Windana

Ate breakfast this morning to the sound of lorikeets whistling and screeching and clamouring around in the rigging. Fed them some apple and ended up with half a dozen birds all fighting over it. Tony and I had them climbing all over us and one even pooped on my head (supposed to be good luck or something?!) Nathan kept his distance, but enjoyed the spectacle. The weather is supposed to turn nasty, so we sailed round to Able Point Marina and filled up with fuel and water befor

No wind, so motored around to South Molle Island. While passing Planton Island, we saw a catamaran sailing into Oyster Bay with about a dozen kayaks trailing along behind it. Made me think of a mother duck and all her ducklings! Picked up a mooring and went ashore to walk up to Spion Kop. About a 3km walk along a worn track up through a eucalypt forest and then out onto a grassy hillside with terrific views. At the top, there is a great lookout where we sat and watched planes

Turned out a beautiful morning after, of course, an early rain shower. Did a few jobs around the boat this morning, then in the afternoon, went ashore to go for a walk. Wandered out past a mini golf course and an old helipad to a pebbly beach. Explored the beach and walked across a rocky causeway out to a little islet. Wandered back through the resort and messed about playing table tennis for a while. Home for a quiet drink to toast Sarah’s 15th birthday – even though she is

Woke to rain – again! Heartily sick of it! Awaited the high tide at noon and rode the ebb tide up Long Island Sound. Thankfully the weather improved as we went and we anchored in Happy Bay late afternoon. Went ashore to the Club Crocodile Resort and as a treat, we had a drink and shared some hot chips, then watched the lorikeets being fed.

Caught up with Brett and Deb (Swanning Around) on their way south, before we left Goldsmith Island this morning. So lovely to snatch a bit of time together back on the water. We then enjoyed a slow spinnaker run across to Shaw Island. After lunch, we explored the beach, but came back home pretty smartly as the sky darkened and more rain threatened. Suddenly, the wind hit at 20-25 knots and rained and blew for the next two hours!! Nothing for it but another movie.

Still raining! But decided to get out in it anyway. Went exploring in the dinghy and trolled a line as we went. Skirted the rocks along the headland, but nothing. We spotted a beach in the next bay and when we headed over there Tony started to pull in the fishing line. Suddenly, we got a bite! We pulled it in most of the way, then realised we had no landing net, so managed to tow it to the beach, land the dinghy and drag it up onto the beach. Awesome, a giant trevally for din

After a social couple of days at The Newries, we departed mid-morning to head out to Goldsmith Island in a forecast SE 15-20. Once out there, it turns out the seas were up around 1.5 metres and the wind was consistently in the 22-28 knot range! In the end we had two reefs in the main and just dropped the headsail completely with no volunteers to pull up the no.2 headsail. Amazing beam reach all the way, but a bit full on. A pretty wet ride, even with our freeboard. Nathan too

Yesterday was rainy and miserable - a great excuse to just laze around reading, especially as it's also now the school holidays. Tony and Mark went out hunting - this time for big black-lipped oysters. Meg is an oyster fiend, so was most impressed. Today is still grey, but no rain yet. Time to explore. Walked with Meg and Mark up to the campsite on Outer Newry, then right across the island to the eastern side. The beach there was completely covered in large smooth pebbles a

Spent yesterday doing the obligatory washing and grocery shopping. Sarah was relieved that she could finally pack for her fortnight in Boyne. Around lunchtime, the Cross family arrived to collect Sarah, so we shouted them fish and chips for lunch and enjoyed the music along the café strip. Said our goodbyes to Sarah and gave her enough hugs and kisses to last the fortnight. Finally got away about 1330, with Grace once again leaving before us. The seas were lovely and flat and

Up and off by 0630 – ahead of Grace this time. Absolutely gorgeous sail today in SE 13-18 knots. Screecher up - just perfect conditions for Windana. As we neared Mackay, phone signal improved, so Sarah came alive again! So too did her phone, with messages flooding in all afternoon. I suppose we were all a bit excited about reaching “civilization” again. We arranged a private berth and shared it with Grace as it was 39m long. All went to the yacht club for a drink, where we di

Said farewell to Middle Percy and headed off to Curlew Island, with Mark & Meg on Grace being organized early and getting a half hour head start. We pulled out the screecher with the wind on our stern quarter, blowing SE 15-20 knots. The seas were a little unsettled and the swell quite big, but we averaged 5 knots without much effort. With Grace towing a tinny, we did manage to gain ground on her - even with us slowing to pull in a lovely Spanish Mackerel!! In all the frenzy

We all had a great time here at Middle Percy, with plenty of kayaking, snorkeling and swimming. We duly added 2010 to our sign and also experienced one of Ernst’s goat stews! He had killed a goat and brought it down from the Homestead, only asking the yachties if they could donate any fresh veggies to add to the pot. Turned out beautiful, albeit a little sandy (he stirs the stew with the shovel next to the fire, hmmm). I contributed a loaf of fresh bread, which quickly disapp

We went ashore again this morning to explore South Percy Island, rather than just the beach. It was well worth it. There used to be some sort of quarry or sand mining here in the past. The legacy of this is a series of ravines which have been eroded further over time. The sharp cliffs and the rich red soil are a lovely contrast to the rolling green grassy hills. There are also sandstone rocks that have been eroded by the wind, leaving a scene which looks like a virtual lunar

Our next destination was West Bay on Middle Percy Island. It was lovely to round the bottom of the island and see the familiar palm tree beach with the A-frame still proudly standing. We have not been here since 2005, so it was nice to be back. There were about six other boats anchored in the bay with many of their occupants already ashore. We got settled and went ashore to see if our original sign (which we placed in the A-frame in 2004) was still intact. As expected, peopl

Last night, the fires burned all the way down to the beach and burned themselves out. Farewelled a very different looking Hunter Island to the one we arrived at - sadly. Made our way north east out to South Percy Island and anchored between the reefs, enjoying the spectacle of yet another mother whale and her calf. Anchored late afternoon and went ashore to stretch our legs on the long strip of golden beach. The beach was absolutely stunning, with amazing rocky headlands at e