Southern Queensland

Red Emperor Fish

Returning to Bundaberg was a milestone of sorts:  It was where we had first made landfall in Australia and after the last 600 miles, it represented the start of exploring new places up the Queensland coast.  The stay at the Bundaberg Port Marina allowed us to re-provision easily and pick up our friend, Mary, who is joining us for a few weeks.  Shortly after Mary was on board, we sailed to Pancake Creek, a secure anchorage even if the holding was questionable.  There had been a forecast for 30+ knots of southeast wind so we enjoyed the calm waters and were in the company of several boats that we know.

Pancake Creek - Photo by Corie

 The winds were light as we started out for Lady Musgrave Island, he furthest south island in the Great Barrier Reef.  Eventually the wind filled in and we had a nice sail for part of the 36-mile passage.  Once inside the lagoon, we were completely delighted as it was everything that we had hoped for.  Even at high tide, when the ocean waves break over the protecting reef, it was calm enough for us.

Lady Musgrave Island - Photo by Corie

Photo by Corie

Some cruisers go wherever they want, whenever they want.  On board Rutea, we tend to travel only when we can find weather that is conducive to our level of comfort.  I take no shame in admitting that we're fair-weather sailors.  When a massive high pressure ridge formed over the Tasman Sea, it meant that we were in for some strong southeasterly winds.  At first, we just hunkered down in the lagoon at Lady Musgrave Island but when it appeared that there wasn't going to be any let up, we hoisted the anchor early one morning and sailed in very squally conditions back to the Australia mainland, making landfall at Cape Capricorn, which just so happens to be right at the Tropic of Capricorn..  Our arrival there was late in the afternoon and in calmer conditions, it might have been a pleasant anchorage.  However, since the wind had been blowing at 25-30 knots for almost a week solid, we rolled badly at anchor and no one got any sleep.  Early the next morning, we pulled into the marina at Rosslyn Bay, just 40 miles north.  I felt a little ashamed but almost the entire fleet that we had been traveling with had done the same thing.  The wind continues to howl.

Rainbow Reach, Queensland

With Ian and Elaine

We had a delightful sail northbound from Mooloolaba up to Wide Bay with flat, sparkling seas and clear, blue skies.  The first night inside the Great Sandy Strait we spent at Pelican Bay but the next day we traveled south down the Tin Can Inlet and dropped the hook just off the small town of Tin Can Bay.  Since we had been motoring more than we wanted, we were low on fuel and since we're so cheap, we choose to fill our jerry jugs at a regular service station rather than pay the premium at a fuel dock.  This means, though, that we have to lug four 5-gallon jugs around town then schlepp them back to the boat, siphon the fuel into our tanks and then repeat the process until the tanks are full.  While walking (more like waddling when you're carrying jerry jugs) through the small town, a man driving a pickup the opposite direction pulled over and asked if he could help.  He made a u-turn, we loaded our jugs into the back of his truck, he drove us to the service station, waited while we filled them, then took us to the grocery store and then back to our dinghy.

Double Island Point

The next day, a man came by Rutea in an inflatable (he had stopped by the day before as well) and said that if we hadn't seen Rainbow Reach, we couldn't leave the area without seeing it.  He offered to come back in an hour and take us and his wife there in their car.  His offer was quickly accepted by us and soon we were driving south at 100 kpm, the fastest we had gone in months.  Ian and Elaine turn out to be British and very charming; now living aboard their 52-foot Irwin ketch that they bought a couple of years ago - their first boat.  Even though Ian smokes heavily and is probably ten years older than me, he was able to scamper up the steep sand dunes, leaving me struggling in his tracks.  Rainbow Reach was breathtakingly beautiful and well worth the half-hour drive to get there.  Once back in Tin Can Bay, we enjoyed a meal of excellent fish and chips at a trendy little cafe.  We were back aboard Rutea and as the sun was setting, Ian returned again, this time with a gift of a bottle of rum he had made in his on-board still.

Tin Can Inlet in the Background

From here, we're going to sail up the Great Sandy Strait, up Hervey Bay, back to Bundaberg, our first stop in Australia after crossing the Pacific.  From there, we'll be seeing new-to-us territory and waters.  The legendary Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef await us, with their sea-life-filled tropical ocean.  We have officially joined the Sail Indonesia Rally, so we need to be in Darwin by July - a little over 2,000 miles away. Then another 2,000 miles to Thailand where we plan to spend a little time.

Brisbane, Queensland

Unfair Picture of Brisbane!

Our trip north-bound up the east coast of Australia has been graced with brisk southerly and southeasterly breezes, allowing us to sail almost the entire way.  It was especially fun to sail the passage from the Broadwater to Moreton Bay as this was a narrow, inside passage with mill-pond-like conditions, yet we were doing 6 and 7 knots with just our genoa unfurled.  Because its very shallow in places, we had to watch our depth constantly but we only bumped the bottom once - and that was in a place where the chart indicated we had plenty of water!

It was late Saturday afternoon when we steamed up the Brisbane (pronounced bríz´bŭn) River, past the enormous freighter terminals, refineries and concrete plants.  Twelve miles later, the river snakes through the center of Brisbane's CBD (Central Business District), with riverfront walking paths, stores and outdoor cafes.  Our options on where to anchor were somewhat limited and we're still not entirely comfortable with where we dropped our hook.  With lots of ferry traffic going up and down the narrow river and the tide changing directions four times a day, we're either too close to shore or blocking the high-speed traffic.  No one has hit us yet but I think they like to come close to us just to make us feel unwelcome.

Brisbane's City Hall and Museum

This weekend was the grand opening of Brisbane's completely renovated City Hall that now also houses the Brisbane Museum.  It appears that no costs were spared as the building and it's interior are stunning - the new auditorium sports a massive 4000-pipe organ.  The museum was equally well done but the content is lackluster.  There were long lines of Brisbaners waiting to see their new venue.

Inside the New Auditorium in Brisbane's City Hall

Even though it appears to us that Brisbane lacks some of Sydney's cosmopolitan flair, its still no slouch when it comes to being able to offer the finest.  The Queen Street Mall boast stores like Tiffany's, Hermes, Louis Vitton and Gucci.  Of course, we'll never set foot inside any of them nor will we likely patronize any of the fine restaurants.  We did, though, splurge and had an order of spring rolls from a basement Chinese take-away restaurant.  Who says we can't live it up?

Rutea is a Dangerous Target

As I write this, we're sailing north from Port Stephens, New South Wales, towards the Gold Coast in Queensland. There's about 20 knots of wind blowing over our port quarter and despite a strong southerly current, Rutea is making a steady 7 knots. The seas are relatively flat and other than fairly heavy freighter traffic, we have the ocean to ourselves. After all, how many people do you know that begin a 300-mile passage on Easter Sunday?

After finally breaking Sydney's grip on our itinerary, we sailed north to Broken Bay and then worked our way up to Port Stephens. Two nights there and an expensive provisioning trip to the grocery store (plus a memorable meal at an Indian restaurant), we left there this morning while it was still dark. The forecast for southerly winds was too strong of a temptation to linger on Easter Sunday.

We have a fat ham in the oven and a massive dish of scalloped potatoes ready to be heated. My guess is that Easter has some originations in pagan cultures, long before Christianity was a religion, as a celebration of spring. The newness of the first buds and the return of green must have offered so much hope to those who had no knowledge of science. It must have seemed like such a miracle! It is a miracle! Of course, here in the southern hemisphere, its the onset of fall. In fact, we have the full cockpit enclosure all zipped up and we're wearing fleece and warm slippers.

All is great on board and all of Rutea's systems are working well. We are having a minor malfunction with our chartplotter, though. Periodically, the collision alarm goes off and all of us spring to attention. On the screen of the chartplotter a warning dialog box appears and reads: Dangerous Target Approaching. The name of the dangerous target? Rutea! Of course, we already knew that and its not really necessary to remind us every twenty minutes or so. Besides, its other boats that should be warned!

We wish all our family and friends in the northern hemisphere a very happy spring. To our friends in the southern hemisphere, watch out! A Dangerous Target is Approaching!
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At 3/29/2013 9:01 AM (utc) Rutea's position was 32°42.90'S 152°10.28'E

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Manly to The Spit

I had been exchanging emails with our friend, Behan, on the Stevens 47 Totem (if you want to read about real cruisers or read a real blog, visit www.sv-totem.blogspot.com - the rest of us are just imposters) and she was asking if we had hiked the Manly Scenic Walkway.  I replied that we had walked that way many times but it was a dodgy answer to her question as we hadn't walked the entire way, just parts of it.  Not wanting to lie to a good friend, Ruthie and I set out this morning to complete the 20-kilometer round trip walk.

The walk starts in the charming town of Manly, a bedroom community of Sydney, which lies in the northeastern corner of Sydney Harbour and the trail winds around the edge of the Middle Harbour before heading inland and then back towards the bay.  The track is well marked and well groomed - there's no chance of getting lost but it does gain and lose a fair amount of elevation.  I didn't count how many steps we went up and down but it was probably in the hundreds if not thousands.  Being a Tuesday, we met a few other trekkers but I bet it's quite crowded on weekends.

The Spit Bridge

It took us about two-and-a-half hours to make it to The Spit Bridge, where we picnicked and rested for a few minutes.  The Spit Bridge opens several times a day to allow tall boat traffic passage but, alas, our timing didn't allow us to see that action.

Even though the hike back to Manly was just as long as the walk to The Spit, it seemed quicker.  The entire Manly Scenic Walkway is within the city limits of Sydney but much of it felt as though we were a long way from civilization.

What Kookaburras Sound Like

I hope we do the same walk again as it was beautiful.  Next time, though, I'm wearing real shoes instead of flip-flops!

Leaving Sydney

Its a slow day aboard Rutea - we celebrated Corie's 25th birthday well into this morning's early hours so no one is moving too fast around here.  However, we did leave the dock and we're now at anchor in Manly Bay.  On our way here, Corie and Emma positioned themselves on Sydney's North Shore and took pictures as we sailed under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House.  You can see more of our photos of Australia by clicking here.

We're hoping to start the long passage north but there are cyclones in the Coral Sea that we'd like to avoid.  Perhaps by the middle of next week we'll find a weather window.  We've got lots of time.

What's Going on in Sydney?

My friend, DB, recently wrote me to complain that my blog posts were too far and too few between.  If I had a good excuse, I'd write it here.

Chinese New Year's Parade

From my casual observation, it appears that Sydneysiders will do almost anything for a party.  A good example was the Chinese New Year's Parade where over 100,000 people packed the parade route to celebrate the Year of the Snake (last year was the Year of the Dragon and next year is the Year of the Horse - Ruthie and I were born in the Year of the Horse).  There was a lot of partying going on but people seemed well-behaved.  It was a family-oriented event.

Mardi Gras Parade

What was definitely not a family-oriented event was Sydney's Mardi Gras Parade which is in it's 35th year and is Sydney's Gay Pride parade.  Over 700,000 people jammed the parade route for this event and I think that Ruthie and I were the oldest ones there.  Even though there was a huge police presence, they seemed to keep a low profile.  For example, I saw a police officer approach two women who were drinking beer on the street which is against the law.  The officer suggested that they keep their beers in a less conspicuous manner.  Since it was so hard to see the parade through the throngs of people, Ruthie and I left after less than an hour but it was great to see how well the GLBT community was supported.

We have done our share of partying but we've also enjoyed a lot of the sights around Sydney.  Yesterday, we went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which is almost in the center of Sydney's Central Business District.  Our primary interest was to see some of the Aboriginal art but they also had a fairly decent collection of European artists as well including Picasso, Monet, van Gogh and Rubens.

Rubens' Self Portrait

van Gogh's Portrait of a Peasant

We were prohibited from photographing the Aboriginal art but it was easy to fall in love with.  Very small dots of bright colors formed patterns on large canvases that could have been someone's vision of what the earth may have looked like from an aerial view.



From the Art Gallery we strolled out to Mrs. MacQuarie's Point, a prominent point of land in Sydney Harbour that offers spectacular views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

The park at the end of Mrs. MacQuarie's Point joins Sydney's enormous Botanical Gardens.  Its immaculately groomed and thick with exotic plants and flowers.  They even have a Garden Shop and it took a great amount of effort on my part to keep Ruthie from going inside.  Several weddings were taking place simultaneously but the space is so huge, I'm sure that the weddings didn't know that each other existed.

It had rained hard the previous week and we were eager to get off the boat for a walk.  Our guide book talked of a 5.5 kilometer walk from Cooggee to Bondi and the bright, late summer sun made the stroll glorious.

Alas, our days in Sydney are drawing to an end.  Cyclone season is just about over (although there are two rather nasty ones in the Coral Sea as of this writing) and we'll turn Rutea around for our trip back north.