Day 223: Flying Fish Point to Cairns, Australia – 17/08/10

I finish my watch at 2 am and apart from a couple of large vessels in the shipping lane, there is thankfully nothing to report. 

Climbing into bed, I have to fling off one of the blankets – it’s certainly getting warmer as we go further north.  I sleep through the night not waking until 8 am – unheard of when on passage – wonderful, although I manage to miss all the excitement of a whale heading straight for the boat before diving back down   It doesn’t surface again until it’s too far away to be photographed.

We have good, pretty steady winds all morning allowing us to sail at 8 knots and arrive into the marina at Cairns around lunchtime.  Immediately Mike hooks the internet up and pretty soon all four of us are sitting around using our individual PCs.  How sad!

Brown Eyed Girl arrives but they get berthed right over the other side of the marina to us and we don’t see them once they are in.

Heidi makes lunch then we go off to explore the town.  It’s actually very pretty with an esplanade and promenade and a man made lagoon for people to paddle in – complete with imported sand etc.  These are pretty popular because people don’t seem able to go into the water due to the jelly fish and the salt water crocodiles, not to mention the bloody sharks!

On the subject of crocodiles, let me introduce the ‘salties’.  These are the huge salt water crocs that grow to about 20 feet long and hang around the river estuaries where they meet the sea.  They love hiding in the mangroves and can jump 10 feet up in the air to snatch their unsuspecting prey from the decks of boats.  There have been reports of people losing their pet cats and dogs this way.  I won’t be dangling my feet overboard anytime soon!  We will be going on a river trip to see if we can spot any of them soon.  How sensible is that?

Heidi and I walk up one road which is in the shade of lots of trees.  We can hear loads of birds until, looking up, we see that they aren’t birds but literally hundreds of fruit bats.  It’s a real case of ‘spot the tourist’.  No sensible Aussie is walking along this stretch, just stupid people like us looking up taking photos.  Well actually, stupid people like me.  Heidi has the sense to put the map of Cairns over her head so that she doesn’t get covered with fruit bat poop!

Photos:  More bats than you can shake a stick at

We turn down a side alley and suddenly find the most amazing street art which reminds me so much of some of the stuff you see around central London.

Photos:  Cairns street art

The town has a sort of colonial feel about it.  The buildings are mainly white in the city centre, and there is a backdrop of mountains.  There’s the usual assortment of tourist tat shops mixed in with decent ones (and a very upmarket ‘Galleria’).  Everything is very clean and orderly (apart from the bloody fruit bats!).

Photo:  I stood in the middle of the road to take this one – how sensible is that?

We stop at an art gallery showing Aboriginal art.  I have to say I do like the more abstract ones (never been keen on any art that depict animals and such like).  The work all seems to be based on dots.  Blocks of colour are made up of hundreds of them.  I would like to buy a small painting or something for the apartment back home but they are very expensive.

On the way back to the boat I keep my eye out for the lovely Ugg slippers that I saw in Sydney.  Yes, I know I already have a pair which I bought in Fiji but they are the fushia pink clog type and the ones I also like are baby pink with little ribbons on and are sooooo sweet.  I should have bought them when I saw them.  Sigh.

As we walk along the esplanade, there are people doing an aerobic exercise class in the park.  They are copying, well sort of copying, the woman on the stage.  It’s all very strange.

The marina and bay are bathed in golden light from the sunset as we return.  It looks quite beautiful.

Photos:  Sunset over Cairns waterside

We go out for dinner in the evening, looking at all the menus along the marina before deciding on the first one we saw.  I have a Japanese steak dish – wagu or something (that’s not quite right) – not what I expected but a really good piece of steak all the same.

Back on the boat I see that Victoria is on line and call her using Skype.  She is in floods of tears as she tells me that she has passed all her exams and is now a fully fledged dispensing optician.  I am so proud of her and the news finishes off my day nicely!

 

Our position is:  17 deg 36 min S, 146 deg 46 min E

Distance so far:  10953 nautical miles

Day 222: Townsville to Flying Fish Point, Australia – 16/08/10

I do the 2 to 5 am watch, motoring all the time in flat calm seas and with nothing to report.

I wake up feeling completely rested and as it is light and Mike is not beside me, I wait for a while for my cup of tea to arrive.  When it is not immediately forthcoming, I yell out for it which encourages Heidi to chance her luck and shout out from her cabin too.  Watch out, Casey!

When Mike does arrive with my cuppa he tells me it was only late because he had been catching me a fish.  I drink my tea and get up to have a look.  He has a Spanish mackerel, the first one of these we have caught, and it is lying in the grill of death waiting to be dealt with.  I glare at it – it has nasty teeth - and disappear back to bed with my breakfast.

Photos:  Our first Spanish mackerel – complete with sharp teeth

I lie there as long as I can then get up to deal with Mr Fish, now lying waiting for me minus his head, tail and innards.  I kick off my slippers, put on my pinny and get to work.  Although smaller than the mahi mahi we have caught, it seems to yield more meat.

Photo:  Filleting our catch

No sooner has Mike disappeared below, and I have washed up the cutting board and knife and packaged up the fillets, than the line screams out again.  I put the clutch on the rod, Casey slows the boat down and starts to reel it in while I put the gear on.  He then hands the rod to me.  There seems little resistance and for I while I think I have lost it but then it comes, another Spanish mackerel and bigger than the last one.  I get it right to the back step but as I pull it out of the water, it thrashes wildly, sending the line over the side, whereupon he smacks himself on the side of the boat and gets off the hook.  Bugger.  At least he leaves the lure intact.

Photo:  Reeling in the one that gets away

Within fifteen minutes, we have another bite and this time I get him all the way back to the boat and Mike has hold of the line when he manages to escape.  We conclude that the barbs on the hooks just are not big enough on this lure.  Must buy some nastier ones if we are going to keep our fish although we don’t like doing this just in case we need to let them go for whatever reason.  Ah well, one out of three is better than none out of three and at least I don’t have to spend the whole morning with my hands covered in smelly fish.  I disappear for my shower.

I cook some of the fish for Casey, Mike and myself for lunch and it is a really good, firm, white fish.  Heidi doesn’t eat any as she has a level of fish allergy and doesn’t want to risk it.

There are whale and dolphin sightings again in the afternoon, but once again, they are too far off to capture on camera.  We manage to sail for most of the day although the wind drops in the early evening and we resort to motor sailing.  Now that we are completely in the protected waters of the Great Barrier Reef, the sea is calm and smooth.  I so wish it had been like this for Johanne, Steve and Isabella.

Heidi is discovering the delights of Absolutely Fabulous and is gradually working her way through them.  We have another fabulous sunset that begs to be photographed, so I oblige.

Photo:  Guess what?

After dinner Casey turns into the domestic god he knew he always could be and does the washing up.  I take the first watch.

Photo:  Casey being the galley slave

 

Our position is:  19 deg 07 min S, 147 deg 14 min E

Distance so far:  10781 nautical miles

Day 221: Whitsundays to Townsville, Australia – 15/08/10

My night watch is from 5 to 7 am so I am the only one around to witness the beautiful sunrise in the middle.

  Photos:  Another chilly but beautiful sunrise

As usual, with the clear sky overnight, it’s cold in the morning but starts to warm up immediately the sun rises over the horizon.  Mike gets up followed by Heidi and I wait for a cup of tea before heading back to bed for a couple of hours sleep.

When I get up I see that the strange red algae is back, more of it even than before, running in great streams all around the boat.  The smell is back with it too, although it is not particularly strong.  If I didn’t know better I would think that the mother of all ships had just emptied its holding tanks!

Photo:  Red algae,

During the morning we see a large whale in the distance, leaping out of the water and fluking, but it is too far away to photograph.  The suddenly a pod of dolphins arrive.  These are much larger than any we have seen before and it’s wonderful to watch them as it has been such a long time since we have seen any.  We are only going slowly and they stay with us for about ten minutes, amazing really as we have very little wake for them to play in.

Photos:  Dolphins playing off the bows

These dolphins (no more than 8 or 10 of them) act differently to the smaller ones we have seen so far.  They roll in the water, sometimes swimming belly up watching us and the boat.  And they swim so effortlessly, matching our speed and rubbing against the hulls of the boat, something I’ve not seen them do before.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of them have blue anti fouling on them when they leave us.  In the distance some of them leap high out of the water, not spinning but just getting really high and then they dive deep.  It’s so strange that their behaviour is so different to what I have seen before.  Eventually though, they leave us, although they (or another pod) join us another three times during the day.

Late in the afternoon (after yet another sleep) the algae has completely disappeared again and the wind takes us off course forcing us to motor in order to get back on track.  Then the wind dies away altogether and we put the genoa away.  Casey keeps saying how comfortable it is on Jeannius, no rocking, rolling or things moving about.  I assure him that it’s not always this comfortable, and I am sure that if Johanne were here, she would totally agree after her experience last week here!!

There is another whale sighting in the distance as the sun starts to set but again it is too far away to capture.  We can just see the huge splashes in the water as he whacks his tail down.  I manage to get the sunset though.

Photo:  Approaching Townsville, another sunset

During the early evening, Casey keeps looking with a certain level of alarm at the depth indicator and the charts.  If he was in his own boat, he would be much further out than we are going and he appears just a little nervous.  His monohull is a lot deeper than us and although Mike assures him that all is OK, he doesn’t quite look as though he believes him but I know Mike knows what he is doing!

Heidi and I cook dinner as a joint effort.  I do the sauté potatoes and she cooks the garlic lamb cutlets.  Yum.

 

 

Our position is:  19 deg 07 min S, 147 deg 14 min E

Distance so far:  10781 nautical miles

Day 220: Mackay to the Whitsundays, Australia – 14/08/10

Feeling a little grotty, more to do with my sore throat than last night’s wine (honest) I decline to go food shopping with Heidi when she turns up with her case, and opt instead for cleaning their cabin and bathroom and making up the bed.

The boat still feels clammy.  I don’t think it will dry out properly until it is hot enough to have the air conditioning on.  Then I will have it on full blast and open every cupboard and drawer on the boat to dry them out too.

It’s a beautiful day in Mackay.  Clear blue sky and a really light breeze.  Why couldn’t it have been like this when Johanne and Steve were here?

Casey arrives with his luggage around 10 am and eventually Heidi arrives back with enough food to feed a little army.  She shops like I do – goes with a list and buys three times the things that are on it but look yummy.

Once we are all paid up, we untie the lines and off we go, but what a difference to when we left here with Johanne and Steve.  Then it was all sea mist, cold and damp.  Today it is bright sunshine, and, unbelievably, some wind in the right direction, despite the weather forecast suggesting that we would be motoring all day.

We get the main and the genoa out and sail north towards Cairns.  It’s difficult to tell how much wind we have because the wind speed instruments have suddenly stopped working (another job for the list) but we make an average of 5 knots.

I try not to dwell on the fact that the Suttons are still in Sydney.  How I wish we could have stayed that extra day.

I sleep all afternoon, probably because I am feeling a little under the weather, but don’t feel too guilty as Heidi does the same.  As the sun starts to go down, the wind drops almost completely, and what tiny bit there is blows completely on the nose.  So we motor.  Although I miss the actual sunset, as the sun disappears over the horizon, the sky turns blood red. 

Photo:  Red sky at night

Heidi and I take the first watch.  It is a very narrow stretch of water and there are lots of lights around.  We take it in turns to stick our heads out and look all about but it’s so cold we don’t hang around.  I have my fleece and cashmere shawl on as well as my Ugg slippers.  At midnight we go our separate ways to bed and Mike takes over.

 

Our position is:  20 deg 13 min S, 148 deg 51 min E

Distance so far:  10670 nautical miles

Day 219: Sydney to Mackay, Australia – 13/08/10

Mike wakes me up with a cup of tea and announces that he got the time of our flight wrong and I will have to get up and ask the concierge to book us onto an earlier shuttle bus.  I go downstairs but it’s a different guy this morning and he has obviously got out of bed on the wrong side.  He announces that they never use that shuttle company as they are so unreliable.  He changes the pick up time with them anyway and says he hopes they turn up!  Gee, thanks.

Again, Mike dismisses my porridge and goes out to buy breakfast, coming back with two of the most enormous blueberry muffins I have ever seen.  He can eat like this all the time and nothing happens.  Life is so unfair.  I eat half of one – it is very good.

The weather is beautiful.  There isn’t a cloud in the sky and the wind has dropped altogether.  How I wish I was staying for one more day, for many reasons.

I meet Johanne and Steve at the convention centre.  It’s a complicated route through to our apartment, too difficult to describe so collecting them is easier.  Their hard disk is ready to go.

Photos:  Steve, Johanne and I outside the Sydney Convention Centre

It’s hard to say goodbye, and it inevitably turns out tearful.  I feel like I am starting out all over again, only this time I have more sailing to do.  I try to tell myself that I am actually on the way home now, but it doesn’t work.  When I feel like this, nothing consoles me, which is weird as I know that even with all my homesickness, I wouldn’t have given up the opportunity to do what I have done.  After all, I wouldn’t have visited Sydney under any other circumstances, and I have totally fallen in love with it.  Johanne and I have talked about her coming out again but the only sensible time is when we are in Mauritius and she can’t come then.  We are in South Africa for quite some time but this might be difficult to arrange between Victoria and Ann. 

Red eyed, snotty nosed and miserable, I follow Mike downstairs to check out.  We wait outside for a shuttle bus and around the allotted time one shoots straight past us so Mike goes back to get the concierge (who has one of those ‘I told you so’ faces on).  While he is gone, our shuttle bus turns up, and I go and retrieve Mike, completely ruining the concierge’s day now that he has been proved wrong.

Once checked in, we find the Priority Pass lounge, this time hosted by Virgin.  I am dubious as to whether our passes will work as they have run out and our new ones are sitting at home, but they do.  It’s a great lounge – good food and very good NZ SB.  I don’t normally drink when flying but it’s the end of a beautiful few days and I drink a toast to the friend I have left behind.

Our flight is half an hour late, which makes our connection appear a little risky.  I stand and watch our bag being thrown onto the conveyor belt into the plane so I have photographic evidence for when it doesn’t turn up.

Photo:  That’s our Henri Lloyd bag on the conveyor belt

Photo:  The Virgin Blue planes have some great logos

In the end, the connecting flight in Brisbane is late too, so everything works out fine.  We even manage to share a cab with three other guys and end up not having to pay anything as one of them is putting it on his company account. 

Just as we get back to the boat, Maggie and Bob are walking past Jeannius, and Maggie leaps to our pontoon trying to make herself look like our welcoming committee.  Yeah, good try, Maggie!  They also had a great time in Sydney and the outback.  Maggie is a great rider and has been herding cattle and watching lambs being castrated by a macho Bruce-type who does it with his teeth.  Mmmm.  Glad I missed that one although I might have to look at the photos!

We join what’s left of the fleet in the yacht club for ‘a drink’.  Heidi and Casey are joining us for a week up to Lizard Island where they will join their boat, Wild Tigris.  Offering me a glass of wine, Casey comes back with a bottle for me, although I do share it out.  Thanks, Casey.  The crew from Ronja are back and joining the fleet up to Darwin and Reiner from Sunrise is there, as well as the crews from Brown Eyed Girl, Crazy Horse and Ocean Jasper.  We thought we would be leaving with the latter two tomorrow but now they will probably not be leaving until Monday, so we will head out alone tomorrow as planned.

Mike leaves earlier than me.  I stay behind with my bottle chatting.  When I think he has had enough time to unpack, tidy the boat and make the bed, I head back.  He’s done pretty well although has managed to make the bed up without first putting on the freshly laundered mattress cover.  He mutters about doing it in the morning but I am a tough task master and make him do it now.  I attempt to catch up with the blog but am too tired and fall asleep immediately my head hits the pillow.

Day 217: Sydney, Australia – 11/08/10

Today might be the best day weather wise, so Mike and I do not intend hanging around.  Our hotel is interesting.  Not quite a hotel but a converted wool warehouse dating back to the nineteenth century which is now half private apartments and half holiday lets.

Photo:  View from our apartment balcony

 Photo:  Inside the apartment building

Photo:  The Oaks Goldsborough Apartments

Having arranged to meet Johanne and Steve (Isabella is out for the day with her friend, Hannah) outside the Imax at 10 am, we phone the Citigate hotel immediately housekeeping opens to check that they have Jutta’s jumper, but the woman on the other end does not speak good English and we decide to walk over there first.

It’s a long walk, mainly because my husband exits the hotel in the wrong direction.  Of course, this, apparently, is my fault, as it’s normally me that does the map reading!  We head off, totally wrong for about ten minutes before he checks the map properly and we turn around.  Men!

We are now walking very briskly in an attempt not to be late for Johanne and Steve (Isabella is off to meet up with Hannah, an old school friend from home who now lives in Sydney).  At least the hotel is able to produce the jumper today, and also lucky that Jutta is so small that the jumper fits happily in my handbag.

Although it’s bright and sunny, it’s really cold.  We find Johanne and Steve and walk around the harbour to get the ferry to Circular Quay.  This route takes you under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House.  As the ferry gets going, it gets even colder.  We try to ignore it but eventually Mike gives in and does the unbelievable – he dons a baseball cap.

Photo:  It may be a baseball cap, but at least it’s from Robert Wan (mega pearl guy)

Photo:  Leaving Darling Harbour

As we round the corner, we pass under Sydney Harbour bridge and I can’t believe that I am actually on the opposite side of the world to where I live and looking at what must be one of the most iconic buildings ever.

Photo:  Sydney Harbour Bridge

Photo:  Sydney Opera House

Photo:  Mike and I at Circular Quay

The boat arrives in Circular Quay and we get off to explore.  First we walk to the area called The Rocks.  This is the oldest part of Sydney and there are cobbled streets and, old pubs and hotels, and very expensive shops like Gucci.  But it’s so cold, and when we see the Guliyan Chocolate Tea House we just have to go in – purely to warm up you understand!

Photo:  Chocolate and macadamia brownie – yummy!

Hot chocolate and brownies later, we brave the fierce wind and wander around.  It’s a lovely area, old buildings and streets mixed in with brand new steel and glass structures.

Photos:  Old next to new (I’m talking about the buildings!)

Johanne manages to find some Ugg boots, Mike a tee-shirt and I get a lovely artist designed hoody.  Then it’s back towards the Opera House again.

Photo:  Johanne and I at Circular Quay

We decide to get another ferry out to Manley and walk back to the ferry terminal.  We pass a guy explaining and demonstrating how the didgeridoo works and stand and listen for a while.  It is a strange, haunting sound.

Photo:  Playing the didgeridoo

We discover there is a ferry leaving in a few minutes and run like mad to catch it, only just managing to do so.  The views as we leave Circular Quay are spectacular, made even better by the fact that the clouds disperse and it warms up – a little.

Photos:  Just can’t get enough of that view

The ride to Manley only takes half an hour – that ferry shifts.  There is some sort of yacht race going on in the harbour, and as we stand and watch them go round the marker, there are a couple of near misses.  Seeing all these monohulls leaving over, reminds me once again how glad I am that we sail a cat!

Photos:  On the ferry to Manley

We arrive in Manley and walk down the Corso, the pedestrian shopping strip which leads from the harbour to the Pacific.  This is one of the famous places to watch the surfers, and although the surf isn’t particularly good today, there’s a lot to watch.

Photos:  Surfers at Manley Beach

We search for ages to find a particular restaurant that has been recommended to Steve, only to find that it isn’t at Manley, it’s at Watsons Bay, so we settle for a recommendation from a local guy and have a lovely seafood meal.  Johanne and I have ‘bugs’, a kind of small local lobster which is very good washing down with some SB.

We try to time our return trip to get sunset views of the bridge and the Opera House but don’t quite manage it – on the first ferry it’s too light and on the second one it’s too dark.  Oh well, I tried!  Once the sun goes down it is really cold and Mike and I take cover inside.  Johanne and Steve brave the elements and stay outside, soaking up every last view.

Photos:  Views as the light disappears

By the time we get back to Darling Harbour, we are all freezing and exhausted.  Having eaten late anyway, we don’t need to eat, so we go our separate ways.  We pass through the Harbourside Mall and buy some badness to eat – sweeties.  Naughty, naughty.  Back at the hotel, Mike stands under a hot shower for ages before he warms up, but it was worth it.

What a fantastic day!