Friday afternoon and evening (30 October) the wind was howling through the rigging and we were nodding up and down so decided this wasn’t the day to get the dinghy down and go exploring Great Keppel Island after all. So we had a movie night on board.

Saturday morning, after breakfast in the cockpit, Richard spotted a dinghy floating out to sea and realised that it had come off the boat behind us followed by a swimmer in the water who obviously thought they could retrieve it. Although the swimmer had fins on it he wasn’t making any headway into the chop and the other guy on board threw a lifesling out but it missed the mark. This was looking serious, so as fast as we could, we dropped dink and Richard sped off to assist. First stop was the guy in the water – who was so exhausted he need to recover before he could even climb into dink. Then, the guy safely aboard and him now resting in the bow of the dinghy, Richard sped off after the dinghy. Luckily he caught it as it continued to travel quite quickly out to sea. So secured behind, he towed the dinghy back towards their boat – picking up the lifesling on the way – and then depositing them back at their boat. The guy in the water had been in serious trouble and thanked Richard for saving his life! Phew, some worrying moments, but thankfully this international rescue ended well.

After all that excitement, Richard took a while to recover himself, before we headed over to the beach for the afternoon and had a lovely bobbing session in the clear and warm water keeping an eye on Morphie in the anchorage. Was a really nice way to end the day. Back on board we had showers followed by an early night.

Sunday morning we were up very early to weigh anchor and leave Great Keppel Island behind. We had been told by the Keppel Bay Marina that our berth was available at any time so we motored in light airs across a glassed-out sea for a couple of hours and pulled in around 9.30 am.

We slowly headed down the fairway towards our allocated slip to find that, despite assurances, the berth was already occupied so Richard had to do a very quick turn around which he managed really well. At this stage, we were both very relieved that the forecast strong winds hadn’t yet kicked in. We were then reallocated a berth – up by the fishing boats – and got ourselves tied up with some assistance from Andrew (SV Mischief) and Ron (marina staff). We then headed into the office and paid for our berth on a pay five, stay seven, night basis. We also booked our two hour courtesy car slot for Friday morning.

We quickly got some boat jobs done: washed down all the anchor chain with fresh water and renewed some of the chain markers; sluiced out the bilges; reinstalled the chain in the locker and then washed the boat down. Trying to connect to shore power we had some problems but a fisherman on another pedestal was having the same issue so clearly a general one rather than a Morphie specific one. Luckily we got it sorted out and, around 4pm, we headed over to the Capricornia Cruising Yacht Club (CCYC) where we met up with Mark and Marion (SV Zenna) and Andrew and Lynne (SV Mischief). The wind, by now, was howling and storm clouds were threatening with many waves splashing over the docks. Beyond the entrance to the marina we could see significant whitecaps so we were all pretty pleased to be sheltered inside. There was a live band playing which was incredibly loud so conversation was a challenge so we moved slightly further away to join a big table of cruisers and had a really fun evening with even a dance at the end! It turned out to be quite a late night too!

Monday morning we were up very early as we had arranged to meet Lynne and Andrew at 7.30 am for breakfast in The Waterline (the marina’s on-site restaurant). Andrew is currently working from his boat hence the really early start. After a lovely breakfast we headed back to Morphie still feeling pretty weary so just chilled out on our return.

In the afternoon Caitlin and Nick (SV Mahana) came by. Their autopilot course computer had died and they had raised the issue online as supplies of all sorts of goods (particularly from the USA) being shipped into Australia have been severely impacted by the pandemic. We had tried to get some spares from the USA ourselves in the few weeks to be told ‘no can do’ right now. So really felt for them especially as they were quoted the earliest date of arrival as January 2022 – that’s a long time to hand steer!!!! As we actually had a spare on board (kept when we upgraded our electronics in New Zealand) we offered it to them to see if it would be any good – it was compatible with their system so we agreed to part with it. They drove all the way from Bundaberg to pick it up (a four hour trip each way) and, having passed it over, we had a coffee with them before they headed back with their precious cargo. Obviously we were concerned that this might not be the answer to their problem but, have since heard, that it is working really well so very happy it worked out for them.

During the afternoon we had power problems again so turned the wind generator back on and relied on that and solar for the rest of the day. During the evening the wind really picked up and the lines on the dock were straining and we even heeled over at one point – very glad we weren’t out there on anchor! The winds were much stronger than forecast – in the mid 30s – so were pleased we had decided to come into the marina to sit it out.

Tuesday morning we had a late start and got ourselves ready to go out as we were going to Emu Park for the Melbourne Cup. Walking to the bus stop through The Waterline restaurant we were really surprised by how busy it was with lots of fancy outfits and hats – even though there isn’t even a screen here to watch the race – clearly it is an ‘event’ in everyone’s calendar LOL.

Anyway, we met up with Mark and Marion and after a short bus journey headed into The Pine Beach Hotel, known as The Piney. This tavern has the normal Australian set up of pokies / betting booths / TV screens etc. We were very lucky to get a table and had some pub grub for lunch before placing our bets for the race.

We failed to win anything but thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere…. Marion did manage to pick up a third place so she was happy LOL. We then headed back on the bus to the marina and had a pontoonie in The Waterline before saying our farewells. At this point Richard decided it was too early to return to the boat so we ended up going over to the CCYC for yet another pontoonie! Was such a fun day.

Wednesday we got up late and headed out to The Waterline for coffee before walking down the quay to the fish market. We managed to pick up some nice fresh fish for Richard and, for the first time in Australia, I managed to find some smoked mackerel so intend to make some pate with that at some stage…. And that was it for the day.

Thursday I headed out on the bus alone to Yeppoon. First stop was the pharmacy to drop off our prescriptions so that I could collect them later. Then I walked along the promenade – enjoyed watching the kids playing in the Kraken water park – before crossing over to find the hairdressers which was tucked away up an alley and above a fish and chip shop. I was quickly looked after and was very happy with the result of the cut and colour. I then walked back to the pharmacy, collect our medications, popped into the bakers and made my way back to the bus stop to return to the marina.

While I had been in town Richard and been cleaning and, on my return, we sat down and looked at the weather forecast so that we could plan our future anchorages. Well, this was not good news. There are a couple of lows moving around so bringing with them unsettled weather – with lots of rain, strong winds and the chance of thunderstorms.

Hmmmm…..what to do?!? Well, we wanted to get our anchor chain re-galvanised and we know that Bundaberg is the place to do that – which is just an overnight sail from here. So thought that maybe, if we need to sit out more weather, perhaps we should do it there because at least we can tick this job off the list….

In the evening we headed out to Beaches for dinner – this is highly recommended with great reviews so thought it would be really nice. Well, the service was lovely, and the company was great. The food was alright although not outstanding and quite expensive. Never mind, a fun evening had by all.

Friday morning we headed out in the courtesy car into Yeppoon and did some provisioning before returning to Morphie and packing it all away.

• 

• 

Then we started on our long list of things to organise and managed to get booked into Bundaberg for the week from next Tuesday. We also spoke to the company that does the re-galvanisation and they can accommodate us. So that was good news. On a roll, we booked into Sanctuary Cove for Christmas and New Year – having thoroughly enjoyed it last year – and booked a hire car to visit Jamie and his family in New South Wales in January. Fingers crossed! Obviously the border might not open but a ‘covid restrictions’ cancellation comes with no penalty and the deposit is carried forward to our next booking – so no risk. Apparently there is a lack of hire cars in Australia right now and the prices are spiralling, particularly in school holiday periods, so we felt very happy to have got this ticked off the list. We also did some other admin type things as this is the time of year that our annual insurances become due – house, car and yacht – so working our way through renewals of all these policies too. Phew!

In the evening we headed over to the CCYC and met the gang again – Friday night is dinner night there and the volunteers cook for the club. We had a table of nine and, without the live music, being seated on a round table we got the chance to chat. Was another really good evening.

This morning, Saturday, and we’ve stripped everything and done the laundry. We have had lunch out at The Waterline and are now back on board. Engine checks etc to be done later and we’ll have a quiet night in tonight in preparation for our departure tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’ll head over to Great Keppel Island for the night and on Monday we’ll depart for Bundy, expecting to be pulling into the marina around noon on Tuesday (which is slack high tide). The wind could be quite strong but it will mostly be a downwind run so should be fun! Let’s just hope the forecast is correct this time….

So that’s about it for now folks. Nothing much else to say other than we really look forward to having reunions with you all at home in 2022. Take care of each other and stay safe – this pandemic continues to be a serious threat to everyone – so please be careful. Lots of love as always. So today’s cutie is a really beautiful Fairy Wren which can be found throughout Eastern Australia.

Bye for now Jan

Wednesday afternoon (20th October) we decided to stay on board for the rest of the day because the conditions quickly deteriored. Then the heavens opened and we had torrential rain and thunderstorms all around but thankfully nothing hit too close. We only saw 37 knots in one squall when we popped our heads up to check all was well.

But, compared to what others endured, this was nothing. Nearby in Shute Harbour they saw 67 knots and boats dragged and bumped into each other with some damage sustained. Check out this poor ‘tinny’ tender which got squished under its mother ship’s stern as she violently nodded up and down in the swell. Further south suffered too with winds in Mackay so fierce that planes were flipped over at the airport and there were record-breaking hailstones at 16cm which were named ‘widow makers’ by pundits. Phew, storm season in Queensland is dramatic or what?!?

Thursday morning it was still muggy and stormy but, thankfully, storms were a reducing threat. We headed out for some coffee and a cake – checking out the fuel dock at the same time from the promenade cafe – before picking up our courtesy vehicle, which turned out to be a large UTE.

Firstly we drove to Cannonvale stopping at the bottle shop; butchers; bakers and finally the supermarket for fresh fruit and vegetables. And then round the corner to Coles for our pre-ordered ‘click and collect’ order. We returned back to the marina, found a cart, and dragged it to down to our dock and then onto Morphie. We then unpacked and stowed all our goodies. It was so hot we both felt absolutely exhausted and drained after all this effort so spent the rest of the day down below chilling out.

Friday we had coffee and cake on the way to the pool and Richard made friends with the smallest ghekko ever! So cute.

It was a lovely sunny day for a change – things just look so much better without the ominous clouds!

We then walked to the resort and got ourselves settled down on a couple of sunbeds and that was it for the day, although I did make the most of the pool-side spa and treated myself to an absolutely amazing back massage! We were not interested – or inspired enough – to consider joining in with the complimentary yoga class on the pier LOL. And we had fun watching the blue helicopter that landed at the end of the marina wall – presumably another superyacht owner / charterer has arrived?!? Before we returned to Morphie for the night we had showers in the hotel complex and then, back onboard, we had a quiet night in.

Saturday, on another cloudy, hot and steamy day, we had an early start and treated ourselves to breakfast out in another marina cafe (more like a small grocery store really). We then walked to the pool where we stayed until around 2pm.

We then headed back to Morphie to do some jobs in preparation for our departure on Sunday. The showers were busy at the resort so we used the marina ones this time on the way back. On board, we stripped everything and got the laundry together, packed an esky with sundowner and dinner ingredients, and then headed to the Ocean Club. We put all the washing on in the laundry and then headed upstairs to the sun deck and got ourselves settled in. Again, we were the only people there – not sure why people don’t use this facility much, but definitely not complaining! I put the sausages on the BBQ and started downloading more Netflix content before returning to the laundry to move the washing into the driers. By this time the sausages were done so we had our supper. Laundry and downloads finished we then returned to Morphie for an early night.

Sunday we were up at a reasonable time and Richard did engine checks; removed the canvas; washed the boat down; topped up the water; flushed the watermaker; rinsed fresh water through the bilges; and topped up the coolant. I got busy stowing everything down below ready for going back to sea and also checked out our route / tide times etc. At 11am we slipped away from the dock and headed to the fuel dock. Richard started refuelling whilst I returned the security gate keys and got rid of the rubbish. Back on board we departed around 11.30 am and headed out towards Lindeman Island.

The winds were light and it was a downwind run so we poled out the genoa and went wing-on-wing for the 31 mile trip to our anchorage.

Was a really good trip and we had anchor down by 5.30 pm. Such a shame to see another abandoned resort ashore – this time it was a Club Med facility. We had a quiet night on board enjoying being back on anchor yet again.

Monday we were up early and by 6.20 am we had weighed anchor for the sail to Keswick Island 39 miles further south. The wind was slight with glassed out seas but the wind kicked in as promised and gave us a 60-90 degree angle on the wind which Morphie absolutely just loves…. At one point we were doing 7.4 knots in only 13 knots of breeze under a full main and genoa. It was the most fantastic sailing day, just perfect!

By 1.20pm we had our anchor down at Keswick Island with lots of chain out as it was pretty deep – luckily it was pretty quiet so plenty of swinging room available. We then had a movie night before turning in early in preparation for our departure the following morning.

Tuesday, by 5.20 am, we had picked up our anchor and were motoring out in flat seas to a grim looking day although the sun managed to rise through the dark and threatening clouds around us.

The wind was supposed to be from the north east – the same as the day before – except it wasn’t. Instead it was on the nose….and the wind built….and the seas built….so we had to resort to motor sailing to maintain momentum as we kept getting stopped dead by waves hitting us on the bow. And the clouds were ever more threatening with some nasty rain squalls around so we had the radar on to check for storm cells around us just in case we needed to divert.

The wind was so fickle we couldn’t hold the genoa at the much too-tight angle of 30 degrees so we motor sailed along with full main and staysail instead which added a bit to our speed. We managed to get across the shipping lines without any problems spotting one tanker leaving crossing our bow and one arriving to cross our stern with about 20 others anchored off waiting to be loaded with coal. Quite fun to listen to the helicopter on the VHF as he gives instructions to the captains of when he is going to drop pilots / officials off.

Of course, the sea continued to build, we hit some adverse current, and it was very bouncy to say the least. Such a contrast to the day before! But we persevered and managed to arrive at Middle Percy Island by 4.40 pm which wasn’t too bad considering we had covered almost 67 miles. We had planned to go to Rescue Bay – which is protected from the forecast northerly winds – but, as the wind was now due east, we headed into West Bay instead and found a good spot and anchored for the night at the back of the fleet.

Wednesday, we awoke to a lovely sunny day with fickle winds in terms of both strength and direction so we decided to stay put. I started blogging – although the spotty internet was not good enough to upload / publish what I had done – whilst Richard kept busy with boat jobs. He cleaned out the shower drain box; worked the Y-valves; and removed the old burner caps on the Force 10 cooker as they are pitted and we want to buy some new ones; he also cleaned and flushed through the waste pipes from the sink to the overboard discharge. Very industrious or what?!? Later on we headed out in dink to explore the creek as it was just after high tide – last time we had walked this area. We then went ashore to the A-frame and chatted to some cruisers over sundowners. A new addition to the memorabilia left behind by cruisers was this solar powered light, with built in AIS, which are normally attached to drift nets to aid mariners regarding their position and obviously found floating off somewhere by Phoenix 9. Had been a lovely day.

Thursday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then, at 10 am, we picked up anchor for an overnight sail of 110 miles to Great Keppel Island. We motor sailed, initially, in light airs and by noon we were sailing along at 60 degrees to the wind with full main and genoa deployed. By 3pm the chop in the sea had built which was slowing us down but we continued on and enjoyed dinner together in the cockpit and a lovely sunset before going into our overnight shifts and yes it gets chilly when the sun goes down LOL.

During my first shift the winds just died….so we ended up motor sailing yet again….sigh. Not much traffic as we passed the Shoalwater Military Exercise Exclusion Zone other than one tanker running parallel for a while. By 9pm the wind had shifted and was now off our port quarter so we put the main away, engine off, and ran downwind under the genoa alone. At midnight the wind picked up and we were going really well – unfortunately too well – as our estimated arrival time was now during the night! So around 1am on Friday morning we reduced sail to slow down as the wind continued to build. We were both up again by 5.30 am as we were approaching the narrow and shallow cut between islands so we enjoyed a lovely sunrise together too.

By 6.50 am this morning we had our anchor down on the south side of Great Keppel Island where we are going to shelter from the northerly winds. We both felt a bit sleep deprived as the strong swells had made the journey pretty bouncy for the last six hours or so….. So we are now just recovering and relaxing and will go ashore to explore the beach later.

Next week there are some feisty winds forecast so we have booked into Keppel Bay Marina (Yeppoon) on Sunday to sit them out there. A couple of other boats we know also have the same plans so expecting some socialising as well as really important things like getting a hair cut LOL.

Nothing to report otherwise really – although Queensland have announced that they will open their borders to New South Wales on 17 December – so fingers crossed that we can go visit my nephew and his family in January for the school holidays again. But this ‘opening’ depends upon a certain percentage of QLD residents being vaccinated. Being cynical we think that the border opening ‘news’ was the proverbial carrot to encourage people to get jabbed as Queensland are seriously lagging behind other states. But only time will tell! Anyway, fingers and all things flexible crossed for another family reunion in early 2022.

Anyway, that’s about it for now, we hope you are all safe and well. Take care of each other – sending love and hugs. Today’s Australian cuties are some kangaroos as it has been a while. Enjoy.

Bye for now, Jan

Wednesday (13 October) we dropped our marine parks mooring ball and headed out towards Airlie beach inside the passage alongside Daydream Island which gave us a better sailing angle across the top. We sailed along slowly and approached the marina by which time they gave us our allocated berth so we put the sails away and spent time stooging around getting our lines and fenders ready. The anchorage outside of the marina was very choppy with boats rocking and rolling around so we were pleased to pull inside the walls.

We got ourselves settled into our berth and Richard washed Morphie down while I sorted out all the paperwork we needed to take with us. We then had quick showers and took ourselves off to Airlie. We had a list of things to do – doctors, get our prescriptions filled, ATM, and a bit of shopping. We managed to achieve all those and, to our complete surprise, the pharmacy actually had some repeat prescriptions waiting for us to collect (as they promised back in July) so we were now good to go for about three months or so.

On our travels we came across a nest of baby swifts waiting to be fed – not sure it is ideal to build a nest under the roof of a shop on top of a security light but guess it will just have to do and at least it is protected from the rain LOL.

Anyway, all jobs completed, we headed back to the marina and had a quiet night in.

Thursday morning we were up early and got on with some boat jobs – Richard did a few repairs like fixing the outboard motor mount which resides on the rail; fixed some lights in the heads; and checked engine oil levels; whilst I defrosted the freezer (which was pretty iced up). Then Richard re-gassed the freezer and we got it up and running again quickly. At this point I went off to the laundry only to find a big queue – of the five machines only three were working – and there were two ladies (each with three loads) in front of me. But there were people turning up after me so I sat it out and waited not wanting to relinquish my place in the queue. While I was away Richard cleaned the boat down below. Finally after a few hours I returned and we relaxed on board for a little while. At 5pm we headed to the Ocean Club and met up with Lynne and Andrew from SV Mischief and we had a BBQ on the sun deck. It was lovely to catch up with them again.

Friday morning was Richard’s 64th birthday.

To start the day off right we headed again to the sun deck at the Ocean Club and Lynne and I cooked a bacon and egg breakfast on the BBQ for the lads. We even tried out the complimentary bean-to-cup coffee machine which was very nice. Lynne and Andrew then headed off as they had lots to do before departing from the marina in the morning – we spent a few hours doing downloads in the Ocean Club’s ‘business lounge’ which had surprisingly fast wifi so we made the most of it. In the evening we headed out into town and to La Tabella Trattoria for dinner. First, though, we had a drink in the Pub next door which was manically busy before going to our table in the restaurant.

Our table in the restaurant was on the pavement overlooking the shoreline – very nice.

We really enjoyed our dinner and even had three courses – although, have to say, the meal could have done with being a bit hotter. But the deserts were amazing, the service was very good and the wine delicious – with thanks to Carolyn and Ron for their generous contribution to Richard’s birthday celebrations. We stayed put until the restaurant closed around 9pm (as people in Australia eat ridiculously early with dinner service often starting at 5pm).

We then walked down the street looking for a place to have a night cap – the Pub remained very busy and we weren’t that impressed by their live music that evening. We came across this steakhouse / bar called KCs which also had live music so we popped in there – it was pretty busy with a relatively older crowd – and we found a seat and listened. The guy was great, very versatile with a really good voice. We had a lot of fun people watching and I even got up and danced a few times! Around midnight we returned to Morphie….

Saturday morning we headed over to the next pier to help SV Mischief cast off.

They were going to the fuel dock so we climbed on board to help them with that manoeuvre only to find that the boat on the fuel dock was still sitting there…so we stooged….and then we were told that a very large superyacht was going to be leaving so could we keep clear so we moved around the corner out of the way and carried on stooging. After he had left we pulled back around to the fuel dock only to find a motorboat had slipped onto it quickly despite us shouting at him that we were next in line! So we had to change all the lines over and pull into another fuel dock on the other side of the marina which, because of the wind direction, was actually going to be quite difficult to depart from so not a happy crew! Lynne did a brilliant job on the helm despite all this going on around her but was definitely not happy when the motorboat captain came over and apologised to Andrew but not her!

After they were refuelled we helped them off the dock and then walked up to the Garden Bar and Bistro. The intention had been to have breakfast out but, by now, it was 12.30 pm and we were starving so decided to have lunch….and a hair of the dog…. And that was where we stayed for the rest of the afternoon as Richard declared it his birthday weekend and we went a bit crazy! Great food and good fun but straight to bed once we got back onboard LOL.

Sunday we had planned to go to the pool but we were both a little under the weather – no sympathy, completely self-inflicted – so decided to have a recovery day on board. And so we just relaxed, read books, watched movies and literally did nothing.

Monday we headed to the Coral Sea Resort along the boardwalk.

It was pretty busy when we got there but we were lucky to get sunbeds under the slatted cover so enjoyed a lovely day by the pool. We did have some lunch but this was decidedly expensive and below average so won’t be eating there again! The winds had picked up significantly during the day and I watched one boat in the anchorage which I was sure was dragging….later on, the owners came back on board, and immediately picked up anchor and reset, so guess I was right! The anchorage was looking particularly rough and nasty again.

Later in the afternoon the heavens opened so we took to the bar and had a drink before packing up and returning to Morphie for another quiet night in.

Tuesday morning we headed to the resort and pool again and enjoyed another lovely day relaxing and bobbing.

On the way back – around 4pm as forecast – the skies darkened and the storm clouds built up.

We ducked into Sorrento to get some shelter and sat out the thunderstorm there – didn’t seem that close although the thunder was so loud it did make me jump every time…. So we had to have a selfie (ignore my post-swimming hairdo LOL).

Check out these holidaymakers on their balcony during the storm!

Eventually we returned to Morphie and had another quiet night down below. At this point we picked up the news that a charter catamaran had been hit by lightning. These boats are moored on balls just outside the marina entrance when not on charter. So very very close to us! Phew….

This morning, Wednesday, and there is a severe weather warning about dangerous thunderstorms all day with ‘gorilla’ hail forecast for the whole of the coast. It is incredibly hot and humid! So people are being warned to stay undercover and to get their cars out of the open as this type of hail is potentially life-threatening and certainly damaging for property. So we have decided to stay on board today just in case one of these storms does actually come through this area. We had our first thunderstorm at 7am this morning, there has been the odd sharp rain squall come through. The clouds are building and it is clearly very unstable out there right now as the wind has picked up and we can hear it whistling through the rigging. Fingers crossed that these storms don’t come too close!

Tomorrow we have a marina courtesy car for two hours so we are going to be doing a provisioning run as we plan to leave here on Sunday to continue south. There is, however, the chance of some strong winds from the wrong direction on Tuesday so we’ll probably have to just sit that out on anchor somewhere….. We are enjoying our time in Coral Sea Marina and definitely making the most of the lovely facilities here and feel relieved that this stormy weather has come through whilst here and not out on anchor.

To keep Morphie legal in Australia, we have just extended our Australian Border Force control permit for the final period, so she can remain here until October 2022 – which is the maximum time allowed. So, at that point, we either have to import her to continue cruising in Australia (5% import duty + 10% GST) or leave the country. Boats have already left to go to Indonesia (which is now open) or further afield (such as the Maldives) but the cyclone season is almost upon us and we certainly don’t fancy going to a third-world country (who still have Covid problems). So, in these uncertain times, we know that our circumnavigation will be effectively coming to an end here in the southern hemisphere. This is sad but inevitable, especially after Richard’s heart attack and both of us now needing to have access to regular medication and check-ups. We continue to hope that New Zealand will open its borders again so we could return there and bumble around the nearby islands for a while – but that is looking increasingly unlikely for cruising yachts in the near future. We had to inform our yacht insurance company of our cruising plans for the next year (in preparation for a November renewal) so we have declared the East Coast of Australia again. We are now closer to the point of having to make a decision about what we are going to do going forward. The options are limited and we just have to go through the pros and cons of each approach and adapt them as more information becomes available.

Anyway, enough of all that, hope you are all well and sending lots of love and hugs. So today’s Australian cutie is a baby wombat and mum….just to finish on a smile.

Bye for now, Jan

Wednesday (6 October) we left our overnight mooring ball at Stonehaven Bay, Hook Island, and moved around to Butterfly Bay on the north coast. This is a no-anchoring zone so we picked up another mooring ball and were settled by lunchtime having done a huge passage of 4.25 miles LOL. And, as anticipated, we no longer had any phone / internet coverage so I was glad to have blogged before we left.

Sitting there quietly bobbing on our anchor ball we had a turtle visitation which was lovely.

Then we watched three sea eagles swooping and swirling and fighting in the sky then suddenly one plummeted into the water. The sea eagle started trying to get aloft but was obviously water logged and couldn’t manage it. So we started to get the dinghy ready to go into the water to attempt a rescue. At this point another dinghy came out trying to help with a net but then, luckily, a marine parks landing craft came into the bay and took over the rescue. He lowered his ramp into the water near the sea eagle but it started to swim away clearly frightened. Thankfully the marina parks guys were determined to get him to safety and eventually they had him on the boat with a blanket over his head to calm him before they took him off to dry land. Was very relieved for the poor bird!

During all this excitement, we were being bothered by March flies (large horseflies) who are blood suckers with a prominent proboscis. Yuck! Very annoying (and painful when they get you) so we spent much of the time trying to keep them away. Later on, we decided not to bother snorkelling so headed out for a bit of a dinghy explore instead, enjoyed another turtle visitation, checked out a rather large neighbour and even spotted some wild mountain goats. Back on board we had a movie night although it did get a bit rolly overnight.

Thursday morning it would have been Mum’s 91st birthday – she was such a big part of our lives we both continue to miss her a lot. RIP Mum, love you so much.

At 9.30 am having had a leisurely breakfast in the cockpit, we headed back around the corner to Black Island and were lucky enough to find a vacant mooring ball. So we dropped dink and headed over to explore One Foot Island first. Quite spectacular scenery in this part of the world…..

Afterwards we headed off to explore Black Island.

By this time we had been slightly longer than the two hour limit on the mooring ball so we quickly got ourselves back on board and dropped the ball for someone else to enjoy this area. Motoring away in very light airs we decided to continue down the west coast of Hook Island and came across Cave’s Cove which had a single mooring ball free for the night. Excellent! This has to be one of our favourite spots we have found this season….just beautiful….

Later on we decided to go ashore to our own private beach for sundowners but found the way blocked by rocks with no easy access – so we headed further down the bay to the other small beach near the trawler behind us but this was blocked too. Oh well, never mind. The people on MV Turtle waved at us and we headed over to say hi – and they then invited us on board for sundowners. As we had supplies with us we gratefully accepted and had a really nice few hours with them. A fun time had by all.

Friday morning we left Cave’s Cove and travelled through the Hook Passage which goes between the bottom of Hook Island and the top of Whitsunday Island. We had timed this to go through one hour before high tide so there was some current / overfalls and eddies at the exit but nothing too bad or uncomfortable. We then worked our way down the east coast of Whitsunday Island and pulled into Tongue Point. SV Island Girl were already in the bay so on our way ashore we went by their boat to say hello.

Going ashore we had to navigate some rocks on the beach as the tide was falling. We then made the trek up the 360 steps to the Hill Inlet Lookout and were the only people there – absolutely stunning and well worth the trip although my legs probably wouldn’t agree LOL.

We then returned to dink who by now, was even harder aground than when we left so had to navigate even more rocks to get back out into the bay passing through the navigational withies very slowly as it was getting shallower by the minute. Thankfully we made it out and back to Morphie for another quiet night on board.

Saturday we left Tongue Point and went down to Whitehaven Beach passing close to Hill Inlet enroute. We had a lovely time sunbathing, people watching and bobbing at Whitehaven before then inviting Mike, Karen and Dudley (yes Dudley not Douglas as I reported last blog – oops!) on board for sundowners. Had another lovely evening with them.

Sunday we spotted someone departing their mooring ball at Chalkies over on Haslewood Island (where we had hoped to have visited yesterday) so we quickly picked up anchor and headed over. Annoyingly we were chased down by a charter catamaran who drove his boat hard and fast so won the race and took the ball – so we stooged around for a little while to see if anyone else would leave – and after about 15 minutes we managed to snaffle a ball. Was very happy as this is not a good anchoring spot. Funnily enough our mooring ball did not have a time limit on it and, checking out the boats around us, it was clear that they were staying for 24 hours at a time. So we decided to do the same….

In the afternoon we headed ashore and the family from the catamaran – who were on the beach when we arrived – quickly departed. Think they might have been a bit embarrassed by their behaviour earlier….. So we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. The water was a bit warmer than the day before and we enjoyed a bobbing afternoon ashore. We didn’t realise that the sand flies were out and about until we got back to find we had both been bitten…oh well, never mind…. Oh yes, as we left the beach, the catamaran family returned to play – obviously trying to avoid us LOL. We had had an absolutely lovely day.

Monday morning we timed our trip through the Solway Passage which runs between Whitsunday Island and Haslewood Island – so were under way early at 7.40 am to get the best conditions through this area which can be a bit tricky if you get it wrong. Thankfully all good for us this time although continue to be surprised by these swirling waters as we come through them. As we came through the Passage we spotted a large trawler Rous Explorer hard aground on the rocks – oops! The chart here is quite detailed so obviously they got caught out either by a tide or wind change. Hopefully they were OK as we didn’t hear any urgent call outs on the VHF.

We arrived into Turtle Bay at the south end of Whitehaven Island and enjoyed the scenery. We had planned to go ashore in the afternoon but neither of us felt like it so we just had a lazy day on board and used the opportunity to put the phone up the mast to get some internet coverage after a few days offline. Later on we were joined by a few other boats but there was plenty of room in this wide-open bay. We then had a quiet night on board.

This morning, Tuesday, we picked up anchor and came around Hamilton and Dent Islands towards the mainland, picking up a mooring ball at a little bay on South Molle Island. There is a scrubby beach ashore so we are not planning on exploring – tonight’s stop was really just to stage for our return to the Coral Sea Marina tomorrow morning. So having a relaxing day aboard.

So that’s about it from us for the moment. We are looking forward to some marina time in Airlie Beach over the next 10 days or so. It’s Richard’s birthday on Friday so we have booked a table in a nice Italian restaurant to celebrate his 64th trip around the sun. We hope that everyone remains safe and well and looks after themselves. We love you and miss you all. So to make you smile here is this week’s Australian cutie, a dingo puppy. Bye for now

Jan

Thursday (30 September) morning, after another rocking and rolling sort of night onboard, the winds and swells finally abated and it became much more comfortable. So we took the opportunity to go ashore, to get rid of our rubbish, and hoped to treat ourselves to some coffee and a piece of cake. But the cafes were closing (it was around 2pm) so we ended up having lunch at the tavern instead.

The food was average at best – which was a shame – so we walked to the end of the road to purchase ice creams and enjoyed sitting on the foreshore whilst we devoured them.

Whilst we were out we checked out the latest Queensland Covid contact tracing list as some had just been published for Townsville – luckily we had not been to any of the establishments at the times / dates listed. Phew! We then returned to Morphie checking out our neighbours before settling down to a movie night on board.

Friday we were preparing to leave Magnetic Island so Richard did engine checks while I got the passage plan saved into the plotter. And we both tidied the boat up ready for an overnight run, including pre-cooking our evening meal. And before you ask, whatever happened to our resolution never to go on a passage on a Friday?!? Not sure we even thought about it to be honest LOL.

It was cloudy and drizzly day with very little wind so, as we had to motor anyway, we decided to make water to start with so got that running while the engine was warming up. We picked up anchor at 10.15 am and headed south toward Cape Gloucester.

At lunchtime we had a couple of ships running parallel with us but they were of no concern as shipping lanes are well defined on this part of the coast and we were not planning anything other than crossing them at various points of the journey. At 2pm we turned the watermaker off and by 5pm we were eating dinner in the cockpit. Just before 6pm the sun went down and gave us a glorious red sky which mingled with some fires burning on the mainland – obviously controlled burns rather than anything more sinister.

We then started our overnight three-hourly shifts with me taking the first 6-9pm. After the sun had gone down it was an intense black night with no star cover and, suddenly, I’ve got the company of four prawn boats. They go fast, go slow, change direction at any time and are lit up so brightly you can’t see their navigation lights and, of course, they don’t have AIS so you can’t track them. So I started to track them via radar and was doing OK until I got a “dangerous radar target warning alarm” of a potential collision as one of the boats turned towards me so I called Richard to help me. Suffice to say he wasn’t impressed that I needed assistance! Anyway, eventually the danger passed with a couple passing ahead of us and a couple passing behind. Phew…. Was glad when that shift was over.

Richard then had an uneventful few hours and I came back on shift just as we approached Abbot Point which is a major coal loading depot. I had been expecting this to be quiet at night – but it was clearly fully operational with six ships sitting at anchor with lots of lights on waiting for their turn with one being filled up on the wharf. AIS is definitely my friend in these circumstances as I was able to keep an eye on them all (including the two tug boats) and cross the shipping channel without any problems. Made for an interesting shift! To get the idea of the scale of this operation, check out this picture I found online.

By the time I came back on shift again we were approaching Cape Gloucester on a completely flat and calm sea and had anchor down by 6.20 am on Saturday having covered 111 miles.

Once secure we went down below, got cleaned up, and caught up on our sleep for a few hours. In the afternoon we headed ashore to the Cape Gloucester Eco Resort and had a couple of drinks and listened to the songster.

We could look out to sea to watch Morphie at anchor so was quite chilled. Then, like a switch had been thrown, the wind picked up and the swell started and Morphie started nodding viciously.

Well, we had had a couple of drinks so we weren’t going to think about moving on, so looked like we have another potentially uncomfortable night ahead. Oh well, never mind. But Morphie was holding her own on anchor so we decided to stay out and enjoyed the next act before the final act, who was the best of them all. So was a lovely afternoon.

We then headed back to Morphie and got back on board as quickly as we could and got dink straight back onto the arch as we could see him going under the stern in the mayhem. But, funnily enough, in the cockpit the movement wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we had anticipated from shore and we were actually happy to stay put. As there were no other boats around we put out more anchor chain to keep us secure and settled down. By the time the sun went down the sea had calmed, the wind had died, and it was back to a glassed-out anchorage again. So we had a lovely night’s sleep after all.

We awoke on Sunday just as the rocking and rolling started again so we decided to move on and picked up anchor and motored around Shag Islet and into the Gloucester Passage where there were other boats sheltering from the conditions. We decided we would stay in this protected spot too so made sure we were out of the channel and dropped our hook – having travelled a huge 1.82 miles. As we started to anchor we spotted another Island Packet yacht in the anchorage – SV Island Girl an IP 380 – whom we had met in Great Keppel Island on our way north. They were actually also in Townsville at the same time as us but had gone on a road trip so we never caught up with them there. We got ourselves settled in and Mike and Karen came by to say hi – so we arranged to go to Montes resort for lunch to have a catch up with them later.

So just before 1pm we headed over to Montes in dink and caught up with them in the bar – we had some cold plates for lunch and had a really social afternoon. Was really lovely. Back on board for a movie night and the anchorage was so calm it was like being tied into a marina so we had a very good sleep.

Monday morning we headed back (in dink) to the Cape Gloucester resort to get rid of some rubbish and have a coffee. We were very surprised, particularly as it was a Bank Holiday, to find both Montes and Cape Gloucester closed for the day! Oh well, no coffee for us, but at least we disposed of our trash.

In the afternoon we headed ashore to the nearby beach to clean dink and planned to have sundowners with Mike and Karen. Dink got the spa treatment, we even polished him off with a UV Protector spray. We had just finished when Mike, Karen and Douglas the dog came ashore to meet us. By now the horseflies were buzzing around, being incredibly annoying and I got bitten a couple of times – so we decided it would be more comfortable onboard so decamped back to SV Island Girl for sundowners (and doggie cuddles) instead. Had been another nice day.

Tuesday morning, at 7 am, we were picking up our anchor and motor sailing under genoa downwind whilst we made water. SV Island Girl followed us out and started to sail – trying out lots of different sail configurations to get up some speed in the very light airs – and here is a picture of them wing-on-wing behind us.

At 10 am we turned the watermaker off, turned off the motor and sailed along with the main and the genoa as the wind – although still very light – had switched so we were now on a nice beam reach. We went slowly along and enjoyed the ride. By 1pm we had picked up a marine national parks mooring ball in Stonehaven Bay, Hook Island, having sailed 26 miles. The anchorage is beautiful with boulders coming out of the abundant growth – completely deserted, nothing here, but just lovely.

We enjoyed our afternoon in the cockpit watching the mooring ball shenanigans of the charter boats as they started to fill up the anchorage later in the afternoon. We were also very surprised to see people snorkelling along the shore at 5pm – that’s shark activity time here in Australia – thankfully they came back with all their arms and legs intact LOL. We sat on the coach roof for an hour or so at the end of the day so that we could really enjoy the spectacular sunset before dinner and another movie night.

This morning, Wednesday, we remain at Stonehaven checking out our new very large neighbour with all the toys….

We are thinking about where to go next but, as we don’t expect to get internet coverage in our next anchorages, I am making the most of a reasonable signal here to blog before we move on later today. Looking forward to exploring more secluded and beautiful anchorages over the next week or so before we return to the fancy Coral Sea Marina in Airlie Beach for doctors / prescriptions and to celebrate Richard’s birthday!

So there was some news in Australia this week with Scott Morrison announcing that the international borders will reopen in November – but only for those states that are 80% vaccinated – and, the bit that was missing from much of the news coverage was that the borders are only reopening for Australian residents / citizens with home quarantine now allowed for the double vaccinated (rather than the compulsory hotel quarantine that is the regime at the moment).

So the situation becomes more confused as time passes rather than real clarity. So, trying to make sense of the new rules, it means we can visit my nephew in New South Wales but are not allowed to cross the interstate border to return to Morphie in Queensland. My nephew is not allowed to visit us in Queensland but he will be able to fly to and from the UK (from Sydney). We can fly to the UK but are not allowed to return to Australia. There are elections coming up here so guess many of these ‘announcements’ may actually be political sound bites….. Anyway, enough of all that, hope all our friends and family are safe and well and here is an Australian cutie to make you smile.

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now

Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now

Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan