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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye for now, Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jan

Sunday (4 July) we awoke to a flat calm sunny day. What on earth is going on?!? We ran the weather models and it definitely looked like Monday was going to be the best day to move on so we quickly got into departure planning mode. We realised that Mackay Marina (which wasn’t on our radar really as an intended destination) was only a two hour drive away from Airlie Beach (which is where our 2nd Covid jabs were scheduled for on Tuesday 13 July). By going there and driving to this medical appointment, we could spent more time exploring other islands on the way north rather than running past them in a hurry. So, decision made, we contacted Mackay and got ourselves a berth and booked a hire car for the day too. Result! At the same time, we cancelled our booking at the fancy Airlie Beach marina / resort but they kept our ‘flexible’ deal open so we can just rebook when we get closer. So everything came together nicely.

We got together a list of what we needed to do and started working our way through it. First, we headed into town on the bus and picked up fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs and bread. We then headed back to the marina and into the laundry; downloaded some more Netflix content; and filled up with water. We then had a relaxing evening onboard.

Monday morning we got up very early and moved the outboard off the dinghy transom onto the rail. This was only possible because our marina neighbours were out fishing so we listened out for their engines as they left their berth and got this done as quickly as possible. We then ran the weather models again to make sure they hadn’t changed and, yes, it was still looking good. So I prepared the overnight passage food before heading to the marina office to tell them we were leaving earlier than planned whilst Richard did the engine checks. On my return we worked out our overnight route to Middle Percy Island and programmed that into the plotter. At 10 am we motored away. Despite being there for longer than we planned we enjoyed our stay at Keppel Bay and may well revisit when we return south later in the season.

Initially there was little wind but it kicked in a couple of hours later and we sailed away nicely. We had dinner together before going into our overnight shift patterns. It was a really dark and black night with only a tiny sliver of moon so the star show was absolutely fabulous. The wind was a bit flaky at times but, because we knew we would definitely arrive during daylight hours we didn’t mind, and continued sailing even when our speed dropped down to 3knots. But, despite it being a bit slow and a bit chilly, the sailing was absolutely great and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The wind died as we got close to the Percy Islands so we motored the last few miles.

We had our anchor down in West Bay, Middle Percy Island, by 9am on Tuesday morning having covered 107 miles in 11 hours.

We had just got settled when another boat came in and, despite there being lots of room, he dropped his hook virtually over our chain and then settled back sitting directly in front of us. We were not happy and Richard informed him over the radio what he had done. Although the guy picked up and moved (having four more abortive anchoring attempts before finally settling on a spot) he was definitely not happy and both him and his wife shouted at us as they went around the anchorage looking for alternatives. Hmmmm…..great! Never mind. Other boats started coming in during the day and it became quite busy but everyone stuck with the ideal diamond formation when anchoring and we were all quite well spaced out.

We caught up with some sleep before getting cleaned up and heading ashore. We visited the famous A-frame of Percy Island Yacht Club and had a wander around. The A frame reminded us of an early Foxys and Ivans in the British Virgin Islands. We also had a quick explore of the beach and the lagoon where a couple of boats sit high and dry at low tide.

We returned to Morphie getting a bit wet as we negotiated dink through the swell which is a constant feature on this beach. Later on we came ashore again (and got wet again LOL) for sundowners where we met a lot of other cruisers, including catching up again with the crews of SV Gypsy Soul (Matt and Grace) and SV Jaraman (Kat and Jerrad). Was a very social evening and great fun.

Wednesday morning we had a lazy start before heading ashore. We had decided to try to walk to the Homestead (where the unpaid custodians Robin and Ann live) but after about 45 minutes on an uphill rough sand / dirt track I gave up and turned back. Richard pushed on but he gave up shortly afterwards when he turned yet another corner and was faced with even bigger hills to climb LOL. So we decided to chill out on the beach and explore the Tree House (which is available for rent if you really want to get away from everything) before returning to Morphie.

We did come ashore again for sundowners in the evening. We also met Robin and Ann who had come down to the beach to meet the cruisers – they were cruisers themselves before deciding to apply to be custodians of this island for the Marine Parks. A very interesting and passionate couple who have great plans but, as all material has to be sourced on the island and nothing is allowed to be imported, they have a lot of very hard physical work ahead of them. Ultimately they would like to be able to offer adventure camping / cabin trips to disadvantaged teens – really hope that they can pull this off. When chatting to them we told them that I wasn’t able to do the trek to the homestead but would like to visit and Robin offered us a guided tour on Friday in his truck – we were really happy about that. Check out the beautiful sunset and Morphie glowing in the red sky at night.

Thursday morning we had a lazy day on board and it was lovely and sunny for a change with light airs – Richard even took the opportunity to sunbathe on deck for a little while. We decided that today was the day for us to take our boat plaque ashore and install it in the A-frame. Richard had made this (with only a little bit of assistance) whilst he was bored on a rainy day in Keppel Bay Marina.

So we found a spot and got it installed out of the direct sunlight so that it wouldn’t fade. Very pleased with the output. Richard was so happy he went and shucked and broke open coconuts for some fellow cruisers to have at sundowners that evening.

Friday morning we awoke to a grey and cloudy day. We went ashore for 9.30 am and met Robin. Ian (from SV Zatara) joined us on the beach for the tour so Richard and Ian climbed into the back of the truck while I got the front seat. We drove up and over the hills admiring the valleys; thousands upon thousands of butterflies; white cockatoos flying; noisy crows; wild goats; kangaroos; views out to other islands and down to coves. Just absolutely wild and beautiful. So pleased we got to see it.

We were then taken to the homestead and met Ann who had prepared some home made goat pate for us to try and also some starfruit and chilli relish with cheese. So along with a cup of tea we had a bit of a taster session and both products were so delicious I persuaded her to sell her first attempts to me! This was followed up by an apple cake which quickly got demolished. It was very generous of them both to invite us into their home and to treat us so royally.

We also got to meet their pet cockatoo – he has a particular illness which affects the growth of his feathers and he would probably not have survived in the wild – but he was found and adopted by them and now definitely rules the roost! He is quite demanding, particularly when cheese is on the menu, and he even rode in the truck with me on the way back down to the anchorage LOL.

Robin and Ann need to earn an income from the cruisers during the sailing season so they are looking at opportunities to use up surplus crops and Ann is trying her hand at making stuff to sell. She has already (in the 10 months onsite) learnt how to manage the bee hives and is now producing very good organic sweet honey which is sold in the A-frame along with a surplus of fruit; eggs and other merchandise (on an honesty system). We decided to support this great couple by joining the 400 other boats who have already become members of the Percy Island Yacht Club so we now have another flag on board LOL. Such a great place and a very special day.

Back on board we ran the weather models again. The wind was switching back to S/SE in the early hours so it was time to move on and we decided not to go ashore again. The anchorage had thinned out in the last day or two but had filled up again during the late afternoon. We set our alarm for 2am hoping for a 3am departure but, when we woke up, we realised that the wind and tide shift had meant that we really couldn’t tell in the inky black night where our anchor was. It was also so crowded with surrounding boats it would not have been safe to pick up. So our departure was aborted, we reset the alarm for 5am and went back to bed. At 5am we got ourselves ready to go at first light and by 6am we were heading out to sea as the sun came up. Of course the wind was stronger than expected with gusts up to 30 knots and we had large and lumpy seas so it was pretty uncomfortable for the first few hours with the boat rolling from side to side and it was cold! But then, as we got further away from the pull of the island, the wind moderated a bit and the seas flattened and we had an absolutely amazing fast downwind run. We had anchor down at Scawfell Island by 4.30 pm having covered 65 miles.

We anchored in quite deep water (allowing for a 13 feet tidal range) in the most amazing bay with a fringing reef. Just wow! So we enjoyed sundowners in the cockpit watching the sun go down before turning in for an early night.

Sunday morning we had a leisurely start. The wind was still blowing at up to 25 knots and it was chilly in the wind despite the beautiful sunny day. So the wind generator was definitely earning his keep! Later on we headed ashore in dink and walked the beach and just admired the spectacular scenery. These unspoilt marine park islands are just absolutely stunning and we hope to go snorkelling here one day if we ever do find some warmer settled weather….

Monday morning, by 7am, we were pulling out of Scawfell towards Mackay. The wind was much stronger than expected so we had quite a feisty run arriving into the main harbour (dominated by the sugar processing plants) and into the marina by 11.15 am having covered 28 miles.

The marina had no staff to assist us on the dock so we had to do this unaided – which we managed – but really don’t understand why they run these places with just a couple of young girls manning the office. Anyway, we got ourselves sorted out, and went to check in. They gave us a “pay three get four” nights deal so we were happy with that. Now it was time to clean Morphie as she was totally salt encrusted and to get the shore power connected. Having done some jobs we headed to the Marina Village Tavern for some dinner before returning to the boat for bed. The tides here are quite big so the slope on the dock is quite a challenge!

Tuesday morning we picked up our hire care – a true ‘rent a wreck’ which we were surprised was even legal LOL. Check out the rust!

Anyway it drove OK so we headed north towards Airlie Beach around 9am. We enjoyed the quiet main roads and the mountainous scenery along the way before arriving into Airlie Beach around 11am.

We did a quick shopping run to Woolworths and the bottle shop before then going to the chemist to get our prescriptions filled. The day before we had received them via email from our GP in Coomera so printed them off and presented them. But this wasn’t acceptable according to Australian rules so there was some conversation about how we would get round this. The pharmacist, in the end, contacted Coomera and got the originals sent to her so she was able to give us one month’s supply but no ‘repeat scripts’. Oh well, at least we’ll be OK for another month.

We then headed to the Whitsunday Doctors surgery for our 2nd Covid jabs. There was quite a line of people waiting but they were pretty efficient and we had them done together, then sat outside for 15 minutes to check for no ill effects, then headed over the road for some lunch. We then returned to the pharmacy to pick up our medications before starting the drive back to Mackay. All done and Covid vaccination certificates in the bag – woo hoo!!! Back on board we had a quiet night in.

This morning, Wednesday, and we have treated ourselves to breakfast out in the marina village cafe and I’m blogging while Richard catches up with the news. The weather gods have decided to not play ball again with the winds turning north so it looks like we could be here until Saturday but we have a list of jobs to do, as always, so no worries.

Hope you are all well at home and enjoyed the football, despite the sad result. What great efforts from the team though – I think the tabloid headlines just sums it up perfectly.

Take care everybody and sending lots of love and hugs coming your way. So it must be time for another iconic Australian animal to make you smile – this time it’s a happy emu.

Bye for now, Jan

Saturday (26 June) it rained all day….and all night…so we just stayed down below keeping warm and dry. During the evening the shore power tripped and, despite Richard getting pretty wet on the dock trying to sort it out it wouldn’t stay up, so we changed our fridge / freezer settings to maintain the battery bank overnight.

Sunday morning it was raining again….sigh….and it was very cold! Richard managed to get the shore power back on so that was good and, as a result, we were able to get the small heater out of the locker and sat down below keeping toasty warm wrapped up in joggers and fleeces. So another day of Netflix loomed. We had hoped to go to the marina restaurant to listen to the live band in the afternoon but, for obvious reasons, that didn’t happen.

Monday and it was still raining when we woke up. But by mid morning it had stopped so although it was pretty soggy we treated ourselves to lunch out at the Waterline restaurant. This on-site restaurant has Asian chefs so there is quite a range of food on offer – so Richard tried Malaysian and I had Vietnamese. And it was absolutely delicious. We were very impressed and, having been stuck on the boat for a few days, it made a really nice change. Later in the afternoon, as forecast, the wind picked up and was blowing a hooley so it was pretty creaky on board with all the lines pulling against the dock.

Tuesday morning and the wind was still howling through the marina. The sun was trying to break through but the forecast for the next week remained absolutely awful. So we extended our stay here in the marina again….sigh…. We were lucky, actually, as some boats that tried to extend were told they couldn’t as this place is pretty busy right now with people looking for respite from the unseasonal weather. Luckily no-one had booked our berth in advance. But this delay puts us under a bit of pressure to get to Airlie Beach where we have organised a berth in the local fancy marina and resort for a few days whilst we get our 2nd Covid vaccinations. Oh well, looks like more overnight sailing is in our immediate future LOL.

So another lazy day on board but at least the rain held off although we did lose our shore power again temporarily. Something for Richard to investigate more thoroughly at some point. During the day there was news of more Covid lockdowns here in Australia with areas both north and south of us involved. Luckily we had not been to any of the places listed so were unaffected by these new restrictions.

Wednesday morning we got the bus to Rockhampton (carrying facemasks just in case) to the large Stockland Mall were we did some banking. We had a number of old UK paper sterling banknotes on board (which will cease to be legal tender next year) and thought it was time we got rid of them so exchanged them for some more Australian dollars which topped up the kitty. We then returned to the marina for a quiet night in.

Thursday morning and we awoke to sunny skies. What?!? Had the forecast been wrong again? Could we have left as we originally planned? Then suddenly the winds died, the clouds built and the drizzle started, so we had another rainy day on board and we just lazed around after doing a little spring clean. In the evening we headed over to another boat where we had been invited to sundowners – was a really nice evening. But, trying to get photos for my blog and the camera whirred and died, so here is the last photo it will ever take!

Friday morning it was cloudy and grey but at least it was dry – so we had breakfast out at The Waterline (and I borrowed this photo as I had no camera!).

Afterwards we headed back on the bus again to the Stockland Mall to buy a new camera in JB Hi-Fi. We managed to get exactly the same model – in silver rather than black this time – so were very happy especially as we were given a discount because the display model was the last one they had of this camera.

The old camera had lasted three and a half years and with our heavy usage I guess that isn’t too bad for a point and shoot and the benefit of buying the same model is that we now have a spare battery for the new one. On the way back on the bus we played with the new camera so here is our bus selfie and a picture of all the fruit bats roosting in the trees near the Yeppoon river inlet.

Back on board and Richard investigated the shore power issue. It turns out that our transformer, which steps down from 220v to 110v, had got damp in its container and this is what had kept tripping the shore pedestal breaker. So Richard dried it all out and then fabricated a wood bracket inside the transformer’s box so that it is now elevated. Of course, it immediately worked when he reconnected everything together. Phew, that was definitely a relief! Overnight we had heavy rain again…sigh….but, thankfully the power stayed connected and Morphie is staying nice and clean too LOL.

This morning, Saturday, and yes it’s still raining. This is definitely getting tedious! We have decided to do an overnight passage from here to Middle Percy island which will take about 20 hours (at an average of 5 knots) and, so far, the conditions are looking favourable for a Tuesday late morning departure. So we are currently planning on that basis and keeping all things flexible crossed. And this is what we are hoping to find there!

As I write this, the short three-day lockdowns in Queensland have been lifted apart a short extension for those in the Brisbane and Moreton Bay areas. But New South Wales appear to be struggling to contain this latest outbreak so lots of residents are under strict ‘stay at home’ orders and interstate borders remain firmly closed for the foreseeable future. So while the rest of the world continue to roll out vaccines as quickly as possible and try to get some normality back Australia is taking a different path and is continuing to isolate itself. Interesting times or what?!?

Anyway, that’s it for now. Keep safe everybody and take care of each other. Sending lots of love and hugs, so here are a couple of Australian possum cuties to make you smile.

Jan

Saturday afternoon (19 June) Chris and Sharon came onboard Morphie for sundowners. They supplied the food and drinks and we supplied the cockpit LOL. Was a lovely evening and I thoroughly enjoyed the bubbles! Thanks.

Sunday morning we headed ashore to Great Keppel Island after breakfast. We went exploring up the little creek at one end of the anchorage and spoke to the guy who lived on the trimaran that was happily sitting in the mud. We then headed to the other end of the beach and found quite a few sunbathers who had managed to find a warm sunny spot out of the cold wind. We wanted to go around to the resort and found a cliff path which, for the first part, had a rope hanging down to help people climb up. So we decided to go for it!

I managed to get to the top and then we walked through the bush, down to the beach, and finally to the resort where we enjoyed the sights from this vantage point.

We came across Chris and Sharon so joined them for a coffee before we all made the trek back and said our sad farewells. Back on board we rested up and had a quiet evening aboard.

Monday the weather changed again with strong winds forecast for the next few days so we decided that this was as good a time as any to head into the Keppel Bay Marina over at Rosslyn Bay on the mainland. But first we headed to our neighbour in the anchorage as Greg (who we had met in the Boatworks) had helped the owners of this boat bring it up the coast. So was lovely to catch up over a cup of tea with him.

Back on board Morphie we picked up anchor and timed our arrival into the marina for a couple of hours after low tide so that we would have enough depth in the entrance channel. This worked out great and we were given assistance on the dock and got ourselves settled. We washed all the salt off Morphie, checked in, and then had a wander around the facilities. Whilst we were in the office we found out that there was no nearby car hire company so we would mainly have to rely on the local buses to get out and about. To celebrate our safe arrival here in Rosslyn Bay we headed over to the local yacht club for a couple of cold ones but we didn’t stay long as it was pretty cold out on their deck!

Tuesday morning we got the bus into the local town of Yeppoon. We did a bit of shopping for the freezer (wanting to freeze stuff down whilst we were attached to shore power) and walked between two small shopping malls. We had some lunch out in the food court before heading back to Morphie on the bus. All very exciting!

Back at the marina we did some laundry and sat outside the on-site restaurant (which closes at 2pm on weekdays) so that we could use the wifi. We did some downloads but it was a really slow internet speed and we found it very cold in the strong and biting winds so we definitely didn’t linger longer than necessary. Back on board I checked our general grocery supplies and then did some on-line shopping for a ‘click and collect’ service from the local supermarket in preparation for our run into town with the marina’s courtesy car on Wednesday. We then started to plan our next anchoring stops on our run north. We also ran the weather models again and were seriously unimpressed by the forecast! There was the possibility of a reasonable Thursday and Friday (although a chance of showers), then a wet weekend (with a chance of thunderstorms), followed by really strong winds for at least the first three days of the following week. So we were contemplating sitting on the boat at anchor out in the cold and the wet for quite a while and looking for somewhere to hide if the wind changed direction. So we made the decision to extend our stay here in the marina. Oh well, never mind….

Wednesday morning we had a leisurely start and then went to the office and extended our stay. We then picked up our courtesy car and did a run to the bottle shop; the supermarket to collect the order; popped into the supermarket for fresh fruit and vegetables (preferring to select these ourselves); and then headed back via the scenic lookout over the islands. Back on board we stowed everything away and then had a quiet evening on board.

Thursday morning we decided to head back out to Yeppoon again on the bus. This time we explored the beach, the promenade and more of the town. Whilst wandering the beach we were keeping a careful eye out for saltwater crocodiles as there had been a large one spotted here only a couple of weeks ago surfing in the shallows – check out this photo taken by a local fisherman! Before we returned to the boat we had a coffee out and then caught the bus back. We then tried our luck at the internet downloads again before returning to Morphie for the night.

Friday morning were up and about early and got the bus to Rockhampton just over an hour away on the bus. This is the fourth largest city in Queensland and started life as a frontier town which then turned into a bustling river port before becoming a gold rush city. Currently it is now famous for its links to the beef industry. As a result, it has some interesting colonial architecture along the river waterfront. It was raining on our arrival so we took shelter for a while before heading to Quay Street and checked out the Fitzroy River and the historic district.

We then wandered the city streets for a while before heading back to the bus stop and our trip back to Rosslyn Bay. Was a good trip out. Back on Morphie we rested up before heading out to the local yacht club for their Friday night ‘special’ which was a fish and chip supper. We sat with some other cruisers so it was quite social and we had fun.

This morning, Saturday, we awoke to the sound of rain on the coachroof and it is definitely in for the day. So we are glad we are staying here safe, dry and warm!

So that’s it for now. There has been another covid outbreak so the Queensland border with New South Wales has completely closed again. If these sporadic outbreaks continue we can’t see there being any appetite for opening the international borders anytime soon, especially as most cases can be linked back to the restricted numbers of international arrivals (currently Australian citizens only) and their stay in quarantine hotels. Chatting to locals they strongly support this position too so politically there is some pressure to keep the borders closed until at least late 2022. So we are just ‘parking’ any difficult decisions (as none of the options currently available are particularly to our liking) and will continue to enjoy tropical Queensland whilst we can. So, on that note, it’s time for another Australian cutie to make you smile.

Jan

Friday evening (11 June) we headed to the Lighthouse Hotel in Burnett Heads for our last evening in Bundaberg. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset on our walk – about 30 minutes – but, sadly, there were no kangaroos to be found. Perhaps it was too chilly for them too?!? Anyway, the tavern was pretty busy as it was steak night and there was even a log burning stove warming up the place. We were lucky to get a seat and enjoyed our meals and a few drinks. Due to the download failures I had experienced in the marina, I had brought my laptop with me and set it up on the edge of our table. There was a high speed public network available and, during our few hours in the pub, we managed to download quite a lot of Netflix content which should keep us going for a while. Result! When we were ready we got the courtesy bus back to the marina and had an early night.

Saturday morning we got ready and slipped away from the marina at 8am. There was no wind so we motorsailed towards Lady Elliot Island. This is the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef and is 46 miles north east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately 45 hectares. The seas were flat calm so we made really good time and even got a lift from the current once we had cleared the Burnett River entrance.

By 3pm we had arrived and were delighted to find a Marine Parks mooring ball available (which are free of charge and available for 24 hour periods only). So we quickly headed over and picked that up. As we were doing so a small ray jumped completely out of the water and we had a dolphin swim by, so a pretty special welcoming committee! It was slack water at this point so the mooring ball started bumping along the hull. We then decided to read the mooring instructions (which would have been a good idea earlier LOL) and it said that the pennant should be pulled onto the bow of the boat. Well, it was a huge rope, so we pulled it up, through the spare anchor bow roller, and put the loop over the windlass capstan. Then to secure it we tied it off with two ropes to the cleats on either side so that the the capstan would not be taking the full weight of the boat. Thankfully the tide filled in and the ball floated away from the hull so we were finally set. Woo hoo, we had arrived!

There is an eco resort island and we were welcome ashore (just having to radio for permission first) but, having checked out the shore line at low water, we decided that we didn’t fancy it as it was very rocky and we would have to carry the dinghy across the foreshore. As the wind was non-existent it was actually quite warm in the sun so we enjoyed sundowners and supper in the cockpit having watched the spectacular sunset and the thousands of sea birds returning to roost on the island. We then had a movie night down below before bed.

We had a very disturbed night’s sleep because when the tide changed the mooring ball banged really hard against the hull. Thankfully the mooring ball moved away again once the tide had changed and the current kicked in and held us off.

After Sunday morning’s breakfast in the cockpit we got out our 1mm dive suits and slipped into the water. It was a bit chilly but we got used to it pretty quickly. We then checked Morphie’s hull and was relieved that all was well, as both of us were convinced the mooring ball would have left it’s mark. We had already decided that once we had finished snorkelling we would drop the ball and anchor off instead. So, how brave are we, snorkelling in the waters off the Great Barrier Reef???

We were comfortable being back in the water and we took off looking for some critters armed with our GoPro in it’s underwater housing. The first sight was a school of squid swimming in front of us. Now that is not something you see every day so that was quite joyous.

Then we spotted a small turtle but he was clearly nervous of us as he shot under a coral outcrop. The coral was in reasonable condition although not particularly colourful. We saw the usual suspects of parrot fish and lots and lots of brilliantly coloured nursery fish on the reef. There were signs of bleaching of the reef in places but it seemed to be recovering which is great news. Not sure how long we were in the water but when we had had enough we swam against the current back to Morphie.

Back on board we showered on the back transom, rinsed all our gear off, and got ourselves warmed up. We were just having a hot chocolate in the cockpit when suddenly these big shapes turned up and we realised we were watching manta rays disturbing the water. Then suddenly there were five or six of them swimming towards us. We did consider getting back into the water but a couple of swimmers from the resort tried to get close and the rays swam off immediately. So we decided to sit on the coachroof and just enjoy the beauty of these majestic creatures swim backwards and forwards by us and they entertained us for about an hour. OMG what an experience – absolutely fantastic! We were so happy.

Around 1.30 pm we dropped the mooring ball (before the tide change) and anchored off in about 20m over sand. We were now ready for an early morning departure to Lady Musgrave island as we needed to arrive there for slack water at around 10am to get through the reef into the centre of the lagoon. So we rested up for the rest of the day and just sat watching more dolphin and ray encounters and another lovely sunset before retiring down below for dinner and more Netflix content.

In the early hours of Monday morning we woke to the sound of torrential rain on the coachroof! What?!? We immediately started up the Iridium Go! and downloaded the latest weather. The wind had picked up and we were rocking and rolling around a bit. Downloads completed and it was bad news – rain, thunderstorms and clouds were forecast for the entire day. Which meant Lady Musgrave was not an option as we needed sun to be able to eyeball navigate inside the lagoon to avoid the coral bombies. Disappointed we mulled over our options. The anchorage became increasingly uncomfortable so staying put was certainly not one of them.

By 9am on Monday morning we had planned our escape to Great Keppel Island almost 120 miles away so this was going to be our first overnight passage for a while. We sorted out something to eat for that evening’s passage dinner and boiled some eggs for the following morning, Not sure why we always have egg mayo rolls for breakfast on passage but hey ho, they are tasty LOL.

We picked up our anchor, relieved that it was not being held captive by a random coral bombie, and headed out of the anchorage before raising our genoa and sailed downwind at about 3 knots in light airs. Annoyingly the earlier strong winds had eased considerably. We were very slowly making our way then the wind died off so we motorsailed – and then we saw the huge black clouds rolling in and watched this thunderstorm on the radar go across our bow and head straight at Lady Musgrave. Would not have wanted to be anchored inside that lagoon through a thunderstorm so glad we had decided to abort our trip there!

Squalls and storms continued for the whole night as we got into our passage routine of three hour shifts and we had no moon to assist us at all on this wet night. We also had to cross shipping channels near Gladstone and had quite a few cargo ship encounters – ahead of us, behind us, across us and alongside us. Certainly kept us on our toes!

As we continued towards Great Keppel we were treated to a fabulous jumping and diving display by two dolphins who put on a show just for us – could they have escaped from SeaWorld?? Was absolutely fantastic and seeing dolphins always makes us smile.

When we arrived around Tuesday lunchtime we quickly found an anchoring spot at Fisherman’s beach in lovely water which was so clear I could see the chain all the way to the bottom. Happy that we had a good set we then got cleaned up and went to bed for a few hours. Feeling refreshed we decided to stay on board and just enjoyed watching the comings and goings in the anchorage. Great spot, nice beach, and we looked forward to exploring the following day.

Wednesday morning and it was eerily quiet and grey outside so we popped our heads up to find that it was foggy and drizzly. Really?!? Never mind, we both had a list of small jobs to do so got on with them before finally relaxing down below for the rest of the day.

Thursday morning the weather started clearing and we were visited by Mike and Karen from Island Girl (an IP 380) who were anchored in the bay. Accompanied by their cute poodle boat dog Dudley. So we had a cup of tea with them and organised to go ashore for sundowners later. After they had gone I went back to bed as I was feeling quite poorly. Not sure what brought that on…. Later on I did feel marginally better so we headed ashore to meet the other cruisers for sundowners on the beach. Was a fun evening but, of course, I completely forgot to take any photos!

Friday morning we awoke to some serious nodding movement as the wind had switched to the SW so we had no protection from the fetch and waves which were steadily increasing.

So we picked up anchor and headed around the corner, through a narrow cut, to the north side of the island to an anchorage called Leeke’s Bay. We got our anchor down and the difference was huge – flat calm – and it wasn’t long before we were joined by all the other boats coming round the corner too. This is known as the Keppel Island Shuffle LOL. Leeke’s Bay has a beautiful beach and we decided to go ashore just before high tide so we wouldn’t have to drag the dinghy up the shore too far. So, in the meantime, we enjoyed relaxing in the cockpit.

At this point a Border Force boat came through the anchorage and was checking out all non-Queensland registered vessels. We were about their third stop – they just wanted to know when and where Morpheus had arrived in Australia; were we still on a control permit and when did it expire; had we met the regular reporting requirements of said permit etc. They took photos of us (presumably so they could check against their records) and asked us about our movements going forward. Obviously satisfied with our responses they went on their merry way. They were very polite although we always find it a bit disconcerting when an ‘official’ boat comes by for a chat!

It was lovely and sunny and we enjoyed sitting in the cockpit watching the world go by and I even did some hand washing. Richard did a few other jobs too like greasing the rudder bearing and clearing out the port lazarette. During the afternoon Chris and Sharon on Watusi came into the anchorage so we made arrangements with them for a reunion on the beach later. Heading over to the beach we stopped by Island Girl to wish them safe passage as they are leaving in the morning.

Hopefully we’ll see them again on our continued journey north. We then had a lovely time on the beach catching up with Chris and Sharon and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the glorious beach.

This morning, Saturday, although the sun is out the wind has strengthened so the wind generator might actually earn his keep today! So I’m blogging while Richard continues keeping busy on boat jobs – he’s cleaned the shower bilge; done some sewing; filtered some 2-stroke petrol that had water in it; checked how much water we had left in the tank; and is now relaxing in the cockpit reading. Think we’ll probably stay on board today as Chris and Sharon are coming by for sundowners later.

Next stop? Well, obviously we haven’t really checked out Great Keppel Island yet, instead we have just enjoyed being back on the hook in such gorgeous surroundings. So we’ll definitely spend some more time on this beautiful beach and, when the wind switches back to its normal SE direction, we’ll go back round the corner and check out the facilities there too. There is also good snorkelling so we might even get brave and get back in the water LOL. Sadly the bush walks are beyond me and my dodgy hip. At some point we’ll pop into the nearby marina at Yeppoon for fresh provisions before we continue heading north.

Hope you are all keeping fit and healthy. Every week we seem to get more and more sad news from home with people passing and our hearts go out to all those affected families as they go through this difficult time. Please take care of each other and sending lots of love and hugs your way and here is an Australian cutie to make you smile.

Bye for now, Jan

Monday (7 June) having finished the blog, we chilled out and just waited for emails to come in with the quote for the work plus an acknowledgement from our insurance company of receipt of the documentation. We then had a quiet evening on board catching up with Netflix.

Tuesday we headed out in the Marina’s courtesy bus and got dropped off at Bobby’s car hire and picked up our car for the day. We proceeded into the town centre and stopped first at Coles and Liquorland to do a provisioning run before returning to Morphie where we stowed everything away.

Then we went out again to the large central shopping mall. Bundaberg centre is around 30 minutes drive from here through farm land which is quite flat and it is harvest time for the sugar and sweet potatoes if the activity in the fields is anything to go by.

The town centre seemed a bit depressed with lots of closing down sales and boarded up shops so I guess the lack of international students, backpackers and tourists has hit this area quite hard. We picked up a few things and I managed to get my hair cut before we headed back to the marina via the scenic route, including Burnett Heads, which hadn’t changed much since our last visit in October 2019.

Back at the marina we were relieved to hear that the insurance company had received all our documentation and were covering all the damages (minus our excess of course). The quote from the stainless fabricator came in under our excess so that’s down to us but at least our insurance company are going to deal directly with the third party claims so we don’t have to get involved, which was great news! So despite the nightmare of getting the documentation to them in the first place they have been very responsive.

Wednesday we were up early and headed out and did our customary run to Bunnings before returning the car. Was a wet, windy and stormy sort of day. Check out this sky.

We were lucky when we returned our hire car as another couple were picking up a car and were returning straight to the marina so we got a lift back. Back at the marina we headed over to the workshop to find that a lot of our work had been done and they had even fabricated replacement connectors to match the undamaged side as these original (US-manufactured ones) are not available in Australia. Very happy with the work so far….

We then took ourselves off to sit at the benches near the office (which is where the best marina internet is to be found) but it was so cold we gave up pretty quickly and returned to Morphie admiring the cormorant who had made himself at home on top of our neighbour’s mast. Guess it is a good vantage point to spot those pesky fish! We then had a movie night tucked up down below with blankets as the temperature continues to plummet.

Thursday we got busy on some other minor jobs while we waited to hear from the engineering shop. So I took the rugs off the boat and scrubbed them clean, then dried and hoovered them on the dock. Richard re-bedded the screws on the hoyt boom; fixed the zip on the canvas that had been damaged; got a top up of diesel; and soldered the new cockpit light wires that had been snapped in the collision so got them working again. Woo hoo!

I continued on a bit of a clean up and washed all the floors down below. We then left Morphie and checked in on the engineering company – they were coming by later to polish out (as best they could) the damaged arch rail and the rest will be ready for installation on Friday. So we confirmed with the office that we will now be leaving here on Saturday if all goes well.

We tried to download some more Netflix content but, again, got driven back to the boat by the cold so gave it up as a bad job. We were both hungry so got some fish and chips again to bring back as they are just so delicious they just can’t be ignored.

Later on, as promised, Trevor came by and worked hard on polishing out the damage on the 2-inch arch rail. The only way to “fix” this rail would be to remove the whole structure; remove all the wiring that goes inside it to our solar panels, AIS, GPS, satellite communications etc; and then to get the damaged piece cut, a new piece welded in, and the whole structure reinstalled. This would probably mean living on the hard for a couple of months and would still not be perfect so we had decided that Morphie will live instead with a ‘battle wound’. Anyway, here is the ‘before’ picture followed by the ‘after’ pictures – we were amazed at how good Trevor got it to look actually.

We then had another quiet night on board and checked out the latest on the weather to see that snow had fallen heavily in some parts of New South Wales. Some of the locals had never actually seen snow before so this was quite an exciting event for them LOL. Because it was so cold we added some more blankets to our bed before we had an early night.

This morning, Friday, and Richard went over to the engineering shop to collect our steel which was now finished and to pay the bill. He then came back and we worked hard to put it all together and, yay, we are all fixed and ready to go back out there! It had been a stressful week but we were very pleased with the work that had been done and the speed in which they fitted us in. So kudos to Trevor and his team at All Quality Engineering – thank you so much! Here are some before and after shots.

After we had done the initial install of the steel I headed into Burnett Heads to have a facial as a bit of a treat. Richard stayed behind and got on with reinstalling the canvas, the cockpit lights and then moved onto engine checks; a water top up. He also did the final bits of laundry. So here is a final picture of the cockpit ready to go once more.

We had a few more jobs to do today which we have just finished – we have planned our passage for tomorrow; we have taken the outboard off the dinghy and onto the rail. So once this blog is published we are ready to go

Tonight we are going into Burnett Heads for a celebratory dinner at the Lighthouse Hotel Tavern and then we’ll be having an early night in preparation for our departure tomorrow. Hoping to see some big red kangaroos too on the walk….fingers crossed.

Wow, what a week! So very glad to be putting this behind us and we are both looking forward to more adventures in new destinations in the weeks to come. When we leave tomorrow we’ll be off line while we visit Lady Elliott Island (followed by Lady Musgrave Island) so don’t be worried as we will not be able to get a signal out there, although we will have our satellite communications of course to check weather etc.

If you want to find out where we are check out our live tracker on the ‘Where are we now’ page of this blog. After that the itinerary is a bit flexible at this stage, as so much depends upon the weather conditions. We are very excited to be heading out to island anchorages and even hope to go snorkelling, although I think we might need to wear our wetsuits LOL. Take care everybody and we will be in touch as soon as we get back online. Hopefully the restrictions will continue to ease and you’ll be able to get back to some sort of normality. Sending lots of love and hugs

Jan