Friday morning (14 January) we were up really early and, by 7am, the boat was secured, the car was packed and we were off to New South Wales. Woo hoo!

We had a really good drive along mostly empty roads and the occasional tall bridge plus the iconic sign to the Big Banana water park. We made a couple of comfort stops along the way and, this time, rather than the usual huge spiders we came across a large monitor lizard. At least it wasn’t sharing the toilet cubicle LOL.

We arrived at Jamie’s house at around 5pm, right on schedule! We enjoyed our reunion and had a lovely Thai takeaway to celebrate. Pretty tired after so many hours of driving we turned in at a reasonable time and it was a real treat to sleep in a huge bed that didn’t move LOL.

Saturday morning we headed out to the Gosport waterfront as Jack and Adam were going to the aqua park for a birthday party. As Adam was a bit younger than the rest of the group Jamie joined in too…. Have to say it looked like hard work – we didn’t mind just sitting down, watching, and keeping cool in the heat with a slush puppie!

We then returned home for a short while before Jack went off for the afternoon for a big boys’ birthday sleepover. Adam was clearly feeling a little left out (as no younger brothers were invited to the sleepover) so we gave him carte blanche in terms of what he wanted for eat – shepherds pie was the request – so we popped out to get ingredients. We then returned and played Uno all afternoon and had a lot of fun before preparing and enjoying our dinner together.

During the day we heard the terrible news of the volcanic eruption in the Kingdom of Tonga and the resultant tsunami. Having travelled through this area in 2017 we were aware of how devastating this natural disaster could be on the low lying islands. All we could do was pray for positive news, those poor poor people. Despite the tsunami warning for the east coast of Australia we weren’t particularly concerned over the impact on Morphie left alone up the river in Queensland as she was quite a long way inland. Sadly not to be the case for some boat owners on New Zealand’s north island.

During the evening we had a massive thunderstorm and hailstones…. Jamie had been warned (via text) from his insurance company to get the car under cover so had already put his car in the garage – but no room for us so we just had to keep our fingers crossed that our hire car didn’t get damaged in the biblical deluge. The young guy across the road came out during the storm to put blankets over his car, so he clearly took the warnings seriously. After it was all over Richard went out to check the car and, thankfully, it was unscathed.

Sunday morning we headed out to Davistown for a walk along the waterfront and had a coffee out before returning to relax at home. With the huge surge in Omicron infections here in New South Wales we had already decided to keep ourselves to ourselves and only enjoy outside spaces to minimise the risk of picking up an infection. And really can’t believe how tall Jack has got in the last 12 months – didn’t expect him to be taller than me at just 13 years old! And, of course, it wouldn’t be a good day out without some lovely pelicans posing…

We then received a photo of Morphie on the dock at the Boatworks from Lester and Helen who were out and about in the river and took a photo for us. Thanks guys, much appreciated!

Later on we headed out to Crackneck Point and the spectacular view was marred a little bit by sea mist with the huge powerful surf crashing onto the rocks and the shoreline. After admiring the view for a while we headed back home again, this time armed with a fish and chip supper, just in time to watch the embarrassment of the English cricket team falling apart in the Ashes on the TV. Sigh….

Monday morning we had a lazy start. Jamie was running a tennis coaching session so we headed out to Avoca beach without him. When we got there the beach was completely closed due to the ongoing effects of the tsunami and the very strong powerful surf that was coming ashore as a result (not helped by other weather systems converging on the region). So we headed around the coast to Terrigal where there is a bit of a lagoon provided by a rocky enclosure so we enjoyed a wave jumping session in the sea together. Was a lot of fun which was rounded off by an ice cream – which was a real taste of home!

On our return to the house we had a BBQ evening meal followed by a family movie night – this time it was Venom. Not sure this was a film we would have chosen ourselves LOL but it wasn’t too bad…. The boys loved it of course!

Tuesday morning we headed back to Avoca and dropped Budd off at the local groomers. We then went to the beach and the surf continued to pound the coast, but the beach was now open with resident lifeguards. So we stopped for a coffee break and enjoyed watching the surfers having fun! We had some great coffees and cakes before making camp on the beach with Jamie, me and Jack sitting it out whilst Richard, Hayley and Adam played in the surf.

The intrepid trio were swept off their feet numerous times and it was fun to watch them being pushed up the beach by the surf. I was very envious but realised that I wouldn’t be able to stand up against the strong pull of the currents so made the decision not to join them sadly. It was all very dramatic and beautiful to watch.

Later in the afternoon Jamie and Hayley headed out to pick up Budd – OMG – he didn’t look like the same dog! Poor Budd had been shaved pretty close and he was clearly distressed, refused to eat and was absolutely exhausted after the experience. He needed constant reassurance and cuddles so here we are with a before and after picture!

Back at home we had dinner and then a family Uno night with Jack being the ultimate winner. And was he happy or what?!? This is one competitive teenager LOL.

Wednesday morning Richard and I headed out in the rain to do a bit of shopping – he wanted a couple of things at Bunnings (of course!) and to top up with petrol. Jobs done we returned home to rest up for the rest of the day as the rain was pretty heavy. We then had another movie night – the Disney film Jungle Cruise this time – before another Uno night with Adam the victor this time. Was a lot of fun, especially seeing Jack’s really bad reaction to losing! He only came 5th with me coming dead last – I blame my neighbours who constantly made me pick up cards. Mentioning no names Hayley and Richard LOL. Was another fun day.

During the early hours Jamie and Hayley were awoken by Velvet the cat who had brought them a present – a live bandicoot! This was chased into the ensuite and eventually caught before being put outside. Bit of a drama or what?!?

Thursday morning and it was raining again. Richard and I stayed home with Budd whilst the rest of the family headed out to the mall for some ‘return to school’ shoes and trainers. They came back and the weather had improved, so we all headed out to Saratoga Oval where the family made a video to send home….and no clues other than a still shot….

Then, of course, the heavens opened so we rushed back to the cars and headed over to Terrigal. We enjoyed a walk along the boardwalk admiring the spectacular sandstone cliffs and wondered why the seagulls had died in their nests…..

We then headed back home armed with the ‘best doughnuts in the world’, or at least that’s what Jack says LOL.

Sadly Budd was still feeling off colour so Jamie and Richard took him off to the vets only to find out that he had had a serious allergic reaction to the shampoo the groomers used; they got water into his ears causing an ear infection; and they have nicked his skin in a couple of places…. So not impressed! So obviously we all made a big fuss of him when he came home.

This morning, Friday, and I am pleased to report that Budd is much better and, although clearly still a bit poorly, he has improved considerably. Phew…..that’s a relief. We are not sure what we are doing today, although the sun might have just peeked through, but we have a reservation for the Indian in Terrigal tonight so looking foward to that.

So that’s it for this blog…. Hope you are all well and taking care of each other. So just to sign off, thought it was time for another Australian cutie, and this quokka definitely made me smile.

Lots of love and bye for now, Jan

Friday morning, 7 January, we were up early and headed out to Bistro 19 for breakfast before picking up a few bits and pieces in the Sanctuary Cove Village IGA supermarket.

We then returned our access keys to the marina office and started to get Morphie ready to depart, including engine checks. The wind had picked up by now and was pretty feisty. Although we had changed a number of our lines to slips to make an easy departure from the berth we were being pushed hard off the dock towards the huge wooden yacht next to us. Hmmm… Richard felt that we needed assistance to do this manoeuvre safely so he walked the dock and found three guys chatting who readily agreed to come and assist. So they kept us close to the dock as we reversed out until we had cleared the piling and then we slipped away. Phew! It went really well, thankfully.

We headed up the river and visually checked out our allocated berth in The Boatworks. This was alongside within a huge catamaran pen so we thought that, although we were being blown off the dock, as there was no other boat in situ we could manage it with assistance. So the Boatworks guys – always so helpful and professional – came down and did a great job in the very strong gusty wind conditions and we got ourselves in and tied up. Phew, glad to be here, had been quite a morning so far LOL.

Oh yes, and of course, it was raining so we went for a wander around the pretty empty facility – trades don’t return from Christmas holidays until Monday 10 January – so not many boats around either. This is the works yard which is usually absolutely rammed with a waiting list for spaces. Check out the aerial shot I found online for a comparison.

So, for the first time ever, we had a choice of washing machines so did all our bedding and towels whilst we sat in the air-conditioned comfort of the cruisers lounge and utilised the excellent 5G wifi. Once the laundry was finished we headed back to the boat via the office and picked up our courtesy car for the weekend and had a quiet night in trying to stay cool in the very hot and steamy conditions. Made worse, in our cabin, by the dinghy being on the coach roof and the removal of one dorade – and we couldn’t even open the hatch.

Saturday morning we awoke to another rainy day. Oh well, never mind. We headed out early to the Westfield mall at Coomera and I went to the hairdressers whilst Richard had his appointment in SpecSavers. I also dropped our prescriptions off at the chemist who told me that Covid RAT tests were coming into the store at 2pm. I then went to SpecSavers to find Richard mulling over all the frames until he eventually managed to find one he liked so ordered two new pairs – one being prescription sunglasses.

Tasks completed we then headed to Coles for some shopping, picked up our medication, before returning to the Boatworks. We unpacked and stored our provisions before going into The Galley for a bite to eat – we were welcomed ‘home’ by the staff which was lovely, such great people!

We then headed back to the mall hoping to get our hands on some of those elusive RAT tests. Well, this was at 12.45 pm (the delivery was coming in at 2pm) and the queue was already quite long – in fact there were two queues snaking through the mall. This is the start of it….

Around 1.30 pm the police turned up, presumably in case there was trouble when the supplies ran out and people were frustrated at having queued for nothing! All we could do was keep all things flexible crossed. By the time we got to the front of our queue (around 2.15pm) there was only about 10 boxes left so we felt very grateful to have got our hands on a couple each (the maximum allowed). Phew job done but felt very tired and sore having stood around for so long. So back to the boat where we rested up for the rest of the day keeping out of the rain.

Sunday morning we were up early although were delighted that the rain had finally cleared and we saw the sun for the first time in quite a while. We got dink off the bow onto the dock, gave it a bit of a clean, then walked it down to the stern, splashed it into the river and hoisted it back up onto the davits. Having got the dink off the bow we reinstalled the dorade and put the canvas on the bow – yay, airflow restored to our cabin!

We then headed back to the cruisers lounge and did the remainder of our laundry (clothes this time) and spent some time sorting out SIM cards. The Nokia phone we purchased in Australia is failing, the battery doesn’t stay charged for any length of time at all and, as we are constantly using it as our internet hotspot on the boat plus QR code check-ins when out and about this has been a bit frustrating as we constantly have to carry a mobile power supply with us. So we swapped the SIM card out and installed it into my UK Samsung phone and then I worked my way through all the settings so that the Australian SIM was the only one being used for calls / mobile data etc etc. Fingers crossed that works out OK. But, of course, we then realised that the contacts hadn’t come over with the SIM card so we had lost all our useful numbers like marinas / trades etc etc. So swapped the SIMs back again and linked the phones together and transferred the data wirelessly. Then swapped them back again and, finally, job done! Phew….

It was getting late by now so we returned to the boat and had a couple of sundowners before dinner in the cockpit, although we were then inundated with critters, so had to take ourselves down below to avoid the biters! Another quiet Netflix night in.

Monday morning we were up early and washed the topsides down and dried them off. We then worked our way around the coach roof giving it a good clean with Grunt, one of our favourite products that we came across in New Zealand.

We were surprised just how dirty Morphie was because whenever we had access to fresh water we had washed her down. Anyway, she looked much better and even shiny when we had finished. And, of course, because we were working on the boat under a very fierce sun we had to wear flip flops as the deck was just too hot to stand on!

Job done we had leisurely showers before heading back to the air-conditioned cruisers lounge. This time we did Netflix downloads and I installed all the apps that we use in Australia onto the Samsung phone. We then returned to Morphie for a snack meal as we were both feeling just too tired to bother with anything else.

Tuesday morning and Happy Australian Birthday to me!

Richard said he would spoil me for the day but only if I finished waxing the topsides first LOL. So we started, made short work of it, and Morphie is definitely looking sparkling and lovely.

I then stayed in the cockpit as we had a mechanic coming on board to check out our engine as we had a couple of small issues which we would like some assistance in resolving. He was great and we think we are fixed, we just need to start the engine from cold first thing on Wednesday to find out! Fingers crossed….

Once the guy had gone I took myself off to the ensuites and had a leisurely shower whilst Richard carried on with a couple of jobs. When I got back I continued working on the phone and managed to get our Covid vaccination certificates loaded so we don’t need to carry physical ones with us anymore. Felt quite pleased with myself getting all this sorted out…..

Then I got a call from the office to say a parcel had arrived for me! Very excited I went and picked it up. It was a bit mangled to say the least but the fragile contents (nothing exciting really, just skin products) were thankfully intact. So what was my Christmas present to myself – having ordered this on Black Friday to get some freebies – turned into my birthday present instead. Woo hoo. Funnily enough I had only complained about the courier sitting on this parcel earlier in the morning – coincidence or what?!?

OK so now it was time to get tested for Covid. Neither of us had any symptoms but wanted to make sure we weren’t carriers for when we go and stay with my nephew and his family in New South Wales on Friday. So we read the instructions, sat down, completed the test and waited the allocated 15 minutes and were delighted (and a little relieved) to see negative results! Yay, the trip is on. Very excited now.

We got ourselves cleaned up, collected the courtesy car, and headed out to the Westfield mall again. As we pulled into the car park so did Ernest alongside us. Completely out of the blue – was lovely to see him – and we promised to be in touch once we returned from New South Wales. We then did a bit of shopping before stowing our goodies in the car and went into the Nahm Thai restaurant for a birthday dinner. I even had a few bubbles for a change. Was a lovely meal – they do the best beef massaman curry – and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Back to Morphie we both had a couple of pontoonies with Richard making up for his earlier abstinence as the designated driver. Had been a really lovely day and I just want to say thanks to all my family and friends who sent me electronic cards, emails, messengers and FaceBook greetings – made this old dear feel very special LOL!

Wednesday morning I started on the blog and we did a quick clean and tidy up in the cockpit and down below. Richard started the engine with fingers crossed and we were both really chuffed when it started up first time and all issues were resolved. Fantastic – what a result!

I then prepped the food as we were hosting sundowners for Lester and Helen (SV Joule, fellow Island Packeteers) which had been cancelled during our stormy week in Sanctuary Cove. Everything done we relaxed for a while before they arrived at 4pm. We had a lovely afternoon in the cockpit – was a lot of fun to catch up with them again.

This morning, Thursday, we were up early and picked up our courtesy car at 8am.

We then drove 25 minutes north on the M1 to Loganholme to pick up our hire car – an i30 this time.

All the paperwork completed I left Richard to drive onwards to Yatala whilst I returned the courtesy car to the Boatworks. Richard had finally found a company in Australia that would change the valves and recertify (for 10 years) our original USA LPG bottles. Absolutely great news as they are pretty unique (as they lay down on their sides when in use) and as Worthington had never exported these bottles to Australia we didn’t think we could realistically get this done. So he has left them there and we’ll pick them up on our return from New South Wales.

So the rest of the day is going to be spent packing and preparing the boat to be left alone. We have decided not to eat out during the eight hour drive as we want to stay away from people now that Covid is running rampant throughout NSW so I’m also going to prepare some food we can eat along the way. There are lots of ‘rest areas’ along the route where we can stop to eat and keep ourselves to ourselves. Very excited about our family reunion trip now that we are actually going!

So that’s it for the week and we got a few jobs ticked off the (ever expanding) list of boat jobs. The absolute best thing this week is that the sun has come out and the rain has stopped – everything feels so much better as a result. We hope that this finds you all safe and well at home and looking after each other. To wrap it up thought I’d return to my earlier signing off theme of Australian cuties – today it is the turn of the lovely wombat – which made me smile. Bye for now.

Jan

Friday morning, New Year’s Eve, and we awoke to a pretty miserable and grey day. Early afternoon, in between showers, we headed to the hotel to secure our wrist bands for the beach party and fireworks later in the day. Job done we decided, on the way back, to spend some time in the Sanctuary Cove Tavern and enjoyed a few drinks, some potato wedges, and added to our Netflix download collection.

Around 5pm we headed back to Morphie for a snooze. Afterwards we got ourselves tidied up and headed to the lagoon beach at the Intercontinental Hotel for the NYE party. The DJ was playing some very old music to a mixed age-group audience (no masked masquerade ball this year) but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and we were dragged into a couple of family groups for some mum and dad dancing moves LOL. Eventually, the countdown started, and we watched the fireworks together. Felt very sad to be away from family and friends for yet another New Year’s Eve – so much so catch up on when we get home!!! Eventually we tore ourselves away from the party and returned to Morphie.

Saturday was a day for recovering from the excesses of the day before, so we lazed around reading and snoozing most of this rainy day. So Happy New Year’s Day 2022 from Australia – a public holiday here (as it is at home) with most places closed. We were lucky though, that George’s Pizzeria was open for takeouts in the evening, so we enjoyed another lovely pizza whilst having a quiet movie night on board.

Sunday morning and it was raining…hard…sigh… The storm had now been named Seth and had been declared a Tropical Cyclone – it was threatening the Queensland coast with severe gale warnings and 4m swells forecast. Welcome to an Australian summer LOL. At this stage there was a lot of uncertainty over Seth’s path so we didn’t do any real preparation yet, but sadly felt it prudent to postpone some social events and stayed on board all day just in case.

Monday morning, very early, we received an email from the marina headed up “Severe Weather and Storm Event Programme”. Oh dear…here we go! They made various recommendations for preparing boats in the marina and also informed us that we would need to ask permission to stay onboard. So we quickly sent them an email letting them know our intention of staying put.

So it was then all systems go and we worked really hard – we removed dink from the davits, emptied it of gear (anchor / tool kit / petrol can etc etc) and then hoisted it up with a halyard onto the bow having first taken off the outboard and secured it onto the port rail. This manoeuvre also meant we had to remove one of the dorades on the bow so that dink would fit under the hoyt boom. By now the wind had picked up so it was too late to remove sails so we secured these by wrapping and securing them very tightly. We removed all surplus canvas such as our dodgers, sun screens, hatch covers etc and stored them down below. At the same time we removed all our new cockpit lights. We then doubled up on all our dock lines and put a couple of fenders high so that they would protect the newly-varnished wood from any chafe from the spring lines. In the middle of all this, Richard was cleaning something on the dock, looked up and promptly knocked his glasses into the water. Oops! Guess a visit to Specsavers is on the cards. Luckily he had a spare pair on board to tide him over….

We then checked our neighbouring wooden yacht as this was the one that gave us problems before in a blow when we spent all our time saving his steps and canvas. This time, however, we are sharing a pen rather than being on the adjacent dock. Well, his dock lines were very light and there was definitely not enough of them. On top of that he had a set of fixed steps that hung over into the space between us which could do a lot of damage if he came down on us. So we emailed the marina office and asked them to come take a look. The dockmaster turned up and added some more dock lines and tied up the steps so we were much happier. Felt very strange to have to resort to asking for someone else to take responsibility but, after our run in with our other neighbour when he erroneously thought we had touched his dock lines, we decided this was definitely the best way forward! Here is the view from our cockpit with his steps tied up…

So everything done, Seth was bearing down on the coast, it was just a matter of sitting and waiting for the event. Well, it didn’t really happen! It was a bit windy/gusty and rainy with a pretty high tide but nothing to write home about but at least we were prepared. However, the forecast remained dire for a number of days going forward so I guess the impacts of this strong low pressure system will be felt for a while yet. There was certainly some wet and wild conditions in Queensland more generally with beaches closed, some flooding and massive surf with Bribie Island being split into two.

Whilst all this was going on, we noticed that our main water pump kept on running and wouldn’t turn itself off – it is supposed to cycle. So we got everything out of the back cabin (our ‘garage’) and checked the pump itself and all was fine. The hot water tank was good too (this lives in the same tiny compartment under the stern berth) and the filter was clean. Hmm…a mystery. On checking water levels we found we had definitely lost some but the main water tank was also fine. We stood and watched over the bilge for quite a long time whilst scratching our heads! We couldn’t fathom out what was happening so decided to temporarily manually operate the water pressure switch when we needed to run a tap etc. It was all very frustrating. Had been a pretty tough and full-on type of day.

Tuesday, on another grey wet and windy day, we were both a bit stir crazy so decided to get off the boat to have breakfast out. We headed to Pier B to find only two staff were working because of staff sickness and only a restricted take-out menu was available – we didn’t fancy eating out of cardboard boxes so walked away. We ended up in Bistro 19 instead and had a very good breakfast. We then sat around using the free wifi to update some Netflix content.

Back on board the wind picked up and the king tide was making itself known with many of the million dollar waterfront houses looking perilously close to getting inundated with water over their docks. We were relieved when the water levels started dropping on the tide change. It was very hot and steamy which was totally energy zapping so we spent most of the day onboard keeping ourselves cool and Morphie safe. And we had a lightbulb moment when we realised that we hadn’t checked the watermaker when trying to work out the water pump problem…. And, of course, that was it. No leak just that when we had ‘flushed’ the system the last time we had left one of the switches open which meant that the water was pumping out at the thru hull. Well, mystery solved! So switches closed, water tank refilled, water pressure turned back on and, low and behold, the water pump cycled as it should. What a palaver all because of a switch in the wrong position. Doh!!! Never mind, at least it meant no leaks or failures and all fresh water systems have had a maintenance check LOL.

Wednesday morning it was raining hard and very windy so we had a leisurely start to the day.

Finally, around lunch time, the rain stopped so we got all our dive gear out, cleaned it up and photographed it as we are considering selling some of it. We have spoken to a few dive clubs here in Australia and they will take Richard diving but only if he has a private medical undertaken by a certified doctor who specialises in diving medicals – and each medical has a maximum six month validity. Hmmm…. So we think that, in future, we’ll do the medical thing and hire basic kit when we need it – we are obviously hanging onto our 1mm tropical wetsuits / dive computers / prescriptions masks etc in readiness for future adventures. So we’ve decided to advertise some of our gear to see whether there is any interest.

Of course, as stuff is starting to dry on the dock, the heavens opened again so we quickly get everything back onboard, hung up in the cockpit and then headed back down below again for the rest of the day.

Overnight we had very heavy rain and this continued into this morning (Thursday). Thankfully the cockpit had enabled our dive gear to dry out so we repacked all that and re-stowed the bags into the starboard lazarette. We then pickled the watermaker – as we are going to be in a marina for a while now. Then we decided to troubleshoot an intermittent coolant leak from our engine. We ran the engine at various RPMs to get the engine nice and hot but after 45 minutes there was no leak! So we can only assume we may have slightly overfilled it when we changed the coolant earlier in the season. Another problem resolved! We had hoped to get some more pool time in today as this is our last full day in Sanctuary Cove but, unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us. Oh well, never mind…. We are heading back to the Boatworks tomorrow and are looking forward to seeing everyone again.

The omicron variant of covid is now running rampant throughout Australia and interstate borders remain open although Queensland are still insisting on travellers getting tested up to 72 hours before they are able to secure their border pass. This really doesn’t make any sense with community transmission widespread and many testing clinics are turning people away as they cannot cope with demand nor return the results within this limited timeline. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) for home use are now acceptable alternatives for border pass purposes but they are very difficult to find – and, unlike the UK, they have to be privately purchased so there is some price gouging too. It has become such a problem that a really helpful web developer has started a new website called Find a RAT.

Luckily we have been able to navigate our way through this issue as we recognised the barrier to travel quite early on. NSW had way more RATs available than Queensland, so we asked my nephew to track some down and he managed to get a few. So we are good to go knowing we can test for our return to Morphie. Woo hoo… time for a family reunion! I am very excited although still keeping everything flexible crossed as things change so fast you can never be 100% sure until you are actually on the road!

Take care of each other and stay safe. So a couple of things to make you smile. I forgot to put in the Australian Christmas parrot tree that we found online and, not necessarily Australian, but this picture made me laugh out loud so thought I’d share with you anyway.

Bye for now, Jan

Thursday evening (23rd December) we headed out to George’s Paragon restaurant.

This treat was our Christmas present from friends Carolyn and Ron and we spoilt ourselves with a couple of delicious courses each and some fine wine – obviously we raised a toast to them – so thank you both! We thoroughly enjoyed our evening.

Walking back to Morphie it was very quiet with everything locked up and closed despite it only being 10.45 pm. The weather was quite still and settled so we were able to enjoy the mirrored image of the illuminated palm trees on the water near our dock….

Friday morning we did the final sorting out of reinstating our lines before then heading to the pool. The forecast was for rain later but we thought we’d chance it anyway. Around 2pm it just got hotter and steamier and the clouds started building so we started to pack up and then headed across the lagoon beach towards the pool bar. By the time we arrived the heavens had opened with a huge deluge so we sat it out there – making the most of the hotel wifi – whilst we waited for it to pass through. We were lucky to get seats but couldn’t be bothered to join the queue for drinks so just sat patiently. At which point the screening above us gave way at the guttering so we got wet anyway LOL.

After a while, when the rained had eased a little, we headed back to the boat. There are a lot of swifts here in the marina and guess this little gang were just trying to dry out in a break in the weather? Luckily for us they weren’t on Morphie LOL. We then had another very hot and humid afternoon and evening down below.

Saturday morning – Happy Christmas to all our family and friends from Australia!

We exchanged our cards, Richard cleaned and tidied the boat whilst I prepped the food. We had invited Ernest to join us as he was going to be on his own for Christmas day so no pressure on getting the food right LOL as we had promised him traditional English fare. I started cooking at 2pm and Ernest arrived at 2.30 pm dressed as Santa bringing gifts. That made us laugh…..

Anyway, the cooking went well and we all tucked into a Christmas dinner which comprised of: stuffed turkey breast; baked ham; roast potatoes, parsnips and onions; Yorkshire puddings; pigs in blankets; caramelised sprouts with garlic and bacon; carrots; peas and gravy. Phew, not bad for a small oven on a sailboat although a couple of the pigs in blankets might have been a little well done LOL. And here we are enjoying our spread…..

A few drinks and a lot of laughs later (not to mention the cheesecake desert) and Ernest left us for the night. Had been a fun Christmas day despite having to stay below trying to keep cool as well as sheltering from the heavy rain.

Sunday morning we were up early and filled up our water tanks. We then headed up to the top of our Pier to meet Lester and Helen (SV Joule) who had very kindly invited us over to theirs on Boxing Day. We had a lovely time – watched the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailing race on the TV (which was quite a treat for us as we do not have TV on board) and chatting over a delicious array of foods – in their most beautiful brand new Hope Harbour penthouse apartment overlooking their Island Packet tied up to the dock on the river below them. Wow just wow! After lunch we headed down to meet SV Joule and then returned to the apartment for a delicious pavlova dessert before heading back to Morphie. Had been a really great day and it was very generous of Lester and Helen to invite us over to visit with them. Of course, throughout the day, despite best intentions I completely forgot to take any photographs so had to get them to pose in front of Morphie on our return LOL.

Monday morning we had a leisurely start and then got the bus from Sanctuary Cove over to Hope Island. The occasion was Ernest’s birthday so we were visiting with him again at Hope Island Marina on SV Crossbones.

This time it was our turn to come bearing gifts LOL

We enjoyed more good company; wine; food; and even birthday cake! And, of course, it rained again but never mind…. Another really fun time and Ernest very kindly gave us a lift back to Morphie so that we didn’t have to bother with the bus again.

Tuesday it was a very wet start so we had a lazy one – around lunchtime in between rain showers we headed out to the laundry and got some washing done whilst we had coffee in a nearby café. The wind was howling and very strong so we were pretty pleased to get back to Morphie, put everything away, and just relax down below for the rest of the day.

Wednesday it was much brighter so we decided to head to the pool after breakfast. Walking towards the hotel we came across lots of vans filled with props / lighting etc and lots of heavy security – along with a mobile covid testing system outside one of the Intercontinental Hotel’s private function rooms. Hmmm…could this be the George Clooney and Julia Roberts movie gang again? Sadly nothing exciting to see here LOL.

The pools, beach and garden areas were very busy and still very windy so we didn’t actually go in the pool this time as unless you were in direct sunlight it felt a bit chilly. But we had a lovely relaxing time and returned to Morphie for a quiet night in.

This morning, Thursday, and Richard had just come back from the Post Office (we are selling a few bits and bobs that we don’t need right now) and I’m blogging down below whilst he is on deck reinstating the fuel cans. We were hoping to go to the pool later but the rain has just started again….sigh….. Oh well, never mind!

Tomorrow, it is New Year’s Eve, so we are hoping to go to the evening beach party and watch the fireworks – if the forecast rainy weather doesn’t stop the event going ahead – fingers crossed! Anyway, we would like to wish all our family and friends a very Happy New Year and hope that 2022 brings with it peace, prosperity and good health to all of you. Take care and stay safe.

Looking forward to next week we have a couple of social events planned but the weather forecast is absolutely awful with a very strong low heading this way with some commentators speculating on it becoming a cyclone. We just hope it stays away from the coast otherwise we might need to stay on board to keep Morphie safe here in the marina. Oh well that’s the concern for another day as we all know that the weather forecasts here can be unreliable – however, this one has been brewing for a while now, so think we’ll be very lucky not to get any impact from it. This is today’s forecast for Monday morning – we are the white spot on the map…. Hmmm….

We continue to hope to be able to visit my nephew in January – the PCR testing regime was causing all sorts of problems at the interstate border but, thankfully, they now just require us to get a ‘negative’ Rapid Antigen Test to cross the border back into Queensland from New South Wales. Only problem right now, is that we are not able to secure any of these tests in preparation for the trip as there are none available anywhere in Queensland! You really couldn’t make this up…..sigh…..

Anyway, bye for now, take care of each and hope to see you all again soon. Lots of love Jan

Friday (17 December) we were planning to do another coat of varnish but the forecast was for intermittent rain most of the day and it certainly started off pretty cloudy and miserable.

So we headed out for breakfast to the Anchor Buoy – which was OK – but we had decided to go there mainly because they have free high-speed internet so we could do some downloading whilst we dined. Of course, the internet just happened to be down that day… Sigh.

Anyway the sun started to break through so we decided to head to the lagoon pool for the rest of the day (as it was too late to varnish now anyway).

We enjoyed a good few hours until the clouds started building so we decided to take ourselves to the pool bar for a drink in the middle of the afternoon. We were enjoying a glass of wine when the heavens opened and the pool bar suddenly started shutting up shop – what?!? Richard rushed to get re-supplied and asked why they were closing so early. Well, the answer was the weather!! But the rain had stopped by now…. People had to phone through orders using the room service menu using a single telephone located near the pool bar and then wait for their order to be delivered to their sunbeds. We would definitely not have been happy if we had been hotel guests. Anyway, this curtailed our afternoon so we wandered back to Morphie via the boardwalk and had a kangaroo encounter to round off the day.

On arrival back to the boat we found that Morpheus of London had now been officially imported into Australia so G’Day Morphie LOL.

This had been a very difficult decision for us – especially parting with a lot of cash to the Australian Government for no return. But with the ever-changing face of this pandemic combined with the constant rewriting of the worldwide travel restrictions, we don’t feel comfortable about heading back out to sea to explore remote islands any time soon. Countries are behaving in very different ways with some being welcoming but most Pacific islands remain firmly closed. So Fiji is open – fantastic would love to return – but then what? Where do you go for cyclone season as both Australia and New Zealand maritime borders remain closed to visiting international yachts (with the occasional exemption being granted). By importing Morphie we have an option either to sell up – as that would now be legally possible – alternatively we can go home and leave her here in Australia as our floating holiday home as she is now free to stay here indefinitely. She obviously remains UK registered despite her imported status. So this decision gives us more options going forward and we both felt a bit relieved now that it had been done.

Saturday morning we were up by 5.15 am and wiped down the rail and had a cup of tea whilst it all dried off. We then went round and did a double coat of varnish and had the rails done by 8am! We then had some breakfast and double-coated the eyebrows. Woo hoo – we were very pleased with the result. The rest of the day we just relaxed onboard although I did pop out to the farmers market for some fresh veggies.

Sunday morning we cleaned and tidied ourselves and Morphie up before heading to George’s pizzeria for a late lunch with Sandra and Nigel – we had a lovely afternoon and ended up back on Morphie for a few pontoonies before calling it a day. Was a fun day and nice to catch up with them – hard to believe that it was six months since we saw them last!

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Monday morning we sanded down again before spending the rest of the day at the pool before returning for a quiet night on board. Oh yes and there were rumours that George Clooney and Julia Roberts were here on a boat in the marina but we didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary – although we did see a set of twins at the main hotel pool with a nanny each and it did make you wonder how rich their parents were LOL.

Tuesday morning we were up very early again – to get the work done before the sun gets really high in the sky and hot – and did our final coat of varnish. Very pleased with ourselves we spent the rest of the day at the pool again!

Wednesday morning we went out for breakfast again – this time to Pier B – and then lazed around on our return.

Early afternoon we got dink down and headed up the river to Hope Island to do some provisioning checking out the huge clouds gathering along the way.

We then spent the afternoon catching up with Ernest on SV Crossbones. We hadn’t seen him for about seven months since we were both working on our boats at The Boatworks so we had a good catch up. This was the first time we had been on Crossbones so was great to see what he had done with her – she is absolutely huge! On the way back down the river we were being chased by large clouds and the sky was darkening – oh no – but made it back OK and enjoyed checking out the houses and boats along the way. We then had a quiet night in.

This morning, Thursday, and it was time to start putting the boat back together again. So we removed all the blue tape; did a bit of stainless cleaning; reinstalled the rub rails and moved the dock lines back onto the cleats again; reinstalled the helm seat and on it goes. Again it was supposed to rain today and the clouds have been building…. I’ve done my bit and Richard is now re-running all the lines etc while I’m down below blogging.

Richard has now come down as there are storms circling around us and the rain has started….so this is the start of some dodgy weather to come. Unfortunately the weather forecast for Christmas and beyond is looking pretty dire with strong winds, thunderstorms and the like….. Check out what the Oz Cyclone Chasers are saying below:

Oh well, never mind, we are pretty used to this by now.

Tonight we are planning on going out to dinner – woo hoo – looking forward to that. Luckily we weren’t planning on going to The Artichoke as they have just been fined and shut down until January because they refused to check that people are double-vaccinated before allowing them entry into the restaurant – which is a legal requirement here in Queensland. Can’t imagine they thought for a minute they would lose their Christmas trade as a result of their non-compliance!

We have a few social events planned for the festive period so looking forward to getting off the boat for a little while seeing old and new friends alike. Will be nice to be in company again although still planning on cooking a full English Christmas dinner on board – wish me luck! So, that just leaves me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from Australia. We hope you have a safe and healthy time – please take care of each other. Sending lots of virtual love and hugs your way.

Bye for now, Jan

Wednesday (8 December) we were up early and started work. It was very hot and humid with thunderstorms threatened so we wanted to get ahead before the weather broke. I cleaned the stainless steel rail and rubbing rail while Richard headed off to the chandlery as he needed some thinners in readiness for the upcoming varnish fest LOL. He also chased up the trades – the canvas man and the rigging guys – for quotes. Lunchtime the heavens opened and we had thunderstorms with very heavy rain and high winds with gusts recorded up to 48 knots. Lovely!

We headed out in the rain to pick up the courtesy car at 4pm and first stop was Bunnings – oh what a surprise LOL – to pick up some varnish brushes; then the craft store to get some fasteners for our peek-a-boo blinds; followed by the supermarket for more Christmas stuff; and finally the chemist for our medications. Jobs done we were back on board for dinner and a quiet night in.

Thursday morning we did the laundry at the same time as making the most of the Boatworks fast wifi to do some Netflix downloads. It was another hot and steamy day and we were surprised to see the Boatworks guys – these are the ones that expertly manage the boatlifts day in and day out – cooling off in the boatlift berth. Not sure I’d fancy swimming there as we have been warned about bull sharks in the river LOL.

We then relaxed for a few hours before heading to the communal BBQ area where we met with Caitlin and Nick (SV Mahana) plus Shayne and Jennifer (SV Cathoyoz). Oh yes and we did cook and eat our dinner, just we had cleared our plates away by the time I remembered to take a photo LOL.

Was a lovely evening which got extended a bit by another huge thunderstorm coming through – it was so fierce we even had a toad join us to get out of the rain!

We sat it out before finally returning to Morphie for the night.

Friday we were up early and returned our access cards and said our farewells. We then had coffee at the Galley before returning to Morphie to do engine checks, flush the watermaker, take the canvas off etc. By 9am we were off the dock and heading down the river to Sanctuary Cove. We arrived and had assistance getting into our berth by the marina’s dockmaster. So we had arrived – yay!

We were just getting our lines / springs organised and a guy started shouting at us from a private house dock across the canal. I didn’t think he could be after us so I ignored him….. Then this guy turns up at our boat with his chest pumped out and starts having a go at us for moving his dock lines – he owns the large motorboat at the end of the T dock so is actually our neighbour. He was shouting and screaming in workmanlike language right in Richard’s face. Richard explained that we had not moved his lines and, yes they had been moved to free up cleats on our dock for us to tie up to, but that this had been done by the marina’s dockmaster. At this point the guy got even redder in the face and shouted that he had seen Richard do it from his house across the way and by the way, he knows the marina manager who had very “kindly” given him our name / length of stay / liveaboard status etc etc….so clearly he has friends in high places… But they were both liars! Richard kind of lost it when he called us “F…..g Yachties” and told him to go away in language that this idiot would definitely understand!

Luckily there was a guy working on the boat next door and we told the irate guy to speak to him as he had been here throughout the morning. He backed us up and said that we didn’t move the ropes, the marina guy did! Well, Mr Nasty then had no choice but to apologise to us or rather to Richard as I didn’t exist having already tried to explain the situation and been told that he was ‘talking to my husband only’. Oh happy days – not the welcome to Sanctuary Cove we were quite expecting. You do have to wonder what would have happened if the guy had not been working on the neighbouring boat to support our side of the story?!? Left a bit of a nasty taste in the mouth to be honest.

Anyway we got ourselves sorted eventually and had a quiet night in down below in the hot and humid weather. Another thunderstorm was forecast for the evening and it did rain and rumble around but not too close thankfully.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the Intercontinental Hotel lagoon pool for the day. Interesting that since we were here last the marina has installed some roofing to give UV shelter to the large superyachts that call this place home. All very smart but notice they are not tall enough for any boats that may have masts….

We had a lovely time relaxing, bobbing and even enjoyed a glass of Pimms or two in the sun. Was a great way to spend the day.

Sunday morning and more of the same…… On our way back to the boat Mr Nasty was walking the dock with his family and, lo and behold, he was now Mr Friendly! Oh well, it takes all sorts. We had another quiet night in.

Monday morning we headed to Pier B for breakfast and surprised David (the barista who used to work at the Boatworks) by turning up without having first been in touch. He was so pleased to see us we had hugs all round LOL.

After a nice breakfast we returned to the boat and started prepping to varnish the rail and eyebrows. Sanctuary Cove is not a ‘working’ marina as such but we had requested – and received – permission to do this whilst here as we would not be using power tools etc. And the season’s wear and tear was obvious on the rail….

We had almost finished taping up when Lester and Helen turned up (from SV Joule, a member of the Australian Island Packet family). So we had a quick chat with them and look forward to being in a better position to host them soon when we get our work done and ourselves tidied up! Part of the varnish preparation was also to move our lines, remove the rub rails, spare cans and the lifesling and dodgers. All this was done by mid-afternoon so we were happy that we were ready to start on Tuesday. We had another movie night on board.

Tuesday morning we were up really early and sanded down all the rail and the eyebrows.

Once we had this done we rested up for an hour or so before getting ourselves cleaned up and heading to the chemist where we had our Covid booster shots. Our second AstraZeneca injection was five months ago (almost to the day) and Australia had just announced that five months was now the minimum period required to have the booster jab. As we are in a tourist area here now that the interstate borders have opened we felt this was worth doing sooner rather than later. We had the Moderna jab this time so was interested to see how this would affect us. Apart from a sore arm each I’m pleased to report no ill-effects whatsoever.

Anyway we had another quiet night in and early night having worked hard most of the day.

Wednesday morning we were up really early – it gets light here around 4.30 am – and we were varnishing by 7am before it got too hot to work. By 9.30 am we were finished and, although not perfect, we were pretty pleased with how it looked after just one coat.

So, as our reward, we headed to the pool again and, this time, the lagoon pool was closed for a short while for some maintenance so we used the main pool.

While the pool itself was pretty quiet there were kids everywhere running completely feral and the noise levels were pretty high. This was definitely not the relaxing experience we had hoped for LOL. So we kept an eye on the lagoon pool and, the minute it was re-opened, we headed over to our favourite spot in the adults only zone and made camp. We had another lovely afternoon relaxing and bobbing. This is the life! Back on board we had another quiet night in.

This morning, Thursday, we were up very early and started sanding again.

We finished around 10.30 this morning and had hoped to varnish today as well but there is a chance of rain and some clouds building so we decided it was probably prudent to wait. So I’m blogging down below while Richard is relaxing in the cockpit. And that will be it for the day….

It seems the world is continually changing with the latest Covid variant and infection rates are going through the roof at home with increased restrictions and the threat of it all ruining Christmas yet again. Our hearts go out to you all going through this again – please take care of each other and stay safe! Here it feels quite “normal” right now but infections have already crossed the re-opened interstate border into Queensland so it will be interesting to see how the QLD government responds. The rhetoric is that the interstate border will not close again even if infections tick up here. So we remain hopeful that we can get to NSW in January to see my family but have all things flexible crossed just in case.

So, finally, I want to share our Christmas tree here in Sanctuary Cove. Looks quite lovely although have to say that the village decorations are rather muted this year compared to last.

Continuing the Christmas theme, here is an adorable Australian shepherd (ghost eye) dog dressed for the season. Enjoy! With lots of love to you all.

Jan

Tuesday morning (30 November) it was raining again…..sigh….. but we needed to get something in the post so braved the elements and walked into Manly again. We picked up some fresh vegetables as we had decided that, in the damp and chilly atmosphere on board, we fancied a stew for dinner. So provisioned up, post sent, we returned to that lovely café for breakfast again. Tried something different from the other day and it was just as good – absolutely delicious!

Back on board I blogged while Richard went through our normal pre-departure check list like filling up the water tank / flushing the water maker / engine checks etc. It continued raining all day and all night so we just sheltered down below. I made a huge pot of stew as this would cover two days rather than one….and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wednesday morning and it was raining cats and dogs….damn…. Absolutely horrible so we dug out some wet weather gear and prepared to depart from The Royal Yacht Squadron Marina. We slipped away at 9.40 am into a flat calm sea but the rain just kept on coming…

As we crossed Moreton Bay in poor visibility we had to contend with a lot of ferry traffic so had to keep our wits about us. As we headed into the river systems we picked up a lot of adverse current so it was slow going. Because of the poor visibility we had to remove our ‘ears’ from the bimini so this was a pretty wet ride…..

We had timed this trip expecting to get a lift from the currents so thought that the adverse currents probably reflected the flood conditions after such heavy rainfalls across the region. Certainly a lot of the channel markers were virtually submerged and there was lots of debris around.

We came under the electricity pylons carefully and decided to call it a day near Mosquito Island having covered 25 miles in not the best conditions. We found a nice anchoring spot in the river out of the channel and settled in for the night – and yes, warmed ourselves up with hot showers and more stew LOL.

Thursday morning we were up early (still in drizzling rain) to catch the tide to get through Jacobs Wells so we were underway at 7 am. We came around Steiglitz area and realised that this was starting to turn into a graveyard for boats – check out some of the submerged / grounded vessels we came across.

Through Jacobs Wells and safely across through the shallow channel we headed towards Tipplers which was our destination for the night. We arrived in the anchorage and got a good spot managing to avoid the roll-on roll-off supply barge that frequents this area. I actually think he enjoys scaring people as he comes unnecessarily close to anchored boats on his way through this narrow channel and anchorage LOL.

We stayed on board for a while and then headed ashore once the rain had stopped – yay! We enjoyed potato wedges and a bottle of wine before returning to Morphie where we enjoyed a music fest in the cockpit as the rain stayed away. Was a lovely evening.

Friday morning we weighed anchor early and headed across the Broadwater into the Coomera River to return to the Boatworks. We were met on the dock so were tied up in the debris-strewn dark brown river water by 9.15 am.

We checked in at the marina office and then headed into the Galley for breakfast. It was so lovely to be ‘home’ after six months away and we were welcomed back like family. We relaxed on board for the rest of the day and I particularly enjoyed the unlimited hot water showers ashore before picking up a courtesy car for the weekend. We weren’t planning on doing anything in the evening but then decided to head out for a takeout pizza – very naughty, but nice. Really must get back on that diet! Back on board we had a quiet night in.

Saturday morning it was cloudy and thunderstorms were forecast.

We headed out at a reasonable time to the Westfield mall in Coomera. We were then busy shopping and managed to get some cash from the ATM; Christmas provisions from the supermarket; some meat at the butchers; additional supplies from the bottle shop; and then to Oxenford to visit Bunnings for Richard – who had been having withdrawal symptoms for ages LOL. He was very happy to get a new shower rail for the heads and a new tap for the galley. Back on board, all goodies stashed, we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Except we couldn’t really have a quiet night in because we had been issued with severe thunderstorm warnings and were treated to some serious cloud formations coupled with a lightning, thunder, strong winds and rain show for most of the evening. The fierceness of storms here in Australia never fails to surprise me. Was just thankful there was no hail in this one!

Sunday morning I headed out early back to Westfield. I wanted to get a pedicure done in preparation for some pool time in Sanctuary Cove over the next month so left Richard back on board. Returned to Morphie a couple of hours later to find that Richard had fixed a broken lock on one of the drawers in the galley and had identified that one of our new Ryobi batteries was not taking or holding a charge. So we headed out again to Bunnings so that we could swap this out under warranty. It took a while in terms of process but they were very accommodating so happy about that.

On the way back we popped into the new liveaboard storage area to see Caitlin and Nick on SV Mahana. They are in the process of packing up their boat to go home to New Zealand so not much time for chatting but was lovely to see them. Hopefully we’ll manage to get some time with them before they leave. In the evening we had another movie night.

Monday morning I had to return the car before 7.30 am so we had an early start. We headed to the chandlery for some screws (which they didn’t have); then to the Yanmar dealer as we would like to get our engine checked over professionally in the New Year; we spoke to a rigging company about getting a quote for our standing rigging replacement (it is original at 2008 so it is probably time); and to the marine canvas shop as we need to get our bimini repaired in a couple of places. So quite productive – we just need the trades to come back to us with quotes and get the work scheduled in. Whilst wandering around the expanded yard we gave SV Calagorm a pat and took some photos to send home to her parents, who are in the UK waiting patiently for borders to open here in Australia for international tourists. Still no clarity on that yet….

We also checked out this huge motoryacht out on the hard in the beautifully landscaped superyacht area of the boatyard – Living the Dream is definitely aptly named. It is hard to gauge just how big this boat is – but check out the guy standing on the top near the communication domes to give you an idea of perspective.

Having done a few things we returned to Morphie and chilled out for a little while before getting to work. I did some spot stainless cleaning at the bow on the anchor rollers and Richard re-sealed the shower cubicle in the heads. Then we did some paperwork before calling it a day and had another quiet night in.

This morning, Tuesday, we have done some more admin stuff and Richard is now hosing the boat down as the hull is pretty salty while I’m blogging. We have done some checks on our boat product supplies – as we have another courtesy car booked for tomorrow night – so that we can make sure we have everything we need for future jobs. It is time to re-varnish….amazing that this comes around so quickly!

Anyway that’s about it for this blog. Nothing else to report really other than we are very pleased to have got a berth in Sanctuary Cove over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

We might even get to watch some of the ashes on the Village Tavern’s wide-screen TV whilst we are there – come on England!

We have everything flexible crossed for good weather so we can have some pool time too in between the varnishing work. So keeping the Christmas theme here is another iconic Australian animal dressed for the season….

Take care of each other and stay safe. Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday morning (23 November) we were picked up in the car by Mike and Karen (SV Island Girl) on a very cloudy and rainy day in Mooloolaba. They took us out and about to visit Noosa (where they live) and we had a lovely time exploring this beautiful area – despite the weather – and finding out a bit more about it. Such great tour guides! Check out the views out to the Noosa Bar – despite the rain this wasn’t even a windy day. Certainly wouldn’t fancy trying to navigate in through that narrow and shallow river entrance.

And what about the Tawny Frogmouths we came across up at one of the lookout points? They are so serene and laid back and we were transfixed having never seen anything quite like them before.

We decided to drop Dudley (the dog) off at home before we headed out for lunch and had a quick look around their neighbourhood. Now this has to be the most unusual fence you will ever come across – who would want or even need to make a driveway fence out of giant pencils? Just plain weird!

We have noticed here in Australia that building styles can be extremely varied and Noosa has an eclectic mix of properties scattered around the hills of this beautiful neighbourhood – which is delightful in that it does not allow high rise properties in the town. It was very strange for us to see so many different styles in the same place…

At Mike and Karen’s home we were completely blown away by the way in which their architect had designed the house to flow up/down the hill with the different areas being very distinct but discretely linked. Absolutely amazing job and brought to life by Karen’s stunning artwork and some fantastic design features within the decor. The whole place is just simply fantastic – they should be so proud of what they had achieved! I could live there in a heartbeat…

Moving on we headed back through the main street in Noosa – which has a very laid back village-type vibe to it. Destination was the Noosa Heads Surf Club where we had a lovely late lunch.

We then headed back towards Mooloolaba via more scenic routes and stops along the way – including picking up some fresh prawns for me and a spanner crab for Richard for tea.

Finally back at the marina we said our sad farewells and returned to Morphie – had been an absolutely fantastic day. That evening we had fun demolishing the seafood before having a quiet night in.

Wednesday we were getting ready to depart Mooloolaba so were doing usual jobs and checks – getting rid of the rubbish / engine checks / inputting route to the plotter / topping up water etc. We then headed out of the marina admiring the fishing fleet as we went through and headed out to cross the river bar at 10am, around slack tide. Thankfully it was flat calm with very little swell so no dramas as we headed out towards Moreton Bay.

As we continued down the coast we had a stormy sort of view of the Glass House Mountains, they look quite menacing in these cloudy and miserable conditions. There were a lot of ships about and a particular shallow-draft ship – The Brisbane – went outside of the official shipping channels so it could overtake a large container ship – so we had to keep our wits about us.

The wind was light but at least from the right direction (northerly) and we had to push hard to maintain speed to arrive before dark. At 5.30 pm, having travelled a distance of 38 miles, we had the anchor down just south of the resort near Tangalooma wrecks and opposite some people ‘wild camping’ on the island. We celebrated our arrival with dinner down below as the heavens opened yet again.

Thursday morning we had our anchor up by 6am and motored out in horrendous rainy conditions. Thankfully the rain eased and we ended up motor sailing with both main and genoa deployed watching out for rain squalls all around us.

And, of course, when it was time for fenders and lines to be deployed before heading into the marina the heavens opened yet again….sigh….

At 10.25 am we came through the leads into the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron marina (RQ) at Manly having covered 21 miles. RQ promised assistance on the dock (which we were sceptical about) and there was no-one there when we found our allocated berth. So Richard did a 360 whilst I got ready to lasso a cleat and then, suddenly, we had company and assistance so we went in and got ourselves tied up quickly. The wind had started kicking in by now at 15-20 knots and we were being blown off so was grateful for the berthing help.

Richard went to the office to check in but I stayed onboard. It was a long walk and by now I was seriously hurting from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I believe it was a fibromyalgia flare up so I gave in, listened to my body, took some strong pain relief, and went back to bed. Richard returned from the office and joined me as he felt a bit weary too. And that was it for the day – with the rain thundering down on the coach roof above us – we just relaxed, rested, read and snoozed the day and evening away.

Friday morning we awoke to more rain and strong winds. So we stayed down below getting on with admin / banking / computer type jobs and I continued to be careful when moving around but was very pleased that I felt much better for taking some time out. At 6.30pm we headed out to meet Steve and Jo (SV Tamanu) for dinner at the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club. We hadn’t seen them since the Shaggers Rendezvous back in August. So we had a great meal (curry of course LOL) and lots of laughs.

Saturday morning we were up early and I was relieved to feel completely back to normal. So we decided to stretch the legs and walk into Manly. We were lucky to avoid the rain showers and enjoyed watching all the kids getting ready to go out sailing at RQ. We admired the views of the marinas as we walked along – there are four in this basin – and then arrived at Manly after about 25 minutes.

We had breakfast out at a local café called Keiths on Cambridge. We didn’t have high expectations of the place but preferred the menu here more than the up-market Sea Vibes across the road. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised, this was the nicest breakfast we had had in a very long time. It could be our bias towards ‘fat’ toast being included though LOL.

After breakfast we did a little bit of shopping – just fresh fruit, vegetables and some bread from the bakery. Then we took the slow walk back. I did have to stop for a breather once we got back to RQ so enjoyed a soda water watching all the little ‘ducklings’ go out racing for the day. Lovely to see the kids having so much fun and wonder how many Australian champions are here in the making?!?

We rushed back to Morphie as the clouds started building again and wondered if we were about to get the thunderstorms that have been forecast for days. But we just got the torrential rain instead and some very strong winds. So we had a quiet afternoon and evening down below.

Sunday morning we were up at a reasonable time and I headed to the laundry having stripped everything whilst Richard cleaned and tidied the boat up down below. By the time I came back he had even re-made the bed and polished the teak. Amazing job…. At 5pm we had sundowners onboard Morphie with Steve and Jo plus Ed and Yvonne (SV SteeLee). So another Shaggers reunion! Was fun to catch up again and we had a really nice evening.

Monday morning, after a bit of a lay in, we checked the tides and weather in preparation for our departure on Tuesday. The wind continues to howl and is quite strong with gusts up to 30 knots from the south – which is exactly the direction we are heading. The forecast for Tuesday had the winds moderating slightly but a very heavy rain day so we decided to extend – we will be leaving here on Wednesday now instead. Oh well, never mind! ,

In the afternoon we were joined by Steve and his friends Ron and Annette for sundowners. They had recently sailed into Australia from New Zealand on their Tayana yacht (they are Australian citizens) and were forced into hotel quarantine (at their own cost) for 14 days on arrival into Queensland with no time allowed for their passage at sea. Queensland have been trialling home quarantine for double vaccinated returning citizens but, unfortunately, yachts (along with caravans / lodges etc) are not considered to be suitable places for home quarantine purposes. Again more examples of rules being made on the hoof that really don’t make much sense. Would have thought a double-vaccinated couple isolated on their yacht at sea was a much lower risk than someone who flies in on a commercial airline! Anyway, it was lovely to meet them and we had a good evening.

So what else is going on? Well the Australian international border was supposed to be opening soon to international students / visa holders and some ‘green list’ countries such as Korea and Hong Kong. But, of course, since that announcement we have the new Omicron strain and the whole border opening has been delayed by a further two weeks. So here we go again! Just hoping that we will be able to go to visit my family in NSW in January but know that it will not be a certainty until much nearer the time. Many people here in Queensland support the regional Government for their tough border stance – despite some heartbreaking stories – but the restrictions for non-vaccinated people that are due to be coming into play in December will certainly be contentious. Check them out below. Will certainly be very interesting to see how all this pans out!

Anyway, time to lighten up LOL. To cheer us all up I thought I’d stick with the Christmas animal theme from last week – so here is a cute but puzzled dog dressed as Father Christmas. Enjoy, it made me smile!

Bye for now, Jan

Tuesday morning (16th November) we were up before the sun and, as promised, by 5am we were helping Buddy and Helen (SV Desire) slip away from their berth and head out to sea. We then returned to Morphie, got ourselves ready, and departed too. We were very grateful for little wind and a slack tide to make it a bit easier as the berth was quite tight. Thankfully we made it out OK and motored off down the Burnett River passing the mysterious anchored (tourist attraction) pirate ship; a prawnie coming home to offload his overnight catch; and, finally, the sun rose over SV Begonia in the anchorage – absolutely beautiful!

We sailed along in light airs with the pole out and it was fantastic…until the wind died completely so we ended up putting it all away…then the fickle wind picked up again and we pulled it all out again….

As we got closer to Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island (now known as K’gari) we had to gybe so the pole was finally returned to the mast and we continued under genoa alone. We had the anchor down just before 4pm having covered a distance of 55 miles. As we anchored we were met with some strong winds and rumbles of thunder in the distance and it was a bit bouncy. Thankfully the nodding eased up during the evening as the storms moved away and we rested up in the cockpit.

Richard then spotted three sea eagles attacking something in the water and we assumed they were fishing. But we quickly realised that they were attacking a duck with two ducklings. The parent duck would rear up at the eagles as they swooped down and the ducklings would dive underwater only surfacing when the immediate threat was over. This struggle went on for quite a while and we didn’t think that the ducks would survive so were surprised when the eagles gave up and the duck / ducklings continued on their journey. What a drama to witness and we even managed to get an action shot! It is funny, though, that when we see a sea eagle swoop down and catch fish we admire their skill but when they tried to take a little duckling we think f*****g b******s!

After all this excitement we had an early night having watched the sky turn the most beautiful red as the sun set.

Wednesday morning we awoke to some grey clouds and then had a heavy rain squall (just after we had dropped dink into the water) so that put paid to our intention of going ashore.

But it had passed by 11am so we headed ashore, met Buddy and Helen, and then we all walked up to the main resort. We enjoyed the rest of the day by the pool; in the pool / jacuzzi; having some lunch; and playing a few spirited games of UNO. The horseflies were a real nuisance and were constantly on the attack – they hurt when they bite that’s for sure – but were surprisingly easy to kill. The upside to this was that the ducks turned up pool-side and they made quick work of eating all the large fly carcasses littered about. They certainly seemed to enjoy them LOL.

Later on we headed back to Morphie for another quiet night in after a stormy sunset.

Thursday morning we headed ashore again. We enjoyed some time in the pool and jacuzzi and decided to take ourselves inside the main hotel building for our afternoon card games to avoid the flies.

After another lovely day with Buddy and Helen we headed back to our respective boats for an early night. Was interesting to see a small cruise ship anchored off the island – that’s the first we’ve seen in a long long time.

Friday morning we were up at 5.30 am and had weighed anchor by 6.30 am. The timing for going through this stretch of water inside K’gari is crucial as we need to be going through the Sheridan Flats on a rising tide to get us through the very shallow area. Unfortunately there was no wind – with not even a ripple on the water – so we had to motor the 31 miles down to Inskip Point.

We had tried to anchor here once before but was thwarted by weather so was delighted to get a good spot this time and enjoyed watching the ferries take their 4x4WD passengers to and from the mainland.

We headed over to have sundowners on the spit with Buddy and Helen – particularly enjoying the seabirds – before returning to Morphie for a quiet evening sat in the cockpit watching the spectacular partial lunar eclipse before turning in for the night.

Saturday morning we had picked up anchor and were heading out through the Wide Bay Bar having got the new waypoint coordinates from the Coastguard the night before. It was serenely calm and we had a very good crossing.

Having got across the bar safely we headed south towards Double Island Point admiring the beautiful coastal scenery along the way.

As we arrived we made our way in behind the sand spit to avoid the fetch coming into the anchorage from the north winds. This sand spit had completely transformed since our last visit so we were delighted that we were going to be able to make the most of a lovely day having got the anchor down just before 11 am. We got ourselves organised and waited for Buddy and Helen to turn up – they had changed their mind at the last minute to come here instead of continuing directly to Moreton Island. They got anchored alongside us and we headed ashore to the sand spit. So the question is where do Australians go to have fun on a Saturday? Well it is this beautiful area with the main beach covered by 4x4WD vehicles and temporary camps with many of them setting up on the sand spit as well when the tide went out. So loud music, lots of laughter, bobbing, jet skis, and general noise levels were up there at times!

We bobbed in the clear shallow water and watched the paragliders flying around in the thermals clearly having lots of fun. And the bonus of this was that they captured and uploaded a photo of the scene and you can see Morpheus and Desire sitting side by side behind the spit – so very lucky to have come across this photo online!

After a couple of hours we said our final farewells to Buddy and Helen who were leaving at 4pm. We had a couple of hours snooze in the afternoon as we were heading out at 10pm for a slow overnight passage to cover the 51 miles to Mooloolaba. It appears a strange time to depart but this was to ensure that we were able to cross the bar at slack high water the following morning. We had an uneventful overnight passage and had to slow down at the end to make the timings work…. It was an absolutely lovely moonlit night and we both enjoyed our short passage.

Sunday morning, at precisely 9am, we headed in to cross the bar into Mooloolaba. The entrance to the river was semi-blocked by a prawn boat which was a bit strange – he wasn’t anchored nor was he stooging as his engine was off, so not sure what to make of it all we headed across his bow into the mouth of the river. We went close enough that he could have warned us off if he had wanted to but the guys on the boat seemed to be just going about their usual business. At this point we spotted an overturned and semi-submerged motor boat just the other side of the harbour wall and the Coastguard boat was out in the anchorage. As we continued into the river we were passed by a police launch so not sure what was going on – we have checked out the local ‘news’ but nothing has been reported so far. Anyway, after that bit of excitement, we were pleased to get into our slip here at Mooloolaba without any problems and, once Morphie was safely tied into her slip (with the kind assistance of our neighbour), we checked into the office and then went back to the boat to catch up on some sleep.

Later in the afternoon we tidied up and washed the salt off Morphie before heading into town – coming across the Aquaduck on the way.

We went to the Surf Club as this is one of our favourite places here. Last visit we had won a $50 voucher in the raffle so had some credit to spend – so we had a very reasonable dinner and a few drinks before wandering back to the Wharf where we had a final pontoonie in the Savy Squire which was pretty empty and completely lacking in any ambience. Oh well, never mind, we had had a good evening so we wandered back to the marina for the night.

Monday morning we were up early and did some more cleaning and tidying up before walking to the local fish market so that we could stock up.

We then returned to Morphie, cut the fillets to size and put them in the freezer, before heading out again to the Wharf where we got the bus to the Kawana Mall. First stop the chemist for a month’s supply of medication; then Coles for fresh fruit and vegetables plus a few other staples; then on to the food court for a recuperative milkshake; then the bottle shop for a box of beer; and finally to the taxi rank to return to the marina. Was interesting to see all the Christmas clothing on sale – clearly shirts / jackets / dresses / teeshirts of all shapes and sizes festively decorated appear to be all the rage. Really, it is not even December yet!!! All seemed much too premature for us….

Back on board we stowed all our supplies and had a quiet night in. There has been a lot of rain and some rumbles of thunder but nothing more than that, thankfully!

Today, Tuesday, we are meeting Mike and Karen (SV Island Girl) who live nearby, so that should be fun despite the rainy weather. Wednesday we are heading out of Mooloolaba to continue our journey south. Annoyingly the wind is turning south later in the week so we are going to pull into a marina in Manly for the weekend until the wind direction changes in our favour again and we can continue towards the Gold Coast.

Looks like the interstate border between Queensland and New South Wales is on target to open on 17 December. But there is negative commentary about QLD requiring negative Covid tests at a cost of $145 per person to enter or re-enter the state (taken 72 hours in advance). Covid tests are free and paid for by Medicare to those that are showing symptoms so wonder whether this announcement will mean that people will change their behaviours and claim to be symptomatic. After all, $580 for a family of four is a lot of unexpected cash to find on top of the cost of their trip. This requirement is out of step with other states although Northern Territories have just announced the same deal this morning. Anyway, it is looking good for our January visit to NSW but fingers remain firmly crossed for no further hurdles to be put in our way. Lots of news on international borders reopening but it is only to specific visa holders / students and not every state is agreeing with the Federal Government so still a pretty confused picture over here.

Anyway that’s about it for now. Another Australian cutie and continuing with the Christmas theme, here is a koala suitably attired but not sure he is looking too happy about it LOL.

Bye for now, Jan

Sunday morning (7 November) we got busy in preparation for departing from Keppel Bay marina, so we got rid of the rubbish; conducted engine checks; filled up with water; flushed the watermaker; and headed out of the marina towards Great Keppel Island. We were being followed by Lynne and Andrew on SV Mischief. Well, it was horrible, really lumpy and bumpy and we were very grateful to get into the anchorage with our anchor set.

We spotted SV Begonia so got in touch with them – they were out walking – so Maryanne and Kyle came by for a chat after they had finished their trek. It was great to catch up with them after more than a year! We then headed to the beach to have sundowners with quite a big cruising crowd. Was a lot of fun.

Monday morning, at 11am, we picked up our anchor and headed out to sea. It was cloudy, grey and it started raining….so not great conditions….but the sea was completely flat and the wind was blowing pretty hard so we had a really fantastic downwind sail.

We had dinner in the cockpit around 5pm, saw the sun go down on a stormy day, and started our overnight shifts.

Thankfully the rain held off for a while but the lack of sun during the day meant that our batteries needed a bit of a boost so we motorsailed for an hour to top them up. We swapped shifts again and for the three hours between midnight and 3am on Tuesday morning it absolutely poured with rain, there was thunder, lightning strikes on the water and lots of tankers which certainly kept me on my toes. As Richard came on shift at 3am, as though someone had flicked a switch, the rain stopped. Typical! By the time I came up again around 5.30 am the wind had died so we ended up motor sailing towards Bundaberg. As we approached the river entrance the wind picked up to 9 knots so we enjoyed the last bit of our sail before turning into the channel. Of course, as we entered the river, the wind started howling and we had 20+ knots to get into our slip. Thankfully there was assistance on the dock and we made it in safely by around 10ish. Phew! Another 132 mile overnight passage successfully completed.

Our first job was to take the anchor chain off the boat – it had got a bit rusty in places, although still in good order – so we had decided to get it re-galvanised here in Bundaberg. So we sorted that out and took the chain to the chandlery who do a delivery / collection service to the factory. Very interested to see how it comes back. Later in the afternoon we headed to the Cruisers Cove area of the marina for fish and chips and enjoyed the company of Helen and Buddy (SV Desire) who had also done the overnight passage down the coast.

We then headed back to Morphie to catch up on our sleep. We then had a quiet night in, although it wasn’t that restful with torrential rain and thunderstorms all around us.

Wednesday morning Richard headed out to see the stainless guy taking with him the burner caps from our cooker. He left them there and we then had breakfast out in the marina’s Baltimore restaurant. And very nice it was too!

After a bright start, it turned cloudy and grey again and then the heavens opened. So we spent the rest of the day down below hiding from the rain doing some paperwork and generally just lazing around. Richard headed back out to see the guy only to come back with the finished product – amazing job! Very happy customers. We then had another quiet night in.

Thursday it continued to rain so we carried on with admin sort of tasks down below. In the late afternoon we met Buddy and Helen in the Cruisers Cove for sundowners and a few games of UNO – which they had never played before – but quickly got the hang and we had lots of laughs together. Oh yes, and my boat-made smoked mackerel pate went down a treat!

Friday morning we got the call to say that our chain was back in the marina. So we went to the chandlery to collect it – wow it looked good! We then laid it up and down the dock so that we could redo the length markings. Then we rethreaded it through the windlass and back into the anchor locker along with a new shackle.

At this stage we hadn’t finished the job but it started to rain again – with all this no worries about having to clean the salt off the boat LOL. We had a late breakfast out and then spent the rest of the afternoon keeping out of the rain. In the evening we went to the Friday night BBQ at the Cruisers Cove where the marina supply the meat and cruisers bring their own drinks and a plate to share. Was another fun evening with Buddy and Helen and others. And, of course, I completely forgot to take any photos!

Saturday morning Richard was busy splicing the rode to the anchor chain sitting on the edge of the locker. So I started the stainless steel cleaning and polishing avoiding the bow sprit to keep out of his way. Here he is hard at work….

By the time I had done both starboard / port sides back to the ‘gates’ Richard had finished so he did the bow for me. Here is Morphie looking all shiny again.

We then had a late lunch onboard before heading to the Lighthouse Tavern in Burnett Heads. They do a free collection in their minibus so we didn’t even have to walk there and back – result!

We had a nice evening (and used their superfast free wifi to do some more Netflix downloads). But were a bit surprised to find a full-on Christmas office party in swing in one of the areas with all the workers dressed in fancy dress. Seemed a tad early or what LOL?!?

Sunday morning we both carried on with stainless cleaning – this time from the gates back through to the arch and got this done.

We then rested up for a while before tidying up down below and then welcoming Helen and Buddy onboard for sundowners. Another really nice social evening with them.

This morning, Monday, we’re both sitting outside the marina office taking in the nice weather whilst the laundry is getting done.

I’m blogging whilst Richard is catching up with various online content. Since we’ve been sat here we have been joined a couple of times by our “neighbour” who is looking to keep busy as their boat has just been hauled out – her husband is still on board. The sad story is that they hit bottom – hard – in an anchorage called 1770 – and had cracked their catamaran hull / bulkheads both inside and out. Significant damage in that they were taking on water and none of the cupboards now closed. The purpose of the haul was for an insurance assessor to assess the damage. Of course they are liveaboards so she was worried about where they were going to be sleeping tonight or even where they were going to be living whilst the boat is being repaired. Well, we had a chat in the laundry and she has just now returned to confirm that the insurers have written off the boat. An absolute disaster in their first cruising season but it is definitely the right result as they can walk away and start another chapter. Absolutely devastating for them though and she definitely needed some support so glad I could be there to help her talk it through and provide a supportive hug. Our hearts go out to them.

We’ve just had some fish and chips – very naughty but nice – and then we are going to have a quiet night in once we have done our navigation / engine checks etc in preparation for tomorrow’s early morning departure. We are heading towards Fraser Island taking the opportunity to get a little further south before the winds switch again mid week and are hoping to anchor off Kingfisher Resort again and perhaps even a bit of beach time.

In the meantime, we continue to monitor the vaccination rates here in Queensland which are steadily improving and it is looking more likely that the border with NSW will be open for us to visit my family in January. The earlier opening is for people travelling by air only. But things change rapidly so keeping everything flexible crossed. Restrictions about to be introduced for non-vaccinated people are pretty draconian so reckon it is a carrot and stick approach to the situation here, although they haven’t gone so far as Singapore who have just announced that non-vaccinated people will have to pay for their own healthcare if they are taken ill. Will be interesting to see what happens next in Australia as more freedoms are introduced generally.

Anyway, that’s it for now folks. We are continuing to enjoy Queensland and looking forward to returning to our ‘home’ base at the Boatworks towards the end of the month. Take care of each other and lots of love and hugs. Today’s cutie is a Western Pygmy Possum – enjoy!

Jan