Windana

Sarah started year 9 this week - her first year at a "real" high school, rather than home schooling. Nathan commenced year 5 at Tannum primary school and both seem to have had a god start. We have also been busy organising extra curricular activities, with Nathan beginning tennis lessons and Sarah and I joining the gym. Meanwhile, poor Tony is all packed to fly out tomorrow to Sydney to start a four month work contract. To top it off, it has been pouring with rain as a result

Both Sarah and Nathan have now started school at Tannum Sands and are settling in amazingly quickly. Sarah is getting into the high school routine, which is all new to her (having home schooled last year). Tony flies out to Sydney in a couple of days to start work, so we are making the most of any time we have together. The replica of The Duyfken sailed into the Gladstone harbour last week, so we checked it out. Apparently, Captain Cook did not actually "discover" Australia.

It has been good to have a car while here (something we have never had before while in Gladstone). It sure makes grocery shopping easier, although we tend to go more often, simply because we can! Another reason to be thankful for the car is that our lives are based in Boyne/Tannum, so we have spent a lot of our time driving back and forth, especially as Sarah started a part-time job. The positives of living in Gladstone are that everything is handy and also that Tony's sister

Upped anchor and departed the Boyne River, negotiating the unlit channel in the wee hours of the morning. Tony was at the helm while I sat near the bows with the torch (the spotlight was too bright) trying to keep track of the port and starboard marks. Lumpy and windy conditions didn't really help. Once out near the main shipping channel, all became easier once we determined which of the million fairy lights to follow! It was actually very easy once we got the various leads i

Up early to find ourselves perched neatly on the edge of the sandbar - thought we were on a bit of an angle! Thankfully the tide was coming in, so Windana sorted herself out. Farewell to Ashley and Jennifer who flew back to Sydney today - had a really lovely time together. Late afternoon found Windana playing in the mud again, but this time with her rudders well embedded. As various speed boats motored past, we started to bounce on our rudders, causing some concern. We couldn

Had a nice sleep in this morning - no tide to catch, hills to climb, or fish to catch. Upped anchor around 0930, put out the trawling line and motored towards Boyne, but along the edge of Middle Banks. Ashley was convinced we were going to catch the big one! No luck, although it would have been handy as friends were coming for dinner. Anchored once again, but were a little concerned with the sand bank, especially as the king tides also produce very low 'low tides'. All went a

Today, we were thankful that Nathan is such an early bird. He went up on deck at about 0530 - to see an empty dinghy float past us! He woke Tony, who lowered our dinghy and went screaming after it. It was quite a chase, as these king tides rip past at over 5 knots. In the end, Tony managed to catch it and slowly tow it back. Turns out it belonged to Kathryn!! Sadly, we had to leave today. This is still one of our alltime favourite places. Had breakfast, upped anchor and waved