fuel cans on the rail. I took up residence in the Cruisers’ Lounge doing the final bits of laundry whilst blogging. Back on board now and doesn’t she look lovely and clean, ready and raring to go. We just need to swap out the tatty Ensign and the boat job list is done!

So a bit excited about leaving, albeit for initially only a short period, and looking forward to exploring the local waterways by boat for the first time tomorrow. The weather forecast is nice and benign so that’s a good start! But we are not immune to the news from home and the rise in Covid cases again – stay safe folks and look after each other.

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday afternoon (27 August) having done a few bits and pieces around the boat we both confessed to being really bored! There are still some boat jobs needed but we don’t want to do them until we have the nod to go sailing…. Sigh…..

Friday morning we went out for breakfast at The Galley.

Whilst there we decided to do another short road trip especially as our wedding anniversary was coming up. So we rented a car from the local hire company; reserved a self-catering apartment in Hervey Bay; and booked a whale watching tour for the Wednesday morning. So another adventure to look forward to once again! In the late afternoon we picked up the courtesy car and I did a bit of shopping while Richard installed the new cleat that had just arrived from the US (we couldn’t get a matching one anywhere else). This was an additional one for the cockpit (on the starboard side) so we now have somewhere to tie everything off leaving the winches clear for active sheets…. Definitely an improvement.

Saturday morning we headed out to Paradise Point but the wind was up and it was a bit chilly so we decided not to stay there but we did enjoy watching the huge numbers of tiny crabs on the beach.

So we drove down to The Spit at Southport and enjoyed a few hours and a picnic on the beach. Even got some ice creams from the travelling boat man.

On the way back to Morphie we stopped off at Hope Island marina and had a couple of drinks in a waterside wine bar which was quite nice. Back on board we cheated and just heated up pizza for tea.

Sunday morning it was very damp after some heavy rain overnight. It was cloudy and cold so was definitely not picnic or beach weather. So we did the laundry and packed our bags in preparation for our forthcoming trip. Later in the afternoon we drove down to Oxenford to pick up the hire car and was surprised that it was a new MG3. I drove the courtesy car back while Richard drove the hire car. We then had a quiet night on board.

Monday morning, very early, we returned our courtesy car to the marina and then had breakfast in the Galley to set us up for the day. By 8 am we were on our way and I was driving this time for the 400km run north, mostly on motorway. Wasn’t expecting the motorway to be single track though for the last 100km or so though LOL. Oh yes, why do Australians have car washes and dog washes together?!?

We arrived at our apartment block around 1pm and got checked in, found the underground car park and headed up to the third floor to unpack. The apartment was a bit dated but was well equipped and quite spacious with everything we needed.

We then headed out to explore the area a little bit and walked the beach; did some food shopping; went to the nearby pub for a couple of drinks before heading back. I didn’t fancy cooking so had a takeaway Chinese from the nearby restaurant and had a quiet night in. A lot of the bars and restaurants in Hervey Bay were either closed completely due to Covid – presumably the limited numbers allowed within each venue made them untenable?? – or were working limited hours with many of them closing mid afternoon. Very few visitors around either.

Tuesday morning we headed to the beach across the road (Torquay Beach). Wow it was a blisteringly hot day with no wind.

There was little shade so we had had enough after a couple of hours and took ourselves back to the apartment block’s small pool area. This was nice and became our own oasis as no-one else used it.

Later on we headed out again in the car as we wanted to check where we had to board the whale watching boat the following morning. We were fascinated by the old wooden houses that were being renovated or re-sited so many of them were up on stilts. This area was originally settled back in the 1850s so has quite a heritage feel to it in places.

We found the embarkation place where Richard had a few words with the life-sized humpback whale model on the promenade.

We then had a drink at the Hervey Bay Boat Club. This is a huge place with pokies (casino-type slot machines), restaurants, outside deck, bars etc etc. It also had two cinemas within the complex and used to have live music most nights. Would imagine, in a non-Covid age, this would be the place to be of an evening. We stayed inside as the wind made it far too cold to sit outside and with so few people around it all felt a bit sad.

So we moved on and came across a nice looking restaurant called Cafe Baleana which was doing a roaring trade – so we popped in and made a reservation for the following night so at least we could go out to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We then went to the pub for a final sundowner before returning to the apartment for dinner.

Wednesday morning we headed out very early to the marina complex and had a coffee whilst we waited for the boat to be readied.

Finally we boarded and took up seats at the bow of the boat so had our spot for the morning. It was pretty chilly when the boat finally departed the marina and did over 20 knots into Hervey Bay and towards Fraser Island. We had sailed south from Bundaberg through this area in November 2019 so it was interesting to see it from a different perspective. But we had missed the annual humpback whale migration that comes up from the cold waters of Antarctica to the sub-tropical coastal waters of eastern Australia to give birth and mate during winter and spring. The huge area of Hervey Bay is famous for being a playground for the whales during this period so we were very hopeful of seeing some of these fabulous huge creatures. It started off slowly but, eventually, we were rewarded by lots of surface time where we met a mum and a very energetic baby playing in the warm water. There were also a couple of male ‘escorts’ who were happy to wave (pectoral slaps) for the camera too. So enjoy the photos. What a wonderful experience – we love whales!

Back on terra firma we headed back to our apartment for a spot of lunch (chip butties with the assistance of the local chip shop Madigans) which was very naughty but nice! We then headed to the pool for a couple of hours chilling before we got ourselves cleaned up and headed out in the car back to the Cafe Baleana. We weren’t happy with our original table (which was surrounded by others) but they were happy to move us to the waterfront, so that was good. We were then seated quickly and given the menus. Some strange concoctions but, hey, we were just pleased to have managed to get a table for dinner LOL. We ordered our food and drinks and got initial good attentive service.

But after that they just ignored us so we had to grab someone to get Richard a refill; I had to pour my own wine; and the dirty dinner plates were on the table for at least 25 minutes before anyone noticed to get them cleared. The food, however, was great so despite this we thoroughly enjoyed our 24th wedding anniversary celebration.

Thursday morning and it was our last full day in Hervey Bay. We headed to the beach again and it was very pleasant with cloud cover although it really wasn’t that comfortable. There were no beds available to rent here and the soft sand has been eroded into steep dunes so you end up laying on the hard compacted sand once the tide has gone out.

So after a few hours we returned again to the pool and stayed there until the middle of the afternoon having had enough rays. That evening we just had a lazy time in front of the TV and utilised the dishwasher and laundry machines to get ourselves ready for our departure in the morning.

Friday morning we packed up and headed back towards Coomera. Richard was driving this time and we decided to divert to Maryborough en route which was has roots dating back to the gold rush days of the 1800s. Lots of interesting older buildings here….

But check out the pedestrian crossing signs. Yes that really is a red and green Mary Poppins as P L Travers was born here. There is even a museum and a statue of the fabulous fictional nanny. Was fun…

Walking back to the car we came across a giant Kookaburra and a giant Koala being driven around the city – supposedly bringing light and fun to everyone in difficult times. Certainly made us smile but the Kookaburra was pretty damn noisy LOL.

Leaving Maryborough behind we headed back to the main road to rejoin the motorway and came across the Kookaburra and Koala again – this time they were with Ned Kelly, another famous resident. You just couldn’t make it up!

We stopped off on the way back for a coffee and we changed over so I drove the last hour and a half back to the Boatworks. Back on board, we quickly unpacked and got the bags stowed again and then picked up our marina courtesy car so we could return the hire car. Job done we headed to the Westfield Mall for Richard to have a quick check in with the doctor (just to get a blood test form really) and, after a bit of shopping, we headed back to Morphie for a quiet night in.

Today, Saturday, we had planned to head out somewhere but the wind is strong and we’re both feeling tired. So Richard has taken himself off to do some more laundry (not sure where it all comes from!) and is now residing in the cruiser’s lounge to watch some videos while I’m blogging back on board. Think that will be about it for the day.

Hope this finds you all well and keeping safe. Bye for now

Jan