Award winning moments week 4

Luckiest break: Crossing Wide Bay Bar with no worries.

Most random item: The light that shines from the shore of Frasier Island (late at night, visible in the wet) scary stuff.....

Favourite meal: Dad's birthday dinner - damper, roast dinner and birthday cake!

Funniest moment: Upon walking to shore, Tania thought that she heard dingos growling on the shores of Frasier Island. Unsuspectingly, it was actually Mick and Hayden's stomachs grumbling! Hahahahaha...

Blonde moment: Dad- are you having a RUM and a BUNDY? (same thing!)
And Amy, playing Trivial Pursuit, and was asked 'Which Scot played Indiana Jones' father? Her reply: Scott Senior.

Most painful experience: Jim slipping off the back of the boat into the water in the heavy storm, first Man Overboard of the trip - and suprisingly this was not Amy or Jo. Also, Jim, in a Bondi Rescue failed mission of sorts, took a cut to the leg (not serious) from the dinghy but still painful

Number of hours of television watched: None, absolutely nothing..... (Number of board games played- millions.)

Favourite place: Rainbow Beach, as pretty as its name.

Least favourite place or activity: Gary's Anchorage, only because we are here to wait out the storm (3 days and counting, with severe weather warnings until Monday) and have to downsize on power and food. Rationing food (fridge is off!)

Skills learnt:

Jim: catching fish (though none actually eaten yet!)

Jo: cooking with limited food supply

Dad: that they used to give out cigarettes to those visiting the White House, replaced now by M&M's (thank you trivial pursuit)

Amy: how to find phone reception in remote areas (come on, one bar of phone reception.Trust me, its as sad as it sounds.)

Feel good moment of the week: feeding the dolphins in Tin Can Bay, amazing stuff.

Lesson of the week: In the game of RISK (military monopoly) do not trust anyone. And officially, for the game of eucha (cards) you are supposed to have a JOKER to play. And that Fido means dog in Latin (thanks again, Trivial pursuit)

Plan for the week:
Wait out the storm, celebrate Tania's birthday, and hopefully make it to Bundaberg, weather permitting.

Dave's Birthday

At Garry's Anchorage just behind Fraser Island.

The weather has turned very wet so will be staying here for a few days. On Tuesday was Dave's Birthday and we had a baked dinner and everyone came over to join us!! Great Night!

Day 23 Double Island Point to Tin Can Bay

Well went across the bar for the Sandy Straits this morning whihc went very well. Had waves breaking all around us and it seemed to go on for ever but all was good. These pictures may not do it justice but it was a little bit scary.

Tin Can Bay Lovely little place and we did the dolphin feeding. Still trying to catch some fish!!

Off tomorrow to cruise up the Sandy Straits.

Day 22 Mooloolaba to Double Island Point

Left Mooloolaba today about 8am and the channel had changed so we could go straight out.

The weather was Ok about 10-15 knot S/SW with a bit of a following swell.

Arrived at Double Island Point which with spectacular sand hills.

Award winning moments Week 3

Luckiest break: Leaving Macleay Island (seriously) and that the mail has finally been found (a week and a half later) and we will be picking it up in Bundaberg this week (yay.) Also, even though JO dropped our key to the Marina overboard on our 2nd day there (a $20 penalty) we received a free night's stay at the Marina instead.

Most random item: A fake floating cactus in the water, seen at Mooloolabah Marina. Also given the number of boats that have run-a-ground up here, particularly a massive trawler earlier this week.

Favourite Meal: Fish and chips at Mooloolabah and $8 steak at O'Malley's Irish Pub.

Funniest moment: Mick and Dave watching the Origin from the back of the boat, with beanies and blankets just like home instead of the Sunshine Coast.

Most painful experience: Dave doing work at the top of the mast, for six hours (and no real result.) Or playing Hayden getting hit in the groin while playing football (Simpsons style) on the beach with Amy and Jim. After playing a very competitive game of 'Risk' (basically like military monopoly) Mick's final army person in the player was trying to take on the whole of Asia by himself, and so he was aptly named Ghangis Khan. Hayden too was given a name, Zulu, after trying to protect Africa with one player as well.

Blonde moment: Coco trying to step onto Europa (a 30cm gap) which she has done a million times before, and falling into the water instead.

Number of television: Six hours (a huge week of television watching for us, sigh.) We watched the State of Origin (even though we were in the wrong state for that) the Champions League Final of Soccer (GO Manchester United) and the Dragons vs. Manly match on Saturday night (go Dragons!)

Favourite place: Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort.

Least favourite place or activity: Still Macleay Island. Activity wise, trying to do the shopping and 25 loads of washing in Mooloolabah, as well as trying to move the aeriel for television reception.

Skills:
Jo: how to negotiate the walking path from Mooloolabah Marina to the town, while negotiating past the wild bush turkies.
Dave: still working on his electrical skills, as well as how to get rid of a faulty battery.
Jim: how to eat an oyster properly.
Amy: how to change a phone battery.


New segment :

Feel good moment of the week: Sailability, an organisation run by the Mooloolabah Marina allows volunteers to work with people with disabilities, and teaches them how to sail. This deserves a special mention.

Lesson of the week: 'Mahi Mahi' means 'Dolphin Fish.' Also - that it pays ($$$) to be friendly.
And, that Mooloolabah is known as the 'Loo with a View.'

Plan for the week: Cruising up the Sandy Straits (behind Frasier Island) and to see some whales in Hervey Bay.

Our Time at Mooloolaba

We have been at Mooloolaba for the past few days and enjoyed the time. There has been lots of shopping and eating some excellent seafood. The place has certainly changed since Dave and I were on the last trip 20 years ago. Mooloolaba is very trendy and up market and land is very expensive and we have the best place being on the water close to a great walking track with views along the beach to get into town. It has been a great stay to restock and get some essential power and of course the wonderful hot showers. The weather has been at 24 degrees during the day and down to about 18 at night which is very pleasant. We did have a rainy night and on Thursday night and it is was a much cooler night as we watched the State of Origin at the back of our boat outside on Wednesday. We are leaving tomorrow (weather permitting) for the Sandy Straits and more information and photos will be blogged soon. Yes time for week 3 highlights tomorrow with some interesting things that have happened.
Thanks again for those of you who are sending us messages and those who are finding the blog fun! I know we are! Take Care!

Day 18 Tangalooma to Mooloolaba

Left the next day and headed off to Mooloolaba with a south west 10 knot wind which meant a great day of sailing. We sailed with Russell and Maria from Durado and the water was very calm as you can see from this picture of their boat under sail.

We made it to Mooloolaba at about 3.30pm and tied up at the Yacht Club and headed off for a lovely hot shower and some great seafood. Above is a photo of the marina and a full moon.

Tangalooma Pictures

Tangalooma was a beautiful island and we anchored up behind some wrecks which have been put there to make an artificial reef. The islandwas a whaling station and the boats were placed there once the whaling ceased. The island has a resort and now it seems you can purchase land starting from one million dollars. We had a few drinks at the resort and watched th sun go down. The anchorage was a bit rocky but you could not beat the sunset or the view from the top of the sand dunes. (great job Jim on the photos.)

South Port Pictures

Here are a few shots at South Port; Bum Bay.....excellent place shame about the name.

Then there was DreamWorld.

The Tower of Terror and a few who did not get away.

Day 17 Macleay Island to Tangalooma

Well finally left Macleay Island and have ended up at Tangalooma a beaut place off Moreton Island. Lots of dolphins and anchored just behind the wrecks. S/SW 10-15 knots which has eased. Pretended to be resort guests and had a few drinks this afternoon at the bar and watched the sun go down. Lovely place. Heading to Moolooba tomorrow and finally will have a power and will as promised will provide the photos. Thanks for eveyone's posts lovely to hear from you all! Will talk again once we get there.

Award winning moments Week 2

Luckiest break: Finding a lost part of a windsurfer in Bum Bay (Gold Coast) more than 24 hours after losing it in the water. Learning how to play roulette at Jupiter's Casino (winning more than $300 between Amy and Jim, with the help of Luke) and the adults-for-kids price into Dreamworld. Lucky week!

Most random item: a postcard of Macleay Island, featuring the carpark at the ferry docks in all it's glory.

Favourite meal: Chinese on the Gold Coast with Glen, Dave's brother, very nice meal! And closely followed by chicken snitzel.

Funniest moment: South Stradbroke Island, where Coco and Maxie were chasing after small wallabies, closely pursued by Dave and Jim. In what became a comedy of errors, involving animals and people in all different directions of the bush, until the dogs were captured.
And filling the dinghy with too many (intoxicated) people in Southport (Gold Coast) and almost tipping it over in the water, in the dark.

Most painful experience: Running up a 100 foot sand dune, as steep as, on South Stradbroke Island (worse than the Travelator on Gladiators, trust me.)

Blonde moment: Learning to steer the outboard motor on the dinghy for Amy and Jo, with great difficulty. Or Amy saying that Heineken beer is English (it sounded good in theory.)

Number of television hours: Zero. Seriously.

Favourite Place: The Avenue (best bar in Surfers Paradise.)

Least favourite place or activity: Macleay Island library hours (9am-12pm Tuesday, 3.30-7.30pm Wednesday and 9am-12pm Saturdays- why?) Not that we wanted to go or anything, but seriously........... And time spent sorting out the power for the boat - lame.

New Skills:
Dave: electricals
Jim: fibre glassing
Amy: roulette, casino tricks of the trade
Jo: Queensland post office etiquette

Lesson of the week: In Queensland, you must hail a bus, otherwise it will not stop for you!

Weekly plan: Tangalooma (dolphin feeding) and STATE OF ORIGIN AT A BAR!

Cruising Up Moreton Bay

Have spent the past few days moving up to Moreton Bay. Currently we are at Macleay Island which has a few shops and an unbelievable ferry system. (Running every 1/2 hour)
The weather has turned to strong southerly and last night gusts to about 40 knots. We are doing OK but has slowed up our progress to Tangalooma.
Tommorrow the winds should drop and we will head off there and hope to be at Mooloolooba by Tuesday. The weather then will mean we might be there for a while. Current reports are saying the seas will be at about 4 metres high. Still no battery action so no pictures to share at the moment, so looking forward to Mooloolooba and state of origin Wednesday night.

Resting up at South Port

Have spent the last few days at South Port and have had a very restful time. We are currently in a place affectionately called "Bum's Bay". How funny! We have been excluded from the Southport Yacht Club due to having Maxie and Coco so battery power has proved challenging as we cannot charge all of our batteries including the computer! So we will post some pictures soon of this wonnderful place. Amy and Jim went off to Dreamworld for the day on Monday and today went to the Casino and had a great time at both places. Dave's brother Glenn came up from Byron Bay on Tuesday so we had dinner on Tuesday at the Gold Coast.
We have been doing a few more things on the boat and getting ready for take off tomorrow up into Moreton Bay. This includes having drinks and snacks at the yacht club while wating for the washing to finish! How mundane that shopping, washing and showering becomes your main concerns!! Apart from this we have had some great walks and really enjoyed our time here, but off tomorrow and hope to be at Moolooba by Sunday. Will post some pictures soon!

Day 8 and 9 Coffs Harbour to South Port

We left Coffs Harbour ay 7.30am and the sail to South Port was about 150 miles which we hoped to do in about 30 hours. The wind was a constant 10-15 knots s/sw with about a 1 metre swell. It was a little uncomfortable and not a lot of cooked food coming from the galley. During the day the swell rose to about 2 metres and the boat handled the swell but some of us were feeling less than well. (although no one was green)
During the night we had a quarter moon which helped with making the night more enjoyable. We had a bit of rain and the wind turned and came straight at us from the north. There were many other boats out and doing the same leg as us. (counted 6 at one stage)
We are now coming up to South Port and would seem we will be in soon, Have averaged 6-7 knots the whole time which has made a very fast trip. We had planned to be in by lunchtime but it would seem we will be in at 9.30am.
Poor Coco was the only one to get sick during the night. But she is feeling better now the sun is coming up! :-)

Award winning moments Week 1

Luckiest break: Finding a Cold Rock Ice Creamery in Coffs Harbour, or Jo successfully bargaining IGA in Coffs Harbour for cheaper Pepsi Max.

Most random item found: A five metre ladder at the beach (the Jetty Beach in Coffs Harbour) that was not only on the beach itself, but in the whitewash, surrounded by people swimming.

Blonde moment: Amy trying to have a go on the kite surfer, instead of trying to stand and steer the kite, decided to run down the beach with it until the kite hit the beach. Or Hayden guessing Brad's star sign as a 'cesarean,' and insisting to all of us that that was a star sign.

Funniest moment: Dave accidently turning on the bilge pump (the shower) when moving the spinnaker in the bathroom of the boat, and being sprayed with water, or Jim getting two feet off the ground when trying to control the kite surfer on the beach, and having to be pulled back down by Mick, hilarious stuff.

Most painful experience: Watching snippets of Big Brother's Friday Night Hip Hop Extravaganza, and New Zealand's flogging in the Rugby League.

Favourite meal: While the Fisherman's Club in Coffs Harbour, and the fish'n'chips in Port Stephens both rate a mention in this category, we have voted for Jo's cooking, particularly the meatloaf!

Favourite place: Too early to tell!

Least favourite place or activity: The laundromat and doing the laundry.

Number of hours of television watched: Two (Underbelly and the Rugby League Test Match)

New skills learnt on the boat:
Making sandwiches (Amy)
Managing the kite surfer (Jim)
Using the internet while travelling on the boat (Jo)
How to read the NavMan(Dave)
How to go into hibernation for 30 hours (Coco and Maxie)

Lesson of the week: Never wear jeans on a night shift on the boat..... Seriously.

Plans for the week: Dreamworld on the Gold Coast.

Day 5 Rest Day at Coffs Harbour

Great day to have a rest at Coffs! We are now travelling with Russel and Maria from Dorado another Catarmaran and the previous owners of Echo Beach. So here we are at Coffs with everyone including Mick, Tanya and Hayden from Europa. We were really fortunate that a very good friend Arabella from Coffs TAFE (The Hub) dropped into see us. We had a great afternoon together! The only other thing that happened was Jim got a number 2 haircut as you can see!!

Coffs Harbour is a great place to rest and enjoy the walks and sunshine. Heading off to South Port tomorrow. We have a great weather forecast!

Port Stephens to Coffs Harbour

Well after 30 long hours we made it to Coffs Harbour. Wonderful weather and we are certainly getting closer to the warmer weather. Maxie and Coco have been great and coped very well with the long distances. You can see they are enjoying taking their turn at the wheel with me! Staying out all night meant we had a great sunset to watch but it got very dark with no moon at all. The next day we had some dolphins play alongside the boat at different times during this trip and managed to take this one shot that shows how close they got! The swell was non existent by the time we got to Coffs that even Dave had time for snooze on the deck, while Coco looks out for dolphins.
Rest day tomorrow!

Day 4 Port Stephens to Coffs Harbour

Headed out from Port Stephens and found the weather fantastic!
Low swell, slight wind and beautiful sunshine. So we have decided to head to Coffs Harbour. Should be there tomorrow at around 2 pm.
Currently sailing and have internet access (gotta love 3G) Will keep you updated!

Day 3 Rest Day at Port Stephens

Today we had a rest day at Nelson Bay Marina. Luxury 1st Class with hot showers, washing facilities and wonderful fish and chips for lunch.
Here we are tied up at the marina.We are heading into a couple of days sailing as the weather is still looking great.Tomorrow we hope to get Seal Rocks and an ocean anchorage, then the next day to South West Rocks and then Thursday Coffs Harbour!
So bit of sailing to do so we can get to the warm weather. So looking forward to arriving in Cofffs and spending a few days resting up.

Day 2 Pittwater to Port Stephens

Today, we made it to Port Stephens, where we are now moored. It's been a long day of sailing, having left at 5.30am this morning. Jo has been sea sick most of the day, but today was particularly choppy, big swells --- so very understandable. Europa a lovely boat and great crew: Mick, Tanya and Hayden sailed with us today so we had lots of company. We had celebration drinks tonight as it was a long day...Everyone is looking forward to tomorrow, a rest day here in Port Stephens - hello warm showers! And phone chargers! Can't wait. Cool beans.
Ta ta for now.

And away we go!

The boat has been cleaned and painted, the bags have been packed and the dogs have been loaded on board. And the internet (wireless broadband, thankyou TELSTRA) is working!
Had an eventful trip from Picton to Botany Bay this morning, as Jim had had a very big night lastnight. Although, he wasn't the only one throwing up over the side this morning, once we were out the heads, Amy was also hanging over the side for a bit as well. Sigh.Today, we have had 10-15 SW/SE winds and great weather.

We had dinner on Karen and Warwick's boat JESS!, no SPAM for us tonight! BBQ all the way, Debbie and Manuel came and we had a great night! Thanks All!

Heading off to Newcastle tommorow, 5.30am start tommorow, so yay, great. Bye for now!