Australia – part 2

Australia, the Land Down Under This is a continuation of our travels in the Land Down Under. continued…. 11/2, Bundaberg 24 45.650 S, 152 23.252 E, Port of Bundaberg Marina, Bundaberg Rich and Jesse returned safely on Saturday night. After Jesse's test they stopped at Mooloolaba and picked up a mail package that Nancy had sent us. Then they drove on to Bundaberg and arrived after Sarah and I had finished dinner. Today we went into town to do some provisioning only to find out that the streets of Bundaberg are still rolled up from Saturday night. None of the grocery stores are open. We will have to get up early tomorrow morning and do our provisioning before we return the rental car. Brad, the owner of Baltimore’s, poses in chair he carved Windarra on. This afternoon Rich helped me make updates to the website. I have uploaded them so now you can see the latest position updates and pictures of Australia at www.svwindarra.com. I have also updated the cruising route page for those of you who want to see how many days we have been on passage or at anchor, etc. We will watch for our weather window to head to the Great Sandy Strait. The Great Sandy Strait is the passage between the main land and Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, or so the cruising guide says. We are looking forward to exploring here and maybe seeing some wild dingos. We missed Fraser Island on the way north due to the weather. We hope we can visit shortly. 11/6, Bundaberg 24 45.650 S, 152 23.252 E, Port of Bundaberg Marina, Bundaberg Last night we had sundowners with Gunther and Lois of Pacific Bliss. It was good to catch up on where they had been and their plans. We laughed about watching DVD's at anchorage # 17 in Vava'u, Tonga one day when it rained and rained. They are getting ready to head back to the States for 6 months. Then they will return and cruise Australia. Today is Jesse's birthday. He is 18 years old. Rich barbequed some steaks on the grill. Jesse made a pumpkin pie from scratch! It was great. It is the first pumpkin pie we have had since Thanksgiving in Mexico, two years ago. We gave him a copy of "Ringworld" by Larry Niven and "Ringworld Throne". We also gave him a pair of headphones to wear with his MP-3 player. Sarah gave him some special candy from her stores. His choice of movie was LOTR: The Two Towers. Of course we had champagne to celebrate. It was a bottle we have carried since leaving Seattle. What a vintage! Happy Birthday Jesse! 11/7, Kingfisher Resort, Fraser Island 25 23.785 S, 153 01.166 E, Kingfisher Resort, Fraser Island This morning we filled up with fuel and at 9:30am we were making our way out of Bundaberg. It was a long motorsail to the Great Sandy Strait, the inside passage between the main land and Fraser Island. We missed this area when we were heading north since we could not cross the Wide Bay bar entrance at the south end because of the weather and wound up going all the way around Fraser Island. This time we are able to explore this inside passage. Since we left late we did not arrive at Kingfisher Resort until after dark. We made the other boats at anchor in the light of the full moon and after the last boat in the line we dropped the hook. Shortly afterwards another sailboat anchored right behind us. We hope to check out the resort tomorrow and see about exploring the island, home to wild dingoes and other fauna. Should be fun. 11/12, Kingfisher Resort, Fraser Island 25 23.785 S, 153 01.166 E, Kingfisher Resort, Fraser Island This morning Jesse ferried Rich, Sarah and I over to the Kingfisher Resort. We stopped for some lunch and then caught our Natural Heritage half-day 4WD tour of Fraser Island. The three of us along with 15 other tourists climbed on the four-wheel drive bus. Inside the Kingfisher Bay Resort We bounced around over rutted sand roads to Central Station in the middle of the island. Central Station is not a train stop but the sight on an old logging camp in the middle of the rain forest area of the island. They had been logging this area until 1992 when the island was made a World Heritage site and logging was prohibited. We left the bus and hiked to the Pile Valley through the rain forest and along Wanggoolba Creek. The creek is fed by springs from the island's large water table and the water is crystal clear with no sediment or contaminants. It moved over the sand bed silently with no gurgle or splash. We saw an ancient fern species, a lizard and a fresh water eel. Our guide and bus driver, Rob, showed us a trap door spider that made us jump as he poked a stick into its hole. It is 6 times more poisonous than the Sydney variety of the same spider, but the Fraser Island spider is nocturnal, only coming out at night or when poked by a stick. After this, Rob pointed the way down the trail to Pile Valley and told us he would pick us up there with the bus and off he went. Great timing! So all of us tramped down the trail mindful of spiders! Wanggoolba Creek Trapdoor spider hole True to his word, Rob was at the end of the trail with the bus. We climbed aboard and bounced our way to Lake McKenzie. The lake is a perched lake, meaning it is between the sand dunes and even though it is on sand, there is enough of an organic barrier below the sand to keep the water from soaking in. The sand beach around the lake is white as snow and as fine as sugar. The water of the lake is rainwater, crystal clear and soft. We all went for a relaxing swim. Sarah and I rubbed sand on each other as it is supposed to be a great exfoliate. Rob also suggested that it was good for polishing jewelry, it is so fine. The lake was worth the trip. Rich and Sarah swimming at Lake McKenzie After the swim, we had afternoon tea with damper bread, an Outback favorite. The picnic area was enclosed in fences, to keep out the wild dingoes that roam the island. No sightings of a dingo yet though. Dingo Warning On the ride back to the resort, Rob told us about 4 of the world's most poisonous snakes inhabit Fraser Island, including the black death adder and the coastal taipan. We heard stories about incidents with the snakes and how to treat someone who was bitten. Thank goodness he told us this at the end of the tour. After returning to the resort we walked down the beach towards Windarra and Jesse paddled the dingy over to pick us up. The outboard motor is misbehaving and will need an overhaul in Mooloolaba. Tonight we are having roast chicken with rosemary and Jesse is making a blackberry pie. Yum, Yum! 11/13, Yankee Jack’s 25 31.500 S, 152 58.123 E, Yankee Jack's, Fraser Island This morning at 9am we left Kingfisher Resort for points south in the Great Sandy Strait. At 10:30am we heard the local Coast Guard VMR give a high wind warning report for coastal waters between Coolangatta and Sandy Cape of 20-30 knots. Sandy Cape is the north end of Fraser Island and Coolangatta is south of Brisbane. So we decided to pull into Yankee Jack's anchorage as it provides good protection from southeasterlies. We will watch the weather and see about working our way farther south tomorrow. Yankee Jack's is a small bay along a cliff face of Fraser Island. It is about 9 nm south of Kingfisher Resort. There are a few boats in the anchorage with us. There are even some flat-bottomed houseboats. Tomorrow we will check the weather and then make a call 11/14, Pelican Bay 25 48.821 S, 153 02.230 E, Pelican Bay, near Wide Bay Bar This morning we got up leisurely and had breakfast. We waited until 10am to weigh anchor so that we would have the advantage of a rising tide as we went through the straits. The version of C-Map that we have does not have the markers for going through this area. We purchased a Queensland chart, known as the Guide to Great Sandy Strait. It has a wealth of information and it is updated frequently so the accuracy is good. It has all of the markers through the strait as well as anchorages and when they are suitable according to the wind direction. Anyway, it was an intense passage since it is difficult to see some of the marks when they are against a dark green background of the mangroves. At one point we made a wrong turn and had to retrace our path and get back on the correct course. It is a little disconcerting when the chart shows the depths of some areas as 0.9 or 1.0 meters! As it was the lowest we saw was 2.7 meters, at high tide no less. The last half of this 23 nm trip was with the wind on our nose at 15-20 knots and as we got farther south we had the wind over the opposing current, which made the going a bit of a splash. Of course the salt spray on the dodger windows forced you to look around it and into the spray to look for marks. We did manage to see some dolphins along the way and I caught a quick glimpse of a dugong before he dove under the water. Right now we are anchored outside the entrance to Pelican Bay and Tin Can Bay further inside. The catamarans are inside but the monohulls, including us, and the shrimp boats are outside where it is a little deeper (5 meters versus 1-2 meters). From here we can watch the ferries carry the 4WD vehicles across Wide Bay to Fraser Island and back. The vehicles look like ants running along the sandy shore. Ferries that go across to Fraser Island We will check the grib files tonight and the weather reports. Tomorrow morning we will see if there are good conditions to cross the Wide Bay Bar and head to Mooloolaba. Whenever we go we will have lots of company since all of the boats are collecting here to head across the bar and go south. 11/15, Mooloolaba 26 41.168 S, 153 07.709 E, Mooloolaba Yacht Club Marina Last night when we went to sleep there were about 20 boats in the anchorage. At 6am, I saw three boats going out. By the time we left at 7am, there were only 6 boats left! Everyone got up early and took off. Originally we talked about waiting for 2 hours before the high tide at noon to head out. We called the Tin Can Bay Coast Guard to ask about conditions for crossing the bar and they said it was great and we could go at any time. So we left. The minimum depth we saw was 4.7 meters. It was a motor sail south as the wind were from the south to southeast. But it was sunny and pleasant. They have dredged the entrance at Mooloolaba so that it is straight and there are lead lights to help. Of course all of the shrimp boat fleet was trying to get out as we are trying to go in. So we will settle here for a while. After tying up the boat we headed for showers and then out to eat. Tomorrow we will wash all of the salt off the boat! 11/22, Mooloolaba We are settling in here in Mooloolaba and adjusting to marina life as we did at Bayswater in Auckland. The covers are on the winches and today Rich hosed off the foulies so we can vacuum pack them since we will not be using them for a while. We have also connected to MarinaNet, a wireless connection so that we have internet access on the boat. In addition we have been meeting the cruisers. Pete and Julie of Sojourner are here. Ventana arrived recently but we have not talked to them yet. In a previous lifetime, Sojourner, Ventana and Windarra, as Noella, were buddy boats in the Caribbean. Now all three of these boats are in the same marina in Australia - small world, yes? Sarah and GB of Djarrka just arrived as well as Green Ghost, both of which were with us at Bayswater. New friends include Charlie, Gayle, Ezra and Hannah of Bonheur, from Port Townsend, WA, David and Lisa of Francis, from Seattle, David and Ellen and their two sons of Peace and Aloha from Hawaii and Dennis and Joy of Molokai from Manly, Australia. This is just a few of the boats here that we have met. Last night there was a pizza potluck on the dock and it was a good opportunity to meet the community. Sarah did an excellent job making three pizzas for us. It went quickly! Rich and I have started walking in the morning. Unlike the rest of Australia, Queensland does not observe daylight savings time so it starts to get light at 4:30am. We try to get up early before it gets too hot to walk. There is a nice pathway that goes along the beach from the breakwater to the Surf Club at Alexander Head. I am not sure how far we are walking but we feel like we are getting a good workout and the views of the beach are grand. Yesterday was the start of schoolies week. It is similar to seniors week in the US when the students have graduated from school, known as college here and they spend the next week partying. The city of Mooloolaba closes some of the streets from 6pm to 4am to help control the crowds. There are dances and parties arranged with free buses to chauffeur the kids around. The police have a bus with tents by the beach including an infirmary to help in case of emergency. We were talking to a taxi driver and he was complaining that most of the schoolies are going to the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane and that the city was paying for extra policemen who were just standing around bored. I guess better bored than busy in this case. Today Sarah and I walked up to the used bookstore. We sold some of the books we have read and look for replacements. The bookshelves are crammed with books and the aisles are narrow and made even more narrow by the piles of books on the floor, some of the piles being four foot high. If there was an earthquake, no one would be found for at least a week under piles of books. When I go in I have an overwhelming urge to try and organize the place. I am sure that we will be visiting it often. After the bookstore Sarah and I walked down to Starbucks for frappacinos, a little taste of Seattle. If you ignored the accents of the barristas and the coffee mugs that say Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and the like, you would almost think you were in Seattle! On Thursday we will celebrate Thanksgiving at the yacht club. They will provide the dinner and we will bring the desserts. Jesse plans to make some pumpkin pies. Turkeys are expensive here. We saw an 16 pounder in the store for $66 AUD, ouch! 12/03, Mooloolaba On Sunday Rich and I were invited to join some other cruisers on a hike. We drove west from Mooloolaba, through Buderim and Montville and beyond (not quite to the black stump). Our destination was the Kondalilla Falls National Park. From the parking lot it was a short hike into the falls through a forest of eucalyptus and palms. Along the way we saw a large iguana about 3 feet long. At the falls there is a swimming hole. So we took advantage of the fresh water and had a swim. It was refreshing, read a little on the cool side for some of us, namely me, but I got used to it. It is one of the few places in Australia were you can swim in fresh water and not worry about something trying to bite or eat you! We sat on the rocks and had lunch and enjoyed the scenery. Since it is higher in elevation you can look out and see the ocean in the distance. A Kodak moment! View along the way to the falls Falls and swimming hole In the mornings Rich and i have been walking to get some exercise. Some days we walk as far as the Surf Club at Alexander Heads. Afterwards we stop at one of the coffee shops for a short respite. There is even a Starbucks, just like home. Since it is now Christmas time they are playing the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas music. It seems a little odd when everyone is wearing bathing suits or shorts and t-shirts and the beach is right across the street. But hey, it is December, Down Under! 12/07, To Brisbane and back to Mooloolaba On Friday morning we packed Mandu into his cat carrier and headed to the Maroochy Vet. Before he can stay at a cattery he needed to get his flu vaccination so off we went. On the walk to the car he was protesting, promising to be good, not to go on the dock, not to hock up a hairball on the Chinese rug, anything to go back to the boat. His cries fell on deaf ears. Despite a little backtracking we found the vet. She was very nice and friendly. Mandu weighed in at over 6 kg, about 13.8 lbs - not exactly his fighting weight and it did get a comment from the vet. He was well behaved during the exam including the anal probe (how embarrassing), the flea check, the shot and the worming pill. He didn't mind getting back into his carrier, nor the ride back in the car. He was most glad to get back on the boat though. With plenty of food and water we left him to take care of Windarra and the four of us piled into the car to head to Brisbane. Saturday morning, Jesse would take his SAT II's, so we decided to make an outing of it. We found a place to stay in Toowong, near the University of Queensland, St. Lucia campus where Jesse would take his test. In the afternoon Jesse wanted to do some studying so Rich, Sarah and I headed to the shopping plaza in Toowong to do some window-shopping. After a few hours we went back, picked up Jesse and headed into downtown Brisbane and the movie theater. Master and Commander just opened here so we got tickets and got a snack before the show. Since it has been playing in the States for a while I suppose you know about it. If you have not seen it and you would like to see what it is 'really' like on the ocean, you should go see it. We all agreed that the depiction of the ocean was very realistic, from the doldrums to the storms. Rich and I have been reading the Patrick O'Brian series and thought they did a good job on the characters and the movie. It is not precisely one book but episodes from various books but it flowed together well. Jesse and Sarah have not read the books but liked the movie as well. Saturday morning Jesse had his test. Rich dropped Sarah and I downtown to do some shopping. Even though it was pouring down rain we had a good time since the shopping downtown is a series of small malls. We shopped until we were ready to drop! Later Rich and Jesse joined us downtown. Of course we gravitated towards the Borders bookstore and the coffee shop! In the afternoon we headed back to Mooloolaba, Windarra and Katmandu. There was supposed to be a Christmas boat parade in the evening but the report of gale warnings suggested postponement until this evening. After a pizza we all headed to bed. A visit to the 'big' city had tired us out. Jesse feels good about his tests so we are happy with that. 12/09, Mooloolaba I forgot to tell you that when we were in Brisbane and went to the Borders bookstore we saw a sight that we have not seen in a very long time. It was a group of Hare Krishnas chanting and dancing with drums and finger cymbals outside the store. The last time I remember seeing this was in the movie "Airplane", when Lloyd Bridges slugged a Hare Krishna as he entered the airport. Rich had that same look in his eye but just looked at me and smiled. The locals tried to ignore them. Are they still in the States? I guess not at airports anymore. I bought a book titled, "Aboriginal Words of Australia", by A.W. Reed. I looked up Windarra and the definition they gave is "where?". I look up 'where' in the English to Aborigine section and it lists windarra. It still seems appropriate for us. Now if I look up kangaroo in the Aborigine to English section I found the following: "the famous animal which leaps on its hind legs, balances itself by its tail, and carries its young in a pouch. There has been much debate as to whether it is an aboriginal word, and many explanations have been given. There is no doubt that it was not used to any great extent by the blackfellows in the early days of settlement, for they regarded it as an English word. It was first recorded in 1770 when H.M.S. Endeavour was at Cooktown, but fifteen years later it was not known to the aborigines of New South Wales. One explanation is that the word means 'I don't know' but no similar sounding word or words with this meaning have been recorded." If you look up kangaroo in the English to Aborigine section you will see: kangaroo: arinya, arrurra, bamburr, bohra, boolgana, bonndar, koola, koongarra, marloo, munthu and woora. kangaroo, large: wallaroo kangaroo, short-legged: wurgulin kangaroo, small: wallaby It seems like Capt. Cook should have had a linguist aboard. As I recall he made a similar gaff with the word Nootka that was chanted by the Indians on the west side of Vancouver Island. The Captain thought they were saying welcome so he named the body of water Nootka Sound. It turns out they were trying to give him directions as Nootka means go around. I wonder what other things are misnamed. But hey, no worries! 12/15, Mooloolaba Happy Birthday to Sarah! Sarah turns 16 today. Since it is her birthday she has a break from schoolwork and her choice for dinner, dessert and the movie for the night. Jesse made a pumpkin pie and four tarts per Sarah's request. Rich is making lemon pasta with asparagus for dinner with sourdough bread and salad. Her movie selection is "The Blues Brothers" with Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. To add a festive air to the salon, Sarah put up our dinosaur lights and some green garland. We are all set! Happy Birthday Sarah! This morning Rich and I took our morning walk to the Surf Club at Alexander Heads and back with a stop at Starbucks. It is a nice routine. This afternoon Rich and I went to the beach. On the way we met up with Sarah and GB of Djarrka and Nick and Jennifer of Green Ghost. We had brought one of our boogie boards. Sarah loaned us another one which was bent, as they had bought some new ones. It was the first time I had really played in the surf. Growing up in Washington state you did not go playing in the surf much unless you could handle very big breakers and very cold water. Rich gave me some pointers so I would not get knocked down or towed out to sea. The water is warm though Nick said it was about 5 degrees colder than it had been recently. It was great fun boogie boarding. The waves were only 3-4 feet, which was fine with me. I am sure many people on the beach thought it was scary, the old folks were boogie boarding! I need to close now as dinner is almost ready. It is hard to believe that Sarah is 16 already. My, how time flies. 12/20, Brisbane On Saturday Rich and I went into Brisbane and picked up our new-to-us car from Charlie and Gayle from Bonheur. It is a Holden Commodore. Holden is an Australian car manufacturer. It had a Buick engine in it with plenty of power. It is a little larger than the Subaru we had in NZ and it even has a roo bar! (Kangaroo bumper in front). No snorkle though. In the afternoon we took Mandu to the Noosa Pet Resort in Tewantin. It is a nice place out in the bush or hinterlands. He has a private room with lots of fresh air and a view outside where he can watch the chooks and other wildlife. He was not too happy about the car ride though. This morning, Sunday, we packed the car and headed to the Brisbane airport. We left the car in long-term parking and took the train into downtown Brissy and checked into a Holliday Inn, just above the train station. Sarah and I went shopping, Rich hung out in the hotel and Jesse went on walkabout town. Early tomorrow morning at 5:30 am we catch a train to Sydney for the holidays. We will send position updates from that famous city! 12/24, Sydney Monday morning at 6:30am we boarded the XPT train from Brisbane to Sydney. It is similar to the train from Seattle to Vancouver, except it is older, no TV monitors and the food leaves something to be desired. We rode through the extended suburbs of Brisbane and out into the hinterlands past miles and miles of eucalyptus trees and large meadows with cattle. I looked for kangaroos and koalas but none were spotted. As it was warm in Brisbane (~30 degrees C) the air conditioning was going full blast. It was so warm the train had to slow down in some places so as not to damage the track. One third of the way the air conditioning failed in our car. It got hotter and hotter. They tried to move folks to other cars but there were not enough seats. As this train serves many towns between Brisbane and Sydney there were frequent stops. A brief hop off the train to get some air did not make it any cooler. By the time we arrived in Sydney at 10:10 pm the car reeked like a locker room after a rugby game. We were glad to arrive and cool off. We grabbed our bags and went to get a taxi to our hotel. One of the taxi drivers pointed up the street and said it was just one or two blocks away so we decided we could walk. As we approach our hotel we see Gilles, Damien, Lucy, Alice and Marie of Saperlipopette there to meet us with cold beers, just like they met us over a year and a half ago in Nuka Hiva. It is so good to see them! The last time we saw them was July 2002 in Bora Bora, French Polynesia. We chatted briefly and agreed to meet them tomorrow. We headed up to our rooms to get some much needed sleep. Tuesday we got together with Team Saperlipopette. We have so much to catch up on the kids finally had to interrupt and make us take them somewhere for lunch. After lunch Sarah headed off with Alice and Lucy. Jesse went with Damien to their place at the Quay Grand so Damien could do some schoolwork. Later that afternoon all of us met at the Quay Grand and we wound up talking until midnight before we caught a taxi back to our hotel. Today we walked around Sydney and did a little shopping. Sydney has a population just over 4 million people. It feels like a big city like New York or Chicago. The Australian Stock Exchange is located here and it is a major financial center. We see people dressed in expensive suits and ties. It is also Australia so we also see folks dressed in shorts and t-shirts. It was also host to the Olympics in 2000. There is a large monorail system that makes a circuit around the downtown core and there is light rail with trains from the central business district (CBD) out to the beaches at Manly and Bondi and as far west as the Blue Mountains. We stopped at the Queen Victoria Building. It is a Victorian style building that has been restored. Inside there are four stories of shops open in the center. There is a four-story Christmas tree in the middle with ornaments the size of grapefruits. With the sun shining through the stained glass windows it is quite a sight. After a stop at a tearoom we returned to our hotel to rest. Queen Victoria Building Inside with all of the shoppers Tonight we will go to the Quay Grand to join Gilles, Marie and family. We will fix crepes and make Margaritas. This is what we dinner two years ago in Nuevo Vallarta, the last time we celebrated the holidays together. We hope all of you will have a happy holiday season. Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas to all. 12/26, Sydney Christmas Eve we had a great time with Gilles, Marie, Damien, Lucy and Alice. We were joined by Janet and Ken of Aguila. We had met them in Gulf Harbor, NZ while we were there. They also have a Santa Cruz 52 like Saperlipopette. It was a fun evening with Margaritas, Crepes and Chocolate Mousse for dessert. Rich and Ken help make crepes Lucy, Sarah and Jesse help too On Christmas day Rich and I went for a walk around the downtown area with no crowds and no cars. Downtown is a mix of modern and Victorian. We met up with Team Saperlipopette and walked to the famous Sydney Opera House. It is a beautiful site. The Danish architect was trying to show Australia as a center in the southern hemisphere and the roofline is intended to portray palm fronds. Most people look at it and think it is sails instead. Either way it is very distinctive and symbol of Sydney. The famous Sydney Opera House Close up view And of course the bridge across Sydney Harbor After the Opera House we walked around downtown looking for a place to have a bite to eat. Not much is open Christmas day but we did find a place and had a great lunch. Today is Boxing Day. No it is not to watch boxing matches, it is to clean up from Christmas! It is the biggest shopping day of the year here. Some people started lining up in front of stores at 2am so that they would be ready when the stores opened at 7am. Sarah decided to meet with Alice and Lucy to check out the sales. Jesse bought a shirt, met Damien for some video games and then some studying for the Physics SAT II test he will have in January. Boxing Day also means the start of the Sydney to Hobart Race. This is a 625 nautical mile race from Sydney Harbor to Hobart on Tasmania, across the Bass Straits. It is a grueling race. You may remember in 1998 there was a terrific storm that caught the boats during the race. This year they predict light winds for the group of 50 some boats. Rich and I were invited to join Matt and Jo of CStar on their boat to watch the start of the race. We were joined by Janet and Ken, who are docked at the same marina. Jo's brother Anthony and his girlfriend Amanda came along too. It was a great day. We got a grand tour of Sydney Harbor and watched the start of the race. The favorite is Skandia, a 98-foot maxi. The smallest boat is a 30-footer captained by a 78 year old man who has raced in over 17 Sydney-Hobart races! There was plenty of wind and excitement. Some of the excitement was the spectator fleet jockeying for position along the starting area. Harbor patrol was out in force trying to keep all of the thousands of boats from encroaching on the racecourse. We were glad Matt was at the wheel. He did a great job getting us a good view and keeping his boat safe at the same time. If you would like to read more about the race, check the website www.rolexsydneyhobart.com After the race start the fleet was heading over the horizon, we anchored in one of the small bays in Sydney Harbor for some tucker, which is Australian for food. We got back to the hotel around 6pm to meet with Jesse and Sarah. Everyone had a full day! Not sure what we will do next but we will let you know how it turns out. 12/29, Sydney On Saturday, 12/27, we went to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. We saw the first movie in New Jersey, the second in Auckland, New Zealand and the final here in Sydney. It was great! I was teary-eyed! The scene where the four hobbits are sitting in a tavern at the end of the movie has a special meaning for us. Sunday we joined Saperlipopette at the Maritime Museum in the Darling Harbor area. We were able to tour a destroyer and a submarine as part of the museum. We decided that even though passages in a submarine are supposed to be smoother the berths are too small and we need to be able to see out. There was also an exhibit on the sunken treasures of Brunei Darussalam from a wreck that was discovered in 1998 of a trading vessel that sunken during the early 16th century. It was amazing all of the pieces of china and pottery from Thailand, Vietnam and China that were perfectly preserved. HMS Craig and the Bounty outside of the Maritime Museum Rich checks out the bunks on a submarine After the museum we had a drink with Paul and Suzette of Altair. They are here in Sydney also and we had seen them on another boat during the start of the Sydney-Hobart race. It was good to catch up on their travels as we have not seen them since we left NZ to visit the US this past March. Paul and Suzette of Altair Today we joined Saperllipopette and Aquila (Janet and Ken) for a private tour of the Blue Mountains. Our guide, Brent, an American from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, picked us up at our hotel and at the Quay Grand. We drove first to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. Here we saw kangaroos, wallabies, koalas as well as petted a wombat, held a kookaburra on our hand and watched Tasmanian Devils, Fairy Penquins, Dingoes, a freshie and a saltie and many other birds, animals and reptiles. We even got a souvenir koala! Next we drove to the Blue Mountains National Park and did a short hike to the Wentworth Falls. We saw the Three Sisters rock formation at Echo Point and heard the aboriginal story of the Three Sisters. Brent stopped and gave us a quick lesson on how to throw a boomerang and make it come back. It does work! We rode down the Steepest railway in the world - close to vertical! and came back up on the Scenic Skyway tram. Unfortunately all of Sydney wanted to do the same thing so it was way too crowded. We drove through the mountain villages of Katoomba and Leura. We stopped at the look out at Sublime Point for afternoon tea and didgeridoo (yatinga) lessons. Jesse did the best of all of us. Sarah did well too. Rich and I need help! The mighty wombat Rich holding a Kookaburra Fairy Penguins Tasmanian Devil The Blue Mountains, notice the hazy from the eucalyptus trees Group Shot Jesse playing the didgeridoo Brent took us for a quick tour of the site of the 2000 Olympics. The area where the athletes were housed is now solar powered housing. The cheapest unit, a two bedroom, was auctioned for $450,000 Aus. At the end of the tour we rode the passenger ferry down the Parramatta River back to downtown Sydney, under the famous bridge and by the Opera House. What a beautiful city. It was a busy day! Time to get some rest. 1/1, Sydney Happy New Year from Sydney, Australia Last night we watched the fireworks from the balcony of the Grand Quay where Gilles and Marie and family are staying. We were joined by Janet and Ken, of Aquila, and Suzette and Paul, of Altair. We arrived early to pick up our passes to get into the hotel. This part of town is very popular and it is also an alcohol-free zone. We dropped of some things at their room and then walked into town to pick up a few items. When we returned at 3pm the crowds were already queuing up. Sarah made some guacamole with chips and Rich brewed some Pina Coladas. Between visiting and eating we watched the people. Across from the balcony is the famous bridge over Sydney Harbor and an area known as The Rocks. In front of us is the ferry dock for the many ferries that travel to different points in the bay. There is a viaduct similar to Seattle's behind the ferry dock and the train station. The viaduct is closed and there is a long row of porta-potties to service the arriving crowds. There are two fireworks shows. The first show is at 9pm for families. The second show is at midnight. Some folks arrived early in the morning to stake out prime viewing spots. There are three pontoons in the large bay from which the fireworks are shot, all coordinated and similcast on the radio so there are many places for people to get good views. The Grand Quay is a prime location! We watch women dressed in stilleto heels and black sheer dresses escorted by men in tuxedos negotiating the crowds on their way to the Opera House for an extravagant dinner and viewing of the fireworks. We watch families arrive with blankets and eskies (coolers). The viaduct is filling with people. Since it is warm outside, most people are in shorts and t-shirts. Around 5pm we watch a large band of Hare Krishnas parade past lead by some women in saris, singing and dancing through the crowd. More and more people keep arriving in a steady stream. We can't image that there is space for all of them. As it starts to get dark, a light show begins on the buildings across from us. A replica of the Bounty motors around the bay covered in lights. Other vessels equally decorated make circuits around the bay. Hare Krishnas parade below Saperlipopette’s room Crowds gather below, note reader board sign At 9pm they have the first fireworks show. It is spectacular and you can hear the ohs and ahs of the crowd as we watch with them. We can feel and hear the explosions and see the bright colors. It is quite a show. Afterwards the viaduct empties and most of the crowd below empties out. We sit down for cheese fondue and conversation. Enjoying cheese fondue between fireworks shows When most of the bread is gone we go out to watch the second crowd fill in. The viaduct is full of people again as well as the walkway below us. So many people! Australia is a country of 20 million people and Sydney has a population of 4.1 million. The estimated crowd to watch the fireworks is about 1.5 million! Everyone is here. Just before midnight we watch the count down on the pylons of the bridge. At zero the fireworks begin, not only from the three pontoons but also from the bridge as well. We have never seen better fireworks, ever! It seems to go on and on. You can hear the collective oh and ah of the whole city. It has outdone itself. Fireworks over ‘The Rocks’ with the Bounty lite up Fireworks on the bridge Part of the grand finale After the fireworks and the light show on the bridge we sit down for a fruit salad, care of Altair. We top off the evening with toasts of champagne wishing everyone a happy new year. The last train back to our hotel left at 12:40 am but we were not on it. So we said goodbye to everyone and started to walk through downtown towards the central train station in search of a taxi. We see many of the revelers heading for buses or more parties. Some streets are blocked so that crews can clean the rubbish. We alternate trying to flag a cab and walking with the rest of humanity. Most people are pretty well behaved but some of them have obviously into their cups. We get to the train station and talk to a couple who have been waiting for over an hour for a cab. This doesn't sound good. We go back to one of the main streets and try to flag a taxi. At 3am we finally talk a taxi driver into giving us a ride to our hotel for $60. He is a nice fellow who immigrated from Canton, China 14 years ago. We arrive at the hotel and crawl into bed. Today we are napping and trying to recover. Happy New Year from the land down under! 1/5, Mooloolaba New Years Day we stayed at our hotel and recovered from our wonderful New Year's Eve. In the afternoon we walked to a small village near the hotel and had sandwiches at a Vietnamese Restaurant, one of the only places open. That evening we ate at the hotel. Friday we took the train to the Central Station and checked our bags for the train trip back to Brisbane. We walked around town and picked up some Subway sandwiches for the trip. The cuisine on the train is not as good as the train from Seattle to Vancouver BC. Our train left at 4:30 pm. Gilles, Marie and family are on the train too, but in a different car. We got a chance to see more of the countryside we missed before since it was dark as we approached Sydney on the way down. Unlike the way down when the air conditioning failed, it was going full blast on the way north and we were cold. We saw that most of the seasoned train riders brought blankets and pillows. Live and learn. We arrived in Brisbane early Saturday morning. We picked up our car and drove back to Mooloolaba for naps since we slept little on the train. In the afternoon Rich and I went to pick up Mandu at the Noosa Pet Resort. He was very glad to see us and talked about the pet resort in the car the whole way back. I am not sure what he said but he sure said a lot. When he got back to the boat he marked us all, demanded pets and looked very happy. That night he checked everyone in the beds to make sure we were all there. Sunday was laundry day and a run to the Woolworth's grocery store to restock our larder. We had emptied the refrigerator and the freezer before leaving and we needed to replenish. Today it is back to the routine. Rich and I took our morning walk. Jesse and Sarah restarted their studies. Our packages from Doug and Nancy arrived so we spent some time sorting through our mail. We hope that everyone had a good holiday and we wish you a Happy New Year for 2004. 1/16 Mooloolaba Crikey! Rich and Elaine visit the Australian Zoo! Today Rich and I joined some other cruisers from the marina and took the bus out to Steve Irwin's Australian Zoo. Steve Irwin is also known as the Crocodile Hunter and has a TV show that is sponsored by Animal Planet, popular in the US. His zoo near the Glass House Mountains is one of the largest private zoos at 65 acres. It has a crocoseum, an amphitheater seating 5000, to watch crocodile demonstrations. There are demonstrations of cheeky Asian Small Clawed Otters, Snakes, including a python that you can have your picture taken with, Harriet the Giant Land Tortoise, Foxes and Camels, Koalas, birds of prey and of course, crocodiles. You can walk around the park and see koalas, wombats, venomous snakes, in glass enclosures, kangaroos, emus, cassowaries, crocodiles, American alligators, iguanas, monitor lizards, Komodo dragons, Tasmanian devils, dingoes, foxes, camels, and more. We found out that the red kangaroos can jump up to 10 feet high and a distance of 40 feet in a single bound. Wild Dingo We’ve seen lizards like this on our morning walks “No, I will not scratch your tummy.” Kookaburras The park is well done. It is clean, spacious and the enclosures are well suited for each inhabitant and for viewing. All of the ponds are clean and you can see the crocs or alligators swimming. You can also watch them watching you! The restaurant at the park is known as The Feeding Frenzy. The crocodile demonstration was interesting. I am surprised at how far they can jump out of the water, especially to grab a chicken (a dead one of course, there are children present). Steve did not make an appearance today but we are told that he is often at the park. Crocodile gets a piece of chicken for performing in the Crocoseum They do plenty of merchandising at the gift shops. You can buy Crocodile Hunter t-shirts, hats, shoes, shorts, socks, dolls, action figures, remote control vehicles, toothpaste squeezers, posters, playing cards, umbrellas, rain ponchos, coffee mugs, water jugs, stuffed animals, etc, etc, etc. There is no end to the stuff, but at least it is kept inside the shops. Rich tried to talk me into having my picture taken with a live python but I declined! Even Crocodile Hunter socks! We enjoyed walking around, in and out of the rain showers. We could have used a Crocodile Hunter umbrella or rain poncho. It is well worth the trip but I wish I had a dollar for every time I hear someone say Crikey from now on. 1/29, Mooloolaba Last Thursday we joined the cruisers at the Thursday night barbeque at the Mooloolaba Yacht Club. They provide the grill, the table and the chairs. Everyone brings their own main dish and something to share. Sarah made guacamole and Rich made shish-kebobs for our main. It was fun to talk to folks to see how they are doing. Early Friday morning Rich and Jesse drove to Brisbane to catch a plane to Sydney. At Sydney they drove to MacQuarie University, north of downtown. This is where Jesse would take his SAT II's for Physics and Writing, his last set of tests, on Saturday morning. Jesse feels good about the tests and we all hope he did well. Saturday afternoon they met with Matt and Jo of CStar and joined then for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. Early Sunday morning they flew back to Brisbane and back to Windarra. Sarah and I enjoyed our time together. We had a morning walk and refreshment at Starbucks and on Saturday evening we went out to dinner. This past weekend was the last weekend before school started for most kids of Australia. Monday was Australia Day and a holiday. The beaches here were crowded with folks enjoying their last bit of holiday. In Brisbane they had fireworks. The past few days the weather has been hot and muggy. We have also been having thunderstorms on a regular basis, usually in the evening. Yesterday it was in the afternoon. Bright flashes of lightening, loud cracks of thunder and then the rains and hail. Hail the size of olives pelted the boat. It is especially loud when it hits the hatches or the ping when it hits the shrouds. The water around the boat was bubbling. The winds went from 0 knots to 50 knots in just minutes. The boat suddenly heeled towards the dock. We were glad to be tied up at a marina. It was quite a show. Tonight we can see the continuous flashes of the lightening as the storm moves out over the ocean. In the distance are large cracks of lightening flashing against the dark clouds. From darkness to light we see the masts of the boats in the marina appear and disappear. It continues for hours. Now we see the flashes but no longer hear the thunder since the system has moved too far away, but there is a cool breeze that lowers the temperature considerably. It will be much more comfortable to sleep tonight with the cool air. The weather report promises more of the same for the next few days with the day time temperature reaching 35 degrees C. Warm and sultry the paper says. 2/22 Mooloolaba Melting in Mooloolaba In case you have not been watching the weather reports from here in the antipodes, it is hot. For the past few weeks and this week in particular, we have been experiencing temperatures between 35 and 41 degrees C. They are calling it the heat wave of the century. We have all of the fans running full time on the boat. We try to find excuses to go somewhere that is air-conditioned. On Friday the four of us went to Sunshine Plaza, a large mall in Maroochydore, to go see a movie in the air-conditioned theatre. It was great! Rich and I have tried to take are walks in the morning if there is some breeze. I am drenched by the time we get to Starbucks and that is before 8am! In the afternoon we go for a dip in the ocean to cool off. It is not as refreshing when the water temperature is over 24 degrees C! We took Mandu to the vet last Monday. He has been scratching a lot and has a dermatitus on the back of his head and on his neck. It was hard to keep him cool in the car but at least the vet's office was air-conditioned. Apparently he picked up some fleas during his stay at the cattery while we were in Sydney. The vet gave him a cortazone shot and some flea medication. He is doing a lot better. In the evenings when it cools off a little he goes on deck and sleeps. During the day he tries to find the coldest flooring inside, preferably in direct line of a fan and lies there like a large furry slug! We put ice chips in his water dish to keep it cool. No much else has been happening. Sarah and Jesse are doing their schoolwork. Sarah gets together with Lucy and Alice of Saperlipopette when she can. Rich and I have finished the financial aid forms for colleges. When it cools down we will tackle some boat projects. On Monday night we are flying to Auckland, New Zealand. Part of the condition of our visas to Australia is we must exit the country before April 20 to extend the visa another 11 months. New Zealand is the cheapest place to go. So we will fly out Monday night and return on Saturday around noon. We plan to visit our friends from Bucephalus and hope to see some of our other cruising friends who are still in New Zealand. I will try to write a position update from there, if I can. While we are gone, David and Lisa of Francis will cat sit for Mandu. They are on our dock just a few slips down. Mandu may get spoiled though they have air conditioning on their boat... 2/23-2/28 Quick Trip to New Zealand 3/8, Mooloolaba We survived the storm that came through late last week. On Friday we had sustained winds above 30 knots and gusts to 50 knots and plenty of rain. During the day Rich and I added lines attached to chains around the pilings to relieve pressure on the lines to the cleats on the dock. It didn’t take long but we were soaked afterwards so we went around and checked on the boats of some of our friends who are off touring around Australia. They had predicted stronger winds and we were glad it was not as strong as predicted. On Saturday morning we walked out to watch the surf at the beach. It was quite raucous but the surfers, wind-surfers and kite boarders were having a great time. The spindrift foam from the wind and waves was collecting on the beach. It was at least a foot deep and covered large portion of the beach like the froth from a latte. Kids were jumping in it like it was snow. It was even covering the street at Alexander Heads by the surf club. A lot of the beach has been swept away. Jesse went boogie boarding for a bit and came back pretty hammered but he had fun. Mandu went on deck to check out the goings on during the day on Sunday. He jumped up to sit on the dodger. A magpie decided that Mandu was some sort of threat and started screaming. Mandu tried to ignore the intruder. The magpie got aggressive and swooped down and pecked Mandu on the head twice. The cat decided that this was enough and as he jumped down off the dodger onto the deck, the magpie pecked him on the behind and poor Mandu nearly fell face first onto the deck. Very insulted he went down below. Magpie 3, Mandu 0. This morning, Monday, Rich and I went for our usual morning walk. We walked out to the end of the breakwater. The buoy that marks the spit at the entrance was shifted by the strong waves of the storm. I expect we will see the dredge out again to remove some of the spit and move the buoy. The breakwater on the outside should be extended to help alleviate the problem but the dredge may be more cost effective. I would like to remind all boaters who plan to enter Mooloolaba to check with the local Coast Guard Auxiliary on the conditions and position of any markers before entry. 3/14, Mooloolaba On Saturday morning, Rich and I got up early and drove north to Eumundi to visit the market. Eumundi is a small town or village north, north west of Mooloolaba about 30 km, near Nambour off the Bruce Highway, 1. It is now home to a large artist colony and everyone shows up at the market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 7:30 am until 1:00 pm. We stopped at "Eats" for breakfast and then walked around. The stalls sell everything from massages, tarot readings, eyeball readings, to Aborigine art hand carved furniture, clothing, plants, fruits and vegetables, jewelry, beads, paintings and other artwork, Turkish tiles, and everything in between. We stopped and talked to the fellow that carved the furniture and it turns out he is originally from Southern California, spent some time in Guatemala before immigrating to Australia. His work is gorgeous. At another booth someone was selling comical paintings of emus. Emus fishing or Emus in the outback. Cute stuff. We had fun walking around and browsing. A group of young boys were playing didgeridoos for cash. They even had a CD of music to sell. It was a fun way to spend a morning. I hope we can go back again. Mooning Lawn Gnome Boys playing Didgeridoos In the afternoon Rich, Jesse and I drove to Deagan, just south of Redcliffe and Scarborough Marina but north of Brisbane. Jesse had found a want ad for a bicycle he thought promising. So we drove down. He is now the proud owner of a 10-speed with skinny tires and will allow him to get around Mooloolaba and Maroochydore. On the way back we stopped at Scarborough Marina. We missed the folks who are staying there. We did see that the boat Peter Pan is for sale. We first saw Peter Pan in Neiafu, Tonga. It is a small, 15-foot sailboat, a ketch, with two unstayed masts. The single-hander that sails it started his trip in Sweden. Now it is up for sale. It is so small he could not sit up completely when inside it. It you want to start small, it is available... Today is my birthday so I had a day of leisure. Rich and Sarah took me to the Sunshine Plaza to buy me a new watch. My last watch, Rich bought me for my birthday when we were in Mexico. It has a rubber/plastic watchband that degraded with the UV and came apart. I was unable to find a replacement band. So now I have a replacement watch from Australia (another Timex). This evening we went out to our favorite Thai restaurant for my birthday dinner. The food was great and we had a great time. 3/20 Change of Plans 3/22, Mooloolaba We are inside today and watching the weather as Cyclone Grace makes its way along the Queensland coast. It is moving southeasterly away from us which is good. Last night the winds were sustained at 20 and got up to 40 knots. With the rain it was very wet outside. I have two attachments with this email (apologies to folks who do not receive attachments). The Cyclone chart updated provides the categories and descriptions of cyclones. The underlines and the category 5 comment on caravans are mine. Caravans are similar to Winnebago’s here in Australia. Cyclone tracks are the track history of cyclones in the Australia area. I thought you might find these interesting and amusing. Update Cyclone Chart Update Cyclone Tracks I need to bring you up to date on the saga of our ship's computer. It is a laptop that resides in the navigation table with a DVD-ROM drive. We use it with a flat panel display to watch movies on our dinner and a movie night. We recently purchased some software that allowed us to watch Region 4 DVDs we rent at the local video store. The DVDs you buy in the US are all Region 1. Most computers allow you to watch either one region or another but limits the number of times you can switch from one region to another (Thank you Microsoft and the Movie Industry). The rational behind this is to prevent folks in region (a) buying DVDs in another region (b) and watching the movie before it comes out in the theatres in that region (a). This was working well until last Saturday when the DVD-ROM drive stopped working. Thinking this was a temporary software problem, I tried downloading a new Windows Media player from the Microsoft website, in addition to some updates to Windows ME. Bad idea. In the middle of this, the operating system, Windows ME, was corrupted. This means I cannot boot up the computer, and I can not reload the operating system since the DVD-ROM drive is dead. On I took the computer to a repair place here in Maroochydore to get it fixed or to have our external CD-ROM drive set up to use as a boot drive. No such luck but I almost got an offer for a job. The next day they called and said that another laptop had been brought in and needed to have the operating system reloaded (virus attack) but the CD-ROM drive might fit my laptop and could be used long enough to reload the operating system again. Hooray! So I had them rebuild the operating system. I brought the laptop back to the boat and was able to connect the our external CD-ROM drive and reload everything back onto the computer and we are now up and running. I am in the process of trying to purchase a replacement DVD-ROM drive so we can watch movies again. Anyway, since it was raining out and I can't do any sanding of the woodwork, I have updated the website and loaded out on the internet. You can see pictures of our trip to New Zealand and of Eumundi. I have also added some links to websites of other cruisers we have met along the way. 3/29, Mooloolaba A few weeks ago we received an email from a couple, Vickie and Tony, here in Australia. They are interested in going cruising and would like to get together with us. Rich and I looked at the email and asked each other if they recognized the names. Neither of us did so we answered the email saying we would like to get together but could they refresh our memories as to when we had met. The reply came back, no we have not met but would you like to come over for a barbeque. We said yes and made a date. Saturday morning, Rich and I headed south. Sarah and Jesse pleaded schoolwork (hmmm!?!) and decided to stay on Windarra. Since we had some time we stopped at Scarborough Marina and met our friends Sami and Kipp of Samibella for a visit. After our visit we headed south to Willowvale near the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is a resort area south of Brisbane that looks a lot like Miami, many high-rise hotels along the beach, for miles. The Gold Coast is also the location of Sea World, Warner Bros. MovieLand, Dreamland, Water slide parks, etc. We followed the directions from Vicki and climbed into a bush area interspersed with large homes and farms. Their home is at the crest of a hill and they have 7 acres with a view looking east over the Gold Coast and out toward Stradbroke Island and the Pacific Ocean. We introduced ourselves and went inside. Vicki is an optical technician. Tony is a professional diver and dive instructor as well as teaching first-aid and navigation at the local TAFE school. TAFE stands for Technical and Further Education. It is a combination technical, vocational school and community college. Vicki explained that another couple, Dave and Dee would be joining us for dinner. They showed us around their home and videos of a sailboat they are thinking of purchasing, a Van de Stadt 35. We talked about buying boats. Dave and Dee arrived and we continued our conversations. Finally my curiosity just was not being satisfied so I asked how they got our email address to contact us. Dave explained that in 1996, when he and Dee got married, they went to Niue, to the Matavai Resort for their honeymoon. The resort had just opened and they were the first and for a while the only guests. They had a great time there and recently Dave was on the internet searching for sites about Niue that might have information about the recent Cyclone Heta that hit the island and did so much devastation to the island. Lo and behold our web site pops up from the search engine. Dave looks at our site, realizes we are in Australia and that their friends Vicki and Tony are planning on buying a boat and going cruising and suggests that they contact us. And they did! If any of you ever heard of the term "six degrees of separation" you understand how serendipity this is. We laughed and told them how curious we were about how this connection was made. Dave, Dee, Vicki and Tony We had a great dinner and wonderful conversation. We shared some of our pictures of our trip and they shared videos of 4-wheeling to Cape York. We were up to 1am talking and glad we were able to spend the night instead of driving back to Mooloolaba. This morning we enjoyed breakfast with Vicki and Tony, cooked on the barbeque! Eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and of course, tomatoes. It was pleasant to sit outside. Afterwards we said our goodbyes and drove along the Gold Coast to see Surfer's Paradise and then back to Mooloolaba and the Sunshine Coast. We hope to stay in touch with our new friends. 4/10, Mooloolaba Happy Passover, Happy Easter and Happy long-weekend! It is a four-day weekend here in Australia and everyone had decided to go to the beach! So the streets and paths are full of people! Rich and I did our walk on Friday morning and it was tough going, like walking in a crowd going to a baseball game. There is little sense of staying to the left or to the right when meeting oncoming pedestrians so sometimes you have to keep your shoulders braced. The upside is that more people mean for interesting people watching while we sit and have our coffee at Starbucks. As the weather has cooled down a bit, Rich and I are working on our list of boat chores. All of the exterior woodwork (rub rails, grab rails and windlass stands) was sanded and new coats of Cetol were applied. Today we started cleaning the stainless, working on the anchor roller and forestay assembly. It looks so nice and shiny when it is cleaned. Beginning this fall Jesse will be attending Widener University in Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. It is Rich's alma mater and we are excited for Jesse. He plans on a dual major of Mathematics and Computer Science with a minor in Economics. Maybe he will ask his mom for help in some of his computer science classes.... He is starting to look at housing and what things he will need. He is amazed at how large the dorm rooms are compared to the v-berth on the boat. Rich has started coaching Sarah for the Chemistry SAT II. She will take it in May in Brisbane. Jesse of course provides sage advice. The Sydney to Mooloolaba race boats arrived here just after April 1. We saw Skandia, Ichi Ban and other boats that had competed in the Sydney to Hobart race in December. This past Friday was the Brisbane to Mooloolaba race. They had great weather and a fast race. I am not sure how they work out the classes since some of the boats in the race arrived with dingies on their davits. Guess they must have a cruising class as well. Hope you all have a good weekend. 4/29, Mooloolaba We are still here and doing fine. The weather has been nice and sunny for the last couple of weeks. Right now it is raining with some occasional wind gusts. Sarah has been studying for her Chemistry SAT II. We will drive down to Brisbane on Friday and spend two nights. She has her test on Saturday morning. We will also celebrate Rich's birthday while we are there. Jesse is finishing up his last semester. He is taking an Asian History class through the University of Nebraska - Lincoln distance learning program and he really enjoys it. The professor has been providing good critique on his papers and good preparation for college in the fall. Rich and I have been working boat projects. One all day project was rerouting the wiring for the port side solar panel. When we installed the panels in Mexico we routed the wiring outside, long the toe rail across the stern to the starboard solar panel. This was just a temporary solution. Rich installed a thru deck and we ran the wire inside through the aft stateroom. It sounds simple enough, yet it meant removing the contents of the some of the galley cabinets, the aft stateroom closet, the overheads in the aft stateroom, aft head and into the electrical panel at the navigation station. After several hours, including drilling two holes, and much cursing and the wiring was rerouted and both solar panels are working and charging the battery banks. Mission accomplished. I did update the website. I have added the last three position updates with photos to the Australia part two page. On the Contact Us page I added a link to pictures of Niue during and after Cyclone Heta for those of you who might be interested. So enjoy. 5/2, To Brisbane and back to Mooloolaba For the past three weeks, Sarah has been studying for the Chemistry SAT II test. Coach Rich put her through the paces, getting up early, studying, taking the practice tests, going over the results. She is scheduled to take the test at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on Saturday. So Friday morning we put out extra food and water for Mandu then headed for the big city, Brisbane. The weather is cooler so no worries about Mandu. We arrived at our hotel, got settled and drove Sarah over to the university to check out where she will take the test. In the afternoon she has some time to do some more studying. In the early evening we head to downtown. Since there was nothing of any interest at the movie theatre we grab some dinner and a quick shop at Borders bookstore then back to the hotel for an early evening. Saturday morning Rich, Sarah and I drive back to the university (or uni as the locals call it). There were about 30 students waiting to take the SAT I's and only Sarah and another girl were there for SAT II's. After Sarah started her test, Rich and I went out for breakfast and a newspaper. We returned and collected Sarah. She feels relieved to be finished with the test. We will wait for about three weeks to get the results. Now that the test is over we catch one of the city ferries that run up and down the river through Brisbane. It is a fast trip on a cat with room for about 70 passengers. From the North Quay stop we walk pass the Old Treasury House towards Queen Street and the shops. The building now houses a casino. It is an interesting new life for an old stately building. South Bank of Brisbane River Treasury Building, now a Casino Jesse heads off to explore while Rich, Sarah and I look at some Aboriginal art for the boat. We picked up two paintings done on bone and mounted in frames to put over the bed in the aft stateroom. The carvings portray stylized kangaroos and a hunter chasing them. Rich and I both like the style of the Aboriginal art and hope to get a few more pieces to decorate the boat. In the evening we went back to downtown via the ferry to take Rich out for Chinese food to celebrate his birthday. We had won ton and hot and spicy soup for starters and filled ourselves with crispy roast duck and sautéed beef in oyster sauce. It was a great meal. The city is lit in the evenings so the view from the ferry is alive with lights, especially on the bridges. Sunday morning we packed up and drove back to Mooloolaba. Mandu was glad to see us return and has demanded pets from everyone to make up for being left alone. Jesse just put a blackberry pie in the oven and the smell is permeating the boat. Our new Australian friends, Vicki and Tony, are sailing north to Mooloolaba on their new sailboat, Shalimar. We look forward to seeing them sometime this evening. 5/4, Mooloolaba Sunday afternoon Shalimar arrived at the Mooloolaba Yacht Club Marina. Shalimar is the new sailboat of Vicki and Tony, the Australian couple we visited with at the end of March. Along with Vicki and Tony were two friends, Steve, from Sydney and Dave, from Canberra. The six of us enjoyed dinner at the yacht club then we returned to Windarra for drinks and conversation. It was fun to hear about trying to pass camels running down the road in the Simpson Desert and other great stories. Monday morning we had every one over again to Windarra for morning coffee and tea. They gave us some good tips on places to visit while we are here. Rich and I took them on a quick provisioning run and then Shalimar headed back south towards the Gold Coast and Hope Island Marina. We look forward to seeing them again. This morning Rich and I resumed our walks and our stop for coffee at Starbucks. We are such regulars they ask us if we want our usual instead of us ordering. This past weekend was the Australian version of Labor Day weekend. It is the last vacation weekend of the season so everyone was in Mooloolaba. Today they were all gone, just us 'locals' are here now. Rich and I cleaned up the davits, reassembled them and reinstalled them back on the radar arch. We even took out the slope so now the davits are level. The water pump for the refrigeration has been leaking so Rich took it apart. It was filled with the silt from the river, the tiny particles that get through the filter. After a good cleaning he replaced it but it is still leaking. Tomorrow he will check it and see if the membrane needs replacing. For those of you who will be coming to Mooloolaba later this year, this is a reminder to check your filters and pumps while you are here in the river. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of repair. Jesse volunteered to make dinner for this past week as a birthday present for Rich and this is his last night. Some of the dinners included pasta with homemade sauce and fish baked in a tomato sauce. Tonight, Chef Jesse is making Paella with Chirizo and Chicken. It should be yummy. 5/12, Mooloolaba We hope all of the mothers and mothers-to-be had a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday. I know I did! We have been quite the social butterflies this past week. Thursday, May 6, was our 20th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed. Certainly 20 years ago we did not expect to be in Australia in 2004. We celebrated by going out for Mexican food with our friends, David and Lisa, of Francis. After dinner we returned to Francis for cake to celebrate David's birthday also on May 6th. Friday evening we got together with Rob and Dee of Ventana for sundowners and snacks and to talk about places to stop on the Coral Coast of Queensland. Rob and Dee are friends of the previous owners of Windarra and sailed on her in the Caribbean. We talked about the Whitsunday Islands and places to visit with guests. Dee and Rob of Ventana Saturday afternoon Rich and I went out for lunch with Gilles and Marie of Saperlipopette. We went to a great Indian restaurant in Maroochydore. Again we managed to be the last people there before they closed the restaurant. The original plan was to go to Eumundi but it was rainy and windy and not the day to walk around an outdoor market. Sunday afternoon there was a Mexican potluck/bbq with the other cruisers at the park across the street. Sarah made guacamole dip for snacks and grilled up steak fajitas. They were yummy. Sue of Nepenthe made the best chili relenos we have had in a long time. There was plenty of food and conversation. Stacy, Thomas and Michelle of Orion Monday night Stacy and Michelle of Orion joined us for lamb curry. Thomas was sleeping or he would have joined us also. Originally we planned to watch a movie but we got so involved in telling stories as sailors are want to do that we forgot about the movie. Tuesday night, a simple dinner and a movie. Tonight, Wednesday, is Damien's 18th birthday, so we are going over for a BBQ. Jesse made a chocolate cake for the occasion. I think we need to do some more walking to shed some of the pounds from all of this social activity! 5/19, Mooloolaba One year ago today, May 19, we arrived in Australia. It is hard to imagine that it has been a year already. It is the longest we have been in one place since leaving Seattle in August, 2001. We are enjoying our time here in Australia. Australia is full of interesting scenery, animals and great people. Group Photo of the Windarra gang We had hoped to go do some camping here shortly but we have had a slight change in plans. Last week I was pumping the aft head and I noticed it was a little difficult. I asked Rich to come take a look. He got out the plumber's helper. He then went to close the thru hull for the exit from the aft head and he noticed it was loose. This is a BAD THING! It was not the connection of the hose to the thru hull but the thru hull itself was loose. There is maybe a drip or two of water but nothing else. We have wooden plugs by each thru hull in case the hose leading to the thru hull comes loose, you can put in the wooden plug. This is not the case if the thru hull comes out of the fiberglass. Then you have a larger hole and a lot of water coming in but the bilge pumps can handle this. We are in no danger of sinking but we would like to get it fixed as soon as possible. We checked with the boat yard to see if they can haul us out so we can get it fixed. Yes and no. Yes they can haul us out; no they can't do it right away since there is a waiting list of 3-4 weeks. So we will delay camping until we can have our haul out and fix the thru hull. We would hate to return and find Mandu treading water! Since we will be hauling out though we are considering painting the bottom of the boat and replacing the hoses and rebuilding the aft head (always a fun job). Paul and Suzette of Altair The last few days we have been having a great visit with Paul and Suzette of Altair. They are from Seattle and used to race on Casseiopia. We first met them at Bayswater in Auckland, New Zealand. They are here in Mooloolaba for a few days to visit and pick up some things at the chandleries here before heading up to Rosslyn Bay for a haul-out. They plan to continue to Darwin and on across the Indian Ocean to South Africa this year. Monday night Paul and Suzette joined us with the crews of Nepenthe, Wave Dancer, Ventana, C'est Assez, Francis and Toucan for a BBQ in the park. We had a great time. Rich and Jesse joined Paul and Brian for a game of Bocce Ball. Paul and Suzette have also been joining us on our morning walks. Jesse, Paul, Rich and Brian play Bocce Ball Sue, Brian of Nepenthe, David, Lisa of Francis, Suzette, Paul of Altair It is amazing how time seems to march on. 5/31, Mooloolaba Well, we are still here at the marina waiting for our turn at the boat yard. So far, no leaks from the thru hull so that is good news. The weather has been sunny but with a chill in the air. Hopefully that has allowed some boats to get their yard work done so that we can get in soon. On Saturday night the four of us went out to dinner to celebrate Jesse's completion of high school and the great effort he put in this year. We went to a new restaurant in Maroochydore, called Still Waters. It had the best Japanese food we have had since leaving the United States. Jesse and Rich had large sushi selection plates with tuna, whitefish, salmon, yellow tail and other delectable items. Sarah had various sushi rolls and I went for the chicken teriyaki, which was very good. It was a fun evening and a great celebration. Jesse’s Graduation Dinner at Still Waters On Sunday we attended the wake for Leo the sailor. Leo was an elderly gentleman who lived on his boat on C-dock. He had some health problems and walked with crutches. We would see him on the docks and up at the laundry. For the past few days we had not seen him. Ian, the marina owner, went down to his boat to check on Leo. Poor Leo had passed away at the age of 83 years young. Old sailors don't die, they just drift away. It looks like we will have a company of boats on the transport ship. Beside us will be, Wave Dancer, Felicity, Salacia, Alii Kai, Argonauta, Santana and To The Moon. These are boats that we know of. Originally the boat was scheduled to go from Brisbane to Auckland to Ensenada then Vancouver. Since two super yachts from Auckland want to go to Vancouver, the new route is Brisbane to Auckland to Vancouver. That will be great for us, one less stop. It still will be hard to leave Australia but we are looking forward to seeing our family and friends in the PNW and doing some local cruising. Not much else to report. Rich and I continue on boat chores plus our morning walks. Jesse is enjoying free time to do whatever. Sarah is doing schoolwork. She is almost finished with Economics, then just English and Spanish to go. Mandu is working on power napping during the day, watching the dock in the mornings and early evenings and then boat patrol at night. Boat patrol includes scratching on your door until you wake up and let him in, and then he comes in for 5 minutes to 3 hours and scratches on the door until you wake up and let him out. 6/12, Mooloolaba Early Saturday morning, June 5, we left the marina and motored through the canals up to Lawries' boatyard. Windarra was hauled up and put into the stand. Rich went and checked the thru hull and it broke off into his hand - good timing. For the next week we worked. Rich replaced the thru hull. In the process he found out that parts here in Australia use an imperial thread spacing and does not match the pieces from the United States so he had to buy a new value, elbow and nipple as well. It appears that the thru hull had some corrosion, which caused it to fail. I took the aft head apart and rebuilt it. We also took out the waste hose for the aft head and replaced that as well. Jesse scraped and cleaned the prop, shaft, strut and shoe, put on new undercoat, new zincs. Jesse and Rich also painted the bottom. Sarah did schoolwork; provided food and go for duties - go for this tool, go for paper towels, etc. It was a team effort and very well done. First we wet sand… … then we paint Greg and Janet of Gitana arrived on Wednesday afternoon. We joined them for dinner on Thursday night and lunch on Friday after a quick hop to help them get some charts copied. The last time we saw them was when we all left Opua, New Zealand. Friday afternoon Jesse rode his bike over to the Sunshine Plaza to see a movie. On the way back he took a tumble on his bike. A kind passerby helped him and called for aid. He is fine but suffered some cuts and bruises, a missing toenail and a gash on his chin. He gave us a call to come pick him up. The aid unit had patched him up but we needed to take him to a clinic to have his chin looked at. 7 stitches later we returned to the boat. He is a little sore but on the mend. This morning they lifted Windarra from the stand. Rich applied some paint to the bottom where it has been sitting. We are now in the water and anchored in the small basin by the boatyard. We are waiting for the tide to change before heading back to the marina. Tour boat on the Mooloolaba River outside Lawries’ Boatyard Tonight we will go over to the Saperlipopette's apartment and join them to celebrate Lucy's sixteenth birthday. We are glad to be out of the yard. Climbing up and down the ladder to go to the bathroom at night gets a little old. Feeling the boat shudder when the wind would come up is also a little disconcerting. The thru hull is fixed, the head works again and the bottom is painted. What's next? 7/1-2, Mooloolaba River to Scarborough S 26 41.149, E 153 07.255 Mooloolaba River On Thursday before noon we backed from the dock at the Mooloolaba Yacht Club marina and headed to the fuel dock up the river at a place called the Wharf. The Wharf is a combination fuel dock, marina, restaurant complex which also houses Underwater World and the Wharf Tavern. Underwater World is an aquarium affair that features diving with sharks for those who are interested. The fuel dock is very convenient to access. After topping off the tanks we went over to anchor. Unfortunately we ran into some mud before we got to the anchorage (always remember, it is shallow in Australia). So we stayed and waiting until the tide changed to find a more suitable place to stay. As we waited we met an American couple, Ruth and John Long on the trimaran, Shimoda. They purchased their boat in Fiji and had it delivered to Australia. They are new to cruising and have been learning their boat and exploring the Australian coast. As the tide was rising and we had to move we invited them to join us for dinner. We had a fun evening talking about cruising experiences. They had an unfortunate experience trying to cross the bar out of the Noosa River so they were in Mooloolaba to have some repairs done. Early Friday morning we weighed anchor and headed south. We had little or no breeze and smooth seas as we motored south past Caloundra, the Glass House Mountains and into Moreton Bay. A pod of humpback whales passed us going north to their breeding grounds and some dolphins passed by also. We decided to head straight for Scarborough instead of stopping at Tangalooma. The clouds in the west looked threatening and if the winds picked up the anchorage at Tangalooma would be rolly and uncomfortable. We arrived in Scarbrough late in the afternoon. We pulled into our slip and stopped - stuck in the mud again. Did I mention that it is shallow in Australia? So when the tide came in we adjusted our lines so that we are further in our slip. The folks from Alii Kai helped us dock. Our friends on Aguila and Samibella are here also. It is good to renew old acquaintances and make some new ones. We will settle in to Scarborough for a while before we load Windarra onto the transport. In the meantime we will do some chores and have some adventures. Before we left Mooloolaba, Rich and I went to a place in Eumundi that specializes in Aboriginal art, including didgeridoos, boomerangs, bull roarers, paintings. It is aboriginal owned and operated. It is Murra Wolka Creations and it is on the road into Eumundi just off the exit from the Bruce Highway on the left side. If you can, please visit. Rich and I bought a few pieces for Windarra. Their website is www.murrawolka.com. 7/7, Road Trip day 1, Brisbane to Roma Rich and I decided to take a little road trip. Jesse and Sarah opted to stay on Windarra and take care of Katmandu, as well as surf the internet, bake pies and enjoy a little time without the parental units. So Wednesday morning after some instructions on where the thru hulls were, Rich and I packed up the car and headed out leaving at 9am, bound for the Outback. We drove south and then east to skirt downtown Brisbane before picking up A2, the Warrego Highway. We passed Ipswich and then up the 10 % grade to Toowoomba. Toowoomba is on the edge of the Great Dividing Range. The Great Dividing Range runs through Queensland to Victoria, roughly north to south. When you cross the range you are more or less in the Outback. Toowoomba was once known as ‘The Swamp’ for some unknown reason since it is in high country and not particularly wet but sometimes, odd nicknames stick. Beyond Toowoomba the highway is straight as an arrow, running parallel to the train tracks heading west to Roma, Charleville, Quilpie, Birdsville and the Simpson Desert beyond. Today we plan to go as far as Roma, 486 km from Brisbane. The countryside is flat with the occasional eucalypts, and cacti. The sky is a bright, intense blue, the trees are a dull, dusty grey-green and the grasses are yellow scrub. Every so often you see some dusty red flowers adding some much needed color. The land is flat and you can see for miles, the land looks never-ending. We start to see dead kangaroos on and along the road. At first we start to count them, but only the ones you can tell are kangaroos or wallabies, with identifying heads, feet and tails, not just furry Frisbees. We count over 50 bodies before we stop counting. Now we know why the Aussies think of them as pests or overgrown rats. We only saw one live kangaroo jumping across the road. On the road to Roma We pass through towns with unusual names like Jondaryan, Warra, Boonarga, Chinchilla, Rywung, Goombi, Columboola, Goonalah, Ulmarda, Yuleba, Wallumbilla and Warooby. Most towns are small with only a service station or grocery store. Some are train stops and others may have a hotel or pub advertising XXXX for sale. XXXX is a brand of Australian beer that is cheap and tastes that way. We also pass road trains. Road trains are like the semi-trucks you see on US highways only here in Australia they are towing 3 trailers, not 2. You give them a wide berth as they go by in a cloud of dust. We see road signs with a koala on it and the number of kilometers. We never did see any of these small marsupials, live or dead. The locals call them drop bears. Koalas sleep 20 of 24 hours a day, foraging for eucalyptus leaves for those other 4 hours. The leaves do not have much in the way of nourishment so koalas are sleepy and slow. So sleepy they sometimes fall out of the trees, hence the term drop bears. At 4pm we arrive at Roma. Most of the motels have no vacancies since it is school holidays in Queensland and Aussies love to travel. We take the last room at the Roma Motel. They give us a discount since the air conditioner is not working. This also means that the room has no heat either. So Rich and I will use the bedding of the spare bed to keep warm. The woman who operates the motel feels bad that it is so cold and offers us free continental breakfast for the next morning. Roma has a limited selection for your dining pleasure. There is a McDonalds, a KFC, two Chinese restaurants and two hotel/pubs offering XXXX. We decided against the Chinese restaurants and the two hotel/pubs. So we enjoyed a lonely dining experience at the Roma KFC, we were the only patrons. 7/8, Road Trip day 2, Roma to Carnarvon National Park In the morning, promptly at 7:30am, a small door, 2 feet wide by 8 inches tall opened next to the counter in our room, a part of a fluffy pink robe was visible, a voice said, “Good Morning,” and a tray with our breakfast slid in and the small door closed. The continental breakfast had arrived. After a hot shower, some tea/coffee and breakfast, we were ready to head north. From Roma we turned on to Hwy 55, the Carnarvon Developmental Road. Not sure what they mean by developmental but it is paved so off we go. It is 200 km from Roma, through the town of Injune to the turn off to the Carnarvon National Park. We pass outback mailboxes sporadically along the highway, next to a dirt road leading off into the distance. An outback mailbox is an oil drum mounted sideways on a fence post with a flap on one end for the mail. I am not sure if they deliver mail daily or weekly here or if outback residents are addicted to shopping on Ebay but their mailboxes can handle plenty of mail. At one point we pass a scout car with yellow flashing beacons and a sign bearing the message, “Wide Load” going the opposite direction. The car passed and we did not see a vehicle immediately behind it. Suddenly over the rise approaching us at 100 kph is a road scythe, a tracker pulling a rusty trailer for transporting large mining vehicles so wide that it is overhanging the far shoulder, all of its lane, and half of ours! Rich headed for shoulder just in time for the tetanus trailer to miss us. It would be bad enough to be sliced in two but to get lockjaw also was too much. Now we know the reason the scout car was so far ahead, to give you time to find a place to get completely off the road! By this time we have passed too many dead roos to count with a few rabbits to add to the body count. We see a small sign pointing west for the Carnarvon National Park. We turn off onto a small paved road. After 20 km of open range country the road is now unpaved. The locals use the term, ‘corduroy road’ or ‘corrugated road’. Anyway, the car and everything in it vibrates as you drive the next 40 km at 35 kph. The road dips occasionally to cross a creek. The road is impassable if it rains. Heading to Carnarvon Lodge We arrive at the Carnarvon Gorge Wilderness Lodge, www.carnarvon-gorge.com and secure their last accommodation, a safari cabin. The raised cabin has part walls of wood, the rest is of tent material, with sewn in windows. The cabin includes a small bathroom with shower and a small deck off the back end with lounge chairs. Rich relaxing on the back porch of our safari cabin Rich and I unload the car and head to the park’s information center. There are several walking tracks through the gorge including some tracks for overnight camping in the bush and some scrambles up the side of the gorge to the plateau above. Rich and I opt for the track to Moss Garden, a 7 km roundtrip walk. Carnarvon Creek runs down the middle of the gorge and the track crosses it 7 times before you get to the Moss Garden. There are stepping-stones strategically places for making each crossing. The gorge is quiet except to the sounds of birds like the kookaburras and the lorikeets. You see the bleached white trunks of the spotted gum, a tree that loses its bark, not its leaves in winter, as well as some varieties of mahogany and eucalypts. The gorge is soft sandstone and water seeps through the sandstone and encourages the growth of mosses as in the Moss Garden. Large ferns with fronds up to 5 meters long grow here also thanks to the constant water supply. Carnarvon Gorge was a meeting place of aboriginal tribes long before the white settlers came to Australia. The gorge is full of their rock art, stencils of hands and other objects attest to their use and reverence for the Gorge. Skippy the Kangaroo Looking down the creek One of the creek crossings Elaine at the Moss Garden The Gorge was also used as a place to hide cattle. An infamous bloke of the Outback, Harry Redford, stole 1000 head of cattle in Longreach in 1870 and drove them 2400 km to South Australia where he sold them. The path he used became a popular stock cattle route. He was immortalized in a classic Australian novel, “Robbery Under Arms”, and given the moniker of Captain Starlight. He was brought to justice in 1873 and an adoring public found him not guilty. In the US, they shot cattle rustlers. We return to the Lodge for a late lunch. Three wild kangaroos lounge on the grass outside the restaurant as we eat. They rest on their elbows looking like casual tourists enjoying a rest in the afternoon. After lunch we go to our room for a snooze. In the evenings they show a film about the gorge in the meeting room and a chance to meet the guides who provide tours for the guests of the Lodge. While I am at the film, one of the guides comes to our cabin, inviting us to join the group in the morning that is going to watch the platypus during its morning activities. Sounds like fun. Relaxing kangaroos outside our cabin 7/9, Road Trip day 3, Carnarvon National Park to Rockhampton The alarm rings at 5:30am and the safari cabin is cold. The cold tiles of the bathroom floor make the trip to the bathroom a chilling experience. We quickly dress and meet our tour in front of the Lodge at 6:15am. We hike down the road, across a field to a pond. There is a blind erected to shield the watchers from the shy and elusive platy that make their homes in burrows along the pond’s edge. In the early mornings and at dusk they come out of their burrows to search for food in the pond. As we quietly creep towards the blind to sit on the benches anxiously hoping to sight a platypus, the tour guide quietly points to the pond. Rich spots a small bump in the water quickly swimming away behind some trees and it is gone. We sit and wait for 45 minutes in the freezing cold, staring at a still pond, looking for a bizarre mammal that is covered with fur, has a duck bill, webbed feet, a poison claw (the males only), lays its young in eggs but nurses them after they are born. When the first platypus specimens were captured and sent back to Europe for study, it was believed they were a hoax to fool the scientists. They are not a hoax and can be found in certain ponds and creeks in Australia. Rich saw one. Disappointed and cold we all return back to the Lodge for a hot breakfast. Platys are sneaky creatures. After breakfast we pack up and head back over the corduroy road, stopping for the cattle as they leisurely walk across the road, oblivious to the cars and SUVs waiting for their departure. We pass a memorial to a US Air Force flight from Darwin to Brisbane that carried both US and Australian armed forces that crashed in 1943 in the area during an electrical storm. Bits of the wing, fuselage and engines are part of the memorial. There were fresh flowers at the site. Part of the memorial We get back to the Carvarnon Developmental Road and head north 201 km to Emerald. Emerald, Rubyvale, Sapphire at located in the sapphire gem fields. It is a popular place to go fossicking. Fossicking is looking for gems, by digging, panning, sifting through dirt, whatever. In the US we use the term prospecting. Here it is a popular pastime. So off we go. We arrive in Emerald and the town is busy with ‘AG Grow’. This is similar to a county or state fair. All the motels are booked. So we head east on the Capricorn Highway which runs close the latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn. Rockhampton is just 268 km, 15 live emus and 1 dead dingo away. While we are in Emerald we stop and pick up a copy of The Australian newspaper. On the top of the front page is an article about kangaroo attacks in the country’s capital of Canberra. Due to the dry conditions in the area the kangaroos are coming into the city parks and lakes for water and food. Kangaroos usually forage at night but are now in the city during the day. They are coming in contact with joggers and folks walking their dogs in the parks. The dingo has been a natural enemy of the kangaroo and they have developed a strategy to deal with these predators. They get the dingos into the water and they hold them under and drown them. Now to a kangaroo someone’s pet retriever or poodle is a barking animal no different than a dingo. Their instincts cause them to react the same way. More than one dog has been killed by the kangaroos. Citizens are distressed by the behavior of their national mascot and Canberra city laws prohibit shooting kangaroos within the city limits. Not sure how it will be resolved. Do eagles attack poodles too? We stay at the Coffee House Inn and dine at the Thai restaurant across the street. The food is good and we enjoy the evening. 7/10, Road Trip day 4, Rockhampton to Kingaroy After a superb breakfast at the Coffee House coffee house we headed south on the Burnett Highway. We passed through Mt. Morgan, Dululu, Biloela (which is Aborigine for white cockatoo), Thangool, Monto, Eidsvold, Mundubbera, Gayndah, Goomeri, Murgon, Wondai to Kingaroy. On the road to Mt. Morgan The countryside included fields of corn, feed, pumpkins, cotton and cattle ranches. In one field we saw 10 emus. Rich stopped and I got out of the car to take a picture. At first they all stopped and looked at me. Then the dominant male took a defensive position and the others turned away and started to walk away. Since I am not taller than an emu I went back to the car and we drove on. Emus must be smarter than kangaroos since we saw 15 live emus this day and no dead ones but at least 5 dead kangaroos. Emus! Gayndah is billed as the mandarin orange center of Australia and they have a giant mandarin orange to prove it on the edge of town. The Giant Mandarin of Gayndah Australian tourism is trying to promote this area of Kingaroy, South Burnett and the Bunya Mountains. One of the tour guides writes about the interesting new wineries in the area. Kingaroy is the peanut capital of Australia with its own festival. You can have peanuts roasted, baked, as peanut butter or distilled into liqueur. We find a room at the Burke and Wills Motor Inn in Kingaroy. It has a restaurant but it is completely booked up by a bus tour so we visit the local Maccas for our dining pleasure. “Burke and Wills are famous Australian explorers, the antipodean equivalents of Lewis and Clark, which is perhaps a little curious since their expedition accomplished almost nothing, cost a fortune, and ended in tragedy… Their assignment was to find a route from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the far north… They chose as leader an Irish police officer named Robert O’Hara Burke, who had never seen real outback, was famous for his ability to get lost even in inhabited areas, and knew nothing of exploration or science. The surveyor was a young English doctor named William John Wills, whose principal qualifications seem to have been a respectable background and a willingness to go. On the plus side, however, they both had outstanding beards… Despite many setbacks they almost made it to the gulf, their way blocked by thick mangroves. On the way back they died in the desert, far short of Mt. Hopeless.” – In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Australians remember their past, good and bad. 7/11, Road Trip day 5, Kingaroy to Brisbane After breakfast at the Busy Bee Café in downtown Kingaroy we travel on the D’aguilar Highway through Nanango, Yarraman, Blackbutt, Kilcoy, Woodford, Caboolture and Redcliffe to Scarborough Marina. We travel across and around rolling hills with low clouds or fog hugging the ground. Some areas show signs of recent fires but the blackened trunks of trees are yielding green leaves again. Kilcoy has a statue of a Yowie in the park in the middle of town. Not sure what a yowie is, the tour guide does not say but the statue looked like Bigfoot if you asked me. Woodford is home to the Woodford Folk Festival, similar to the Folklife festival in Seattle. We are anxious to get back on the boat and sleep once again in our own bed. We have seen kangaroos, emus and platypus; landscape that is flat and far reaching to rolling hills. It is just a small slice of Australia but interesting nonetheless. At least we can say we’ve been Outback and beyond the black stump. 7/16, Scarborough On Tuesday, Rich and I joined Ken and Janet of Aquila to visit Michael Connolly of Dreamtime Kullilla Art. Michael is an Aborigine from the southern Queensland area. He lives here in Scarborough and does various forms of artwork as well as making and painting didgeridoos. He works out of his home and we got a chance to view his work and talk to him about his life, his culture and his work. We asked him to make a didgeridoo or yidaki for us and paint it also. Here is the description from the seal of authenticity, signed and dated by Michael that guarantees that the didgeridoo is handcrafted and hand painted by an aboriginal artist. The YIDAKI [or what Europeans call the Didgeridoo] is the world's oldest known musical instrument played by the Australian Aborigines considered to be the oldest culture on earth. The didgeridoos are made from trunks or limbs of eucalyptus trees such as the Bloodwood, Stringybark, Woolybutt, Scarlet Gum and Yellow Box, which are hollowed out by certain arboreal species of termite. The didgeridoos can range in length from 18" to 6'. DREAMTIME legend has it that Yidaki the warrior was coming home from a hunt when he saw a dead branch lying on the ground. He picked it up and saw daylight coming in from the other end and noticed that there were a lot of little insects [termites] in there. He blew through it to get rid of them and it made a sound. The warrior liked the sound that it made and found that by breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth in a circular fashion he could make rhythm and many other sounds. Yidaki took his hollow branch back with him and played it for his people. They were drawn to the sound so they painted up with colored ochre and danced corroboree to its rhythm. This instrument became very popular and part of their culture and was used in ceremony, dance and forms of healing. When Yidaki the warrior died his spirit left his body and went into the hollow log and if you listen to it in a quiet place by holding one end to your ear you can still hear Yidaki playing this instrument.... Michael playing one of his didgeridoos The didgeridoo that Michael made for us is made of Ironbark, a variety of eucalyptus, that he found in the area of Carnarvon Gorge. The design on the didgeridoo is a series of dancers, enjoying corroboree. It is 52 inches long, weighs 5 kg and is 14 inches in circumference at the largest point and it is in the key of C. So far Jesse plays it the best, then Sarah, then I, then Rich. I get a lot of grief when I practice. I need to practice circular breathing, which is not easy. Besides the didgeridoo, Rich and I purchased some other pieces of artwork by Michael for Windarra. It was hard not to buy more. It was easy to sit and listen to his stories. Very quickly the hours went by. We took Ken and Janet back to the marina and we returned at early evening to pick up the didgeridoo. It was not dry yet so Wednesday morning we returned with Ken and Janet, and Susan of Argonauta. Michael gave us a short concert on the didgeridoo. He also showed us how he makes the didgeridoos and he told us the story of looking for the trunks and limbs to make didgeridoos up at Carnarvon Gorge. We spent another couple of hours in his company and with his wife Jo. If you are interested in Aboriginal art or culture, please check out Michael's website, www.dreamtime.auz.net. If you get a chance to visit Australia, especially the Brisbane/Scarborough area, please call up Michael and visit him. It is a lot more meaningful to talk and buy directly from the artist. Watching him paint our didgeridoo and hearing the story of where he found the tree to make it, makes it a special piece for us. It was a great experience. We are meeting some of the other cruisers who will also be shipping their boats back. It is a group of about 11 boats now, Windarra, Felicity, Salacia, Wave Dancer, To The Moon, Argonauta, Alii Kai, Reunion, Saperlipopette, Santana and Priceless. Some are going to Vancouver, some to Ensenada. It is nice to be able to share information. Well it is almost time for Sundowners... 7/26, Scarborough This is a short note to let you know I have updated the web site, www.svwindarra.com. I added the position updates for our road trip and buying the didgeridoo, including photos. I have also added some links to websites of other new cruisers we have met as well as the Darwin to Bali Race, for those interested. I am practicing the didgeridoo. I must be sounding better since the cat does not run away when I get the didgeridoo out. I have not yet mastered circular breathing, which is key. Jesse can still out play me! Rich and I put up some of the Aboriginal art work we have collected. It is fun to have new pictures on the walls. Be reminded that our wall space is very limited so that any change is noticed easily. Sarah is enjoying 'summer vacation'. She is sleeping in and reading Anime fan fiction when she can get internet time. Jesse has sorted through his belonging, deciding what to take to college, what goes in storage and what gets tossed. He can definitely carry all of it on his back in a dead run if he had too. He is sooo looking forward to getting back to Seattle to see friends and then going on to college. We took Mandu to the vet for his shots. Now he can stay at the cattery here in Brisbane and be ready to fly to Seattle once we arrive back with Windarra. The cattery is the Brisbane Pet Motel and the enclosures are 1.5 m by 2 m by 2 m, which is good sized. Plenty of room to romp. We will drop him off just before we move Windarra to the Brisbane river in preparation for loading on the ship. Our social life has been busy. Monday nights there is a Cruisers BBQ up at the chandlery, put on by Fletch and Fiona. Since there are now 9 boats here that are loading on Dockwise, there is plenty of conversation. Wednesday nights it is two for one at the Redcliffe RSL. This week, Rich and I will jjoin the cruisers for this. We have also been having potlucks with Samibella and Sequoia. Cruisers are a great social bunch. When we get our travel plans together we will let you know. Until then.... 8/6, Scarborough It is August 6, 2004 here in Australia but in Seattle it is still August 5, 2004. On August 4, 2001 we cast off our docklines from Shilshole Bay Marina and started our adventures on Windarra. Of course that first day we only went as far as Port Madison but it was a big step none the least. Now three years later we are here at the Scarborough Marina, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. We have travelled over 11,200 nautical miles, visiting 9 countries from North America to Australia via Oceania. Now as we get ready to ship Windarra back to the US and fly back ourselves we can reflect on the trip we have made. When we left we were a family of four with an indoor cat, leaving 40+ hours a week jobs, private schools, carpools and home was a house in Ballard. Now we are a very tight family of four with a salty boat cat whose home is a 47-foot boat, wherever the boat is located. We have made many friends along the way. Some are cruisers from not only the US but also from Canada, Great Britain, Scotland, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Japan South Africa, and other countries I have probably missed. We have also made memorable friends in all of the 9 countries where we visited. Some are well off and some are living life to the fullest on a shoestring. Of course, all of the cruisers have learned that mother ocean does not care whether you are rich or poor, in a big boat or a small one. She treats us all the same! Here at Scarborough Marina we have met up again with Nils. We first met him in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga. Nils is a 75 year old single hander on Peter Pan, a 21 foot, ketch that he built himself. He left Sweden 13 years ago where he was a boat builder and a sailing instructor. Now he is here at Scarborough having crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific. The masts on his boat are unstayed and he has a small 3 horsepower outboard as an engine. He uses solar panels to charge his batteries so he has lights and can run his VHF radio. A small stove like you would take backpacking helps to cook his food and a stainless steel bucket serves as a head. Inside he has two small bunks and not enough room to sit up completely much less stand. Unfortunately he is suffering from blood clots in his legs and he has Peter Pan up for sale. If he cannot sell the boat he will continue to sail on. May we all be sailing at 75! Peter Pan The experiences we have had will be with us for the rest of our lives. It has changed us in ways we don't even know. When someone asks us if it is tough out there, we will think of our passage to Rarotonga or crossing the Tasman Sea, but we will also remember that yes it may have been tough for a while but we did it and we enjoyed arriving at a new place with new experiences in store for us. Are we ready to comeback? Yes and no. Jesse is of course ready to visit friends and start his new adventure of university. Sarah is looking forward to seeing friends and getting involved in some other activities. Rich and I are looking forward to seeing our family; our friends and we plan to cruise locally as time permits. Someday we hope to go out again since there is so much more we want to see. When we return we look forward to hearing from our friends who are still on their journeys and getting reacquainted with the friends we left behind three years ago. Be patient with us as we try to fit in. There is one expression we have learned from the Australians that will stay with us for a long time, No worries. 8/9, Scarborough On Friday we took Mandu to the Brisbane Pet Motel. We checked him in and he was just in time for afternoon tea and biskies. It was sad to leave him but when I called later I was told he had warmed up and was very friendly and social. Saturday and Sunday we prepared the boat. We removed the wind generator, strapped down the dingy on the foredeck and stowed the solar panels. This morning we took our showers and were prepared to leave the marina and head to the Brisbane river where we planned to anchor overnight before loading on Tuesday morning. One of the other boats that is also going on Dockwise got a call. The ship is delayed due to head winds and is currently 10 hours behind schedule. The loading has slid to Wednesday. Well is it not unusual for any schedule associated with boats to slide. So we went off to do some other chores instead. We stopped by to visit Mandu and he gave us the cold shoulder. We had to almost crawl into his enclosure to pet him. Who says cats don't know what is going on? The staff assured us that he is very friendly and is eating well. I guess he was giving us a message. After the visit we went to a shopping mall for lunch and a look around. Killing time. Now Rich and I are going to get something for dinner. Our plan is to go to the Brisbane River on Tuesday. to be continued…. Return to Seattle 2004

Landfalls