Three nights in Paynesville

Day seven
Some wind overnight but we woke to sunshine this morning. We had visitors arriving before lunch today - the Captain's younger son and fiancé, so we left our mooring and enjoyed breakfast on our way back to the Marina. Tying up near the amenities, we got our washing up to date and did some food shopping before they arrived. They'd been keen to join us, so soon after 11am we were leaving port again, heading back to Duck Arm and into Picnic Arm, where we picked up a mooring and enjoyed lunch while the boat rocked gently in the wind.

Back at the Marina later that afternoon, son and fiancé took off for a whirl in the brig and we joined them in town for a drink in the pub before returning to the boat for a delicious prawn and steak dinner.
Week two, day one
The young ones were eager to be on their way and departed around 9am. With winds set to strengthen we decided a day in a river would be more pleasant, so we headed across Lake King and entered the Tambo River. We enjoyed a lovely cruise along past Johnsonville and up as far as Swan Reach, where the bridge takes the Princes Highway across the river. It has a height above the water of 6.6 meters but we were not sure we could make it without lowering the aerial and anchor light, so we turned around, cruising back down before dropping anchor near a wide bend for a relaxing lunch. After an afternoon nap we continued on, passing many other large craft doing the same thing as us - avoiding the wind. We returned to our mooring and booked ourselves a table at the Cruiser Club, taking the opportunity to join up while we were there. It is a friendly, social scene and after dinner we were invited to join new found friends and fellow cruisers for a few late night drinks!
Day two
The wind continued all night and as it was forecast to remain strong all day we thought we might take the opportunity to enjoy some "shore based" activities. After taking the brig across to Raymond Island for our morning walk, we had breakfast and set off for Bairnsdale, checking out the jetty on the Mitchell River on our way, then heading west and turning off for Lindenow. The drive is quite pretty along the river flats and looking over towards the high mountains of the Great Dividing Range. We turned left at Fingerboards and travelled back through Fernbank, stopping at Bairnsdale for fuel and some produce and returning to Manookatoo for lunch and a lazy afternoon of cricket on the TV for him and a book for her. We noticed smoke out west in the late afternoon and heard sirens in the distance. At about 5:00 we took the brig into town where we enjoyed an afternoon drink at the Paynesville Wine Bar and heard all the local news - fire at Rottamah Island and Loch Sport and a yacht running into the Ferry to Raymond Island! We returned to Manookatoo to cook a delicious dinner - Oysters Natural for entree followed by Roast Chicken washed down with  Morris Sparkling Durif - we felt like we were living like kings!!

Sunset at the Slip Bight Marina