Saturday (26 June) it rained all day….and all night…so we just stayed down below keeping warm and dry. During the evening the shore power tripped and, despite Richard getting pretty wet on the dock trying to sort it out it wouldn’t stay up, so we changed our fridge / freezer settings to maintain the battery bank overnight.
Sunday morning it was raining again….sigh….and it was very cold! Richard managed to get the shore power back on so that was good and, as a result, we were able to get the small heater out of the locker and sat down below keeping toasty warm wrapped up in joggers and fleeces. So another day of Netflix loomed. We had hoped to go to the marina restaurant to listen to the live band in the afternoon but, for obvious reasons, that didn’t happen.
Monday and it was still raining when we woke up. But by mid morning it had stopped so although it was pretty soggy we treated ourselves to lunch out at the Waterline restaurant. This on-site restaurant has Asian chefs so there is quite a range of food on offer – so Richard tried Malaysian and I had Vietnamese. And it was absolutely delicious. We were very impressed and, having been stuck on the boat for a few days, it made a really nice change. Later in the afternoon, as forecast, the wind picked up and was blowing a hooley so it was pretty creaky on board with all the lines pulling against the dock.
Tuesday morning and the wind was still howling through the marina. The sun was trying to break through but the forecast for the next week remained absolutely awful. So we extended our stay here in the marina again….sigh…. We were lucky, actually, as some boats that tried to extend were told they couldn’t as this place is pretty busy right now with people looking for respite from the unseasonal weather. Luckily no-one had booked our berth in advance. But this delay puts us under a bit of pressure to get to Airlie Beach where we have organised a berth in the local fancy marina and resort for a few days whilst we get our 2nd Covid vaccinations. Oh well, looks like more overnight sailing is in our immediate future LOL.
So another lazy day on board but at least the rain held off although we did lose our shore power again temporarily. Something for Richard to investigate more thoroughly at some point. During the day there was news of more Covid lockdowns here in Australia with areas both north and south of us involved. Luckily we had not been to any of the places listed so were unaffected by these new restrictions.
Wednesday morning we got the bus to Rockhampton (carrying facemasks just in case) to the large Stockland Mall were we did some banking. We had a number of old UK paper sterling banknotes on board (which will cease to be legal tender next year) and thought it was time we got rid of them so exchanged them for some more Australian dollars which topped up the kitty. We then returned to the marina for a quiet night in.
Thursday morning and we awoke to sunny skies. What?!? Had the forecast been wrong again? Could we have left as we originally planned? Then suddenly the winds died, the clouds built and the drizzle started, so we had another rainy day on board and we just lazed around after doing a little spring clean. In the evening we headed over to another boat where we had been invited to sundowners – was a really nice evening. But, trying to get photos for my blog and the camera whirred and died, so here is the last photo it will ever take!
Friday morning it was cloudy and grey but at least it was dry – so we had breakfast out at The Waterline (and I borrowed this photo as I had no camera!).
Afterwards we headed back on the bus again to the Stockland Mall to buy a new camera in JB Hi-Fi. We managed to get exactly the same model – in silver rather than black this time – so were very happy especially as we were given a discount because the display model was the last one they had of this camera.
The old camera had lasted three and a half years and with our heavy usage I guess that isn’t too bad for a point and shoot and the benefit of buying the same model is that we now have a spare battery for the new one. On the way back on the bus we played with the new camera so here is our bus selfie and a picture of all the fruit bats roosting in the trees near the Yeppoon river inlet.
Back on board and Richard investigated the shore power issue. It turns out that our transformer, which steps down from 220v to 110v, had got damp in its container and this is what had kept tripping the shore pedestal breaker. So Richard dried it all out and then fabricated a wood bracket inside the transformer’s box so that it is now elevated. Of course, it immediately worked when he reconnected everything together. Phew, that was definitely a relief! Overnight we had heavy rain again…sigh….but, thankfully the power stayed connected and Morphie is staying nice and clean too LOL.
This morning, Saturday, and yes it’s still raining. This is definitely getting tedious! We have decided to do an overnight passage from here to Middle Percy island which will take about 20 hours (at an average of 5 knots) and, so far, the conditions are looking favourable for a Tuesday late morning departure. So we are currently planning on that basis and keeping all things flexible crossed. And this is what we are hoping to find there!
As I write this, the short three-day lockdowns in Queensland have been lifted apart a short extension for those in the Brisbane and Moreton Bay areas. But New South Wales appear to be struggling to contain this latest outbreak so lots of residents are under strict ‘stay at home’ orders and interstate borders remain firmly closed for the foreseeable future. So while the rest of the world continue to roll out vaccines as quickly as possible and try to get some normality back Australia is taking a different path and is continuing to isolate itself. Interesting times or what?!?
Anyway, that’s it for now. Keep safe everybody and take care of each other. Sending lots of love and hugs, so here are a couple of Australian possum cuties to make you smile.
Jan