"Reverie" - off the beaten tack....: 6) 22nd May - 1st August 2011. Cairns to Sydney.

Nico enjoying the ride.

Finally the day had come when we could leave Cairns. Michelle had returned to Sydney for work and Nico managed a few more days so he could sail down the coast with us and his cousin, Ross. But there was no sailing to be had as the weather was really benign. There was no wind and if there was it was right on the nose so we couldn’t sail unless we tacked back and forward, which not only made for very long days and hardly any progress south but it also meant that we would not make our booking at the boat yard in Southport. So out came the iron main. Nico re-christened the boat “On The Nose” and this stuck for the rest of the year.

Leaving Cairns - Peter, Denise and Ross.

We stopped overnight every night as we didn’t need to do it too hard. Stops included High Island and then Dunk Island. We had dropped Ross off at Innisfail Beach so he could catch a bus back to Cairns. Thinking he would save us the trip up the beach he decided to jump out of the dinghy not far from the shore. He was convinced it was only waist deep but the water went up to his neck, but no problem he managed to swim to the beach. During a phone call to Cairns the next day to see if he got back for work okay, we found out that he had his mobile phone in his top pocket, so it had a swim as well. So not a great shortcut after all.

Good Food. Good Wine....

Next it was onto Orpheus and Magnetic Island. We stayed one night in Horseshoe Bay (north side of Magnetic Island) and then checked into the Nelly Bay Marina at $55/night (south side), which must be the cheapest marina on the coast.

And Good Company.

We were only going to stay one night to fix the anchor but ended up staying three, as we were given a wine voucher at the restaurant for the 2nd night and a $50 meal voucher for the 3rd. So what can you say to that - we decided to indulge. Nico left on the ferry for Townsville on the 27th and then we slowly made our way down the coast.

Sunset at Cape Bowling Green.

First stop was Cape Bowling Green, then Upstart Bay, Gloucester, Haselwood and Keswick Islands. Then we went into the Mackay Marina for food and to top up the tanks with water and fuel. With all the motoring we were doing we were going through the fuel.

Our only neighbours at Keswick Island.

Then southwards again stopping at Prudhoe, Hexham and Great Keppel Islands, which were all great overnight stops as the weather was still benign. We decided to stay overnight in Gladstone Harbour before heading into Hervey Bay.

The next day a low was centred over Sydney/south coast and was sending gale force winds north, so we stayed in Gladstone Harbour while it raged outside. Three days later we were on our way again, stopping at two inlets in Hervey Bay for the night, prior to going into Port Bundaberg, you guessed it to reprovision and refuel. We managed to leave a great long black streak on the port bow as we reversed out of the fuel dock. This was accompanied by a lot of cursing and swearing from Peter.

Ever onward, we stopped at Fraser Island, Double Island Point, Noosa Beach, and Moreton Island before we would reach our destination - the Southport seaway. We left Tangalooma Beach at 3am in the morning and it was at first light that we rounded the top of Moreton Island. For a couple of seconds Peter was perplexed at why there was all this mist coming up from the ocean into the air. Suddenly a huge whale surfaced right on the port side of the boat and blew water and air from its spout, and consequently all over Peter. As you can imagine this shocked and then delighted Peter. He then had to swerve in and around 15 whales that surrounded the boat. Coming up at 7am to do my shift I had missed everything and I was so disappointed. Later in the morning I was at the wheel to reset the autopilot when a large whale appeared 5 metres in front of the bow. He looked directly at me with his right eye and then quickly plunged back into the water heading to starboard while I immediately turned the wheel hard to port, to miss him. Seconds passed which seemed like minutes, but there was no thud. I was so glad I had missed him, not that I thought it would sink the boat as it is steel, but more because I didn’t want to harm him. We arrived at Southport just as the sun was setting and were ushered through by a pod of dolphins riding the waves in through the narrow entrance. We anchored in Bum's Bay just behind Main Beach.

Reverie on the hardstand.

The next day we manoeuvred the boat up through the narrow channels that lie between the Gold Coast and South Stradbroke Island, to the slipway and just in time for our booking. The boat was up on the hardstand for 18 days while the hull was repainted and then antifouled. This was only supposed to take 14 days but you know the longer they take the more money they make, all the while happily draining our wallets. Meanwhile, we stayed with our good friends Trish and John, visited family/friends in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Caboolture.

Finally back in the water we again made passage south to Sydney, stopping at Bryon Bay, Coffs Harbour, Hat Head, Perpendicular and Sugarloaf Point. The Pacific Ocean was like duck pond during this time, we were sure we had experienced more waves in our bathtub. We were grateful however, as the NSW north coast does not offer many safe and calm anchorages unless you have a catamaran or a shallow keeled boat. We have a long keel of about 2.4 m and this restricts us from getting in close to beaches or up any sand-barred river systems.

The last few days of our trip we quickly ticked off - Port Stephens, Norah Head, the Hawkesbury River, before coming into Sydney Harbour on the 1 August 2011. We were delighted to be approached by a seal at the stern of the boat as we entered the Heads. He clapped his flippers together and looked directly at us. After a while he just left, obviously annoyed at us not knowing the routine. We surmised that he was used to fishermen gutting and cleaning fish and throwing him the scraps. It was so good to be home after 139 days since leaving Sydney for Hong Kong. We would not be leaving again until March 2012, so we had plenty of time to catch up with family and friends and get back into the land of the living and enjoy being land lubbers again.