WE'RE BACK! And it was "The Trip of a Lifetime!"

At anchor in the breathtaking lagoon of  Panasia island.

I've just been reading my last blog - entered about 5 weeks ago before we sailed away to the wonderful Louisiades - and, although I remember my trepidation vividly, I'm so very very glad I/we experienced the rally's outstanding adventure!   We met so many wonderful people on the other rally yachts and made friendships I hope and believe will last for many years to come.  I am truly grateful that I had enough good friends & family to encourage me to get over my fears and get out there and DO IT!

We've been back in Australian waters since the early hours of Thursday morning.  The anchor came up at 6:30 am on Sunday, October 13 and we set off for Australia from the island of Nimoa.  The sail back was great - in sailing terms... the wind never blew over 24 knots and the sea was calm -  we covered the 520 or so nautical miles in 4 days.  Since our arrival in Cairns we've been busy but the memories are still vivid and, even with the sheer pleasure of being in a place with stores and phones and internet - and solid ground - the pictures in my mind keep coming back when I least expect them.

The Captain is injured.  On the last day there was a planned soccer game between the yachties and the locals.  Just picture this ... a team of "older" (well some of them) white men playing against a team of 16 and 17 year old local boys ... it was to say the least exciting!  Determined to score, my Captain even brought his Scotland t-shirt to wear!  Well, he did score a goal but in the process of trying to score another tore his Achilles tendon - badly.  We sailed back with him in considerable pain and even had to execute a mid-ocean crew transfer from another boat to help us get the boat back - more on that in another blog!  My Captain is currently in a cast up to his knee and on crutches!  Which means getting the boat and ourselves back to Sydney is going to be a lot less simple than hoped.

I know I'll talk about this for a long time to come - and over a lot more blog posts!  But here are the standout things that come to mind first.....

Me, at the wheel underway.  I had just been hit in the side of the head by a rogue wave over the
 side...straight into my head, drenched!  Good to laugh.

Making Passage on the Ocean - It is so strange and disconcerting to be at sea.  For days there is nothing - absolutely NOTHING - to gain any kind of idea about your location.  If it wasn't for the GPS and the charts the mariner wouldn't know anything.  No matter where you look there is only water - and, of course, the changing sky - but really just water.  Also, so far away from land, you don't see many birds and the only sea creatures we saw were flying fish.  There are big sea birds that come at night and fly around the boat.  Sometimes they catch a ride on the back of the solar panels and stay there for hours.  They shit indiscriminately - the windows, sails, transom, anywhere! - and then fly away to return again tomorrow night.  The flying fish sometimes make a fatal error and land on the boat.  Once, during a radio "sked" a larger one smashed hard into the cockpit leaving us with a rather smelly splash point to clean up.  Passage making is also - to me - rather boring and frustrating.  On a small sailing boat the time and miles pass slowly and the constant rolling waves make it difficult to move around, eat or sleep.  I'm glad I experienced a magnificent ocean crossing but I don't think I want to do it again any time soon!

The villages are a collection of grass huts on the shore.  This was a larger village on the island of Sabara.

The People of the Louisiades Islands - The people who eke out a living on the islands of this remote archipelago have NOTHING!  No running water, no electricity, no transportation, no communication with the outside world, very little support from the PNG government and very little medical or education support ... nothing that we, in the develop world, would expect in even the most basic way.  Yet, they have so much dignity.  They welcomed the rally boats with open arms - smiling and laughing and hugs.   Guy Chester, who created the rally and runs it superbly, must be a God to these people.  He brings them supplies he's cajoled during the year - clothes, school and medical supplies - and he makes sure the yachts that come with the rally are loaded to the brim with more supplies.  Moving to a new island anchorage you can expect to see dugout canoes start to appear from the coast line...often with women and their children - sometimes men and children alone ... coming out to trade.  They have coconuts or pumpkins to trade for a t-shirt or bag of sugar or sewing kit and other times they have huge crayfish (like lobsters but no claws)....the biggest, most beautiful crayfish, and most delicious I think I've ever seen or eaten!

Just inside the limestone cave.  Then you have to walk/climb down further and around to the surprising fresh water swimming hole.

Our Adventures - There were so many things we did that were like something out of a film!  We went to caves filled with skulls, climbed into a limestone crevice that opened into a huge cave with a fresh swimming hole at it's base, went down a jungle river and experienced an armed robbery and kidnapping!  These I'll save until next time because there's so much more to tell!!!

I think you get the picture - we had an amazing time!  I'm so glad I did this - we did this.  All the worry and fear amounted to nothing.  More tomorrow!!!

Take a breath, don't panic, it will be OK .......

These signs are all over Far North Queensland!

OK, even though there are crocodile warning signs next to ANY small body of water and beach in Far North Queensland the title of this blog is not in relation to that danger.

It's in relation to the Louisiades Rally we're just about to depart on!

The past 9 days or so have been a whirlwind of activity.  Someone wrote one time, and I think it came from the Louisiades Rally enrolment form, that; "if you wake up one morning and find you've got nothing else to prepare or fix on your boat - then don't worry about it.  You're dead." 

We certainly felt like that when leaving Sydney to start on the coastal cruise.  It's even more pronounced when getting ready to leave for somewhere 4 days sail away, for a planned 30-35 day stay with no stores and no real help - at all - anywhere!  I've spent the past days provisioning which means cooking and freezing and buying and making lists.    The Captain has spent them tweaking and repairing and loading and, and, and.

The only absolutely wonderful stupendous time of the whole past 9 days was last weekend which we spent in Tim's house taking care of his dog while he went to Brisbane for the weekend.  I don't think I can explain in a few words just how special the 3 nights we spent there actually were!  First to be able to walk around a room - a number of rooms - and have SPACE!  Heaven.  And then to have a magnificent and beautiful Lab dog jump into bed to greet the morning with you while showering you with unconditional JOY at being alive.   Magnificent licks and tail wags and jumps on and off the bed! ... Loved it so so much.  I miss my Molly dog at home a lot.

The beach only a block or two from Tim's house - walking Callie in the evening.  Unfortunately just up the beach from where I took this picture is one of those crocodile signs where a dog was actually taken a while back!

So, back to 'Take a Breath and Don't Panic' .... the past two days we've been in 5 hour seminars regarding the trip run by the rally organisers.  The people running this month long cruise are executing well all aspects of this complicated trip - while doing everything in their power to make sure each and every individual boat/skipper understands that it is THEIR responsibility to take care of themselves, their crew and their boat.  Over these two days we've sat through one presentation after the other on how bad it can get out there in the Coral Sea.  Each day ends with story after story of boats that have been lost - run on to the reef, dis-masted, knocked down and generally blown to hell and back in 40 and 50 knot winds!  And every day I leave the seminar wanting so badly to say to my skipper, "That's it.  I'm not going!"  But I don't.

I've already had one colossal meltdown.  Earlier last week Catherine - who is joining us on the cruise and the person I'm depending on to help me get through this ... and who is coming all the way from the Isle of Skye to join us .... sent an email with her flight details which I interpreted wrongly.  I thought she wouldn't get here in time ... just missing customs clearance by a day.   Even with steely determination to not panic before I talked to her - I lost it.  Big Time.  Tears.  Sobs.  When I couldn't get Catherine on the phone I even called my sister-in-law, Angela .. in Ireland .. to check my assumptions with the flights (as usual, she was wonderful and helpful even though it was 11 pm at night her time.  Love you Angela!).  Needless to say, Catherine and I spoke later that morning and she assured me she would be here in time... just.

The Captain - my husband - has many great qualities.  However, outward displays of empathy and/or compassion isn't one of them.  So, unfortunately, I'm not getting anywhere near my quota of reassurances from him.

The others on the trip are lovely... a very diverse group with so many interesting people.  Additionally the people and the sights in the Louisiades islands we've heard about sound so special that I really want to go.  But the thought of it scares the absolute HELL out of me! 

I keep thinking that perception and reality are just a product of the way we PERCEIVE it to be - to ourselves.  The way we couch it in our self talk.  So, I'm doing all I can to keep saying this mantra to myself, "Take a Breath, Don't panic, It will be OK."

We leave this Saturday morning at 10:00am.  I will make it.  I will enjoy every minute.  It is the trip of a lifetime.  Take a breath, don't panic, it will be OK.

34 Years Married TODAY! ... and Yorkey's Knob (no relation!)

Me and the Captain - this was taken a while back but it's one of my favourites.

Today marks the 34th anniversary of the Captain and I getting married.  WOW!  That's a long long time.  And, like all relationships I suppose, there's been fantastic good times, good times and not so good times.  However, the real measure of the relationship I guess, is the fact that in spite of a half life's worth of ups, downs and sideways we still love each other.  The other plus is we actually LIKE each other too!  (I hope I'm not just speaking for myself!)

This morning in the early light of day, the Captain still lightly snoring beside me, I was thinking about our years together.  The phenomena that stands out above all else is how many things I simply would not have experienced, seen, tried and done without him pushing/pulling me to step way outside of my fears. 

Thanks to my Captain I moved all the way to the other side of the world from my birth city of Atlanta - without any other friends or family.  That worked out very well!  I learned to scuba dive when I could hardly swim and we've dived everything from beautiful coral to deep wreck dives in the South Pacific and all over Australia.  With his encouragement and many years of support  I found a career I loved, thrived and succeeded within.  I've followed him on bush walks that didn't have a path, camped, taken car journeys across and up this continent and now - the biggest scariest thing of all - our sailing trip to Cairns and then over to the Louisiades.  Through all of this I'm not ashamed to say I've been afraid - sometimes just plain scared shitless.  But, because The Captain is there, I persist and - Surprise! Surprise! - I end up doing things unheard of.  Surely that is the measure of a successful marriage!

Love you my Captain!  Thank you for helping me to be a better - and less fearless person - and for 34 great years!

Early on Friday morning we moved to Yorkeys Knob Boating Club Marina.  This is the staging place for the Louisiades rally so we'll be here until the departure date of September 14.  When I say - Early - I mean early.  We left Cairns at 5:30am to motor the two hour distance on the high tide and to avoid the 25 to 30 knot winds forecast for Saturday and on into this week.  The wind on Thursday afternoon was particularly strong across the Cairns Marina and I certainly did not want to come into this much smaller marina, with its very tight channel, in heavy winds. 

The best surprise - and most appreciated on many levels - was having Ian and Sharon from 'Bogart' get up to see us off and help with the mooring lines.  We've had so many fun times and shared lots of weather - good and bad - with them and the rest of the CC13 gang that its always bittersweet to say farewell again to people we are so very fond of.....but we'll see them again in December back in Sydney I'm sure.

Peter and Rob on 'Whimaway' pulled into Cairns after a long and hard sail to windward all day and the gang on 'Momentum' were not far behind them.  It was great to see everyone one more time before we moved on to start preparation in earnest for PNG.  Hopefully Pete, Rob and Ian will get a chance to come up this way before they start their trip back.

Yorkey's Knob Marina with the sun going down.

The YK Marina and facilities are not as nice as Cairns, or some of the other places we've stayed, but its still comfortable and the people are all very nice.  There seem to be a lot of people who live on their boats here - and some of them seem, at first meeting, that they've been doing it a bit too long.  They are real characters.  If we're here long enough it will be good to learn some of their stories.

Today we met the people off one of the other rally boats who had just come in.  They did the rally last year and said they had a great time and the trip over wasn't bad at all.  Good to hear!  I'm really looking forward to meeting the other rally participants and getting into "rally" mode.

Tim, me and the Captain at the 'Beach Almond' restaurant in Palm Cove.

Our very good friend Tim has been so good to us while we've been here.  Last night - Saturday - he drove over and picked us up for a dinner out in the beach suburb of Palm Cove.  We had a fun night with great company and good food.   Palm Cove at night was lovely with enormous and ancient melaleuca trees creating an exotic canopy over the road and foreshore.  I can't wait to see it in the daylight.

Friends, Waterfalls, Croc Bars and Parades - Fun in Cairns



Home with Tim and his lovely dog Callie.

We're still in the Cairns Marlin Marina.  There was a plan to move to the Half Moon Bay Marina in Yorkey's Knob tomorrow ... we drove over to have a look at the Marina in our rental car a few days ago and decided to stay here in Cairns for another week.  There isn't a lot around the Marina over at YK and we still have 3 weeks to go before the Louisiades Rally departure so we thought we'd stay here in the "big smoke" of Cairns one more week.  And we haven't been idle.

On Saturday we rented a car and drove up the coast.  Originally the plan was to check out the Yorkey's Knob marina and then look up Tim's house and come on back to the boat.  But when we got to YK there wasn't much there so we drove on up to Port Douglas for a look around.  The drive up the coast is pretty spectacular and Port Douglas was humming with the usual tourist.  The Captain and I had a quick lunch at the pub and decided to hit the road back to Cairns with a stop over at Tim's for a cuppa on the way.  All up the drive is only about 60km but with the winding roads hugging the coastline and hillsides it took an hour and a bit to come back.

Saturday night the Cairns Festival kicked off with a big parade down the Esplanade.  We went down to watch it and had a surprisingly good time!

The whole of the Cairns community and its surrounds participated in the parade and, as usual, there were lots of colourful floats and children in costumes!

There is a large community of Chinese and Japanese here and they were well represented on the floats! 

We went out for an Italian meal afterwards - multi cultural all the way!!  And over our glasses of wine and Caprese Salad entre we missed the fireworks.  Another good night in the far north.

The plan on Sunday was to co-cook a dinner at Tim's house and stay the night.  But over our wine at dinner the night before the Captain suggested we get up early (groan) and drive up to the Atherton Tablelands for a quick look before arriving at Tim's around 4:00pm.  First thing is you don't just have a "quick look" at the Atherton Tablelands - the area takes in a large area of tropical rainforest wonders and small to medium villages.  In a more sober vein early on Sunday morning we decided to drive up the mountain to the small rainforest town of Kuranda.

On arrival in Kuranda I discovered it was a village right up my "alley" and full of "my tribe"!!  Hippies and People after an Alternate Lifestyle running little cafes, shops and nature museums ... all under the canopy of the rainforest.  Heaven.  There was a cool feeling to the air - no more heat from beside the water - and the smell of the air was intoxicating. 

We started out with a walk around the market stalls and then a coffee and a muffin and after the walk to Barron Falls we had lunch.

There are stairs between the levels of shops in the rainforest canopy.  All in all there are about 3 or 4 levels of little Hippy type shops.  At the top of this stairway is a Japanese Tea room!  Beautiful.  You can sit there and take in a pot of green tea with a view over the tree tops in perfect serenity. 
 

We had lunch here in this wholefoods organic restaurant...again sitting out amongst the trees.

In between coffee and lunch we drove to the "canopy walk" through the rainforest to the Barron Falls.  What a spectacular sight!  Again, as has happened so many times on this trip, we didn't know anything about the falls or the area.  The walk was great....a raised walkway right in the treetops and down to a sudden reveal of the Barron Gorge and Falls.

The lower walkway - we had come down from the treetops.

The Barron Gorge and Waterfall.  The picture just doesn't do it justice.  It's really deep and almost gives you vertigo looking down into it!  Beautiful.

After a full day exploring Kuranda we drove back down to Tim's house for dinner and a good catch up.  We see Tim way too little and it was so good to spend time together.  We went for a good long walk on the beach with his dog Callie and then sat in his tropical gazebo having reef fish for dinner!  The captain and I are looking forward to spending a lot more time with Tim over the next few weeks.

Dinner in the night breeze next to the pool ... tropical bliss.

And one more thing.  We went for a beer in one of the pubs way in the back of Cairns the other day and I had to take a photo of the bar - its a crocodile!!!  I do love this place.

Love the bar ... and check out the crocs above as well!

"As If !!!!!!"

Busy, noisy, bustling Cairns Marlin Marina

We're in the tourist centre of Cairns in the Marlin Marina.  We hadn't planned on being here until Sunday or Monday but ended up coming in after night fall on Saturday night. 

The reason for the 'early' entry and our first night time marina approach was the unbearable roll at anchor off Fitzroy Island.  We had planned to stay a day or two at FI and take in some of the walks and maybe try out the resort's restaurant but, after anchoring and going ashore to have a cold beer and enjoy the feel of solid land under our feet, we returned to the boat to awful rolling.  Honestly, it was almost impossible to walk around.  Hopeless!  After about 15 minutes of both of us trying to endure it quietly the Captain suddenly said, "we're leaving!".   And we motored - FAST - for the leads to the Cairns channel. 

Going into a port for the first time in the half light of dusk takes concentration.  Can I just say right now, "God Bless the Furuno Chart Plotter!".  What an amazing piece of equipment it is.  I can't imagine (well, I can and let's just say I wouldn't want to) trying to do this without it.  I was steering the boat at full speed - 8 knots and a bit - hurtling into the unknown with the plotter as my guide while the Captain was busy on deck getting the fenders and lines ready for the marina.  Luckily - AGAIN - the crew on 'Whimaway', who we thought we had said a sad farewell to at Dunk Island, were here and with one phone call they were standing at our marina berth with a flashlight to guide us in through the dark.  It was just on 6:30pm.  God love & bless them! 

Tired, a bit stressed (me, definitely) and smelly from our marathon day on the water - up at 5:30am to leave Mourilyn Harbour and then another 2 hours from FI - we washed up quickly and joined Peter, Rob and Donna for a celebration of Donna's birthday at an Italian restaurant near by.  Great night .. and we slept like logs for over 9 hours that night!  The past couple of days we've walked all over the town exploring and last night hosted drinks on 'Southern Belle' for 'Whimaway' and Anne and Barry from 'Momentum'.

This morning I was sitting on the back of the boat watching all the boats going in and out of the marina and feeling quite reflective.  I'm amazed I'm here, on the boat, in Cairns!  I recall when we started planning this trip that - during the months of putting everything together - I consistently wondered if I would make it.  "AS IF, I would say to myself, I'll make it there!".  The Captain was working a lot of the time which left me to collect the guide books and charts amongst other things.  I remember looking at the new charts as I labelled and packed them into their sleeves and wondering if I would see the exotic places they hinted at.  Places like the Hinchinbrook Channel, Cape Bowling Green and Magnetic Island.  I did it - I've seen them all and we're pretty much at the end of the current set of charts and books.

Now its time to buy more charts and more books for the Louisiades trip.  New listings of exotic places in a new country.  I must say I feel as apprehensive as I did earlier this year and then some but this time I know that I will make it there and back and eventually back to my home and dog in Sydney.  The experiences we've had so far have been amazing!  And the ones in the 'not so amazing' category make for good stories around sundowner drinks but don't stick in the mind as awful - just as events like the others.

As I watched the boats in the harbour this morning I thought about each individual person on them.  The boat loads of tourists - families and backpackers some from far away countries - going in and out headed for the reef .. What have been their experiences?  The sailing boats down at our end of the marina - some big and expensive and some small and modest - with the couples on board who are mostly retired looking folk like us ... Where have they been and where are they going, I wonder.  I guess all of us are fulfilling dreams or aspirations the best they can at this particular time.  One thing I know with certainty is I'm so GRATEFUL that the Captain and I are so blessed to be able to do what we're doing.

We'll be here for the remainder of the week and hope to catch up with our friend Tim soon.  Then we'll move into the marina at Yorkeys Knob to prepare for the Louisiades Rally.  More soon.

Last day at Dunk Island and Mourilyan Harbour

A "selfie" photo at the top of Mt Kootaloo.  I told the Captain that we had to pout like Victoria Beckham - that everyone doing a "selfie" had to look like that.  He just stuck his tongue out...same effect really.

On our last day at Dunk Island we took the National Park pathway to the top of Mount Kootaloo (height 271m or 894 ft).  The park sign said that the walk to the top was 5km long and would take 2 and a half hours round trip.  My foot has been getting better and better so off we went.  It was a hot and sunny day - with an emphasis on HOT.

The path here was good.  Shady for the most part as we walked up through the rain forest.  And, thankfully, there weren't any rocks to climb up or climb down.  Just a flat pathway angling upwards.

Lovely views down through the trees to the bay and pier below.

The Captain wanted to do the walk because there is a relic from WW2 on top of the hill.  During the war Dunk Island was part of a network of surveillance points along Australia's east coast.  The airstrip that was used for the resort was also built for the war in 1941.  A part of No 27 Radar Station, at the top of Mt Kootaloo, was still evident and the skipper wanted to see it.

As we approached the top of the hill and this sign - and I was still coming up around the corner - I heard the Captain exclaim, "Is that it!"  Yes, this is all that's left of the No 27 Radar Station.  Still it was interesting to read the sign about how soldiers had to walk up the hill through the jungle with the parts to build it and monitor it.  That would have been very hard work.

The viewing platform at the top of the mountain was pretty spectacular on such a fantastic day.  We have been very blessed with weather on this leg of the trip.  Thank You Universe!

After our walk we went back to the boat and had a bit of a lie down.  My foot was killing me - ache, ache, ache.  I wonder when it will be perfectly well again!  Just on sundown Barry and Anne, from the boat 'Momentum' - who we've seen on and off all the way up the coast - came over and invited us over for drinks.  They are lovely people and we had a great visit and chance to get to know each other.

This morning we left early to start the last few days of sailing before arriving at Cairns - our last stop in Australia before going to the Louisiades.  Again there wasn't any wind to sail, except for a bit here and there with the MPS (spinnaker like sail).  Our destination - Mourilyan Harbour - a strange little harbour that is virtually invisible in the hills until almost alongside the entrance.  I don't know how they get big ships in here - but they do - for bulk sugar loading because the entrance is so tight and the harbour so small.

The view from our anchorage.  The entrance to the harbour is just on the right - literally through the trees to a narrow opening.

We were warned there are crocodiles here but, of course, that didn't stop the Captain getting out the crab traps and motoring alone into the mangroves all along the side of this "harbour" to set his traps.  I knew if I protested it wouldn't do any good so I didn't bother.

Tomorrow we will leave early for Fitzroy Island - after the crab pots (and the crabs the skipper just said) are collected!

OH Look!  It's wine o'clock.  More tomorrow.

Dunk, Drunk, Mission Beach .. and Fare thee Wells!

This is what Dunk Island resort looked like before cyclone Yassi. From Flickr.

Dunk Island is lovely.  The view from our anchor spot is the picture of a South Pacific haven - blue/green crystal clear water, palm trees and calm breezes.   This island has a long history of refuge.  The original European settler (after the indigenous Aboriginal people disappeared) was Edmund Banfield, a journalist in Townsville who, with failing health, was searching for his personal paradise.  He moved on to the island and established a home for many many years.  While there he kept a diary of the wildlife and the beauty of the island which later became 4 famous books - the most well know is "Confessions of a Beachcomber" published in 1908 and still available today (on e-books no less!).  When he died he wanted the island to become a research centre for tropical biology .. but it didn't.  Dunk Island became a very popular resort for families in Australia and around the world.

There also used to be a very famous artist enclave on the island dating back to 1974.

Sadly, this is what's left of the resort today.

Pretty much total destruction.

Unfortunately Dunk Island, the resort and the artist enclave, took the full impact of cyclone Yassi - a category 5 cyclone - in February 2011 and there isn't much left but ruins.  The federal government together with the local council have replaced the old wooden pier with a new concrete one and they are working to get the camping areas back up to scratch.  According to the news the resort was bought by someone who is planning a super upmarket resort on the site.  It will cost a lot of money and time to do that here.

The drunk in the title of this blog refers to our first night here and the pot luck dinner on 'Bogart'.  We weren't really "drunk" .. but let's just say the wine flowed freely!  As 'Southern Belle' and 'Bogart' left The Hinchinbrook Channel and approached Dunk Island - Sharon sent me a text saying that she was inviting us and 'Whimaway' to a pot luck dinner that night.  "Sounds Good!", I replied.  So after walks on the beach and swims we joined everyone for dinner that night about 6pm.  The company, conversation and food was excellent - as usual - and the night kicked off in high spirits.  Once dinner was finished the music was cranked up and we danced!  Well Sharon, Donna and I did the best we could to dance in the rather restricted confines of a 45ft boat with 7 people aboard!  What a fun night!  I don't have any photos - probably a good thing - because I left my camera on our boat.  But Sharon documented the whole thing .. so its there somewhere.

The next day - Wednesday (I'm finding I have to think really really hard to remember days now because it doesn't matter at the moment!) - yesterday - the wind was completely non-existent.  We were running low on supplies of a few things and with the town of Mission Beach only 3 or so miles away across the bay we decided to take the dingy across.  Normally you wouldn't try to cover that distance in the little dingy with only a 6 hp motor but it was so calm we did.  Ian and Sharon went across first and we followed later.  We had to wait for the Captain's banana bread to come out of the oven ...

At dinner the previous night Donna was saying they had some over ripe bananas that they were going to have to trash.  The Captain, in his best conserving mode, said that he could make banana bread from them and we could half the loaf!  I had my doubts if he could remember the recipe but he said, "Of course I can!"  So the next morning Rob brought the fruit over in the dingy and Captain G was locked in.  I had to call my BFF, Jae, in Atlanta to try and get the recipe but she didn't know where her book was so he made it the way he remembered.  It was great and everyone on 'Whimaway' were duly impressed (as was the Captain).

The destination of Mission Beach and the state of the ocean - glassy.  This is how far we had to motor in our little dingy - you can't hardly make out the town on the far shore.

Dunk Island in the distance ... bags ready to load up for the motor back.

We made it to Mission Beach - after a 40 minute motor in the little boat - replenished some necessary supplies like tomatoes and headed home. 

This morning 'Bogart' and 'Whimaway' left our little bay.  We're not sure if we'll see them again on this trip.  I've become so fond of everyone - especially Ian and Sharon and Pete because they've been here from the start - that I couldn't help but shed a tear or two as their boats disappeared into the distance.  We've shared so much together - the times that you arrive at an anchorage or a marina and you know someone is there to welcome you or grab a line and help the boat into a berth, and the laughs and conversations - that it's easy to quickly grow great friendships.  I think its people that makes cruising by boat such a special endeavour.  Certainly for me, and the Captain, its what has made each and every day filled with so much to remember and cherish.  I know we'll catch up again back in Sydney but, goodness, I miss them so much already. 

'Whimaway' leaving Dunk Island with 'Bogart' a spec in the distance.  "See ya'll later!" 

We're staying here today - there are a few walks on the island to explore - and we'll head on up north tomorrow and plan to arrive in Cairns on Sunday or Monday.  Can't wait to see Tim in Cairns!