Islands and waterways

Catching up with family

A period of very windy weather kept us close to the Marina for several days, so we took the opportunity to restock our food and grog supplies and do some investigating of caravanning accessories. We also got to catch up with family: Kirsty was on the coast to run the 10km for the Gold Coast Marathon and Shaunagh and family were up here for the school holidays. The wind finally dropped on Sunday so we picked up Shaunagh, Mark, Loanna, Tom and James at Paradise Point and cruised up to Sanctuary Cove, where Kirsty joined us for lunch and a cruise back. It was a lovely family day, with the sun finally making an appearance! We farewelled our families in the afternoon and relaxed on anchor at Paradise Point.

Coffee coloured cliffs

On Monday morning, after a walk around the local area and a visit to the shops for a few extra supplies, we raised the anchor and headed north. It was foggy and drizzling as we cruised along with the navigation lights on and the wipers going - not the kind of weather we enjoy! Tipplers was not too busy after the inclement weather of the past week, and the anchorages at Millionaires and Jumpinpin were quiet too. We took the Canaipa channel along North Stradbroke Island and dropped anchor just north of Slipping Sands, at the coffee coloured cliffs to the east of Russell Island, just before lunch. The weather improved as the day wore on, and a few boats headed north or south as the afternoon progressed, but by nightfall it was quiet and still. We enjoyed drinks on the flybridge at sunset, all on our own in our idyllic location.

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear, as we did our exercise routine on the flybridge and enjoyed breakfast on the back deck. Later we raised the anchor and continued our journey between Russell and North Stradbroke Island, turning into Krummel Passage, between Russell and Karragarra Islands. We dropped the anchor not far from the northern shore, and took the dinghy across to the Russell Island ferry terminal. It's a busy place, with hourly ferry trips in either direction plus regular barges picking up or delivering cars, trucks and other heavy equipment. We walked up to the shops then along a couple of streets, but there is not much for the tourist to do on Russell Island, so we soon returned to Manookatoo, where we enjoyed lunch and a lazy afternoon. After the peace of the night before it was a different story here, with the regular commuter craft rocking us until late at night and beginning again very early in the morning!

Incongruous power pole

The captain raised the anchor not long after sunrise on Wednesday morning and we continued west, out of the Krummel Passage and south into the Main Channel. We stopped just near the entrance to Fisherman Channel, on the south side of Russell Island, for breakfast, then continued south, calling in to Horizon Shores Marina for a walk around the many boats and a coffee at the cafe. Leaving there, we retraced some of our journey, turning east into the channel between Tabby Tabby and Kangaroo Island, where we dropped anchor on the deep side of the channel, revelling in the stillness after yesterday's rocking around. After lunch we took the brig and explored some of the local waterways, zooming past mangroves and sandbanks, and signs saying "shoals" without worrying about depths as we would in Manookatoo! A lovely still night on the boat followed our relaxing day.
Thursday was exercise morning while the water was still. Then, after breakfast, we headed further down the main passage, dropping anchor at Jacob's Well and taking the brig to shore for a good look around. There is a small supermarket there as well as an inviting looking bakery and a pub - everything we would need! A caravan park is adjacent to the boat ramp, we could always bring "Vanooka" here to stay :-) Returning to the brig, we were just setting off as a fisherman caught a large fish by the tail, and required our assistance to keep it! Using the bailing bucket and some ingenuity, the captain saved the fish for the lucky fisherman. We returned to Manookatoo and continued for just a little way, into the entrance to Calypso Bay, where we tied up at the jetty and went to lunch at Harrigan's Pub - delicious! Later, we made the momentuous decision not to turn right towards the Broadwater and Paradise Point, rather, to turn left and spend another night away, this time at one of our favourite anchorages, Tipplers at South Stradbroke Island. It will mean an early start in the morning to get the first mate to her hand therapy appointment, but as we are heading south next week, and this will be our last night on the water until August at least, it is worth that small sacrifice to enjoy another lovely evening. We made the most of it, cooking a three course meal and enjoying the sunset and the starry sky before retiring early to bed.

Beautiful Brisbane

Farewell Gold Coast

Almost two years ago I wrote about our week in Brisbane and how much we enjoyed mooring so close to this lovely city. With no real plans, we decided to repeat our journey and left the Gold Coast late on Tuesday morning. The weather closed in as we cruised north past Paradise Point and into the main channel, enjoying lunch as we passed Calypso Bay and Jacobs Well. We continued up past Russell Island and, as the sun set and dark approached, we dropped anchor at Potts Pint, the top end of Macleay Island. Many people live on Rusell and Macleay Island and commute to work on the ferry or fast cat via Redland Bay, south of Brisbane, but it was calm and peaceful where we moored.

Under the Story Bridge

The captain raised the anchor early the next morning and we continued across Moreton Bay, entering the shipping channel and notifying Brisbane Harbour Control before entering the busy port. We ate breakfast as we chugged along, watching tugs manoeuvre big container ships, bouncing in the wake of the Tangalooma Express on its way in from Moreton Island. We passed under the Gateway Bridge and followed the City Cats upstream, arriving at Dockside Marina just before 11am. Later in the afternoon we took a walk around Kangaroo Point, stopping for a drink at the Story Bridge Hotel.

Anne and Silvano came for morning tea

On Thursday morning we caught the ferry into the city and walked to the information centre to check out options for exploration. We returned to the boat just in time for our visitors to arrive for morning tea! We had a quick lunch, then hopped on the ferry again to visit the Macarthur Museum, a most informative guide to Brisbane during World War II and General Douglas Macarthur's role in turning the tide of war from his office in the building, which has been kept intact and looks most impressive. From there we walked along the waterfront and under the Story Bridge, enjoying a drink at the newly refurbished Howard Smith Wharves, continuing along the riverfront to Sydney Street where we took the City Hopper across to our marina and home.

Mary Mickillop

 We started Friday morning with exercises; a challenge when the wash from passing ferries rocks us around! After breakfast we headed into town again to take the Brisbane City walk, a most informative free walk from the information centre to the town hall. We learned about the demise of the Regent Theatre, the history of Central and Tattersalls Arcades, and the lovely St Stephens Church with the beautiful statue of Mary Mackillop made entirely of camphor laurel - the whole chapel smells divine. We walked through Post Office Lane and heard about the female prison of the convict era, then along Anzac Square, admiring the many monuments and beautiful trees. We left the tour at the town hall (as we had visited it before) - we were keen to catch the river cat to Regatta for lunch at the pub! After lunch we returned by river cat to Eagle Street then caught the cross-river ferry to "our" side and home.

The New Farm markets are on Saturday morning, so we caught the hopper across to Sydney Street and followed the river around to the park. Every type of food imaginable is available there and we enjoyed walking past the stalls, sampling the tasty morsels on offer. We bought food for a delicious three course meal and returned to the boat for a lazy afternoon.

Footy at the Gabba

We started Sunday with a walk across the Story bridge and up to Fortitude Valley, once a disreputable area on the edge of town, now cleaned up and showing off its lovely heritage buildings. We did some shopping and returned the same way - all up, a 6km walk! Later we walked to the Pineapple Hotel for lunch, joining crowds of Brisbane Lions supporters (and a few in red and blue) on our way to the Gabba. We enjoyed the game from seats high in the stands, but the result didn't go the way we had hoped! Nevertheless the experience was great and we returned to the boat through the street of Wollongabba and enjoyed pizzas for dinner.

The city view from the river cat

Monday was another busy day, starting with our exercises, then breakfast and a walk past the Kangaroo Point cliffs to Southbank. We spent many hours at the Maritime Museum, learning all about the history of shipping on the river and in Queensland, touring the warship Diamantina and climbing down into the dry dock. It is a fascinating place! We caught the river cat back to Eagle Street and enjoyed a coffee on the waterfront before taking the cross river ferry and walking home. After lunch we ventured out again, this time taking the ferry to Sydney Street and walking up to the New Farm shopping village to stock up with food ready for our journey back to the Gold Coast. We bought some fantastic steaks, which we enjoyed that night, watching the lights on the Story Bridge take over as dark settled.

Dawn at the Story Bridge

The captain was up early and ready to go by 6:15am. We slipped away from the marina and down the river, leaving the river mouth just before 9am and continuing across Moreton Bay in perfect conditions. We are taking the Canaipa Channel back, and we passed the top of Russell Island and dropped anchor at Canaipa Point just after 1pm. There are a few other boats here, but it is quiet and peaceful with the view of North Stradbroke Island to enjoy. Tomorrow we will continue south, with a night at Tipplers, off South Stradbroke Island, before we reach the Gold Coast on Thursday.

Beautiful Canaipa Point and North Stradbroke Island