Just a quick update to mostly share some photo's. We moved over to pick up a mooring when other boat left. We've been ashore for a walk around & seen some of the carnage from Yasi's wake, Dunk Island is still not up & running as a resort destination. Garry paddled to shore & walked up to the lookout. Being that we can't make any water without the generator working, we have been able to use the hot showers in the camping grounds & then caught up with Tramp II on the beach for sundowners. If needed we can carry 40 litres of fresh water back to boat so we can still make ice.

After an absolute star studded night at anchor we have had a quick 3 1/2 hr jaunt up to Dunk Island passed the Family Islands group notably Coombe, Wheeler, Bedarra & Thorpe Island, lovely casual trip, with pretty much no wind, so motored all the way. Skipper got to pass the time by inspecting & solving an issue we had with the generator, turns out the exhaust elbow is corroded (obviously we've not spent enough money yet)! So now we get to sit here & wait for the delivery of the part to Mission Beach & get the water taxi to drop off to us here at Dunk Island, all depends on good old Australia Post, so fingers crossed for expediency, apparently Monday.

We have sailed up the east coast of Hinchinbrook Island (aka bugsville) & anchored in Missionary Bay around the top end for the night passing Eva Island along the way. Very pleasant cruisey day, all set for a bbq tonight. We're off to Dunk Island in the morning.

Arrived safely, anchored at Orpheus Island at 3.15pm, cruisey little motor/sail, and picked up 1 of the 4 free moorings & will spend the next 24hrs here.

Well woo hoo the time has finally come & we are ready, fully laden (spent an easy grand on food, barely a waterline visible) as we have don't know when we can get stores past Cairns or costing twice as much! We have had a few trips about town & a bit beyond thanks to the use of The Starships car, got up to Crystal Creek, Paluma, the Ross River Dam & Saunders Beach (my maiden name). We also got up early for the Dawn service, just up top of the marina, a really well done affair. Our plan tomorrow is to head straight up to Orpheus Island & hopefully everyone is on there way back from the long weekend, maybe Zoe Baty, then Dunk Island, we shall see.

Quick update as the 17th has come & gone, our official 6 months in the marina, with us coming in early in November, with our 2 weeks on the slip Breakwater have allowed us another 2 weeks free of charge, this being a good thing with the current strong wind warnings for the next week or so & the amount of money we have spent. Vessel's that have already left including Tramp II & Duet having 30 knots plus & are not happy, we will bide our time. With Garry's help we have achieved a lot more, with new chain, nav lights on Adrian (tender), new clears, locker clean outs etc.I have

made a new cover for our helm seat & am now back on mozzie nets prepping for Hinchinbrook Island & it's bugs!

With our fresh new antifouling job complete (this time stripping back both legs & trying out propspeed instead of hard a/foul). We have now moseyed on back to the marina & been cleaning up the boat. Garry was an exceptional help in his "4th year apprenticeship" of all things slipping, sanding & polishing, & is coming along quite nicely (also saving us both from extra hard yakka)! We met some great people on the slip & had a few good nights (still we all got bitten by the midges). We are now getting our stores sorted for our DEPARTURE onwards & upwards, next stop Cairns, yippee!

Day 7 on the slip, all going well & we have been quite lucky with the wind blowing a cool breeze, keeping midges reasonably at bay. I have discovered a new repellant that seems to work. Take a small bottle of baby oil, pour out 1/4 qrt cup of oil, add 2 tblspn of Dettol & 1 tblspn of citronella oil, shake up & slap on, excellent! We decided to book accomodation & have been staying in a twin apartment, with pool & Foxtel (bring on the footy)! We had a great night with friends who live nearby, staying onboard last night, ready for early start today, getting a tie coat on ready for antifoul later today, hopefully go back in on Tuesday.

So happy days, we have left the marina and had an hour's jaunt around to "woo hoo", the Rosshaven Marina for a slip, which is on the Ross River, so even better, bring on the midges & Dengue fever etc, awesome! So with all things slipping my kind, thoughtful brother has donned a mask & flown 8hrs over from Perth to assist with the antifoul job & cruise on up to Cairns (if he'd like) with us. So with corner rain covers FINALLY finished, quite literally upon his arrival, fabulous light show of lightning & rain overnight & now as we sit ready for the lift at 8am tomorrow, it is now pouring (& all the rain covers are up because we travelled here), gotta love Murphy!

Tonight marks our 2 year departure from Adelaide at midnight and we have come a long way, seen much & missed lots too, thanks to weather, various upgrades on the Bubble & all thing's Covid! I have safely returned from Brissy & almost finished Michelle's/(my) garden, collected more fabric from Quinrig for FINAL rain cover sections. Skipper has been very busy helping others out & completing jobs on our vessel & prepping for annual slipping next week & removal of rubbish antifoul that everyone said we should use up here, goodbye Joton & barnacles, back to Altex for us. So close to finishing rain covers, (which kind of seems ironic, it has hardly ever rained here), wait until we go up on the slip! Finally have my new pool set up, blew up the last one, so happy days!

Had a few issues get onsite, all good now. With 4 months now behind us it's getting closer for our departure north & will go pretty quick with lots more to do. We have completed the helm & console laminating & it looks great, with just 4 pieces to go (2 either side) for total re-laminating. I have finished the edging on our internal cockpit shades, finally & sewing machine away for now! We currently have a potential Cat 3 cyclone hanging around & will hope it stays offshore whilst I go down to Brissy for a week to Shell's, yay! I had a good day for my birthday, with drinks up top before heading to casino for tea with our friends..

Been super busy with all the jobs, skipper has now finished servicing on engines & genny, sorting out spares etc. We have completed 2 more replacement panels in the cockpit, the worse yet to come, helm & console.....all those wires! Enjoyed a bbq up top & an impromptu "private" fireworks display w/ Duet. I have made a couple of outfits in between working on rain covers which have proven themselves as we finally got some decent rain over the marina, still a work in progress & will finally get to finish internal shade cover trims thanks to Quinrig sending up fabric. Commencing the sorting & stocking up stores as few stops between here & Darwin, not too long to go now!

So here we are, halfway through cyclone season, 3 months left before we can continue our travels & at this point we think (with all things Covid) we will stick with our original plan & just keep turning left, heading on up to Darwin. With Tramp II we wandered up to the Queens Garden for the Halo light show which was pretty cool. We had a great Australia day bbq up at the marina & have been super busy, sewing covers, new outfit and renovating, with the help of Sol, replacing all the laminated ceiling panels in the cockpit, looks fabulous!

We had our first serious prep with Cyclone Kimi getting close, taking down covers, securing with additional ropes, removing pot plants etc she was a non event with no wind or rain at all, good practice as we look ahead to something brewing off the coast next week. We have been very busy with changes to the boat Skipper renovating "the shed" (stbd V berth) & I'm still sewing. As yet not made it to Halo light show, (cancelled for Cyclone Kimi) with hopes for the next few days. We had a fun night at the Townsville Yacht Club for Trivia night, catching up with Corroboree's Arlisse & Eric, coming in 3rd! Happy Birthday Ma.

A quick update, it has cooled down considerably with humidity around 50% and the drizzle appears to have ceased (for now). We're keeping an eye on a couple of curly winds off the coast due next week which may form into something, but as yet all good. Skipper had to pull apart pump from the A/C as it started to act up, as he is quite brilliant he repaired it for $17 instead of $300+ for a new one, bravo! We are waiting for the "Halo" light show that starts tonight in Queens Gardens & have been getting a taste of things to come each evening as they set up the lights. Basically we have been cleaning out lockers & rearranging things, & I'm back on changes to rain covers now that it's stopped. Averted tragedy yesterday when my "super specs" (multifocal $600 glasses) went for a dip in the drink with awesome husband hooking them out with a squid jag, first time in 23 years I've dropped something in the water so I consider that not to bad.

Happy New Year, 2 months down & 4 to go before we can move further north & time is wooshing by! We had a great night New Years eve, with drinks up at the marina common room w/ Duet, Tramps, The Starship & others then wandered down to the rocks for a fabulous fireworks display, & back to the Bubble finishing up somewhere around 3am, with a very quiet New Years day. We have had a fair amount of rain, with 1 or 2 great downpours from Cyclone Imogen who fizzled out to sea. No leaks from new windows, however 1 drip, drip issue from the mast that the skippers solving (& one wet night where 14 hatches were left open overnight - my fault!).