Thursday afternoon (22 April) we both felt a bit better after our Covid jabs so started preparing the boat for varnishing (although most of the rail didn’t actually look too bad). We washed Morphie down; ran all the lines forward; took the spare fuel cans off the rail; removed the dodgers and taped up the eyebrow. We then relaxed and took it easy with a quiet night on board.

Friday we were up early and I sanded the eyebrows whilst Richard started working on the stanchions. We had two of them where the stainless steel screws had severely corroded (with some heads sheared off) so it was obvious there had been water ingress. So he started removing the screws….

Once he had a couple out he headed to the specialist marine screw and bolt store at the neighbouring marina and purchased some new ones. I continued sanding the eyebrows while Richard, on his return, continued to remove the stanchions (with some of the broken screws needing a bit of encouragement) and then I helped him re-bed them. Phew, job done, we were happy with the end result. By now it was getting late so we called it a day at that.

Saturday and we were up early and had to dry the boat as there had been a heavy dew overnight. We wanted to sand the edges of the capping rail (both inside and outside) as this is where we get the most wear and will be the initial varnish coat. But we had to wait a while until the sun had heated up enough to dry them out completely. We then started sanding and got them finished, cleaned up the dust and wiped down. We then varnished the edges and the eyebrows and was finished by 4pm. Phew! Had been a busy day but we were pleased with progress so far. We then had a quiet Netflix night down below wrapped up warm as it is quite chilly now at night when the sun goes down – so much so that the duvet has been reinstated on the bed LOL.

Sunday morning we woke up to another heavy dew and were really upset that our varnishing had gone chalky. Damn! And to top it off the forecast had turned against us and we were looking at rain towards the end of the week so the timetable was looking a bit tight to get many layers of varnish completed successfully. We decided that, instead, we would rub down the whole rail this time rather than do another ‘edges only’ layer. But again the sun was needed to dry everything out properly before we could start and, as the cupboards were bare, we decided to go food shopping instead. We had run down our fridge and freezer in preparation for coming out of the water when the fridge and freezer will not be operational as they are keel cooled. So we took ourselves off to the Westfield Mall to find it closed! We then realised that the shops were closed because it was Anzac Day. Oops. We returned to Morphie and, by now, it was dry enough to start sanding.

We finished sanding and decided that the best way to play this, due to the very heavy dews we had been experiencing overnight, was to leave it ready for varnishing first thing in the morning which would then give it a day of sun to dry. So job done we then got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to the local tavern for some dinner.

Monday we were up very early and dried the boat off. We also had to deal with some large bird deposits as they seem to have been sitting on top of our mast pooping blueberries onto our deck! We varnished both the rail and the eyebrows and had the whole job finished by 11am so felt pretty pleased with ourselves. We then went shopping and picked up some essentials to tide us over for the week. On our return we filled up the car with diesel and made the most of a completely empty car park (as it was a Bank Holiday) and hand washed and polished the car. We then headed to do the laundry and some Netflix downloads before returning to Morphie for dinner and a movie night. This week’s film was the Trial of the Chicago 7 – based on a true story and definitely worth a watch.

Tuesday morning the weather changed on us completely, with rain forecast, so we abandoned the varnishing. The rail actually looked quite good considering so we thought we’d leave it at that for now although I did manage to sand and varnish the eyebrows once again.

Richard was trying to remove the genoa track cars as the wood around them had been heavily damaged by UV and he wanted to find out what was causing the problem.

He struggled, and struggled, and many of the screw heads were gnarly and difficult to get any hold on. Eventually he managed (with some borrowed tools) to remove them and we were really unhappy to find them completely corroded as they had clearly never been sealed properly to the rail in the first place with a total lack of any galvanic corrosion tape.

So he went off to source new ones and luckily there is a Ronstan dealer on site. I kept busy sanding down the boards that hold the fuel cans and gave them a quick coat of varnish whilst we had the materials out before then removing all the masking tape from the boat apart from the area near the genoa tracks.

As we are now purchasing new tracks we have to rub down the rail in preparation for the new installation. This is a big job as we need to get the actual track area back to the wood so that we can seal it first too. I worked sanding on the port side while Richard set to on the starboard side. As I was now finished I headed to the chandlery to pick up varnish, antifoul and wax supplies in preparation for being on the hard in the working yard as the forthcoming weekend is another Bank Holiday and the chandlery will be shut so we need to think ahead.

What a day! We were both pretty shattered by the time we settled down for the evening.

Wednesday morning I started cleaning the stainless steel while Richard reassembled the fuel can boards now that the varnish was dry; he then reinstated the anchor chain protectors; and we were able to get our dock lines put back properly onto the cleats. Richard then chopped out the soggy wood on the rail which had been under the track before replacing the hinge in the main saloon hatch which had broken a few weeks ago. Whilst we were busy we watched the clouds build as rain was scheduled for one o’clock and it actually arrived at 10 past – must be the first time the forecast was actually so accurate LOL. We had, in the meantime, covered up the affected parts of the rails in plastic to avoid any water ingress whilst this work was going on. We then got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to the doctors for our post-Covid vaccination check up. Whilst we were there he used us as guinea pigs for a GP peer review (which they do every six months in Australia apparently) so we both got a free medical thrown in LOL. We were then scheduled for our flu jabs and our second Covid jabs so feel relieved about that. On our way back from the doctors we came across a shop selling bedding at half price in a sale so was very happy to get some new 1000 thread count cotton sheets.

Back on board we had a quiet night in.

This morning, Thursday, Richard headed back to the mall to get his bloods taken. Only a precautionary test to ensure that his platelet levels hadn’t dropped too far as a result of the Covid vaccination. I carried on stainless steel cleaning. On his return he turned into a mixologist to make a epoxy mixture to fill the wood area that he had chopped away.

While we were both working I heard a squeal of brakes and a crash so sent Richard to check that Steve and Jo’s car was OK in the car park. There had been an accident between a lorry and a truck near the car park but their car was unscathed. Relieved or what?!? Anyway, Richard needed another tool from Bunnings so took himself off and I was now cutting the gelcoat on the port topsides in preparation for waxing. So here is a photo of the pre-wax finish – pretty happy with that!

I heard a bit of a commotion and realised that a motorboat had hit the bow of the boat next door and was coming backwards towards us. And yes he did glance us on the starboard edge of the transom. Damn!!! I quickly climbed over the stern and checked out the gelcoat and, of course, there was some minor damage despite the guy on the dock shouting that he didn’t see the boat actually hit us! He changed his mind when I shouted back at him LOL. Luckily the sales guy driving the boat was more honourable and, once he had finally managed to get into the berth safely, he came over to see me. He checked the (slight) damage and took our contact details. Richard came back and I told him what had happened and very soon after the owner of the company was with us inspecting the damage and he agreed to fix it for us whilst we are on the hard next week. He was very apologetic. That edge of the stern is definitely fated as this is exactly the same spot that was damaged in the Panama Canal back in 2017….

At around 3pm the heavens opened and rain stopped play. So I’m blogging while Richard is putting away all our tools and materials. He has also done an engine check in preparation for moving into the travel lift tomorrow morning for our trip to the works yard – so we will be living up the ladder for the next week continuing with our maintenance schedule.

Still watching the news at home and glad that things are going well with the fight against Covid although with the terrible news from India and the recent outbreak in Fiji it would seem that there is some way to go yet until the world can return to some sort of normality. Thinking of you all and sending lots of love and hugs wherever you may be.

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday morning (15th April) we were up early and walked down the road to the bus stop (after Jamie had dropped Budd off first at doggy day care).

We had a quick bus ride to Gosport and then joined the double-decker express train to Sydney. It actually travelled quite slowly but we were in no hurry and enjoyed the sights along the way.

On arrival into Sydney’s Central station we changed trains to Circular Quay. We then had a wander along the waterfront and towards the Sydney Opera House admiring the views of the famous Sydney bridge and the unusual sight of its flags at half-mast as a sign of respect to Prince Philip.

By now it was time to take our place at Quay 6 to board our Captain Cook’s lunch cruise.

It was very well organised and we were shown to our table promptly and gave our orders from the fixed three course menu. We had to order our drinks via an app (which is so much slower than actually talking to a server in my humble old-fashioned opinion) but eventually our drinks turned up and Hayley and I shared a really nice bottle of pink bubbles. Whilst dining we enjoyed the sights of the City as we motored along and it was a really lovely few hours. But all too quickly we were back at Quay 6 and the family had to get off so that they could return home to pick up Budd in time.

We decided, however, to stay on the boat as it was such a lovely day so we said our farewells to them. We eventually got off at Darling Harbour an hour or so later having spent the rest of the time on the top deck taking in the breeze. We enjoyed walking along the harbour front promenade here taking in the sights and sounds and tried out a couple of hostelries. We then went up to the 26th floor of the new Crown building and enjoyed lovely views across the City although not so keen on the cost of the wine!

Moving on we headed back to the boardwalk and walked through to the historic area of The Rocks before ending up back in Circular Quay and then hopped on another train to take us home. Had been a fantastic day and we were very grateful to Jamie for coming to meet us at the train station to take us the final leg home.

Friday we had already designated a rest day after a hectic week and this turned out to be great timing as it had turned a bit chilly and drizzly. In the morning Hayley and I headed out to the local supermarket for some supplies and we had decided to have a family roast that day. Later on we all headed to Erina Fair for some retail therapy for a while. On our return Hayley and I prepared and cooked all the food for a real family feast which went down a treat!

Saturday morning we awoke to another rainy day. So we changed our plans and went to the Bateau Bay 10 pin bowling alley. We had two games and I was my usual rubbish self and managed to come last in both games…. but, nevertheless, we had lots of fun.

In the evening it was takeaway and movie night so we had pizza and watched Godzilla… Not sure I would have chosen this film but, hey ho, it’s the boys’ school holidays so we were happy to go with the flow. After the boys had gone to bed we stayed up late to watch Prince Philip’s funeral – all very sad, especially seeing the Queen sitting alone due to Covid restrictions.

Sunday morning and the weather had cheered up so we headed back out to Terrigal to see the new walkway bridge which has just opened and joins The Haven and the town centre around the cliff thus avoiding the very steep hill walks. It had been really nicely done and we enjoyed sitting half way along watching the sea beneath us.

Arriving in the town we had a walk around and then headed to The Grand Pavilion – an Indian restaurant – for lunch. Well, this has to be the best Indian food we have found in Australia so far by a long way. Was very very good!

On the way back to the cars (again via the new bridge) we stopped off for some more of those fantastic donuts which we took home for tea. We left the family at this point and headed back via the car wash and the petrol station for some diesel in preparation for our trip back to Queensland in the morning. That evening we had our donuts and another nice family evening at home along with more giant doggy cuddles.

Monday morning we were up really early and, by 6.50 am, we were saying our sad farewells after getting lots of love and hugs from the family. Had been a fantastic 10 days and we had really enjoyed ourselves, just couldn’t believe it was already time to go. We promised to return for more family time later in the year before we head home to the UK, whenever that may be!

We drove for a few hours until around 9.00 am and stopped for breakfast at a cafe. We then drove until about 2.30 pm when we stopped at the Italian Historical Village (which was a bit strange to say the least) and had an average lunch at the Italian Cafe. The birds were really noisy and we wondered what was going on and then we spotted the python at the top of the post. Guess they were warning each other about the snake then?!?

Throughout the trip the roads were only busy near big towns and, largely, it was pretty quiet so we enjoyed the drive. Love the road signs in Australia too – not sure you’d get away with that one at home LOL.

We arrived back around 5pm and quickly got ourselves back onboard Morphie. We were very pleased to see her safe and sound in her slip. After such a busy time we had a leisurely evening on board before having an early night, pretty weary after the 800 km drive.

Tuesday morning we were up reasonably early and popped into The Galley for breakfast. We went into the office to pick up some post and another parcel before heading down the M1 to the Gold Coast University Hospital where Richard had an appointment in the cardiology measurements clinic for an echocardiogram. We won’t, however, find out the results until his next outpatient appointment on 7th May.

We drove back up to the Westfield Shopping Centre in Coomera and did a bit of food shopping before popping into our doctors. We were then given our first Covid vaccinations and were asked to wait for half an hour before we left to ensure no ill effects. All went well and the next one will happen in around 10-11 weeks time….. The doctor has also asked to see us again next week just to ensure our platelet levels are OK and unaffected by the vaccine. We were very lucky to find this doctor, he is just great!

Back on board we enjoyed sundowners in the cockpit before a Netflix evening and another early night.

Wednesday morning neither of us felt great which wasn’t totally unexpected. So we took it slowly although Richard did manage to install some lovely new Luci stringed solar cockpit lights….very cleverly using bra hooks to hold up the cable…. and stitching them into seams to avoid making new holes in our cockpit canvas. This installation also means we can take them down easily when we need to.

Here they are, job completed. They give off a nice warm white light and really illuminate the cockpit well. We are both very happy with the outcome and look forward to using them at anchor.

Whilst sitting in the cockpit we were chatting to one of the office girls who was searching for another free marina berth as one of the motorboats had taken an allocated one and she had a yacht coming in very soon. She told us that there had been a terrible accident in the yard with one of the guys getting injured by the boat lift which had resulted in catastrophic leg injuries. As a result he had now lost his leg below the knee. Such sobering and shocking news, we really feel for him and his family at this difficult time.

We then headed to the Boatworks laundry but found every single machine busy with lots of time left until they were finished their wash cycles. These machines are pretty slow too so, as we still had the car, we decided to go to the public laundromat in Coomera instead.

Yes we had to pay but we were back in the marina with all the laundry done in much better time than we would have been otherwise. Back on board, with us both feeling still feeling a bit rough, we decided to take the rest of the day off and were in bed by the early evening.

This morning, Thursday, we are feeling a bit better but still not ‘normal’ yet so another day of blogging for me and shopping for Richard as we go through our material supplies in preparation for the next few weeks. Our plan is to work hard on Morphie and prepare her for a cruise north (now that the cyclone season is at an end) with some general maintenance like antifouling, varnishing, waxing and polishing etc. We will stay here in the Boatworks (both in and out of the water during this period) while we wait for the results from Richard’s heart tests and we are really hopeful that this will be the final hospital sign off that we are both looking for, so that we can cast off the lines without the constant need to keep returning here on a monthly basis.

We have had a few people ask us recently when we are coming home. Well how long is a piece of string?!? Even if we could get a flight home, the transit hubs remain either closed to transit passengers or are on the UK’s ‘red’ list which would mean hotel quarantine. With Australia still closed to international passengers we would also be abandoning Morpheus with no way of returning to her…. So we’ll continue to sit tight here until there is more certainty and, hopefully, get some proper sailing in very soon!

Anyway, things appear to be returning to normal at home, and hope that the good progress made to date continues so that restrictions continue to be eased. But guess you might still need some love and hugs so here is another indigenous Australian animal picture to make you smile. This one is a bandicoot which is another small marsupial but with a difference, as it’s pouch is on it’s back so that it doesn’t get filled with dirt when the mother digs.

Jan

Monday morning (13 April) we headed out early to drive north to Port Stephens. Our destination was Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters. Sadly Hayley had to work so it was just the five of us. We arrived around 11am and got checked in.

Jamie, Jack and Adam got changed into their wetsuits and we went through into the facility. We were given a talk about the rays and sharks in the enclosure and the boys walked into the shallow water to get up close and personal.

Richard and I walked the perimeter but we also fed some rays and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Afterwards we headed to the local tavern for lunch which was nice.

After lunch we headed over to Birubi Beach, Anna Bay, which is a lovely place with sand dunes and even camel rides. It was pretty chilly and windy but we had fun anyway finishing up with ice creams before piling back into the car for the long drive back.

Back at the house we had a quiet evening in.

On Tuesday we remained local and headed out to Terrigal to buy some doughnuts which, according to Jack, were the best ever! Well, we were sceptical, but having made our purchase and sitting on the sea wall eating them, we had to agree with him LOL. We then moved up to the Haven and the boys enjoyed playing on the rocky shore.

Back at the house it was lovely that Hayley was now on holiday with us and. for the evening, we had a mezze-style selection for dinner before turning in.

Wednesday morning we headed out in the cars to drive north again to visit Hunter Valley Zoo. It was pretty busy as we queued up to enter. We picked up bags of feed and first to check out were the koalas. One was actually awake and eating which makes a change! We then headed into the aviary where we met some very friendly (and hungry) parrots.

We then had close up encounters with goats, sheep, deer and saw lots of other species including hand feeding some kangaroos. They even had white ones here, which was the first time we had seen them.

We then took a break at one of the BBQ areas and cooked our lunch. Afterwards we headed over to see the alligators, camels, more goats and the ostriches.

Then it was on to see the white lions. We assumed that they were probably albinos but, in fact, it is a specific genetic strain from a part of Africa where the sand is whiter and they are more camouflaged because of the colour of their coat. So many animals….but our favourite had to be the baby orphaned monkey who was abandoned at birth and was currently being hand reared.

Leaving the zoo we headed back in the cars to the house and enjoyed another relaxing evening in after another great family day out.

And that’s it for now….there are lots more adventures to report in Part 3. Take care everybody, hope you are enjoying the continued easing of restrictions at home, and please stay safe. And to make you smile this week is another picture of our best friend Budd who does like to squish us on a regular occasion LOL.

Jan

Sunday afternoon (4th April) it continued raining….hard…..so we had a lazy day completed by a Netflix film called The Judge. Great movie, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Monday it rained on and off all day. We headed out for breakfast but found everywhere completely rammed with queues out of the doors so, instead, popped into the Marina Village IGA and got some crusty rolls and some fresh ham and enjoyed that instead once back on board. During the afternoon we cleaned and tidied up before welcoming Steve and Jo for dinner – we had another fun evening.

Tuesday it was raining again, hard!!! Pretty fed up we just stayed down below like hermits throughout the day and evening.

Wednesday morning and we were up pretty early and headed out for a coffee which was nice, now that the Easter crowds had gone home. We then checked out of the Marina feeling quite sad to leave, we had thoroughly enjoyed our month in Sanctuary Cove, just such a shame that the weather stopped us fully utilising the facilities!

At around 11ish we slipped away into the Coomera River for the trip north back to The Boatworks. We arrived in squally showers with strong winds but made it into the slip without any difficulty. Once we were fully secured we headed to the laundry and the cruisers’ room to do some more Netflix downloads while we waited for the machines to finish. Finally all done we headed back to Morphie to get out our cases and start packing

Thursday we were pretty busy. We had breakfast at The Galley then got busy packing for our trip to New South Wales. We then picked up our courtesy car and headed back to Sanctuary Cove to meet Steve to borrow his car. Again, so very grateful to both Steve and Jo in lending us their car, otherwise our trip would probably have been cancelled yet again as the hire car pick up was in a Queensland covid hotspot.

I then headed to Westfield for some last minute bits and bobs – including a hair cut – and met Richard back at the boat. Finally we were finished packing and had dinner in the cockpit watching the thousands of fruit bats flying somewhere to roost for the night. Amazing sight.

Friday morning we packed the car and were on the road by 6.50 am with a trip of 800kms (497 miles) ahead of us. We were going to be sharing the driving so I did the first leg and picked up lots of traffic on the M1 heading south towards Southport. Once we were clear of Southport the traffic thinned out until we reached the border with NSW where it got a bit busier again. As we hadn’t been in any Queensland hotspot regional area there were no border restrictions at all so we sailed through. And then the roads just emptied and we had very little traffic at all.

At about 9.30 am we stopped for a break and some breakfast before moving on. Some nice sights along the way and also surprised at how some people stack their cars – not sure they would get away with this in the UK!

The next stop was just after 12 to swap drivers, then again at 2.30pm by which time the traffic had picked up a bit again as we got closer to populated areas and arrived at our destination around 5pm. Was lovely to pull up and the whole family came out to welcome us.

We had a lovely evening catching up over a few cold ones and a Chinese. Fantastic to see how much the boys had grown up since the last time we had been here (November 2019) and despite being in Australia since March 2020 this was the first time there was any certainty over the interstate borders remaining open to make this trip possible. All very exciting!

Saturday morning we awoke to the very sad news about the death of Prince Philip, so we watched some of the subdued TV coverage for a while. We then went out food shopping at the huge mall at Erina Fair before returning to the house to rest. We had asked the boys to put together a list of everything they would like to do in their school holidays and we had quite an interesting selection to choose from. So Hayley and I sat down and planned the time we had together before we shared our news with Jack and Adam – they were very excited! We also caught up with Budd the dog who had grown a bit since the last time we had seen him….can’t believe he is still only a 19-month puppy. He is huge and you certainly know it when he decides to sit on you LOL! Oh yes and Velvet the cat tolerates him pretty well too…..

Later on we had a BBQ with the biggest prawns ever! This was followed by a family movie night – which was a Jurassic Park film. We didn’t stay up too late as we were still weary from the day before.

Sunday morning and we headed out to Soldiers Beach, Norah Head. Although the sun was out the wind was pretty fierce and felt quite chilly but we enjoyed sitting around watching the surf and surfers whilst walking the beach while the boys played happily in the sand dunes. There were some surfing competitions on too and loved watching the really small kids having a blast in the waves (with those in the competition being tagged by an adult). Later on we headed to the Craken cafe for fish and chips before returning home for a lazy afternoon. Great start to the trip so far…and lots more adventures to come….

Hope you are all OK at home and enjoying the easing of restrictions. Catching up with family and friends must be a great feeling now that it is possible. Although we have been living a ‘normal’ life here in Australia for the last 13 months just seeing family again after such a long time is pretty special so I can relate to how you must all be feeling. So it must be time for more Koalas to make you smile….

Jan

Sunday afternoon (28 March) we headed out to meet Sandra and Nigel having last seen them on New Year’s Day. When we arrived at the Pizza Wine Bar it was absolutely rammed – possibly something to do with it’s all afternoon happy hour prices – so we headed to the new Marina Village wine bar called Destino instead. Was a very nice place although a bit confused as to why they would be selling homewares and furniture in the shop front area of the wine bar…..strange…..but the outside space was absolutely lovely.

After a few drinks we returned to the Pizza Wine Bar and managed to get a waterside table so we settled in and enjoyed some great pizzas and a few drinks. Afterwards we invited them back to Morphie so they could see the boat. Always fun to show her off to new people! We had a really nice time.

Monday morning it was lovely and sunny so we headed over to the lagoon pool only to find that the beach was being dug up and the sand redistributed inside the pool itself. Was pretty noisy with all the machinery buzzing around. Workmen were even cleaning the many fountains / ponds around. Guess the hotel was gearing up for a busy Easter.

Moving on we managed to get some sun beds by the other pool and enjoyed a few hours there until later when the workers had vacated the area for the day and we had a bob around in the lagoon pool to finish off the day. Was lovely. Then we returned for a quiet night on board.

Tuesday morning and it was raining again. Really getting fed up with this! We did a few odd jobs around the boat and cleaned up before cooking dinner for Steve and Jo who joined us later. We had another great social evening on board.

Wednesday morning it was bright again but rain was forecast for later so we borrowed Steve and Jo’s car and headed out shopping for a few bits and pieces. It felt very strange to be wearing compulsory facemasks in the shops though as this was the first time whilst out shopping. Our only other experience of wearing masks was at the airport. Not very comfortable at all so had a lot more sympathy for those of you at home who have been doing this for over a year! When we got back on board it wasn’t long before the rain started again and the temperature dropped dramatically. Even with all the hatches closed and no fans on we felt a bit chilly – definitely Autumnal.

Thursday morning we awoke to the news that the snap Brisbane lockdown was over due to the efforts of the Queensland Health track and trace teams and genome sequencing enabling them to link clusters. Huge sigh of relief all round especially as this means we can now go ahead with our trip to NSW after Easter. Very excited about seeing the family again!

Of course, despite the good news, the weather continued to be cold and showery, so definitely not another pool day. We had coffee out and used the marina’s free wifi to download more Netflix content before we returned to Morphie. Richard then kept himself busy cleaning the dinghy before we had another quiet evening on board.

The rain was very heavy overnight so I didn’t sleep particularly well because of the noise on the coachroof. So was very surprised on Friday morning that it was a bit warmer with sunny intervals. We quickly got ourselves ready and, after breakfast, headed to the lagoon pool. In the strengthening winds it was a bit chilly so we headed back to the other pool and were lucky enough to get a couple of sunbeds out of the wind. We had expected it to be much busier as it was the Easter holidays but we think many people had been forced to change their plans. Although the Queensland lockdown had been lifted, the Greater Brisbane area (along with many other council regions) were still being deemed as ‘Covid hotspots’ and new interstate border restrictions had been imposed as a result.

Back on board we got ourselves cleaned up and headed over to Steve and Jo’s boat. Steve had found an Indian curry house which did deliveries to the marina and had beem declared as the “Best Indian in Queensland”. So we just had to try it out. The menu was interesting with some strange concoctions and, when ordering, we were asked whether we wanted it Indian hot or Australian hot so of course we went with the Indian strength. The food delivery service was very efficient and we quickly tucked in. Sadly it wasn’t the best and, for the cost, don’t think we would rush to order from them again. But it was worth a try and it was nice that none of us had to cook.

Saturday and it was raining again on and off. Steve had a problem with his rev counter and wanted Richard’s electrical expertise to trouble shoot it. So we headed over around noon and Jo and I chatted down below while they got to work in the cockpit. Jo was in the middle of looking for something so this is what happens when you start emptying cupboards down below in a boat LOL.

Richard and Steve didn’t fix it completely but it was certainly working better than before. And of course they had to celebrate their partial success with a beer….and another….and another….and we all ended up having a bit of a session in the cockpit before we were chased down below by torrential rain.

We then ended up playing cards and reintroduced to the delights of crib. Had been a very long time since we had played so it was fun to learn again. Had been a very impromptu social gathering but what else do you do on a chilly and rainy bank holiday weekend?!? Oh yes and, can you believe it, but this was the anniversary of Richard’s heart attack?!? Where did that year go?

This morning, Sunday, and, yes it is raining again. Actually the forecast is awful for the next few days and severe weather warnings have been issued for south Queensland covering just about everything from hazardous surf; flooding risk from significant rain; chance of severe thunderstorms etc etc. Here we go again! Oh joy….. This is the view from our cockpit this morning.

So that’s about it really, not much to report. We have had to cancel our hire car for next week as the collection point in Loganholme is within one of the ‘hotspot’ areas which would cause us problems crossing the NSW interstate border. So Steve and Jo have very kindly offered us their car so that we can go ahead with our trip – really very grateful to them for their generosity!

We are also delighted to hear that the easing of restrictions at home continues and holidays and weekends away will be allowed again soon. Vaccinations are still being rolled out at a pace and just relieved that this means you will all be safer going forward. Bet you’ll definitely have to reserve tables in pub gardens to service the pent-up demand! Just hope that all the idiots who have been partying in the parks and on the beaches haven’t caused a spike causing freedoms to be curtailed again. So fingers crossed for continued progress and, to make you smile, today I bring you another Australian cutie, a baby Tasmanian devil.

Jan