Little update, so firstly found a dentist with the lovely Taylor doing a great repair job & didn't cost a fortune, hurrah! We're still waiting for 1 more big blow, expected tomorrow (todays was a bit of a blow out) & then we'll up anchor later in the week, to an, as yet, undetermined destination. Been fairly blowy & rolly here, we thought about moving but we can dinghy in & walk up the hill to the shops, & catch the bus to Bunnings, where we're going tomorrow (yay)! We've also had a few bbq's ashore & catch up's & sundowners & a lovely meal aboard Duet last night.

After a few catch ups w/ Duet & Daystar & a bush trek across the island (nature argh) we have moved on from Happy Bay, Long Island & have returned to Airlie Beach where Te Poe Rava & "M" are, as well as P&O's Pacific Explorer & the HMAS Shepparton. Unfortunately I thought we'd enjoy a fantail on the trip & lost half my filling so now I have to locate a dentist in Airlie, just great!!!

HAPPY BAY - LONG ISLAND (SHUTE HARBOUR ish)! Again with the early morning wake up & so we have now rocked & rolled & washing machined our way across "Three Fathom Patch" & anchored in a lovely little bay having left Gulnare Inlet can't say we'll be going back there, very wind on tide & it's still blowing, see how we go here. Blue bayou playing.

WHITSUNDAY ISLAND - Updating now as we traverse Hunt Channel (talk about Unpleasant channel) as we will be turning off into Gulnare Inlet & not sure about signal, seas very choppy & blah! We had a lovely night aboard Duet, meeting their friends Andrew & Anna, also met ""M" & Tracey & John, great fun night, all of us moving now to snug anchorages for next blow, Duet dropping friends off at Hamilton Island & will join us in Gulnare, just have to watch out for the dangerous reefs on entry.

Well quite obviously I'm still having issues with certain people understanding I'm retired, seriously, happily sleeping & made to get up at 6AM, honestly!, so here we are now at Cid Harbour after awful trip across "Unsafe Passage", I kid you not, crappy trip. Anyway Skipper foolishly about to show his prowess & do a 4 hour turnaround trek up the Whitsunday Peak, me I'm going back to sleep!!

Update, sorry for delay, but Double bay is a far better anchorage than Woodwark bay and we have now moved back to Airlie Beach & caught up with Tip er ova!

We have left Double Bay anchorage & come back down an hour south to Woodwark Bay (just up from Airlie Beach). Woodwark is where the tele series by Jack London, "Tales of the South Seas" was filmed in the 1990's, we've yet to explore. Skipper says he read it's $14,000 for min 3 nights to stay in Paradise Cove Villa's the resort here!! Das Almos & Plan B are both at anchor here too. Despite the promise of gaining better reception it appears to be worse, Skipper having to put the router up the mast (already missed the footy), now I'm going to miss JB & Billy on the radio! Whipped up a nice batch of pikelets for brekky today, haven't had them in years. Still not strong enough to upload photo's. Must add it's been really cold like 16 deg at night, not use to this, I vote going back north, had to put heater on.

DOUBLE BAY - After a lovely evening aboard Duet for dinner we have parted ways with them heading down to Hamilton Island to collect friends, a $200 overnight cost in the marina. We have opted to come back to this lovely bay, all tucked in by ourselves & wait out the forthcoming blow! Rod spotted his first boat "Opal", 35' Duncannson, sans mast, a triple planked oregon (she could be getting sand/varnish job), no-one aboard. She was built by our friend & riggers dad Barry Quin, he sailed her up the east coast of Tassy & up to Qld - Runaway bay.

AIRLIE BEACH - We decided to leave Whitsunday Island at 10am & come up & over to Airlie for a few supplies before moving tomorrow for a more protected anchorage from the South Easterlies that are going to blow for the next week. Yesterday we had pretty much the whole anchorage at Sawmill to ourselves and it was the 252nd year anniversary on the day 04/06/2022 of Capt Cook being there! Oh and as a "by the by", worldwide 10 people DIE from shark attacks compared to 150 dying from falling coconuts annually! Going to have to watch where I walk on the islands now!!!

SAWMILL BAY - WHITSUNDAY ISLAND, 10nm off Airlie Beach. With the wind changing direction we have moved down to the next bay offering a bit better protection, it's nearly 2 years since we were here last that was on the skippers 60th bday. We had Duet over for a "Rod's roast" last night, they have gone out to the reef today, only 8 moorings there, & with the wind blowing up it will reduce visibility, so we've opted to give it a miss this time.

Had sundowners last night with Kerri & Phil in the beautiful Double Bay, very serene. We departed for Whitsunday Island this morning to finally catch up with Duet's Nigel & Kerry who we've not seen for 6mths, anchored in pretty Mays Bay.

DOUBLE BAY EAST - 10kn North of Airlie Beach, next bay south of Earlando. After a less than comfortable night at Gloucester we departed at 7am through the Gloucester passage and out into the Whitsundays group anchoring here in Double bay for the next blow, signal a bit "iffy" again, trying to watch the footy yesterday was a bit tricky but at least we won, yay! We have just been joined by "Te Poa Ovre" & we will hang here until Wednesday. Beautiful blue water here, yet still can't swim, stupid sharks, skipper says no getting on paddleboard either! Got a few more nice photo's.

ECO RESORT - Gloucester Island, (off BOWEN) have arrived safely, beautiful day, Bubble got a bit of a "giddy up" there for a bit, (naturally weather not as presented)! 12 knots on the nose, then 20+ from behind! Tried vinegar as a mosi deterent on my skin last night, seemed to work, (still had mosi coil & citronella lamp going)didn't stop a 3" locust scare me in the cockpit! Have set up our remote control candles in the saloon, fairy lights in cockpit & back deck, & my pretty in the saloon, no power drain necessary (& looks pretty)! We're off through the Passage tomorrow a shortcut & will anchor at Double Bay (above Airlie, off Grassy Island)!.

CAPE UPSTART - Rough parallel to Ayr - travelled 67nm. We have anchored right on sunset (& another pearler sunset I might add)! Wind started out at 6-7kn petered out to between 2.6 & 1.4 knots, still we managed roughly 6 nautical miles per hour (6nm p/h)! Just a few beach shacks here, very protected. Off in the morning to Gloucester Island (think Bowen)!

And we're off, finally leaving Townsville & Maggie Island behind us as we travel south enroute to The Whitsundays, may go through to Cape Upstart or anchor at Bowling Green for the night, yet to be determined! Had a bbq on the beach with Phil & Kerri - Te Poa Ova with yet another awesome sky show sunset & had Mick kindly drive us around the island for some more fuel & a few more stores, nearly $7.00 for a continental cucumber, so not having that. And a big Happy birthday to you Garry!

Sorry update, after a fun meet & visit with our new neighbours the previous night we left Town at 7.30am back to Maggie Is at 9.30 & dropped anchor. After all the rushing about the previous couple of days the skipper had a day off & we went ashore in the afternoon & caught up with our old neighbour Mick from Marjoriemay (he has the singing dog Wally)! Watch the sky go through some amazing colour changes & came home in the dinghy in the darkness with our fab new sensor light working a treat! We find out this morning that there's been 5 sightings of a crocodile here near where you put the dinghies on the beach so hmm!

So quick update, after a lovely night at anchor (our 1st in awhile), we put bubble through her paces & fired up the desal unit & as half secretly expected, once under pressure 1 of the plastic fittings cracked & 2 others showed signs of splitting we came back into the maintenance berth in the marina on Sunday in search of parts. It is not feasable to go through & change all plastic fittings over to stainless because it entails the breakdown & complete removal of the unit so until it becomes necessary we will just change over as required. Coming back in did gives us a chance to catch up with some other friends we missed saying goodbye to, so now clever skipper has had a big day, driving around, getting parts & has now fixed the desal, so we try "take 3" in the morning!

So with much happiness to be heading out cruising again, yet sadness saying bye bye to friends & no more puppy dog kisses we have commenced our journey & gone over to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island & anchored for the night, so with a win for the Power & Chicken & veg roasting in the oven, we will decide if we stay a few more days here or head down to Bowling green enroute to the Whitsundays tomorrow.

It's 1 year today, since my little medi vac chopper ride off Fitzroy Island & being Friday 13th we are holding off until tomorrow to depart the marina & hang off Maggie Island for a few days, check everythings working, predominantly desal unit, (not making water in the marina). It's bittersweet leaving as we have met some truly lovely people, & made some great friends who have supported us through medical drama's, loning cars, boosting morales & having great fun times with! We have just had 2 boats from our marina in Adelaide arrive here at the Breakwater marina & I must add that the staff here are also fabulous so as the season changes & the cruising begins, it's "take two" for us with hopefully no more issues!

Well finally we are back in the water, back at the marina for the proverbial clean up. Rod pretty much did everything himself & in record time as I did the hospital thing again & as is typical it commenced raining (200mm overnight) right when we were about to antifoul & continued raining for the next week at one point even blowing whole steel ladders through the yard, it was a bit blowy!! Anyway back safe & ready to make a decision on our travel plans we think we will start with the John Brewer Reef.

I'm excited on so many levels, we are out of the marina (yay), we are finally on the slip (poo, but yay) & not long before we get back out on the water, hooray! So we were going up last week, night before we were due to go travel lift hydraulics died, ergo slip cancelled. Blew up to 23 knots as skipper was steering Bubble into the slip pen & he did a great job getting it in there, so with the help of Alan & Tyler we held her straight whilst she was lifted, several hours later she was propped in place. Boat in good condition with just a few barnacles, the midgies are flourishing here & just love eating us, so let the fun commence!

We should be in the slings right now, as the plan was to slip the boat today however there is a rather narly little whirlygig spinning up offshore so we have chosen to delay being on the hard, just in case it grows into a late cyclone, besides can't do much in the rain! Oh and yes, it's an annual thing slipping the boat, cleaning her bottom, checking the legs for any water, putting on new antifoul & anodes, so annually means, it happens every year, normally around my birthday! We have not yet decided where we will go (4 weeks to go) but think we will probably head south aim for the Whitsundays & meet up with Duet's Nigel & Kerri. We caught up with our Collingwood mate from Bundy for the footy & have been hanging out with friends on the marina, a few other things happening and have our 3rd open on the townhouse this weekend.

We arrived back in Townsville this Friday gone, the temperature is now quite lovely as opposed to stinking hot here & a tad chilly (socks, jumpers, & beanie) in Adelaide when we left. We've both been rather flat & 'fluey' so skipper has just done a test to rule out CoVid, all good, just flu. The townhouse has just listed today and looks quite lovely after our hard work. It's 3 years today since we first departed Adelaide and it's certainly not quite how we planned it! El Nino had a bit more in her than expected with storm & tempest, then a world wide CoVid epidemic wreaking havoc. So now, as we fast approach end of cyclone season and prepare to finally get moving we have Russia and it's ensuing global havoc! We have not decided what we're doing or where we're going, so we'll watch weather, slip Bubble & give her a fresh lick of paint & fuel up (at what price remains to be seen) and hopefully not have to do the "Waterworld" thing anytime soon! ps Happy 94th Birthday Aunty Kath xx

I'm writing this whilst sitting at Palermo's Restaurant in North Haven, South Australia waiting to surprise my old boss for brekky today. Prior to our departure to Adelaide we spent an arvo with Helen & Mark Quin (Rod's mate from his youth) who just happened to be staying at Magnetic Island & then had a final catch up with Tess & Ziggy before we flew down to the cold & they departed Townsville in Perlargic for Jervois Bay NSW. We are staying on our friend Terrys boat for a week whilst we prepare our townhouse for sale, catch up with a few friends & avoid the humidity in Townsville with the ridiculous weather system that's happening, non stop rain down along the south east coast. We fly back Friday when it will hopefully be cooler.

So we had a lovely catch up with Georgia & Aayden & then with Michelle staying for a night, then she was off to Tully for a week whilst Kerry got into full party planning for my 60th, then unfortunately she had to go to Brisbane & Michelle returned to take over the job of personal assistant for the big day. So as well as some beautiful flowers I received some stunning Royal Doulton crystal tea light holders, & a set of 3 wax USB charged candles among other gifts. The marina staff decked out the J to L letterbox surrounded with balloons & a card inside, very kind. So up the top to the bbq area with Michelle & Rod (the engineer) to construct the champagne fountain, a fabulous success with only 2 breaks out of 35 glasses! A great afternoon, evening was had by all!

So after the initial lightning & thunder storm that Georgia & Aayden flew in on last week (which thankfully cooled the town down) the weather came good so we managed to get away yesterday to come over & anchor at Picnic Bay, Magnet Island for the night. We had a bus ride around the island for the kids to have a look see, & a swim inside the stinger nets back to the boat for a lovely bbq tea! We now have fairy lights permanently up around the verandah & inside the saloon so not much drawing of power, I managed to find myself a perfect birthday present at Kuranda and add to the fabulous light display with a multi coloured rotating squid light, awesome. The kids last night tonight with them leaving tomorrow & Michelle arriving in the evening, so it will be a quick cabin turn over!

With the arrival of Georgia & Aayden we have secured a rental car & driven up to Cairns & wandered through the Kuranda Markets then drove down to Palm Cove for tea & then off for the night at Micky's motel. Departed Micky & Sues driving through the Atherton Tablelands & had a lovely time in the Innot hot springs, a series of 5 pools, travelling through Ravenshoe the highest town in Queensland we visited Lake Barrine & copious waterfalls, 1 being the longest drop in the country -Wallamans falls. Next day a few more falls & finally got to Paronella Park, awesome! Working our way back to Townsville via Paluma & Little Crystal Creek, chalking up 1350km.

Ater having had visitors for a huge roast last night that the skipper whipped up, I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday arvo, whilst Rod is back to the A/C, checking, clearing hoses etc. Not a great deal happening at present, although we have had a great deal of rain (380mm overnight) & a extremely wet Australia day bbq with friends, just the usual maintenance jobs as we await imminent arrival of Rod's daughter & her beau on Thursday, we hope to be able to hire a car & do a bit of driving as weather not looking entirely conducive to sailing but waterfalls should be awesome. Still plodding along with Dr's, with one op down & appears to have helped with pain, we shall see.

Finally, we have a cool sea breeze as disgustingly hot @ 39 deg 67 humidity a couple of hours ago with skipper head first in cupboards fixing/clearing saltwater intake on air-conditioner, of all the days & additional sadness as my inflatable pool/bath split one of it's seams, new one on order! We have had lots of get togethers, walks to the rockpool for a swim & even enjoyed a picnic there for Kerri's birthday. Had a lovely bbq up top with Ziggy & Tess, & Phil & Kerri last night, with discussions on what our next moves are after cyclone season. Our friends on Duet chose to go down south instead of suffering the heat here & have now endured lightning strikes, rain, hail & strong winds & not long since received a Tsunami warning! We're still dealing w/ Dr's & hospitals appts hopefully that saga will be over soon.