Wednesday afternoon (22 September) we went down the dock to have sundowners with Suzy (SV Sofia) who we had met in the Boatworks earlier in the year. Her friend Phil (SV Vivamus, our neighbour) also came along. We had a fun evening with them.

Thursday morning we had booked the marina’s courtesy UTE so headed out to the Cheapa car place to pick up some engine oil then headed to the bottle shop and supermarket for a top up of supplies (for those items we had forgotten last time).

We then had a relaxing afternoon on board before joining Sharon and Chris (SV Watusi) for dinner at the Cowboys Leagues Club where we had the special of the day which was roast beef (sadly with no yorkshire puddings)….and very nice it was too. Afterwards Chris and I had a bit of a flutter on the Pokies (slot machines) while Richard kept Sharon company.

On the way back to the marina we stopped off to see the Lady of the Strand by night – she changes colour with the water temperature apparently. Was another lovely evening with these two friends.

Friday morning it was a bit cloudy and overcast. We first headed down the Strand to the C Bar for breakfast – taking Sharon with us as Chris was working. This had been recommended as having the best breakfast in town, especially the potato rosti, so Sharon and I were on a mission to try them out. Well, they weren’t really potato rosti, they were more like monster potato croquettes made with feta – very tasty indeed – but this meant for a huge breakfast. Oh well, never mind, we were heading out for a long walk anyway.

After breakfast we parted company and we continued walking to the end of the strand towards the Rock Lagoon (another free-to-use public facility) admiring the Strand Art installations along the way. We checked out lifeguarded beach but was a bit surprised to see a few people swimming when we saw the crocodile warning notices!

Moving on we came to the bottom of the hike to the Kissing Point Fort. Well, it was marked up as a ‘Cat 3’ trail which involves steep ascents etc. So that wasn’t going to work for me but I noticed a sign for an easier-access entrance – so we walked the long way round and managed to find a way up without having to scramble over rocks etc. We enjoyed our visit to the Fort – especially the views back towards the port – and learnt lots about the large American Air Force contingent based here during the 2nd World War to stop the Japanese invading Australia.

Leaving the Fort by a slightly different road we came across a walkway following the coastline around and admired a beautiful property set into the hill.

Returning to sea level we found an Army museum so popped in there for a quick look. Well we stayed there much longer than expected as we wandered around the really interesting well-preserved exhibits and read the stories behind them – through all the conflicts that Australia have been involved in. We felt particularly moved by the Japanese prisoner-of-war exhibits because, as well as well-documented stories, such cruelty and obscene treatment of these brave soldiers becomes so much more vivid when they include names and photographs of those who suffered in this way.

Leaving the museum behind us we headed slowly back down the Strand. I had done a lot of walking and my legs were struggling a bit so I took a seat and watched a large car carrier being piloted into the main port of Townsville.

We spotted some TV crews and three large vans suddenly turned up depositing a single rugby player from each wearing team colours – Richard thought that they were probably actors and were here to do a promotion for the games on Saturday – but then we realised that they were the Australian, New Zealand and South African captains! They were posing by the two cups that were up for grabs in the competition so we jelly-fished into the media crowd and took some photos of our own and then, before the cups were removed, we quickly got a photo of us with one of them too! We then watched the TV crews doing their ‘live to camera’ bit before everyone moved on. Talk about an exciting amazing coincidence!

We then returned to Morphie and decided to investigate a particularly nasty smell coming from the heads. Eventually we found it – the holding tank vent filter was to blame as the fitment had corroded and separated so we were getting the smells through the pipe. Absolutely disgusting! Richard managed to get it off and sealed the end of the pipe up for the time being whilst I investigated purchasing a new one. Of course, these are made in the USA, and timelines for deliveries from the States are pretty slow right now so we checked out whether we could get an alternative made in Australia. Couldn’t find one online that was an exact replacement in terms of sizing so we needed to get our hands on one to see if we could make it fit in the limited space available for the install. Now that the smell had been removed, we chilled out for the rest of the afternoon.

Later on we headed to Molly Molones to listen to the live music set – the same guy that we saw at the Longboard Bar last Sunday – and enjoyed ourselves. There was more live music to come after his set and Richard was keen to see what type of music the goth-looking young woman who was setting up would deliver – but after another hour of waiting, we decided to call it a night and walked back to the boat.

Saturday morning and Chris and Sharon very kindly took us out to the Boating and RV store so we could check out a new filter – we managed to get one that would fit with a bit of modification to the hoses so we came away with a solution to be fitted another day. We then headed to a few other stores with them but, even though one of them was Bunnings, we came back empty handed apart from a new electric toothbrush for me LOL. This has to be a first for Richard not to buy anything in Bunnings!

Once back on board we rested up and headed out around 2pm towards the Townsville CBD admiring the Anzac memorial along the way.

We then headed towards “Eats Street” which was a pop-up festival with food trucks and live music. We had decided we would eat there before going to the stadium for the rugby. Well, there was a bouncy castle, a kiddie ride, a drum band and a few food trucks but not anything we fancied and there really wasn’t anywhere to sit to eat if you bought something anyway.

At this point the streets were getting crowded with both families and rugby supporters – lots of Wallabies and All Blacks – with the occasional Springbok and Los Pumas fan mixed in. It was fun to walk amongst them all with flags flying….

So we decided to continue straight to the Queensland Country Bank Stadium which opened at 3.30 pm for the first match at 5.05 pm. So we walked across the river and along the river front towards the stadium.

By getting there early we thought we could miss the crowds and get something to eat and drink before taking our seats. We arrived and there were lots of people milling around and even some dancing to the DJ playing some loud tunes…. By more luck than judgment we had got tickets which required us to enter the stadium at Gate A which was the first one we came across so we started queuing behind the locked gates – suddenly everyone thought this was a good idea – and we had started a trend LOL. By this time it was getting really busy so we masked up and waited patiently.

On the dot of 3.30 pm the gates opened and, after a bag inspection, we were through. We picked up a snack and a beer each and then found our particular stand and headed towards our seats – OMG it was like a mountain climb up 92 steps to virtually the top! We got into our seats and looked around. Pretty impressive stadium and our seats were great at one end of the pitch. So we settled in for the afternoon. We were in a mixed area so were surrounded by largely Australian and New Zealanders and lots of families too.

The stadium started to fill up and, about half an hour before the start, Richard headed back down to get us some more drinks whilst I stayed put. I wasn’t going to do those steps again until I needed to LOL. Then the players started to come out to warm up and the crowds were pretty quiet – then they all disappeared back inside until they were walked out in teams – first match was part of the championships but this 100th match between New Zealand and South Africa was also for the Freedom Cup. There were fireworks and blasts of flames while they were introduced – then they lined up – and the whole stadium rose for the National Anthems whilst their national flags were unfurled. Sadly the line ups were facing away from us but we could see the players on the screen as they sang their anthems with gusto and emotions – it was clear that this match meant a lot to each and every one of them.

Then it was time for the New Zealand Haka. The All Blacks looked menacing whilst the South Africans stared them down. OMG this was a bucket list moment – it actually bought tears to my eyes. Absolutely fantastic and the crowd response was just amazing!!

So finally the match kicked off and it was end to end stuff – both teams were brilliant and New Zealand got the win by the smallest of margins with a last minute penalty, although I think that South Africa probably deserved the win overall. Each point that was scored was marked by more flames along the ends of the stadium – such an exciting thing to be part of.

Then it was cup time and the crowds just roared. After the cup had been presented and the teams left the pitch the New Zealand captain was being interviewed by the TV crews when, suddenly, he stopped talking as the New Zealand fans were doing a Haka to their team in the stadium. How amazing was that! Just wow!

We then settled in for a long wait – noticing how many Kiwis decided to leave the stadium at this point and how many Australians had now turned up to watch the second match. We made the most of the interval by having some fish and chips and another couple of drinks and, yes, I did climb those damn steps again!

The second match followed the same process with the Australian and Argentinian teams being led out. The Argentinians had small numbers of supporters in the stadium but they made up for it with their very loud and excited shouting, singing and dancing! We certainly knew they were there LOL. Before the two national anthems were sung and flags were unfurled we also had a spoken welcome from a First Nation player accompanied by some spiritual music played on a didgeridoo.

The anthems were treated with respect and again we had more fireworks and flames to mark the occasion. The interesting thing was the prominence of a Cadbury flag amongst all this – obviously a major sponsor of the Australian team!!!

The match was gritty and a bit bad tempered with some serious clashes between players. The crowd were completely partisan and booed the Argentinians with passion. I think this riled the Argentinians up and tempers flared. Not helped by there being no flames or any type of acknowledgment when Argentina scored a point other than the big screen – unlike the first match where every point was celebrated. Not very sportsmanlike! Anyway, not surprisingly, Australia got a good win and the crowd went mad.

We left the stadium amongst the masses (still masked up), crossed the river, and returned to Flinders Street. We had been hoping for a pontoonie but all the pubs were absolutely thronged with people with long queues back down the street so we called it a night and returned back to Morphie.

Sunday was our final day in the marina so Richard stayed on board and washed the boat down; flushed the watermaker; cleaned down below; and did engine checks. In the meantime I was doing all the laundry and more Netflix downloads for when we got back on the hook. We then rested up for a while before we invited Sharon and Chris on board for sundowners. Was another nice evening in their company. We had included Suzy and Phil but they had a prior arrangement so sadly were unable to make it.

Monday morning we were up early and got everything ready to depart – our personal line handlers Sharon and Chris came by – and we slipped away from the dock with their assistance. Thanks again and see you soon! Unusually we had an upwind sail to Magnetic Island and really enjoyed having two full sails out for a while as we admired the rocky outcrops along the way.

By 12 noon we had the anchor down and spent the rest of the day onboard relaxing. We were surprised to see a boat that had either dragged its anchor or broken from a mooring up on the beach on the opposite side of the bay too.

Overnight it was very rolly so we had to get up a few times to stop things rattling around and both of us had a pretty disturbed night’s sleep. On Tuesday morning it was still rocking and rolling. We looked at other boats around the anchorage to see if there was a more sheltered spot but everyone was moving around quite a lot so no point in moving. The swell is obvious as it comes around the headland into the bay. Not very comfortable to be honest and neither of us had any appetite to get the dinghy down and go ashore in these conditions so we just stayed on board for the day. Although Richard kept busy and installed the new holding tank vent filter in the heads – great job upside down with his head in a cupboard whilst the boat is moving around so much!

There really isn’t another anchorage we fancy nearby so we’ll just sit it out here for the minute as we plan to head south again towards the end of the week when the wind is forecast to turn. During the afternoon there were dinghies on the beach near the boat aground but there didn’t seem to be any attempt at getting the boat re-floated just yet. Shame as the pounding surf is probably going to do more damage all the time it is left there high and dry. After a quiet day we ended up having an early night as we were both shattered.

It is now Wednesday and it is still rocking and rolling. The forecast is for the wind to die down later today so hoping that will make the anchorage more comfortable – we can only hope. In the meantime Richard is relaxing in the cockpit whilst I’m down below blogging. We plan another quiet day on board and hope to get ashore tomorrow, fingers crossed.

The news from home is shocking – from covid to economic woes with lorry driver shortages impacting on supply chains and causing food shortages on top of petrol supply problems – and that’s without the power companies going bust and inflation levels rising. Add to that the idiots who like to shut the M25 on a regular basis and those that like to panic buy at the slightest thing…. Missing you all so very much and sending prayers to our friends who are struggling with some serious issues but, have to say, we are in no hurry to come back to the chaos right now! Anyway, to make you all smile, here is a bush stone curlew and chick cutie.

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday (16th September) by 9.35 am, we had all our fenders and lines ready as we had confirmed our berth configuration over the phone, so weighed anchor, and headed out away from Magnetic Island towards the Breakwater marina in Townsville. There were a few ships and ferries around but we were able to stay out of the proper shipping lanes as we entered into the dredged channel to the marina but found the channel markers a little confusing as the green pole was actually red with just a little green triangle on the top to denote its status – we worked it out in the end – but had a few moments virtually at a standstill whilst we debated what to do!

We arrived into our slip at 12 noon having covered just over 12 miles and were met by a marina guy plus Chris and Sharon from SV Watusi who we hadn’t seen for a long while so that was a lovely welcome. We had a little chat with them and arranged to meet them for dinner later. We then got busy – Richard cleaned Morphie down to get rid of all the salt whilst I stripped everything and headed to the laundry. Finally, jobs done, we met Chris and Sharon and walked down The Strand (which is the sea-facing promenade here) and had dinner together at the Sea View Hotel. Was a lovely fun evening.

Friday morning we headed out in the opposite direction into the central business district to find the doctors clinic where we had appointments. Once we had located it we had a quick breakfast out before returning to the medical centre.

We duly completed our ‘new patient’ forms and sat down to wait (our appointments were back-to-back at 10 and 10.10). When Richard returned to hand his form into reception (having to queue yet again – this was a very busy place) he was informed that the doctor we had booked in for wasn’t actually in the clinic that day but they had scheduled us in with another one. Well, they did, but we had about another hour’s wait until we finally got seen and came out with new prescriptions in hand. That will sort out our problems in getting medication each month while we continue travelling. So very happy in the end despite the frustrations. We then headed to the nearby chemist warehouse to get the medications dispensed whilst we went shopping.

We then went shopping for fresh meat and fish as I always prefer to get these items frozen down whilst on shore power to save the drain on the house batteries. Jobs done we walked back to Morphie and had a couple of hours rest before heading to the marina BBQ area for the weekly cruiser get together. We were surprised by how many other cruising couples we had already met on our travels and had a nice evening, although I completely forgot to take any photos!

Saturday morning and I headed back into Townsville to have my hair cut and coloured – first time in a salon for quite a long while – and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This brand new salon was tucked away on top of a few bars and restaurants in Flinders Street, so was quite a find!

Whilst I was out Richard had cleaned the boat down below so we were all spick and span again. We had a leisurely afternoon before getting ourselves cleaned up and headed out to meet up with Chris, Sharon, Steve, Jodie, Alan and Danielle at the end of the dock. We then walked into town, crossed the river, and headed to an Indian restaurant called Aalishan which had been recommended to us. The food was very good (and very reasonably priced) and we had a great time despite the somewhat at times chaotic service.

Walking back we decided to go to the pub to round off the evening and headed across the road in Flinders Street with Sharon and Chris (the others having decided to return to their boats) and, as we were checking in (which is mandatory at all venues in Queensland) we were then asked for a $10 per head cover charge. So we declined and walked away and went to Flynn’s Irish bar instead. This was a very loud venue with a poor sound system (which didn’t do the live band any favours) and there was, surprisingly, about 50 women (of all ages and sizes) queuing up to get in when we left after a single drink. Lock up your sons LOL!

Sunday morning we had a lazy start and headed out down The Strand around lunchtime. We enjoyed watching the kids playing in the free-to-use waterpark for a little while – with lots of families out and about having picnics etc in the beautiful surroundings.

We were actually looking for some lunch but, after the excesses of the night before, we didn’t want anything too heavy so ended up settling for a toasted sandwich at the local coffee shop. After our late lunch we headed across the road to the Longboard Bar which sits over the beach – chosen because they had advertised a live music session for the afternoon. So we took a seat and waited for the set to start. It was a single guy on a guitar who looked uninspiring so we didn’t really have any high expectations but he had both a good repertoire and a great voice which we thoroughly enjoyed listening to.

Suddenly, late afternoon, a lot of large muscular young men had taken seats at the bench next to us. Richard quickly worked out from some small visible logos and their distinctive accents that that they were the South African Springbok rugby team (the current World Champions) who had arrived into Townsville to play against the New Zealand All Blacks on Saturday night in a double header at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium as part of the Rugby Championship. On the same day the Australian Wallabies also play the Argentinian Pumas. We chatted to them for a little while and, as we have always wanted to see the All Blacks in action (having tried a couple of times and failed in New Zealand) we decided we’d look into whether it would be possible for us to get tickets to this event – although we tried not to get too excited as it was probably much too late in the day. Here are just a few of the Springboks who very kindly posed for me as evidence LOL.

Early on Monday morning we asked the marina if we could extend our stay (as we would need to be in the marina to get to the rugby). They are very busy but were able to accommodate us until the following Monday morning. Yay! Very excited we then booked our stadium tickets online and we are now going to the rugby on Saturday. Not the best seats in the house but OMG what a treat to look forward to – definitely something on our bucket list of things to do.

After we had all that sorted, we picked up the marina courtesy ute to go pick up our ‘click and collect’ order from Coles.

But on the way we headed up to the Castle Hill Lookout which gave us great views over the city (including the stadium), down to the two marinas (we are in the bigger of the two) and across to Magnetic Island. Then we headed off to Coles, collected the shopping, and returned to the marina where we unpacked and stowed everything. Then we took advantage of the marina wifi to download some Netflix content. After a mad social few days we had a quiet night in.

Tuesday morning I was up early as I was going shopping with Sharon (as Chris is working) so left Richard snuggled up in bed while we were dropped off at the Stockland shopping centre which was huge. So first stop was for some breakfast then we walked our legs off (and managed to get pretty much everything on our lists) until we arrived back at the coffee shop for some more refreshments whilst we waited for Chris to pick us up again. Had a really nice time.

When we got back to the marina Richard was getting ready to move Morphie to our new slip as another boat was waiting to get into our current slip. So I quickly jumped on board and helped whilst Chris and Sharon walked down to our new dock to help us in. They are quickly becoming our professional line handlers LOL. We then had a quiet afternoon and evening on board. During the evening and overnight the wind picked up and we had reports of up to 50 knots nearby but all was well here in the marina despite some creaking and moaning.

This morning, Wednesday, and I’m blogging whilst Richard has just come back after filling up our petrol cans on the fuel dock. And that will probably be about it for the day.

Things remain stressful at home for many of our friends and family so we just want to send more love, hugs, prayers and kisses to you all. Miss you all and here is another cutie to hopefully make you smile. FYI seals are native to South and West Australia.

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday (9 September) we stayed on board and did boat jobs. So we made some water; did some hand washing; made routine engine checks; and sorted out the navigation in readiness for our departure in the morning. During the afternoon we saw some whales frolicking in the distance but, unfortunately, they didn’t come in closer. After our final Cape Upstart sunset we had an early night.

Friday morning, at 3.30 am, we picked up our anchor and heading into the darkness. We had to dodge a few prawn boats as we worked our way out of the bay, having to motor sail initially as there was little wind, so we took the opportunity to make some water too. Around 9 am the wind had filled in and the swells started to push us around a bit – but we had a fantastic feisty downwind sail to the Horseshoe Bay anchorage on Magnetic Island having covered the 70 miles quickly and had our anchor down by 2.30 pm.

Although there were over 90 boats in the bay there was lots of room and we just anchored at the back of the fleet. We were pretty tired so had a quiet afternoon and evening on board enjoying the sunset and watching the prawn boats heading out to sea for the night before we headed down below for an early night.

Saturday morning we headed ashore and explored the beach area a little bit before having a coffee out at one of the seafront cafes. The anchorage is designated by yellow buoys which have a 6 knot restriction within – outside of that watersports are allowed, so anchor further out there and you would expect to get buzzed by jet skis etc.

We then caught the bus and got off at Geoffrey Bay and enjoyed the views there before walking around to Nelly Bay.

We had seen (on Facebook) that Norm was currently in the marina here so we wandered around, checked out the marina (pretty nice actually) and found SV Peggy Anne on the dock so popped down for a catch up with him. Was lovely to see him again.

We then headed to the supermarket at the ferry terminal – realising just how far from home we are from the signpost – and picked up some fresh produce before realising that there was a big gap in the timetable to the next bus, so decided to grab a taxi back. Was an interesting ride as the driver explained that, normally, about 70% of their customers at this time of year are from Victoria and, with the latest lockdowns, they were missing so most businesses were feeling the pinch.

On arriving back we continued checking out the small shops at Horseshoe Bay before heading to the Marlin Bar Tavern for a couple of cold ones before we returned to Morphie, where we sat in the cockpit for a while before having a quiet night in.

Sunday morning we went ashore early. Magnetic Island has a market on the foreshore on the 2nd Sunday of each month so we thought we’d check it out. Was some interesting art and crafts but nothing we would need to have onboard. Great to see the motorbikes though….

After the market we had breakfast in a café before deciding to go searching for wild koalas. Allegedly some had been spotted at Wallaby Street a couple of kms away tucked down a back street. It was a long and hot walk but at least it was largely paved and, yay, we found one sleeping in an eucalyptus tree along the side of a path. He was pretty sleepy but did manage to open his eyes to say hi before snoozing again. Was very exciting!

We then walked back towards Horseshoe Bay and had a kangaroo encounter along the way.

In need of some refreshment we then stopped off at the Bungalow Bay Koala Village (a Youth Hostel property) for a cold drink before continuing our return trip. They do have captive koalas there but we didn’t feel the need to pay to see them now that we had managed to find a wild one.

We then returned to Morphie for a quiet night on board.

Monday morning and we were up early again for a bus tour of the island. We got off first at The Forts which is a trek up into the hills and, apparently, good for koala spotting. Well, we walked and walked and walked and looked and looked and looked…but to no avail. Now other friends had done this only a week ago and had seen a family of koalas but they weren’t around for us. Never mind, we enjoyed the scenery along the way although the walk was a bit of a stretch for me.

We walked back – still searching in vain for koalas – before getting back on the bus to Picnic Bay. We got off here and walked the foreshore before checking the bus timetables. Again there was a wait so we decided to have some lunch in the Picnic Bay Pub which was surprisingly good.

After lunch we rejoined the bus and got off at Arcadia and went for walk along Armand Way.

This is where the rock wallabies hang out so I had already prepped a little bag of carrots for them, feeling optimistic. We found the first couple by the bus stop although they were a bit nervous, but certainly enjoyed the carrots. We carried on walking through the rocks and boulders and suddenly we had quite a few friends come to join us. We both really enjoyed getting up close and personal with these lovely little critters.

Returning to Arcadia we had a recuperative ice cream whilst waiting for the bus back to Horseshoe Bay. We had hoped to feed the rainbow parakeets on the foreshore but they were only interested in begging for chips and cakes from other tourists…which is really bad for them. So we decided to return to the Bungalow Bay Koala Village on the bus (having had enough walking for one day) where they feed the birds at 4pm for free. So we had a couple of happy hour cold ones and then we were given some fruit and were told to walk across the bridge. Well, it was quite intense, with parakeets everywhere including landing on our heads and shoulders….

After that we returned again to Horseshoe Bay on the bus and had a couple of beers in the Marlin Bar Tavern before returning to Morphie for the night. It had been such a great day.

Tuesday morning we had a lazy start and then went to the beach for the day. We had hoped to do a bit of bobbing and, although there was a shark netted enclosure, both of us were a bit uncertain about the cloudy water so didn’t do much more than paddle. But we had a lovely day anyway. Here is the view from our shade tent on the beach.

This morning, Wednesday, and we are just chilling out onboard. Tomorrow we are heading into Breakwater Marina in Townsville for a week. We need to re-provision / visit doctors / get medications / do laundry / wash Morphie down etc. So looking forward to exploring somewhere new.

We continue to send love and hugs to you all and didn’t think you needed any Australian cuties this week as there are lots of special moments whilst here on Magnetic Island. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here and may well revisit when we turn south again to return to the Gold Coast.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday (31 August) it was a wet and wild sort of afternoon so we just stayed on board. The wind generator made an impressive 170kWh over a 24 hour period, which was a record! We also collected 12.5 gallons of rainwater in buckets without trying too hard. So it was just another movie night tucked down safe and dry below.

Wednesday morning we used some of the rain water to do some hand washing; followed by flushing through the toilet hoses; and then topped up the fresh water tanks. We then went ashore for a late lunch and were joined by Yvonne and Eddie. We had a nice afternoon ashore together before we all returned to Morphie as they had not visited an Island Packet yacht before. Just before dark they returned to SV SteeLee behind us and we had another quiet night on board.

Thursday and it was our 25th Wedding Anniversary! We had a lazy morning and headed in dink to Monte’s resort around the corner from Cape Gloucester. We got a bit wet in the dinghy ride and the bar was open but the kitchen was shut….never mind….they were doing sharing platters so we had a prawn and a cheese platter with a bottle of wine and we just enjoyed looking out over the water. The prawns were huge and absolutely delicious. A really nice way to spend the afternoon.

Back on board we sat in the cockpit having some more wine listening to some tunes….hopefully we didn’t disturb anyone else in the anchorage as Richard sort of ramped it up after a while with some Larry Miller which, of course, has to be played pretty loud LOL.

Friday morning we got on with some boat jobs as we had decided to leave on Saturday. We said our farewells to the gang and, after the early rain had cleared, we headed ashore and used the resort washing machine to do our sheets and towels which I hung up on their lines to dry. Whilst this was going on, Richard was on the beach cleaning dink as he had got a bit grubby over the last few weeks.

Later on, jobs completed, we headed back to Morphie and Richard did final engine checks whilst I checked out the routing. We ran the weather models just to make sure, and yes was still looking good. So we had a relaxing evening followed by an early night.

Saturday morning we picked up anchor at 6.30 am and left Cape Gloucester as the sun came up.

Our destination was Cape Upstart. Initially the wind was much lighter than expected so we motor sailed and, as the engine was on, we used the opportunity to make some more water. After a few hours the wind filled in, we turned the engine off, and had a great sail – joined by a rainbow at one stage.

By 3.15 pm we had our anchor down having covered 49 miles. The anchorage at Cape Upstart is large with good holding and there were only a few other boats around so we were very happy and had a quiet night on board enjoying the new surroundings.

Sunday morning and the forecast had deteriorated even further with very strong winds expected over the forthcoming week. Damn! Our next destination had been Magnetic Island but, as it was race week, it was pretty crowded with someone posting on Facebook that there were almost 90 boats in the anchorage. Not wanting to sit out a serious blow in crowded conditions we decided we would sit it out here. So, decision made, we had a lazy day on board.

Monday and the forecast wasn’t looking any better, so this reinforced our decision to stay put. We are the white ‘spot’ on the chart below showing the winds expected for Thursday.

Sitting in the cockpit we realised that we had new neighbours. I said to Richard – that looks like SV Enavigo – so he got the binoculars out and to our surprise and delight it was!

We hadn’t seen them for almost 12 months! Totally unexpected – so we raised them on the radio – and arranged to meet them later for sundowners. Sundowners are not a good idea on the beach here, though, as this is croc country so we organised to go to them. Later in the day French Curve arrived into the anchorage too and, again, we hadn’t seen them since they left the Gold Coast last May.

During the day we made some more water and topped up our batteries before we sorted out our sundowner contributions and got dink down. Because saltwater crocs are notorious for being pretty clever (in terms of tracking movement) we did this at the last minute and then jumped in and headed over quickly to Enavigo. Was lovely to catch up with Steve, Jody, Mark and Cheryl and we had a really good time.

Tuesday morning we all decided to go ashore at 10 am. So we headed over to the beach near some houses (which are largely holiday homes we believe) and we started walking the beach. But pretty soon it became rocky and full of boulders which, of course, I can’t do. So we returned to dink and motored around the headland to the next beach and sat there waiting for the gang to make it round. The intrepid explorers were like mountain goats as they came around the headland LOL.

Anyway, they joined us for a little while, before they continued with their adventure although were pretty soon back with us as the next part along the coast required crossing a muddy murky creek which is definitely crocodile friendly – there was even a sign to warn them of the danger – so they returned. We left them to retrace their steps whilst we then returned in dink to Morphie. Spectacular scenery here in this remote national park which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Later on the gang came to Morphie for sundowners. Was another nice evening and we enjoyed a lovely sunset just before they left for the night.

Today, the gang are going trekking ashore again and we have decided not to join them as there isn’t much point really. We are going to French Curve for sundowners tonight.

Tomorrow (Thursday) will probably be spent on board. The forecast remains rough with 30+ knots of wind forecast but it starts to ease slightly on Friday so we hope to move on as it is a downwind sail. The next passage to Magnetic Island is about 70 miles so we plan to leave very early in the morning on Friday to ensure our arrival in daylight. Hopefully some boats will have left the anchorage so there will be room for us on arrival.

News from home continued to pull at our heart strings this week with more bad news. It feels so wrong that we are out here living virtually a normal life whilst our friends and their family are in such pain and we just want you all to know how much we care, love and miss you. Please stay safe. Our thoughts and prayers are constantly with you.

So thought it was about time for more koala hugs especially as we hope to see wild ones on Magnetic Island.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday afternoon (24 August) Steve and Jo (SV Tamanu) having recovered from their overnight passage to Cape Gloucester, came over for sundowners on Morphie. It was lovely to see them again, I think it was about four months ago since we met up with them.

Wednesday morning we had a lazy start. The anchorage at Cape Gloucester was starting to fill up and we wanted to get a bit more space away from the large trawler nearby, so we picked up and found a bit of extra swinging room, which we knew was going to be at a premium during the Shaggers Rendezvous weekend. Around lunchtime we headed ashore to the resort and bumped into Steve and Jo. We hadn’t arranged this but we ended up having an impromptu afternoon ashore which was fun. When we got back we enjoyed the sunset before having an early night.

Thursday morning was the SICYC (Shaggers) registration day for the weekend. So we went ashore around 10am for the ‘group meet and greet’ so had coffee ashore. Was a bit crowded on the beach with dinghy parking….

In the afternoon we headed over to have a cup of tea with Yvonne and Ed on SV SteeLee. Ed built this huge steel yacht himself from scratch. OMG what an amazing achievement – absolutely beautiful – and whereas I was loving the carpentry and wood finishes Richard loved the engine / tool / work room. Wow, has to be the party boat, the huge stern deck is definitely built for it!

Later on we headed over to Tamanu for Steve’s curry night – another recipe to try! We were joined by Mark and Marion on SV Zena who are friends with Steve and Jo, but we hadn’t met before. I made poppadums, raita and mixed coriander salad to take with me for the starters. Thankfully I didn’t need to break into my naan bread supply as they had loads LOL. Another social evening with great food.

Friday morning it was the official day for the Shag Islet prawn and champagne party between 10am-2pm. Everyone turned up in their dinghies to this little rocky islet and we set up camp on this glorious day and chatted to lots of new people. We enjoyed prawns and the champagne (donated by sponsors) and some other nibbles as we just sat around chatting and watching the kites being flown. My favourite was the pirate ship….. There was even a DJ, some dancing, some singing and a musical jam session to keep us entertained.

Sadly Jo was unable to join us as she had a job interview during the afternoon so we kept Steve out with us until she was clear of this commitment. Was a lot of fun and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect for this outside event. We met lots of people and caught up with (another) Steve and Jo from SV Lightspeed who we had previously met at the Hog’s Breath cafe in Airlie at our first Shaggers get together. We then returned to Morphie for a clean up and a bit of a rest, before heading back to the resort for dinner with Yvonne, Ed, Steve, Jo, Mark and Marion. Sadly the food wasn’t really up to scratch but we had a nice evening anyway although a bit awkward at the end sitting around the fire pit when a rather inebriated woman refused to return to her boat and wanted to sleep on the beach. We offered her a lift but she wandered off and was found drinking with the staff so we walked away and left her to it…. Oh well…. Lovely moon to finish the night with too.

Saturday was a ‘free’ day in the calendar of events so we had a lazy day on board and did some boat jobs like making water before heading to the beach for sundowners with other Shaggers and returning to Morphie for dinner. There were lots of impromptu beach events going on around us, including an engagement party.

Sunday and this was the final event of the rendezvous weekend – a pirate party at the resort. Well, we didn’t make an effort and just wore our Shaggers shirts, but OMG the way people had prepared for this. Must be their annual event of the year to attend LOL. There were raffles, auctions, competitions and even a minute’s silence for those who were no longer with us.

During the afternoon Steve and Mark headed over to the prawn trawler (who anchors in the bay every day) who was selling direct to everyone that wanted to buy some. So we all got our orders in and they went to collect them in readiness for the following day. The whole Shaggers event donates money to prostrate cancer here in Australia so pretty impressive all round, especially with uncertainties over Covid restrictions / lockdowns etc. We had had a great time and were glad to have been part of it.

Monday morning and, as most of the Shaggers had left the anchorage, we moved to the other end of the bay and tucked in behind a hill as we were expecting rain and strong winds over the next few days. Around lunchtime Steve and Jo came by to deliver our prawns that they had kept overnight for us. Beautiful, just beautiful. So I made some sauce for everyone to share / buttered some bread / and cleaned and peeled them in readiness for the afternoon. We also put out another 10m of chain in preparation for the strong winds that are forecast….

At 2pm we headed over to SV SteeLee and we had a prawn afternoon on their stern deck with Yvonne, Ed, Steve, Jo, Mark, Marion, and another Steve and Jo. We had decided that we were going to abstain from alcohol because we really have got quite pickled over the last few days and I even turned down a glass of champagne whilst there! The wind, by this time, had started to pick up and the clouds were building into some interesting formations – Morphie was straining on her anchor and it was starting to get dark. We decided to leave before the weather deteriorated any more so headed back and, thankfully, we made it back on board just before the heavens opened.

Here’s SV SteeLee in the rain behind us….

During the afternoon and evening the wind was blowing with 30 knot gusts and it rained heavily. This continued throughout the night and, this morning, Tuesday we are running our engine right now to get hot water for showers later and are sitting out a gusty squall coming through. We are nodding a bit too but at least it is not rolling too badly. Think we’ll be staying on board all day today.

So we’ll sit out the bad weather here before continuing our trip north once it has passed. From this point people are heading off in different directions but we do hope to catch up with them along the way either on our trip north or on our return south when the season comes to a close. Covid news from Australia isn’t getting any better and a Pfizer-vaccine related death in New Zealand isn’t going to help the vaccination programme either with a Federal Government target of 80% needed to avoid future lockdowns – that could be a way into the future! We will just have to see what happens…..

Anyway, that’s it for now folks. And, to make you all smile, here are some Australian cuties, this time it’s dingo puppies. Sending lots of love and hugs to you all. Please stay safe and well.

Jan

Sunday afternoon (15 August) the weather cleared up a little bit so we decided to head out on the ‘blue’ bus route which does a circular trip around Hamilton island. On our way back the heavens opened again so we had a quiet night in.

Monday we had a leisurely start and headed to the pool for the day. We were entertained by the songster again so had a nice time and had some wild cockatoo feeding time with almonds (that Richard had somehow managed to pack into our pool bag LOL) with one even sitting on his knee whilst getting fed.

Returning by bus we picked up some supplies and headed to the Yacht Club for sundowners – the bar was closed – but we enjoyed watching the sun go down from the elevated position. Afterwards we had a couple more in the Tavern and then returned to Morphie for dinner.

Tuesday was another pool day and, hurrah, the sun actually came out so we had a relaxing day before heading back to Morphie for another quiet night in.

Wednesday we headed out pretty early and got the ‘green’ bus over to the resort centre where we picked up our electric golf buggy. We then drove around for the morning taking in the spectacular views. Tour over, we then had a few hours by the pool before returning to Morphie for supplies.

Later in the afternoon we drove ourselves to One Tree Hill for a sunset picnic. When we had finished eating we did actually hand feed some of the cockatoos that were strutting their stuff looking for a handout. The sunset was very special with some great cloud formations too. Had been a really lovely day.

Thursday morning it was another cloudy day, the wind had dropped a bit, but then it started pouring with rain. Damn…this was our last day in Hamilton. Anyway, we decided to tough it out at the pool so returned the buggy and made camp under some large umbrellas. The rain stopped but the wind had a chill in it so we actually never got into our swimmers and started to get a bit cold.

So we called it a day at noon and returned to Morphie where we got busy getting ready for our Friday morning departure. We stripped beds and did the laundry whilst also doing some Netflix downloading for when we go back on the hook. In preparation for going into Coral Sea Marina in Airlie Beach – where we had a three day reservation – we went through the cupboards and freezer and did lists. One for on-line click & collect shopping and the other for shopping like meat and vegetables (preferring to chose our own). Back on board we prepped the boat and ourselves for the morning departure – so we did engine checks; navigational checks; equipment checks; and made sure everything was stowed away after dinner.

Friday morning at 7.20 am we left Hamilton Island behind. We had really enjoyed our time on the island. When we left on a cloudy and rainy morning the seas were quite lumpy and it really wasn’t pleasant although we were on a reach before running downwind in 20 knots of breeze so a good sailing day from that perspective.

As we were crossing the Whitsunday Passage in these feisty conditions we were delighted to see some broaching, fin and tail slapping action from whales in the distance. Sadly I couldn’t get a photo as the boat was rocking and rolling too much for me to take a steady shot. Continuing on towards the Molle channel we suddenly had whales broaching in front of us. Oooer…very scary!!!! They were travelling with the swell direction so we came up into the wind to cross behind them. Thankfully they moved away and we continued our passage. Phew! As we got into the Molle Passage the seas just flattened off like a switch had been thrown and we had the most spectacular sail towards Airlie Beach.

Arriving at Airlie Beach we were too early to get into the marina so we anchored off and radioed in. Actually they said you can come in now if you want as your slip is ready – just give us 10 minutes to get someone down the dock to assist you with your lines. Very happy with that so we weighed anchor and worked our way in through the dog leg channel into the marina only to find there was already a boat on the dock we had been allocated. So we radioed again and agreed to continue stooging around in circles while they vacated. This took a while which was annoying – boats are supposed to vacate by 11 am and arrivals at noon. Eventually (by 12.12) we were securely tied to the ‘T’ at the end of Q dock. We quickly cleaned the boat and ourselves up and, because we knew there had been thefts in Airlie Beach from the town dock, we removed all valuables from the cockpit before we left Morphie and walked into town. The marina has security gates but, because it is open to the anchorage where there are a large number of permanent liveaboard boats, anyone with a dinghy can come into the slips.

Well, it didn’t look too far on the map, but from our dock all the way into town took us about 45 minutes.

Definitely getting a taxi back! We headed to the pharmacy first as we wanted to ensure that they had all the prescriptions in place for dispensing the following day. They told us in July (when we picked up the last lot whilst getting our 2nd covid jabs) that they were going to request these from our doctor directly. I had actually phoned them a couple of weeks ago to check and was told everything was OK. So, of course, when we get there they either hadn’t called or hadn’t chased our doctor and they wanted new scripts faxed to them. In the meantime we met an obnoxious Australian bloke who was pissed off that we had pushed in the queue – well, we hadn’t even noticed him so I quickly apologised. At this point he started slagging us off to the pharmacist about how fed up he was. Again I tried to apologise – as it was a genuine mistake – and he was rude to me again. Stressed out from this interaction, and the fact that the pharmacy had not followed up on their promises, we continued on down the main street towards the pub at the Airlie Beach Hotel having phoned our doctors again to pass on the news that they needed to fax the scripts over. The main street seemed a bit more depressed than the last time we had visited so clearly the pandemic is really hurting the hospitality businesses here.

Leaving the Pub we headed to the Hogs Breath Cafe where we met fellow Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club (SICYC) members (Shaggers) who were having a social there. This was our first get together and most were in big groups as they cruise in company up the coast going from one of these get togethers to another. Well, as first timers we met another couple who knew no-one else either, so teamed up. We had a nice evening with Yvonne and Ed from SV SteeLee before cabbing it back to the marina.

Saturday morning we were up very early to find that Morphie was covered in cockatoo poop! Not nice….. So we did a quick wash down before heading out in a taxi back to town. We had breakfast out at Garuma – which was very good – and then I headed to the pharmacy while Richard picked up our hire car for the day. Well, the pharmacist had not received the faxes…..so I phoned the doctors again….and they promised to send them by 2pm when the chemist closed for the day.

We then headed to Canonvale to do our shopping. Heavily laden, on the way back to Morphie, we called into the pharmacy again to be told ‘no’. Very stressed I phoned the doctors again and asked them to email them instead of faxing them as this just wasn’t working. They promised, again, to send them by 2pm. So we returned to the marina and unloaded the car. Most of the dock carts were either in use or were obviously privately owned and secured, so Richard had to go on the hunt for one. He parked in the nearest car park and then came back to meet me on the ramp and we pushed and pulled all the way to Morphie. Her berth (Q45) is the furthest away from anywhere so was quite a struggle.

We unloaded and stowed all the shopping and checked the emails (as I had asked the doctors to copy me in so I could prove they had been sent if the pharmacy disputed it again). And yes there was one so opened it eagerly only to find that they had only sent mine and not Richards! So rang the doctors again and asked them to send these through urgently. Finally, a couple of hours later, I had them…phew….so took a deep breath….

We moved the car to the long-term car park – no free parking here in Airlie – and paid for an overnight spot. Then we headed to the Garden Bar and had a few drinks before returning to Morphie and then took supplies to the Ocean Club for sundowners. A nice facility here in the marina offering BBQ, free coffee, laundry and ensuite. We met a local restaurant owner up there who said that, if the interstate borders didn’t reopen, he might not survive this year as he is already digging into savings to keep his up-market fish restaurant going (which, apparently, was a real hit with Chinese tourists back in the day). Such a real shame….

Sunday morning and it was sunny – yay! So we headed out to return the car and then had breakfast at Garuma again. Then we walked down to the pharmacy to collect our medication. Then they told us that that they needed the originals posted to them and that they hadn’t ever received them from the last time (despite my phone call to them checking they had!). Shame they couldn’t have told us about this sooner. Bottom line was they didn’t want to fill the prescriptions for us as they had no physical paper back-up, despite the emails having been received. Richard explained that he had only a few days worth of supplies left and we were actually leaving the area in the morning. At this point the pharmacist (a different one) checked the drugs Richard was taking and realised that these were actually quite important. So he decided to fill the scripts on the basis that the originals would be posted to them. Not the end of the saga but at least we were good for another month. I sent an email to our doctors explaining exactly what they had to do now and, hopefully, that will happen. Will definitely call the pharmacy in about a week to check they had received the originals. There is an electronic prescription system here in Australia which has recently been rolled out in Queensland so we have sent a link to our doctors suggesting that maybe this is the way forward instead of this endless mindless paper chase…..

After finally getting this sorted for now, we walked back to the up-market Coral Sea Resort and settled down for the day by the pool. We definitely needed some R&R after this hassle….. Was a beautiful sunny day and we had a great time at one point floating around the pool on the huge bean bags. We met some nice people and enjoyed people watching – this is obviously the place people come to be seen on a Sunday. A lovely time had by all.

Afterwards we walked back to the Garden Bar in the marina for sundowners and then to Morphie for tea. When we got there we found a cockatoo roosting at the top of the mast and he refused to leave despite our banging on the rigging….so Richard got a halyard and swung it around near him and, eventually, he moved on obviously quite irritated by the noise he made!

Monday morning we were up early and headed out again into town for a final breakfast at Garuma and our last minute shopping. We were back on board by 9.30 am and we then washed all the poop off Morphie again….absolutely splattered…..

We filled up with water; flushed the watermaker; did our engine and navigational checks; reset the fridge and freezer for being back on the hook and left the marina by 11 am.

The wind had died so we motorsailed all the way and managed to get through the Gloucester Pass between Gloucester Island and Cape Gloucester on an ebbing tide so had some current going with us. We had our anchor down by 3pm and had a leisurely afternoon and evening on board.

This morning, Tuesday, we awoke to a spectacular sunrise and are delighted that Steve and Jo (SV Tamanu, our British Island Packet friends) have just arrived into the anchorage so are looking forward to catching up with them later today once they have caught up on their sleep (as they did an overnight run to get here). The Shaggers annual rendezvous starts on Thursday through the weekend so we’ll be sat here for a while now.

So that catches us up. The Covid numbers here in Australia (and also New Zealand) continue to grow and lockdowns are in place for a large proportion of the population. Interstate borders also remain firmly closed. The idea that they will consider opening international borders anytime soon when they won’t even let Australians travel freely around their own country probably means that people will remain locked in/out for some time to come yet. Anyway sending lots of love and hugs your way and, to make you smile, here is an Australian wallaby hug.

Bye for now, Jan

Saturday evening as we started to watch the sun setting from the cockpit in Happy Bay (Long Island) we noticed the catamaran behind us was swinging a bit too close. With a full length keel we do get pushed around by the current and this was a tide change. As there was another tide change due overnight we decided it would be prudent to pick up anchor before it got dark. Of course it wasn’t that simple as the first spot we chose (which was a bit shallower) was rocky and we couldn’t get a good set, so we moved out into slightly deeper water again and were very relieved that the anchor bit first time. Just before dark too! Phew….

Sunday morning the wind was still howling so we stayed put and did a few jobs. Some hand washing (definitely not my favourite task when on anchor), cleaned the plexiglass panels in our dodger which were pretty salty and made some water to top up the tank. As it was still chilly we stayed below for the rest of the day rocking and rolling in the wind and, of course, the rain returned too.

Monday it was raining, cloudy and windy. By noon the rain had let up and the wind had eased to only 15/20 knots so we upped anchor and sailed towards May’s Bay on Whitsunday Island. Was a feisty reach in the gusty wind conditions but we enjoyed the short trip and, thankfully, the rain held off.

We got a good anchor set with loads of swinging room around us, the bay was beautiful and we even had an internet signal. Just perfect! This was significantly less rolly than Happy Bay so we were happier and had a much more comfortable evening and night onboard.

Overnight the heavens opened again and the rain continued into Tuesday morning. But even when the rain stopped it remained chilly. So we stayed down below relaxing rather than dinghy exploring as we had hoped. The forecast for 20 knot winds and rain showers continue for a long yet so it was not going to improve anytime soon. Sigh….

Wednesday morning, after overnight heavy rain, the bullets of wind over the hills around us were very strong and we were heeling over on anchor. Seriously fed up now as we had another grey, windy, cold day to put up with.

There is no point moving on to explore further as the only things to do here in the Whitsunday Islands are to admire the scenery; go hiking (which is increasingly difficult for me with my dodgy hip); go dinghy exploring; and sit on a beach and enjoy time on the beach. Apart from within the private resorts / islands there aren’t even any beach bars where we could hole up and drown our sorrows LOL. Even the beautiful scenery is spooky in the clouds!

We had booked into the up-market Airlie Beach marina for a weekend (on 20 August) to re-provision etc so we rang to see if we could go in earlier….nope, it’s Race Week so fully booked. We tried the Port of Airlie too but that was also fully booked. So here we have to stay. Later on, still fed up with the weather and not having got off the boat for a while, we decided to bite the bullet and go back to Hamilton Island for the weekend despite the cost. We said we wanted to return so guess it is sooner rather than later…. So we made the call and, yay, they can accommodate us! Woo hoo. Cheered up we had another Netflix night onboard.

Thursday morning it was more of the same, grey, cold weather but the wind seems to have reduced a bit. But then the rain showers came through and with bullets of strong wind we were nodding on anchor again…. Hmmmm…. But at least we were temporarily cheered up by a beautiful rainbow after the last rain shower had cleared away.

Friday morning we picked up anchor and proceeded to Hamilton Island. We had wind over tide at one point as we came through the Hunt Channel between CID and Whitsunday islands and it was pretty horrible for a while with huge eddies and standing waves and that was actually at low slack tide! A couple of other boats started to follow us out but quickly turned around and retreated back to CID Harbour. Guess it must have looked a bit too exciting for them LOL. But we pushed on and got out into the Fitzalan Passage and arrived outside the leads into Hamilton at 10.50am (earliest arrival is 11am). We kicked the fenders over as we were already set up for a starboard tie, so just waited for about 10 minutes for the dock concierge to come out and lead us to our allocated berth. It was a little snug as we were being blown off the dock in 20 knots (and there was a Riviera motorboat in the same pen already) but everything went really well and we were quickly tied up and welcomed back. The guy offered us a reduced rate to stay a week (rather than the three days we had planned) and, as the forecast remained pretty poor we jumped at it. Yay!

So we then got busy. We washed the salt off Morphie; filled up with water; flushed the water maker; sorted out the laundry; had lovely long hot showers ashore; and did some shopping at the IGA and the bakery. We then treated ourselves to a night out at The Tavern where I enjoyed watching the antics of the bush stone curlew who was stalking any scraps under the tables. A lovely looking chap although Richard reckons he had ‘dead’ eyes. Was great to be out and about again.

Saturday morning it remained windy and overcast but, who cares, we are going to the pool whatever happens LOL. We got ourselves organised and headed to the bus stop and, as it pulled in, the heavens opened. Never mind, just a passing shower, and we got off at the resort centre and found two sun beds under an umbrella so settled in for the day. Out of the wind it was quite pleasant and we even sat on the pool edge with a drink listening to the live music for a short time when the sun broke through. The songster was the same guy as last time and he is starting to grow on us a bit, and thankfully he didn’t murder another Adele song LOL. A couple of times we had showers but the brolly kept us dry.

We returned to Morphie, got ourselves cleaned up, and headed back out to the Tavern for sundowners although Richard did manage to make friends with a seagull – nothing to do with the almond that he might have had in his pocket, honest guv! Had been a lovely day.

This morning, Sunday, and it is cloudy and raining. So I’m blogging while Richard is catching up online. But we have a week here in this lovely spot so not stressing too much if we don’t make the pool again today. We have also booked a buggy for the day on Wednesday so we can go out and explore the island a bit more so really looking forward to that.

Well the lockdowns here in Australia are getting worse (and the vaccination programme seems to be totally flawed) with the Delta variant spreading quickly in New South Wales and most interstate borders are either closed or require compulsory 14 day hotel quarantine even if you are issued a border permit to enter. Felt really sorry for the returning Olympic athletes who, as they had arrived into New South Wales (a Covid hotspot) on their return from Japan had to do 14 days hotel quarantine in Sydney on arrival followed by another 14 days hotel quarantine on arrival into their home state. Not exactly the welcome home they could have expected! So, as last year, we are restricted to Queensland but we are lucky as this is a huge state and we still have plenty to see. Guess we may get caught up in a local lockdown at some stage but we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. We do realise how lucky we are to be here but it isn’t home and we miss you all very much. So this week I’m sending you another weird Australian creature – this one is called a thorny devil. Interesting little thing although not sure it counts as cute.

Bye for now, Jan

Friday evening (30 July) having completed all our domestic duties and got ourselves cleaned up, we headed to the Marina Tavern at the top of our ramp for a bite to eat and a couple of drinks. We were expecting it to be pretty quiet as the Hamilton Island marina was only about 60% full and the resort had even lower occupancy at around 20%. These stats have obviously not been helped by the latest Covid lockdowns and interstate border closures. There are also some residencies on this private island although a single family continues to own the entire freehold. Surprisingly the Tavern seemed to be very popular with residents and holidaymakers alike and was quite buzzy. We were lucky and found a small table on the balcony and enjoyed a nice dinner and a few drinks before we returned to Morphie for the night. It had been a very busy but productive day.

Saturday morning we had a late start. We wandered to the ice cream parlour ‘bus stop’ on this cloudy but warm day and waited for the ‘Green’ bus to take us over to the over side of the island to the centre of the resort. The buses on Hamilton are complimentary and the Green one runs every 10 minutes or so on a loop – great service. We arrived at the resort and had a look around before settling down to enjoy a lazy day by the main pool area.

We did dip our toes into the pool expecting it to be warm as there were a few people swimming and bobbing at the pool bar but the water was absolutely freezing! They are a hardy bunch these Australians LOL. In the afternoon there was a guy playing live music so we moved sunbeds so we could watch as well as listen and then we had a couple of frozen mango cocktails whilst we sat on the pool edge dangling our feet. Was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Around 4.30 pm we headed back on the bus to Morphie, got ourselves cleaned up and changed, before we headed to the iconic building at the end of the marina which houses the Hamilton Island Yacht Club. Within the Yacht Club there is an embedded race boat – Wild Oats – which also belongs to the owner of the island (who are vintners). Hamilton has an exclusive feel to it and reminded us of Mustique, although Hammo (as the locals call it) is open to visitors and day trippers who arrive in droves each day on the ferry.

We enjoyed watching the sun going down from the Yacht Club and people watching all the twenty-somethings that frequented the place – presumably on the bank of Mum and Dad as the drinks were certainly not inexpensive – but had to be done!

Sunday morning we were up early and wandered the main street checking out the variety of shops including the studio selling statues – presumably for landscaping private villa gardens. As you can see the main form of transport on this island are electric golf buggies.

We then headed out again on the Green bus to the resort centre for another day by the pool. This time we made camp near the pagoda where the musician sits so we could watch and listen again during the afternoon. Richard went a bit crazy wanting to bob at the pool bar and insisted we get into the pool – which we did – and then we posed for our photo with compulsory cocktail. Actually once we were in, it wasn’t too bad but I certainly wasn’t staying immersed for another one LOL.

So we headed back to the pool edge and sat with our feet dangling listening to the music again. The guy didn’t have a great voice actually but he had an amazing repertoire as he didn’t repeat any of the set from the Saturday into the Sunday. I did wish he hadn’t attempted Adele though…. We really enjoyed watching the antics of the cockatoos who seemed to be able to hear the opening of a crisp packet from a long way, swooping in to sit on the top of the umbrellas hoping for a taste.

Around 4pm we used the hotel facilities to change out of our swimwear and caught the Blue bus to One Tree Hill where we enjoyed the views and watched the sun go down from the bar. This is obviously a regular event for the residents and guests alike as the hill was really busy with people and even some kids sitting in the trees watching the scenery. We loved checking out the cockatoos that were trying to cadge food. Was a lovely way to spend a few hours – absolutely spectacular scenery.

We then returned to Morphie back on the Blue bus to the marina and had some fish and chips on the boardwalk before turning in for the night.

Monday morning and I was up early to head to the supermarket which, according to the blurb, opened at 7 am. Well, I got there, and it didn’t actually open until 8.30 am so I aborted that plan and returned to Morphie. Back on board we continued with our usual checks to make sure we were ready to go back out on the hook. With this done we headed to the laundry to do a final wash (beach towels etc) and had breakfast in the bakery, enjoying the company of some more cockatoos and small rainbow lorikeets as we sat on the boardwalk. But, because we didn’t feed them, they moved on quickly so didn’t get a photo of them sadly.

Back on board, we radioed the marina to ask permission to come alongside the fuel dock and was asked to wait for assistance – about 15 minutes later the dock concierge came round in his pontoon boat and we slipped from the dock and followed him to the fuel dock. We pulled up alongside and while Richard filled up with both diesel and petrol I did a quick run to the IGA supermarket (which is located virtually opposite the fuel dock pier) and picked up the fresh provisions that I was looking for earlier. I rushed back as quickly as I could and Richard had just finished fuelling up so we hadn’t hogged the fuel dock longer than was necessary – phew!

We slipped away from the fuel dock – radioed the marina to say thanks for their hospitality and assistance – and worked our way towards the channel. Annoyingly, a large motoryacht (must have been 60+ feet) cut the corner coming around into the channel so we had to stop suddenly whilst he straightened up to give us room to pass port to port. Not impressed – he must have been able to see our mast as he was steering this vessel using a mobile joystick from the height of the bow of the boat. Oh well….

We left Hamilton Island marina behind us having had a really great weekend and vowed to return.

We had light airs and a glassed out sea but, with a lift from the current we had a lovely sail on our way to Happy Bay, Long Island. And on the way we saw more whales. Yay!!! We had our anchor down by 12.30 pm and relaxed on board for the rest of the day.

Tuesday morning we awoke to a very heavy dew – Morphie was so wet it looked like it had actually been raining LOL. So Richard spent some time wiping the topsides down. We then had a lazy morning on board and in the afternoon went exploring in dink. We passed by the beach in Happy Bay but didn’t go ashore there as this is just another defunct resort waiting for a new owner. We were careful to avoid the extensive reef and isolated bombies as we traversed the coastline and continued around to the next bay also avoiding the derelict pier that sticks out into the water. The scenery is just stunning here.

We ‘checked in’ to the Palm Bay resort at reception and had a wander around the facility including crossing over to the over side of the narrow island to check out the rocky coastline. This resort consists of individual villas with a small pool and a large guest kitchen for everyone to use in the communal / bar / lounge area. Although a bit more upmarket than a large public BBQ area as the resort supplied all the crockery, plates, condiments, cooking utensils etc and there was even a place to leave your dirty dishes to be cleaned after use. Perfect for a totally isolated getaway but not sure we’d want to stay there…. They were very cruiser friendly so, before we left, we purchased a drink from the bar and sat on their beach deck to enjoy the scenery looking out to sea. Very chilled.

We then returned to Morphie and sat on the coachroof watching the whales meandering around in the Long Island Sound – this time it was a mum and her baby. Really can’t get enough of this! As it was quite warm we had dinner in the cockpit before retiring down below for the night.

Wednesday morning we dried Morphie off again after more heavy dew and then had breakfast in the cockpit. The forecast was for strong South Easterly winds so we decided to head back to CID Harbour (on Whitsunday Island) to sit out the blow. We had also been in contact with John and Stella (SV Exocet Strike) who had recently sailed into the Whitsundays from Scarborough Marina (near Brisbane) having luckily left before lock down. We had another great sail and even went the long way round to keep going LOL. We got a good anchor set not far from them and got ourselves tidied up. Later on John and Stella came over for sundowners so it was great to catch up with them again. Was a lovely evening.

Thursday morning the wind kicked in overnight, as forecast, and we were pleased that our anchor held well in the gusts of 30 knots or more.

We stayed on board all day and watched the comings and goings in the anchorage. This is a large bay so most boats are quite well spaced. During the afternoon the Young Endeavour (a Tall Ship training boat) came into the anchorage and we enjoyed watching the youngsters being put through their paces onboard. We had another quiet evening and actually ended up putting the duvet back on the bed during the night as the temperature dropped again.

Friday morning Richard kept busy doing boat jobs: he cleaned the shower bilge; ‘flushed’ the watermaker as we don’t need to use it for a few more days; and fixed the leak on the heads shower hose. I started this blog but will not finish it here at CID Harbour (Whitsunday Island) as the internet is just too slow and erratic. The forecast continues to show fresh SE winds for the next few days but there are numerous anchorages / islands with shelter from the trades in this area that we have not visited yet so will return to Happy Bay tomorrow and take it from there. We enjoyed a beautiful red sky before turning in.

This morning, Saturday, we picked up anchor around 8.45 am and said our farewells to Stella and John as we passed them on our way out of the anchorage. We’ll catch up with them again soon and will look forward to that.

We picked up some current and made good progress under engine despite heading straight into the wind and, once we had cleared the Hunt Channel (between Whitsunday and CID Island) we pulled out a small genoa to make our way across the Whitsunday Passage towards Long Island. The sea state was boisterous with a steady 20 knots of breeze with higher gusts and we got pretty wet with waves breaking into the cockpit. Halfway across we saw a whale who was quite close to us but he quickly dived – and, at this point, the bilge alarm starts going off adding more excitement to the mix. I headed down below to check the bilges and there was nothing untoward – the switch gets wet with the water sloshing around and it stays on until we physically dry it out, which we weren’t going to do until we were back on anchor. As we rounded the top of Long Island we furled the genoa away and the furling line came out of the drum. Great!

We had our anchor down by 11.15 am and got a good set straight away. Richard sorted out the bilge and the furler whilst I continued with the blog. There is a communications tower on Long Island so the internet here is pretty good! The forecast remains windy for the next week or so and there is even some rain predicted. So we will probably sit tight here for a few days now. Hoping for some more whale encounters too…..

So hope you are all well at home and continue to enjoy more freedom as restrictions are eased. Stay safe and well and look after each other. Sending lots of love and hugs your way and, today, you get a cheeky rainbow lorikeet to make up for the fact that I didn’t get a photo of them at breakfast the other morning!

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday (22 July) the forecast had the wind turning north overnight so we needed to find shelter elsewhere as the anchorage on Shaw would be exposed in that direction. So by 10 am, we were underway towards Turtle Bay on the south side of Whitsunday Island. We picked up some pretty strong currents along the way and enjoyed the fast downwind ride – at one point we were doing 8.9 knots in only 9.7 knots of breeze.

We pulled into a large reef-fringed bay and set our anchor.

The wind was still blowing quite stiffly from the south so we were nodding a bit but we were the only boat and were situated in the middle of the anchorage so we had lots of anchor chain out and were holding steady. We were then joined by a charter boat who came in and anchored under sail alongside us – which is pretty unusual – and, literally within minutes of anchoring they had the BBQ on and were enjoying a sausage sizzle. Then a large rib came in – clearly a rescue boat from the charter company and it would appear that they had engine problems – before they were eventually towed away. So we were the only ones in the anchorage again.

The wind switched north right on schedule around 5pm so the nodding stopped and we were completely alone for the night. Absolutely lovely.

Friday morning we had a lazy start before going off on a dinghy exploration around the bay. We sat on the beach for a little while too before heading back to Morphie. The northerly wind had now picked up and suddenly there was this massive influx of boats with around 30 turning up within a few hours – but, funnily enough, everyone stayed well away from us.

During the afternoon we “unpickled” the watermaker and were relieved that everything was working as it should with no leaks after a seven month period of inactivity. So, once everything was checked and filters changed, we made some water to top up our tanks. We had sundowners on the coachroof although there was no sunset as the sun sank behind the hill but, instead, we were treated to a beautiful full moon and the anchorage glassed out for the night. The stronger forecasted winds had not materialised so we were considering where to move on next. Having been offline for a while (and no phone signal either) we hoisted the phone to the top of the mast so that we could check our emails etc.

Saturday morning we sailed around the corner to Whitehaven beach which is considered to be one of the best beaches in Australia due to its high silica content. It was blustery and the wind was still northerly but we had a great reach on the short seven mile trip and thoroughly enjoyed the sail although the eddies as we came around the bottom of the island were pretty strong and we had to be very careful as we made our way through the narrow Solway passage.

We anchored out a long way from the beach as the wind was forecast to go completely around the compass during the night before it settled back into the usual south easterly trades. We had a good anchor set and enjoyed a leisurely day on board. Over the last few days we have come across a number of large private superyachts which are available here for charter – around $250k per week plus fuel / food / alcohol / gratuities etc. Must be nice, eh?!?

Sunday morning we awoke to find a little red helicopter on the beach….presumably a luxury breakfast outing for someone.

We made some more water and, now that the winds had switched to the SE, we picked up anchor and moved in closer to the beach to reduce the chop. We went ashore for a bobbing session at 1pm but the water was absolutely freezing although it didn’t stop one young woman (or should I say “Influencer” these days?) doing a rather revealing photoshoot in the surf with her boyfriend taking each shot which she then approved before the next one was posed. This is not the first time we have seen this couple – Richard said he would recognise that arse anywhere, which you might just catch a glimpse of over his shoulder in our bobbing selfie LOL – and clearly they are minted if the designer outfit she was sporting to travel back to the mainland was anything to go by. Even the seagulls are chilled here watching the tourists having fun….

The tourists come and go all the time on the tour boats – some bigger than others – and there were even some who flew in by seaplane for a “lunch on the beach” experience. All great people watching for us so we had a fun time.

Back on board for dinner and we had another beautiful moon to light the evening – absolutely stunning!

Monday morning we made water again and headed back to the beach for the afternoon. It was much hotter and sunnier so we took the shade tent with us and set up camp… Another tourist-watching day, a bit of bobbing, lots of reading and even a bit of sleeping. Absolutely lovely time had by all. Back on board for the evening and a quiet night in.

During the night the swell picked up and started to come around into the anchorage so we started rolling from side to side. We ran the weather models at the Tuesday 5am update (via the Iridium Go! as we had no phone/internet coverage again) and we decided to move on. To avoid the worst of the eddies as we turned the corner at the bottom of Whitsunday Island we wanted to be going through there at slack tide which was around 7.15am. So at 7am we picked up anchor and got underway heading to another anchorage on Whitsunday called Sawmill Bay, which is part of the CID Harbour area. We arrived at 10.30 and had a leisurely day at anchor just enjoying our new surroundings.

Wednesday morning we headed out in the dinghy and checked out the ‘no swimming area’ sign. Apparently there have been four tiger shark attacks here (with one fatality) so swimming is banned. Scary stuff!

We headed over to the beach which had appeared at low tide in the corner of the bay. We chatted to some people who were enjoying the beach before heading up a steep path to take us over the headland. I managed the walk up but had to admit defeat and turn around. Never mind…..was probably a bit too ambitious to even attempt it. We then headed over to check out the Captain Cook monuments at the other end of the beach.

Back on board I started working on the blog while Richard sunbathed on the coachroof. We need to do a bit of provisioning, get a gas refill, get some diesel, get rid of some rubbish and some laundry so have booked into the Hamilton Island marina for a long weekend. This booking means we have access to the facilities of this exclusive private island – so pretty excited! And, hopefully, there will be good internet so we can download some more Netflix content and publish this blog LOL.

During the night the weather changed with the wind swinging all over the place so we had a pretty rocking and rolly night. This morning (Friday) we awoke to a cloudy miserable day so we were happy to be moving on. We phoned the marina to find out which side we would be tied to the dock so that we could organise our fenders and lines. All sorted, plus engine checks completed, we weighed anchor at 9am and made a slow motor into the wind and waves towards the marina entrance. We even managed to stay out of the way of the Jetstar aircraft as he came in to land too…..

Morphie is now tied securely to the dock and we have taken the gas bottle to the chandlery for a fill. We have had a coffee out and I’m now in the laundry multitasking with the blog while Richard is on board washing Morphie down as she is pretty salty! Today is for chores and tomorrow is for R&R so hoping the sun will come back out then.

As an update of what is going on out here in Australia, covid infections continue to spread through the community in a number of states so lockdowns continue and many interstate borders are closed. This has come as a bit of a shock to the general population who have been well isolated from the global pandemic and the restrictions that have become the norm elsewhere. At the same time, of course, the blame game continues with the slow roll out of the vaccination programme as well as the anti-vaxxers who continue to protest about the situation. We really can’t see this getting resolved anytime soon in terms of international borders reopening. Thankfully we remain legal here on bridging visas so we are just going to have to sit it out and watch and wait. Right now there is only one route home anyway and even that has changed in the light of the outbreak in New South Wales with Singapore toughening their restrictions. So we could be here for a while yet folks. We miss and love you all and are relieved that things appear to be returning to some sort of normality at home. To make you smile this week I give you another happy quokka These little critters are just so cute I thought he deserved the final spot this week.

Jan

Wednesday afternoon (14 July) I winched Richard up the mast as he wanted to check out the steaming light which had stopped working. This was just corrosion so with a quick clean and a spray it came back to life. Whilst there he checked out the fixings at the top of the whisker pole as, when we had tried to deploy it the other day in light airs, it was firmly stuck in place. So a bit of cleaning following by a coating of sailkote on the track and everything was fixed. And just in time because as I was bringing Richard back down to the deck it started raining and the wind switched north as forecast.

So we spent a few hours down below before the weather eased again and Richard decided to service the windlass while I just chilled out. We had a quiet night in.

Thursday morning very early, the wind had died away, so we took the opportunity to pull out the main sail as it didn’t appear have to furled properly the last time we had put it away. All was good and yet another gym workout for my upper arms on the winches. We ran the weather models again and the forecast now had northerly winds until Friday night so we decided to stay in Mackay marina until Saturday.

We then had breakfast, showered, and headed out on the bus to Mackay. We got off at the Caneland Central Mall and managed to tick everything off our shopping list – including new flip flops for Richard and a haircut for me – except the Netflix downloads. We had taken the computer with us as Mackay marina appears to be in a ‘dead’ internet zone and it was pretty poor most of the time. Well the Mall wifi was equally as bad so we did get a couple of films downloaded whilst we had lunch out but that was about it.

Oh yes and, of course, Richard just had to try a Crocodile Dundee hat adorned with genuine crocodile teeth. Not sure this really suits him LOL.

Late in the afternoon, having been out for most of the day, we returned to the marina and stopped off in the on-site tavern for a couple of cold ones before returning to Morphie for a quiet night in.

Friday morning we got cracking with boat jobs again. Whilst I was at the laundry Richard changed the oil filter; the oil; and the primary and secondary fuel filters. Good job! He also did a tidy up down below and some general departure preparation. We then had dinner on board before being tempted back out to the tavern by the sound of live music. The ‘group’ were really good and we had a very social (late) evening chatting to some locals. A really good time had by all and a very nice end to our stay.

Saturday morning we waited for slack low tide and left at 10.15 am going slowly through the exit to the marina into the main harbour passing the huge ship that was tied to the wharf.

We sailed in very light airs towards Brampton Island. On the way we saw humpback whales. They were quite a way in the distance (and too far away for photos) but this certainly put a smile on our face. So happy!

We had our anchor down by 3.20 pm in Maryport Bay having covered 21 miles. Whilst on the bow dealing with the anchor snubber we were welcomed into the bay by a lovely big turtle – such a shame we didn’t get a photo of him. We then watched the sunset and had a quiet night on board.

Sunday morning and the wind was howling but there was good holding in this anchorage although it felt a bit chilly. We got the outboard off the rail, dropped the dinghy, and installed the outboard. We then waited for the tide to come up so that we could get across the rocky shoreline and head ashore to check out the beach and the deserted luxury resort which had been abandoned to rot. There are custodians living on the premises to ensure there is no trespassing and, apparently, it is up for sale with planning permission to develop a 7-star resort. That would be an expensive project! Was interesting to see the power of nature at work though, particularly in the way it had smashed up the beach swimming pool. What was sad though was that there was a sting ray inside the murky waters of the pool and we wondered how on earth he had got there as the remains of the pool are above the high water mark.

We checked out the beach and then returned to Morphie where we had another turtle visitor welcoming us back on board. We also had to chase the seagulls away as they seemed to quite like sitting on our bow. We then watched a small aircraft coming into land on the tiny airstrip behind the resort before settling down to watch another spectacular sunset before retiring down below for the night.

At 8.45 am on Monday morning we picked up anchor and headed out on a slow downwind sail towards Goldsmiths Island. And suddenly we were treated to a whale show of slapping and breaching. OMG just amazing!

We carried on towards Goldsmith Island and then another two whales decided to check us out as they swam parallel for a short time. The whale encounter rules here in Australia are that boats are supposed to stay 300m away from them but guess no-one told the whales that LOL.

We arrived into Goldsmith around noon having covered 13 miles and were met by another turtle. As the wind had dropped off it felt a bit warmer so we rested up and waited for the tide to clear the fringing reef so that we could go ashore. Around 3pm we headed into the beach and had a couple of hours just sitting on the sand and enjoying the surroundings. So beautiful…. Back on board we got ourselves cleaned up, had dinner followed by a movie night.

Tuesday morning we left Goldsmith planning to stop at Thomas Island. The wind was just strong enough and on a reach so we were able to get both sails out and we had an amazing sail.

When we cleared the headland and turned into Thomas we realised that the anchorage was quite crowded and with a bit of a blow forecast to come through that night we decided to abort. So we turned around and headed to the next island Shaw. At this point we came across a whale and her new baby calf – she was quite content swimming along but then, suddenly, she turned towards us so we quickly motored away in the opposite direction LOL.

We arrived at Shaw Island at noon having sailed 16 miles. We then spent the afternoon on our own private beach enjoying the sights and sounds of this beautiful place and its surroundings. But this time the high tide was at the wrong time so we had to beach the dinghy and, during the afternoon, Richard had to pull him up closer a couple of times as the tide flooded in across the muddy/sandy bottom.

Then it was back to Morphie for another beautiful sunset before turning in.

Today, Wednesday, the wind is howling and is supposed to strengthen even further overnight so we are staying put. So I’m blogging while Richard is reading. We are expecting an influx of boats into this large anchorage today because of the weather and we have already got three new catamaran neighbours. Luckily the bay is large so there is plenty of room to spread out – although they do tend to stick together! We plan to move on tomorrow to take advantage of the southerly winds to get to the Whitsunday Island where we have found a bay that we can stay at for a few days to sit out a northerly blow which is supposed to come through on Friday night. As we go further north we are in credit-card captain territory as there are large charter fleets in the Whitsundays so we’ll just have to assume that nobody knows the “rules of the road”.

Anyway that’s it from us and we hope you are enjoying the blogs as we explore some of the beautiful Great Barrier Reef islands. Hope you are keeping well at home and enjoying your new found freedoms. Please stay safe and look after each other. We love and miss you all. So today we have another Australian bird – this time it is a laughing kookaburra.

Jan