Boats, Planes - No Restaurants (sigh) - and Seriously Getting Prepared

Well the Easter weekend is over.  It turns out these past 4 days marked a change in pace for us in preparing for the cruise.  Now that we're just a month away from leaving I find I've accelerated into full blown organisation mode.  And, if nothing else, I'm good at doing just that!

To begin this post on a more peaceful note a few last looks at the weekend just past...

Here's me in the galley about to prepare dinner.  When we're on board we don't suffer from a lack of food...or even a lack of good food!  The boat has great refrigeration - 3 fridges actually - so I can pack and plan a good healthy meal every night.  I think this particular night we were having grilled chicken on the BBQ with 2 kinds of salad.  Nice.  The challenge with going away will be to keep as much as possible fresh for up to 4 weeks in some cases.

Our usual ritual when in the National Park is motoring down to the Cottage Point Kiosk to have mid-morning coffee and a piece of their excellent apple and walnut bread.  One of the public moorings puts us just opposite the Cottage Point Restaurant which means we can watch the boats and seaplane arrive for the lunch crowd.

The restaurant is just up the little ramp from the boats.

The seaplane arriving with a load of diners for the restaurant.  Great way to experience the National Park...and to avoid being breath tested on the roads!

I love this little restaurant.  The food is good - kind of fine dining - and the outlook is spectacular.

Sadly with our trip plans, and with the propensity for Mr G to cut all "extras" out of the budget, we didn't have a meal there.  This cruise is costing quite a lot of money to get up to speed with everything needed.  So I can only look at restaurants and sigh..and then keep cooking dinner at home.  The rewards will be great once we get up to the Whitsunday islands and beyond but it would be nice - just once - to lash out on a great meal.  Like I said - big sigh.

The weekend was not devoid of lots of social fun.  We ran into some friends - Mark and Kim - who returned from 6 months sailing up north at the end of last year.  They passed us in their boat one afternoon so we motored over for a beer and ask them about their trip.  If you judge our coming cruise with their experience then we should be in for a good time...with some nail biting times as well.  They raved about the 6 months they spent and said they couldn't wait to do it again. 

We also joined the Yacht Club crew - 24 boats in all - for one night.  It was fun travelling between a few boats, joining them for conversation and drinks and sharing stories about experiences.  Unfortunately we couldn't join in some of their plans because Molly wasn't allowed ashore in the parkland so we only stayed one night and then moved on.

Now that all that enjoyment is over we're getting down to it with prep for the trip.  I have gone into full LIST mode.  So far 3 lists and counting.  To Do for the Boat, To Do for the Medical Kit, and To Do for the House Handover.  Stay tuned though, I'm sure there will be more.  I've been at it all day and now I'm going to move into the kitchen for more of my own cooking (sigh again).