Friday morning (30th April) we were up very early and got everything stowed away in preparation for the boat coming out of the water. We got a call asking if we were ready as they had an earlier slot than scheduled so we left our berth and stooged around in the river until the travel lift was in position and then headed in. The operator was not sure we would fit going in bows first but we managed to resolve it in the end by tying off the strops to ensure that the front one would not slip from the leading edge of Morphie.

We were then lifted and got off and had a coffee whilst we watched the guys jet wash the hull which was covered in slime plus a heavy covering of barnacles from the time spent in the river.

At this point the heavens opened (and, of course, our jackets were on board) so we loitered around near to where she was going to be situated and tried to keep dry.

Eventually Morphie was in position and we were able to get back on board. We tidied up and then headed out to The Galley for an early lunch whilst the rain continued to fall heavily. After lunch we washed the hull down but rain stopped play again as the heavens opened and we had thunderstorms all around us so we just had a quiet night on board.

Saturday morning it had rained heavily overnight and the forecast was for showers throughout the day so we started early at 7.30 am. We both worked on removing all the barnacle residue from the boot stripe, which was a real mess and it took us quite a long time.

Afterwards Richard concentrated on rubbing down the antifoul which, for the most part, wasn’t in too bad a condition.

I started sanding the propeller and the rudder stock.

We both then used a compound to try and restore some of the boot stripe paint – this is in pretty poor order now and so we’ll probably get this taken off and repainted in the next year or so. By 4pm we were both pretty shattered so called it a day and had an early night.

Sunday morning we had another early start and, by 9am, it had started raining so we stopped for breakfast while we waited for the showers to pass through. We then climbed into our scissor lift and cleaned the stainless steel below the rail and the rubbing strip. We then followed this up by doing an initial cutting and cleaning of the hull’s gelcoat.

Once we had finished I rested up while Richard took himself off to Bunnings for more supplies and, along the way he was stopped by the police for a random breathalyser test. Richard had had a couple of beers the night before but wasn’t concerned by this and the policeman was very happy with his ‘no alcohol recorded’ result and let him go on his way. We then had a quiet night on board once we were cleaned up although the boat looked like a bomb had hit it with tools and materials scattered everywhere in the cockpit….

Monday morning we awoke to a nice sunny day so uncovered the rail which we had protected from the rain where we have prepared the wood for the new genoa track to be installed. The rain stayed away and we walked around the hull and looked at our efforts from the day before. Well the steel was gleaming but we still detected some chalkiness in the gelcoat so decided to go around again and used a heavier duty compound. We then went around again for a final wax and polish and were both very happy with the end result!

While we were working Ernest, from the boat behind us in the yard, came by to say hello. He had recognised our boat name and we realised that we had met this Australian guy in Havana, Cuba. What a small world! So after we had finished working we got together with him and his neighbour Neil and had sundowners in the yard. And yes Ernest is not normally blue – he was enjoying his beer before his evening shower LOL. Was a fun time.

Tuesday morning we were up early again and visited the on-site chandlery to buy the Propspeed (for the propellor and the rudder stock) and some barrier paint for the antifoul before treating ourselves to breakfast in the Galley.

Afterwards I headed out to the nearby Westfield mall to pick up some items for dinner (as we have no working fridge or freezer whilst out of the water) whilst Richard started rubbing down the ablative antifoul. The areas which had deteriorated the most were then painted with a primer so we now had a spotty hull LOL.

I finished sanding the propeller then Richard reinstalled the teardrop zinc so that I could continue with the next stage which was to apply the Propspeed. This was my first attempt at using this material which had quite specific mixing instructions, so fingers crossed! I found it a bit gloopy to apply but was pleased with the end result….

Once I finished doing this Richard applied some additional underwater sealant around the rudder stock and the propeller shaft. Richard then applied the first coat of antifoul and was quite blue when he finished LOL. Because of the dire forecast overnight we covered up the rails once again to stop water ingress into the screw holes.

Wednesday morning the forecast was dire with heavy rain forecast all day from around 9am. So Richard was up at 6am and started to apply the second coat plus a third coat on the leading edges and the waterline which he got finished before the heavens opened. Great effort!

In the meantime I was out shopping on a trip to Bunnings – this time for some pre-ordered rubber gaskets for the fridge and freezer – and then to the supermarket for dinner ingredients, followed by the liquor store for more supplies, finishing up with a visit to the neighbouring Gold Coast City Marina to pick up some new marine stainless steel screws for the zincs.

I came back and Richard was still working below the boat trying to keep out of the rain. He fixed the other zinc; removed the bow thruster, which I then cleaned up; and then cleaned up the refrigeration plates and the grounding plate. All three of these plates were heavily calcified and the end result is just amazing….

Have to say that Morphie was, by now, looking absolutely beautiful after her time in the boat spa and we really pleased with the results of our efforts so far.

Thursday morning was our date to return to the water. First thing I headed to the office to pay our bill as there is a no cash, no splash, rule here. I came away with a goodie bag and Richard is very happy that we now finally have Boatworks hats LOL.

On return I waxed the boot stripe (now that the masking tape had been removed) and Richard cleaned and tidied away all the tools. We got our spare fuel cans back on board too (although not reinstated as we still have to finish waxing and polishing the topsides first). The gelcoat man came to fix our minor stern damage – which we had largely managed to polish out – and started the work but didn’t finish by the time the travel lift turned up for us to be lifted up.

We were lifted up into the straps and then Richard was able to antifoul the patches caused by the stands and underneath the hull which had been sitting on the blocks. Morphie was left hanging for a while to give us some drying time while the guys had some lunch.

After an hour or so they were back and we were moved through the yard to the slipway.

We climbed back on board, we were splashed back in, and then reversed out towards our allocated slip around the corner. The guys were there to catch our lines and we were happily in position by around 2pm.

We then got ourselves cleaned up and headed to the doctors for our flu vaccinations. Afterwards we had a wander through the mall before going to our favourite Thai restaurant for a lovely meal to celebrate the end of another week of hard, but satisfying, manual labour. And if you think we look tired, that is because we were LOL.

This morning, Friday, we were supposed to be going to the hospital for Richard’s final consultation. However, during the week they changed it to a phone consultation instead, which is fine as it means we don’t have to rush down the M1 to Southport and we can carry on getting on with things. We are currently in the Cruisers’ Lounge where I’m blogging and we’re doing the laundry at the same time. Going forward we intend to stay in the marina for one more week as we have some jobs to complete so no rest for us quite yet!

We hope you are all well and enjoying the increasing freedoms at home and perhaps even dreaming of a holiday this year!?! Stay safe everyone, sending lots of love and hugs. Today you get another indigenous cutie, this time it is a tree kangaroo that can be found in northern Queensland. Not sure what they eat but he is definitely a bit tubby LOL.

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back on board we had a quiet night in.

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan

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

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

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

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

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

Back at the house we had a quiet evening in.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan

Sunday (21st March) we awoke to a hot and steamy day, more rain was expected, and the chance of severe thunderstorms too. Well it wasn’t long before the heavens opened yet again and it absolutely chucked it down all day, although thankfully the storms didn’t materialise.

The news from the east coast of Australia was awful with south Queensland and New South Wales absolutely deluged with record amounts of rain – this had not happened for at least 60 years so a pretty noteworthy weather event. The rivers around us burst their banks but, thankfully, we were tied to a dock with has large pilings so no concerns for us. The local flooding (which sadly cost some lives) was absolutely awful so here are a few local shots to give you an idea of the scale of this persistent rainy spell.

Again we just hunkered down below for the day. Although we did keep ourselves busy for a little while pulling an additional wire through from the bilge pump light to the cockpit. This was a job on our list for a while after losing all our fresh water in Fiji when we were navigating through the reefs and didn’t hear the main bilge pump start or notice the red warning light go on. So we are installing a red warning light in the engine panel so that it is easily visible in future. This job was largely done but the final bit would have to wait for when it had stopped raining as we had to take the cover off the engine panel.

Monday morning we headed into Southport in the car with Steve who was having an epidural to hopefully ease his back pain and we were going to drive him back. On the way we headed to the Boatworks to pick up some mail (Richard’s replacement credit card had arrived) and were quite surprised by the width of the Coomera river and the height of the water relative to the road bridges.

We dropped Steve off but, because of Covid restrictions, we were not allowed to wait in the clinic for him so went for a wander down the road in the pouring rain to find a coffee. We ended up in KFC which was the nearest place open we could find and, by the time we headed back up the hill to the clinic, Steve was waiting for us. So worked out really well….

We arrived back in Sanctuary cove and had another wet day down below on Morphie. Later on we braved the elements to pop next door to see Steve and Jo as they were packing up for a small road trip and we were going to be keeping an eye on Tamanu for them in their absence. So instructions received, a couple of cold ones later, and we were back on board for a quiet night.

Tuesday morning it was still raining hard! So we were hermits down below again. Steve and Jo had left as planned and we were relieved to hear from them later that day that they had arrived at their destination safely. Couldn’t have been a fun five hour drive in those conditions….

Wednesday morning it had finally stopped raining after over a week of bad weather. Woo hoo!!

So we finished the installation of the auto bilge light in the cockpit and then washed the boat down of all the dirt from the rain. The water in the marina was a horrible deep brown colour from run off further up the river. Luckily we are not directly in the main channel of the river so we didn’t have to worry about floating debris either.

Thursday morning and it was sunny and hot. So we quickly got ourselves ready to go to the pool for the day. So excited LOL. We managed to get our favourite bed (with shade) in the adults section of the pool and it was really quiet – so we had ample access to the pool floaties to just bob around in the sun. Was a lovely day.

Friday we had breakfast out at Pier B (and caught up with David again) before heading to the pool for another day. We really enjoyed it and can’t quite believe how quickly the days pass when we are doing nothing but reading, relaxing and bobbing. By the afternoon the pool was getting a bit busier so we thought the weekend guests had probably arrived. Before we headed back to Morphie for the night we had a couple of Happy Hour drinks in the hotel’s pool bar. Had been a great day.

Saturday morning and, again, it was a lovely day although there were a few clouds around. We spent the day by the pool admiring the cheek of the ibis birds who are called “bin chickens” here in Australia because of their tendency to eat anything that is left lying around – they certainly enjoyed demolishing the bowl of chips left by some hotel guests.

We watched a helicopter come in to land and we think this was the start of a wedding as the party was seen going through the back of the hotel to their reception later in the day. Oh yes and we also spotted some strange seagulls who looked like they had stuck their beaks and legs into a tin of red paint.

On the way to the pool bar for Happy Hour we had a quick visit with some of the hotel’s kangaroos who were pretty chilled out keeping the grass trimmed. After sundowners we headed back to Morphie for another quiet night in.

This morning (Sunday) and we are having a quiet time on board before heading to the village pizzeria to meet Nigel and Sandra for the afternoon, so looking forward to catching up with them again. The weather forecast has changed a bit for the forthcoming week but here’s hoping for a nice Easter weekend so we can make the most of the activities going on within the marina village – there is even live music on the village green scheduled so that should be fun. Happy Easter to all.

So take care everyone and enjoy the further lifting of restrictions at home. Must be quite exciting to be able to see more people again after such a long year of lockdowns and support bubbles (not to mention haircuts and pub gardens). Please be careful and we send love and hugs whilst hoping that the immunisation programme continues to be rolled out so that life can get back to normal quickly. But you still might need a smile to cheer you up so here is an another Australian cutie – this time a baby Quoll.

Jan

Saturday (13 March) we headed out early to the pool. Our usual spot by the lagoon (in the adult area) was not busy but the umbrellas had been removed, so there was no shade available. So we headed to the sun beds near the other pool instead.

During the day Steve and Jo’s friends arrived (James, Leslie and their son Harrison) so they also took themselves to the lagoon pool for some fun.

Early evening we got together with the gang and headed into one of the village restaurants called Jonaz on Food. The waiter was attentive, the food was pretty good and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Until the bill came and the waiter turned on us as he wasn’t happy about us checking it. Hmmm, he was quite rude to us, so we didn’t leave him a tip! Tipping here in Australia is not mandatory or expected so no problems there, but it was all very strange and sort of ended the evening on a less than cheery note.

Sunday morning we headed back to the pool again – this time the ‘oyster’ shaped lounger was available which has a shade cover so we nabbed that for the day, and enjoyed ourselves just bobbing around in the lagoon in between lazing around and reading books. Throughout the day I was struggling a bit with my hip so definitely no more water aerobics for me!!

During the evening it started raining so we had a quiet night in. The rain didn’t let up all night and was pretty heavy. And, of course, on Monday it continued to rain all day. So apart from popping out for a coffee and some shopping at the village IGA we just chilled out down below.

We then headed over to Tamanu for dinner with Steve and Jo – we are very happy to be Steve’s curry recipe guinea pigs. This time it was a beef vindaloo and was absolutely fantastic! Loved it….

Tuesday morning and it was still raining. Apart from heading out for a coffee we had another day of not doing much other than sheltering down below from the weather feeling like hermits. Richard did, however, fix the lights in the heads. To finish off the day we had a Netflix binge. Currently we are watching Season 2 of Designated Survivor and thoroughly enjoying it….

Wednesday morning it was a bit brighter but was still not pool weather. So we took up residency on our dock and took apart our cockpit cushions. Richard scrubbed the inner closed cell pads while I worked on the covers. And that was about it for the day.

Thursday we had plans to meet David and his young family in the afternoon but, unfortunately, they were poorly so cancelled. Never mind we are here for another couple of weeks yet so there is time to catch up with them when they have recovered from the lurgy. I was having another bad leg day so Richard was pottering around looking for jobs to tackle and this time it was the stern shower nozzle which needed cleaning out as it was blocked; then he worked on the stainless on the cooker; followed by the galley taps. Great job and everything is now sparkling again!

Later on we headed to the Cove Tavern for a couple of drinks and some supper before returning to Morphie for another quiet night on board.

Friday morning I headed to the Village IGA for some provisions and then Richard and I had a clean up down below. He worked on the walls in our cabin while I cleaned all the floors, wiped the wood down, and vacuumed the rug. I then prepared dinner for Steve and Jo as we were entertaining them with a boat-made lasagne with salad and garlic bread for dinner. And a lovely evening we had too, despite the late appearance of a few mosquitos because we had forgotten to close the hatches before dark!

This morning, Saturday, and we met Steve and Jo at 8.30am. The only washing machine here in the marina has been playing up so they were doing a laundromat run to Coomera and we had decided to join them.

While the washing was going around in the tubs we all had breakfast out in a local cafe and then went for a drive around the local marinas in the luxury of the car’s air-conditioned environment whilst we waited for the dryers to finish…. Back on board having unpacked all our laundry, the weather is changing again and we have just had a rain shower with the threat of a thunderstorm later. Oh joy!

So not much to report this week although we have really enjoyed being sociable for a change. So fingers crossed for improved weather so that we can have more pool time. Hard to believe that we have been here almost two weeks and have only managed two days so far!

We see that the vaccination roll-out continues at home although there are renewed concerns over the supply chain. The story is the same here in Australia with Europe blocking exports. Papua New Guinea (which is just across the Torres Straits from the top of Queensland) are struggling to cope with the pandemic and many of the vaccines were earmarked to be sent there to help this third-world country get on top of the problem. The Australian Prime Minister is clearly furious about Europe stopping deliveries of ordered and paid-for drugs to keep for themselves despite signed contracts with the manufacturers. Will be interesting to see how this all pans out. Here in Australia they are onto the next stage of the vaccination process and our doctor has told us the surgery will be in touch when it is our turn. So fingers crossed that won’t be too long into the future.

So take care everyone, we are thinking of you all and sending love and hugs. Today’s smile comes courtesy of more Australian cuties – this time some baby dingoes.

Jan

Saturday (6 March) we headed out early to go shopping for provisions and to get some prescriptions filled. We came back to Morphie, unpacked and stowed all our goodies, then I headed back out in the car to Westfield whilst Richard stayed on board fixing the shower sump pump (yes again!). I enjoyed my girlie time getting a manicure and pedicure and when I returned found everything was back in its place. We then had a couple of sundowners in the cockpit followed by a quiet night down below enjoying a Netflix binge.

Sunday morning we were heading out shopping again, this time for fresh fruits and vegetables. On the way we popped in to see Tim. We had met him on the dock at the Boatworks a few weeks ago and were inspired by his story. He is a veteran Australian Navy Diver with PTSD who has struggled with his mental health and has taken on a project to rebuild an old sunken steel boat which, eventually, can be used to take his fellow veterans out for some time on the water. As we had failed to sell our old anchor and it was just taking up space in our stern cabin (aka the ‘garage’) we decided to donate it to this great cause. Tim was delighted to receive it and both him and his wife made us really welcome with food and great coffee while we got to look around their beautiful home. Here is the official handover…

And here is what the anchor looked like after some loving care and attention from Tim.

Whilst there, as the highlight of the day, we were able to feed a friendly kookaburra by hand which was sitting on the screen to his pool. A really lovely way to spend the morning.

Afterwards we rushed off to do our final bits of shopping then back to the Boatworks for laundry duties and Netflix downloads whilst we had good internet. So that was about it for the day although I did come across another (smallish) suspicious critter in the showers that evening – this one I have since identified (I think) as a scorpion spider which is not considered poisonous to humans. Still didn’t enjoy sharing my bathroom with him!

Monday morning we did final boat / engine checks and then headed down to the river to Sanctuary Cove marina. Steve (of SV Tamanu) was waiting on the dock to help us with our lines and we were delighted to be next door to them in the marina. What are the chances of two British-registered Island Packets alongside each other in an Australian marina?!?

After we were secured, washed down, and hooked up to power etc we then checked into the marina office and picked up our security gate keys. We then went to a café for coffee and caught up with our favourite barista David. And, of course, by now it had been raining….

Later on in the afternoon we welcomed Steve and Jo onboard Morphie for sundowners. Had been a very long time since we had seen them so it was great to catch up.

Overnight we had heavy rain but thankfully come Tuesday morning it started to ease. We were up early and on the bus towards Southport. We arrived at the terminus about 50 minutes later and found the medical facility that we were going to have our visa medicals at, had a coffee, then waited in line. People were there for all sorts of medicals and visas, so it was quite interesting people watching. Eventually we were dealt with in terms of initial meeting / basic tests then it was an X-ray, followed by a meeting with a doctor. After a couple of hours, and $700 lighter, we left and made our way back to the bus terminus for our return trip to Sanctuary Cove.

Later on we headed over to Tamanu for sundowners on board which was fun especially as we watched the lightning flashing around us from the cockpit.

Wednesday morning we borrowed Steve and Jo’s car (which was very kind of them) and took off for the Boatworks as we had mail to collect. We also took the opportunity to pop into Bunnings as Richard wanted to buy a new tap for our heads. Back on board and the weather was really miserable and cloudy so we stayed put. We had received our National Police Certificates in the post so I scanned those in and uploaded them to the immigration website which also confirmed that our medicals had required no further attention. So everything done we are just waiting for the visas to be issued now but, at least, we remain legal on our bridging visas so we are not worried about this delay.

Later on we headed back over to Tamanu for a curry as Steve had been trying a new Indian restaurant recipe that he had found so we were (happily) the guinea pigs. I supplied the poppadums and naan bread which we had found in Woolworths that morning. The Madras was great – really enjoyed it – thanks Steve. We were chased out of the cockpit by torrential rain so took cover down in the saloon for a while – but, eventually, it was time for us to leave and the rain just would not stop so we had to make a dash for it and got soaked in the process!!! Never mind…..

Thursday it was another cloudy and rainy day so we just stayed on board. Richard swapped out the tap in the heads while I was his “gofer” getting tools as required…. Other than that we just relaxed on board and had a quiet night in.

Friday morning I was up early and headed to the lagoon pool at the Intercontinental Hotel for water aerobics. Steve and Jo have been going to these three times a week so thought I’d give it a go…. Richard could not be tempted as he wanted to swap out the faulty Balmar battery monitor and bluetooth gateway while I was off the boat and out of the way so he stayed behind to do that and Jo had an early on-line meeting (as she works from the boat) so it was just Steve and me. The instructor wasn’t great so I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do half of the time but I got through it. Afterwards Steve and I headed to the hotel spa pool to warm up as the lagoon pool was pretty chilly before returning to our respective boats.

Back on board and I’m blogging while Richard continues to fix his new instruments – of course it is not as simple as it would seem – so I’m keeping quiet in the corner while he rants away LOL. He has just finished and everything appears to be working as it should be so fingers crossed that they have ironed out all the bugs… Think that will be it for the day then, it is still cloudy and grey out there, so no pool time today. Fingers crossed for a real break in the weather tomorrow.

So that’s it for now folks. Things appear to be improving at home although some concern over whether there will be another spike now that the kids are back at school. So fingers crossed that the easing of restrictions continues as proposed. But we do recognise that you are all still living in lockdown whilst we live an almost normal life so here are more Australian cuties to make you smile. These two are a Tasmanian pademelon mother and baby – they are small herbivore marsupials, that breed abundantly and are preyed upon by Tasmanian devils and quolls.

Jan

Friday (26th February) we moved up the coast of Moreton Island from the Sandhills anchorage to Tangalooma Wrecks which is just north of the Tangalooma Island Resort. This resort is private and doesn’t allow visitors (other than registered guests) to their facilities so off limits to us and definitely seemed pretty busy with the amount of times we saw the little helicopter take off for a short scenic trip around the bay.

The wrecks are 15 ships deliberately scuttled by the Queensland Government between 1964 and 1984 to provide a safe anchoring spot for boats on the eastern side of Moreton Bay. Coral is now starting to form around the wrecks and it provides a haven for a variety of species so is a popular spot for snorkellers from the nearby private resort. This anchorage is only tenable with an easterly element to the wind so we were delighted to have the right conditions to finally make it there.

We found a good spot near enough to the wrecks to go exploring but far enough away not to be in the way of the huge amount of boats that come through here bringing day trippers. There are also people camping on the sandy spit across from the wrecks who come over on the ferry in their 4WD campers. It was pretty busy and we hadn’t seen so many tourists having fun in a very long time with lots of people bobbing in the crystal clear shallow water, it was the closest we had come to being back at Jost van Dyke, just without the bars! Oh yes and check out the tourist playing with a motorised surf board…

We quickly got dink down and enjoyed dinghying around looking at the wrecks (although a bit concerned by the absestos signage on one) and, despite lots of warnings about the dangers, of course lots of people decided to climb on them too.

We then headed ashore and went bobbing ourselves. After a few hours we were back on board being rocked and rolled around by the huge ships as they pass by in the nearby shipping channel – which is the main deep-water channel into Brisbane. But wasn’t bad enough to make us want to move on.

We just enjoyed being there and particularly watching the ships go through against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset. And, of course, in any popular tourist spot we had the usual anchoring shenanigans and it was clear that one particular charter catamaran didn’t have a clue about how to go about it. Thankfully they gave up and moved away from us – phew! During the evening in the cockpit we also watched one of the 4WD vehicles (that trippers drive along the beach to the campsite) get stuck in the sand…..so lots of people watching going on.

Saturday morning it was raining….seriously….here we are in the most beautiful anchorage and it’s raining again. Not happy! Thankfully it cleared up quite quickly and we just floated around over our anchor as there was also no wind. We were then furiously tipped from side to side from the wake of a bunch of jet skis going through the anchorage at top speed. They definitely do this deliberately….oh well….never mind. Again there were more anchor shenanigans as the day trippers arrived. We went ashore and bobbed in the crystal clear water and talked to a brother and sister who were out for the weekend. While we were chatting we noticed a catamaran getting too close to Morphie which made the people on board panic a bit but, before we could even get in our dinghy to get back out there, they had picked up anchor and left. They were clearly embarrassed by anchoring too close to us which proved to be their undoing when the wind picked up and we all swung in different ways. Thankfully they didn’t touch.

We had another evening in the cockpit watching the sunset. Later on we checked out our emails and we had received one from AmEx about a possible fraud. So I quickly phoned them (as it was now eight in the morning in the UK) and, yes, someone had tried to use this card at Argos. Luckily Amex spotted this transaction and it was declined, the card was immediately cancelled, and another one ordered to be delivered to Australia in due course. Really great service. Does make you wonder though where the card was cloned.

Sunday morning it was raining first thing and we were rocking and rolling even more with large numbers of ships moving through the channel. Then the trippers started arriving and we decided enough was enough, so picked up anchor and headed back to the Sandhills anchorage where we were completely on our own. Was really lovely so we enjoyed the peace and quiet just sitting in the cockpit watching the birdlife after the hectic madness of the last few days.

We then received the terrible news that my Mum’s friend, Anne McCafferty, had passed away (from Covid). Was really upset by this, especially as Anne and her husband Charlie had been so supportive to me when we lost Mum and they had both been part of my life for almost 50 years. So was quite a tearful evening. RIP Anne, you were taken far too soon, but hope that you are enjoying your reunion (not to mention a cup of tea and game of scrabble) up there with Mum. We will miss you greatly and send lots of love and our deepest condolences to Charlie and the rest of the family for their loss.

Monday morning first thing it was rather cloudy and grey so we spent the time below and submitted our completed visa applications. We also received the news that our Federal Police Checks had been completed and our certificates were being posted to us. We then received our bridging visas, almost by return, with news that the process of issuing visas was currently taking 5-7 months but at least we are now legal when our current 12 month visas expire on 13 March. It’s unbelievable that we been here in Australia for almost a year.

Later on we moved anchorage from Sandhills to Horseshoe Bay, Peel Island. Still grey, cloudy and no wind and it was officially the first day of Autumn. Let’s hoping Autumn weather is more settled than Summer LOL. As there was no solar gain nor wind we had to run the generator – for the first time for a long time – to top up the batteries. We had a quiet night on board.

Tuesday morning and it was lovely – we picked up anchor and headed back towards Canaipa to time our arrival with high tide to get through the winding shallow passage. We arrived at Tipplers and got a really good spot. There was an Australian catamaran behind us – SV Bonafide – so, when we dropped dink, headed over to say hello and to let them know that we had deliberately anchored in preparation for the expected wind to swing us away from them. They were comfortable with our position and then invited us for sundowners that evening. Smashing, thank you very much! We headed ashore for a quick snack and, of course, an essential wallaby visit. Headed back to Morphie we got ourselves cleaned up, packed some goodies, and headed over to see Andy and Bec – who are both British but have lived in Australia for decades. We had a very enjoyable few hours with them while a thunderstorm raged around us but thankfully didn’t come too close.

Wednesday morning it was raining, it was cold, it was grey and again no solar input so we ran the generator and chilled out down below. We got word from the Australian immigration that we needed to have visa medicals so I organised those for next week. We also needed to go to a Centrelink office to get our Medicare card validity extended so started getting the documents together in preparation for that. Later on we heard from Tom and Diane (SV Avalon) that they were camping at Tipplers and had just spotted Morpheus out in the anchorage. Fantastic news! So we invited them for sundowners later and were also joined by Andy and Bec. We had a fun social evening on board and it was great to see Tom and Diane again.

Thursday morning we weighed anchor early and, by eight, we were heading out of Tipplers on our way back to the Boatworks. Despite the horrendous conditions of 30+ knot winds and torrential rain enroute we made good time and arrived to find a small motorboat in our allocated berth. So the marina guys quickly jumped onboard and moved it to another place while we did 360s in the river. After about 10 minutes the slip was ready for us and we went in gingerly as the wind was pushing us away from the dock and towards another boat but we made it in successfully with no drama. Phew!

We quickly washed Morphie down, got the electricity plugged in, put the canvas back on and headed to the showers. After getting ourselves cleaned up we went to pick up our courtesy car to drive to Southport to visit the Centrelink / Medicare office. Well, my last experience of this place was horrendous with queues out the office and up the street to then meet the most unhelpful woman I have ever had the pleasure to meet! I had pre-warned Richard but, of course, the reality this time was very different. No queues anywhere and a very helpful woman who told us we had to reapply for another card. Wow, what a difference. Anyway, we took a seat and completed the new forms and then returned to the desk – the woman checked the form was completed properly; took photocopies of our passports, current live visas, bridging visas; and that was that. She would now send them off to be processed and the new cards should be in the post within a couple of weeks. What a difference to last time. So very grateful this happened so easily and quickly so we headed back up the M1 to the Boatworks and treated ourselves to a celebratory coffee and a cake in the Galley after we had returned the car. We also picked up a couple of parcels that had been delivered and one was Richard’s new replacement (free of charge) Balmar products. This made Richard very happy indeed! So guess that is one job for the weekend while we are here.

We then had a quiet afternoon and evening on board – feeling a bit weary – and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the marina as we are surrounded by boats for sale with nobody on board so it is just us on the dock.

This morning, Friday, I’m blogging and Richard has just been to collect his new Yanmar fresh water coolant pump for the engine. He’s very happy with his shiny new acquisition.

This afternoon I have a doctor’s appointment – just to pick up prescriptions – so will get a few things whilst out and about and that will be it for the day. We have a car for the weekend so we can get ourselves provisioned up in preparation for returning to Sanctuary Cove Marina on Monday. Really looking forward to it.

News from home seems to be about the same with some nervousness over new Covid strains and the efficacy of the vaccines against them. Plus, of course, tax hikes in the latest budget to pay for it all. We just hope that the lockdown programme will continue on track and you will all be able to have more freedom at home soon. So sending more love, hugs, and another Australian cutie to make you smile. This one is a sugar glider which is a tiny lemur-like tree-dwelling flying marsupial that feeds on wattle gum and eucalyptus sap.

Jan