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| A family portrait |
We're not just liking Australia. WE ARE LOVING IT. And even the most routine touches with Australia and Australians can be fun. Imagine you are ordering food at a restaurant.
Tom- "I'll have the baked chicken"
Server- "One baked chicken........sooo easy"
Tom- confused look, then "Oh, and a Coke Zero to drink"
Server- "And a Coke Zero.........sooo easy"
Kirstin- confused look, then "I'll have the salad"
Server- "One salad........sooo easy"
You get the picture. This is apparently an Aussie thing. As a filler word (usually indicating that they understand or acknowledge something), Aussies are having some fun with language by using the most preposterous word or phrase, followed by a smile. Order a sandwich at Subway? You might get an "Amazing". And now we do it to each other. "Kirstin, please pass the salt" will generally get me a "sooo easy" response. Try it, it's fun.
Anyway, our boat work update. Galley of the future is done. New countertop, induction cooktop and electric oven (otherwise known as the GN Espace Ocean Chef 3), overhead oven, sink. Bam.
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| Super high tech galley......no more propane for us |
Lithium is in, new solar is aboard. And the new cockpit dashboard and instruments are in. To borrow and Aussie-ism we look "flash" now.
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| Our new "flash" dashboard |
Hard top is under construction. The boat remains a bit torn apart but it's coming together. We have made steady progress on most fronts and we like the results so far. It's too stressful to pay attention to how much money this has cost, so we have agreed to not talk about it. At least we are paying in Australian dollars.
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| Bimini is gone, awaiting our hard top |
The biggest news was that we had a visit in January from our daughter, Princess Emily. After traveling 22 hours from Jacksonville to Brisbane, we entertained her for 12 days and got to see a lot of Queensland ourselves. The visit was a bit up-tempo as we had a lot to see. First, we hung out in Brisbane so that Emily could recover from her air travel. Nothing cures jet lag like a night out on the town so we made our way to a rooftop bar with great views of Brisbane.
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| View from the rooftop.......so cosmopolitan |
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| Emily loved "Brizzy" |
Day 2 featured a highlight.......Emily going to the Koala Sanctuary and getting personal snuggle time with her own private koala. And a bonus of this visit was the feeding of free range kangaroos. Despite the oppressive heat (95 degrees in the shade), this part of the visit was super. A once (or twice) in a lifetime experience.
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| So snuggly and soft- this moment was worth the long plane ride |
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| Emily making a kangaroo friend |
Emily has this strange "chill" with animals where she's able to interact with them without alarming them in any way. All three of us were secretly assessing the possibility of stealing one of these furry smugglers for the boat, but abandoned that idea in the face of pretty good sanctuary security and the fact that each koala is microchipped. And besides, according to the road signs, koalas are everywhere in Australia anyway.
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| Never too many koala pictures |
We made a family pilgrimage to a local Queensland winery. It was called Ocean View which oddly had no ocean view but rather good wine. We ended up liking virtually every product we tasted, so that ended up being a bit "spendy" as a stop. Our images of the tree hugging hippie wine-maker were dashed when we learned how scientific wine making actually is. It's more akin to chemistry than anything else.
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| The winery's posh restaurant and grounds |
Although this winery had wine to sell (previous inventory) they had suffered damage to their vines and were growing no grapes. The second year of some kind of mold damage from the rains.
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| Semi-dead vines; fortunately, weddings and hospitality are paying the bills |
Our travels also took us to Noosa, a posh beach and surfing town.
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| Our digs in Noosa- family friendly and a nice pool |
And much like Caribbean trips of her youth, Emily was able to make daily visits to the frozen yogurt place........proving she's still a kid (even in her 30s). Noosa is a town with an amazing restaurant scene and Emily enjoyed the fact that gluten free options were abundant. Another similarity to Caribbean trips was the evil step monster suggesting a long (yet scenic) walk that seemed uphill in both directions.
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| Noosa's coastal hiking path |
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| Breath-taking views on this tortuous path |
Fraser Island (also called K'Gari) is the largest sand island in the world (76 miles long) and great for off road sightseeing.
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| Driving on the beach was cool, although the tide had to be right |
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| Our rough and ready rental- note the snorkel which allows crossing deep(ish) water |
We rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle and toured the island. Despite being the largest sand island it is covered in tropical rain forest with a single track 4-wheel drive only road often times several feet deep with sand.
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| This costs about $80,000 USD if I wreck it; that's why I was a bit snippy, ladies !!! |
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| Or if she wrecks it- hey, eyes forward please |
Although wild dingos roam free there (and crocodiles), we didn't see either.......which is good. And we let Emily drive the 4x4, which was fun. Driving on the beach was weird, as was having to be so conscious of the tides- it's apparently quite easy to lose your rented truck in the surf if you mistime your day.
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| A long drive through the "woods" to reach the beach |
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| A new hazard- planes land on the beach while you're driving on it |
The island also is known for shipwrecks - we kept this in mind when sailing past in in November going from Bundaberg to our marina in Scarborough. The shipwreck of the SS Maheno is particularly spectacular and has been on the beach since 1935 when it came ashore in a cyclone.
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| Later on Facebook, someone posted pics of poisonous snakes all around this wreck |
Next stop was a natural fresh water "lazy river" which was welcome as the temperature rose across the day. Surprisingly it was icy cold and just incredibly peaceful. In true Australian fashion despite being in the middle of nowhere this area had a well constructed pathway to the head of the stream and modern bathroom facilities.
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| Kind of cold for my taste |
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| Enjoying the slow ride |
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Emily just chillin'
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| We need a Ray-ban sponsorship |
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| Perfect beach at Lake McKenzie |
We stayed at one of two resorts on the island - the only way on to Fraser is ferry, private boat or plane. More intrepid visitors actually camp on the island, but we prefer our accommodation to be surrounded by a dingo proof fence. The abundance of warning signs on Fraser makes it very clear that these are dogs not be snuggled or approached.
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| Our ferry arrives |
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| Too much fun. Daddy/daughter nap |
Summer in Australia might seem to mean lots of beach and ocean activity. Nope. The news has been peppered with stories of people attacked and killed by sharks, crocs, and other nasty predators large and small. Even within the marina, the hull cleaning guy uses an electronic shark repellent gadget. He flat out said that he wouldn't go in the water anywhere in the area without it. Food for thought. Bull, tiger and great white sharks are the concern in this area - that is the scary shark trifecta and enough to keep us sitting on the beach enjoying the view. We particularly enjoyed having the pool at the Kingfisher resort all to ourselves.
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| Nice pool at the resort |
We finished up with a trip to the Australia Zoo, which is large enough to require two days. Started by the late Steve Irwin (of Crocodile Hunter fame), his widow and children run and have greatly expanded it. His face and voice are present everywhere which is a bit much - many references to Crikey!, but the zoo itself is very nicely done.
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| No daydreaming allowed in this job |
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| Not easy to be the son-in-law in this family |
We saw (and were a bit frightened) by the crocodile show, where the late Steve Irwin's son in law was involved in feeding a large croc inside a crocodile stadium. The highlight of this stop was in some ways not really the zoo but the small resort that is owned by the Irwin family. Here you can sit on your cottage porch and watch wild kangaroos hop on by.
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| Our cottage near the zoo- good wallaby and kangaroo viewing from the porch |
Not impressed by that? - how about standing in the infinity pool and watching kangaroos, emus and koalas in the trees. Pretty memorable. All in all, this trip had a large helping of critters which is a sure fire way to score a five star review from Princess Emily. She left us vowing to come back to Australia before we leave, which indicates how much fun she had........the flight is a killer.
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| A 5-star moment- infinity pool and kangaroo watching- where's my pomegranate martini ? |
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| It costs big money to schedule a herd of kangaroos for this moment |
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| Emu gazing as well |
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| The spouse pouch, Australia edition |
The rhythm of our days (boat work, restaurants, gym, repeat) went on in February pretty much as normal. Since we had access to a rental car we did another weekend trip this time headed to Byron Bay.
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| Surfs up so Aussies get down to business |
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| I extended my arm (eastward) over the fence to insure that I had the record for easterly-ness |
Byron is a beach side town with a strong surfer community and a slight hippy vibe (maybe overshadowed by the multimillion dollar homes and fashion boutiques). We enjoyed nights of live music - it has been a long time since we have been out that late three nights in a row. In the mornings we ventured out on the many beautiful hikes.
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| Aussies don't over-develop their beachfront |
One of the best things about our hotel was not on the website - every night an hour before sunset hundreds of parrots descended on the massive trees between the hotel and the beach. A loud but visually stunning way to say goodbye to the day.
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| These trees attract probably 500 screeching parrots at precisely 5:30 PM each day |
Kirstin can sense a botanical garden a million miles away and so "while we had the rental car" she convinced me to go to Mount Coot-the for the garden and views. Like so many things in Australia this beautiful place is government run and absolutely free. We are getting used to free in Australia. One highlight was a space housing around fifty bonsai trees. The summit lookout provided a unique view of Brisbane - a city we really enjoy exploring.
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| You can develop a lot of public spaces when you don't spend trillions on defense |
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| Nothing gets my adrenaline going more than a botanical garden |
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| Another great moment in Bonsai history |
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| A unique view of Brizzy |
We had mentioned to each other at happy hour how lucky we had been that a cyclone hadn't affected our time in Australia.......until it did.
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| Yikes- thought cyclones NEVER come to Brisbane ! |
The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are whistling outside as I write this. We've endured a couple of rough days of high wind (40 knots and up), lots of rain, and stress as we hope our 11 dock lines continue to hold the boat in its slip.
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| Possession is 9/10ths of the law-L'ORIENT commandeers both slips for added safety |
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| This is every fender we own, and 11 dock lines |
A cyclone hasn't hit this area in either 71, 35, or 50 years depending on who you ask. All businesses in the area are shut down for 4 days - on our last visit to the grocery store we chuckled to find that panic buying for a cyclone is much like panic buying for a snow storm. No bottled water, toilet paper or bread and the next door liquor store was doing a booming business. This feels like Covid all over again. Because boat work outside is impossible, Kirstin is churning through books and podcasts at a record pace. I've been reading as well. And we are both weather model junkies, trying to interpret when the cyclone (which is exceptionally slow moving) will finally leave. Much like the politicized media in the US, we each gravitate to whatever weather model tells the story we would like to consider "truth". In the end it's all false precision anyway.
The prospect of getting off the boat looms for both of us. At the end of March, Tom is going to Naples for a visit while Kirstin is going on a cruise to Japan with her father. We are not quite where we want to be boat work wise, but we are hoping to be in a good place by then. The thought of the long plane ride(s) is especially troubling, but we will manage. As the Aussies say: no worries mate.
