Last of Cocos Keeling Islands

Here I am back in the wifi shack - this time being carried off by mosquitoes instead of attacked by coconuts!  That's beautiful tropical lagoon island life I suppose - tough.This is our last day and there was a Rally BBQ lunch on the beach with the skippers briefing first. All a bit delayed as the organisers boat broke down as they were leaving West Island. We're now getting everything ready for a 10 am local time start.  It will probably take two weeks to get to Mauritius so this will be it for a while. The winds look good and settled for all the way - but then that's weather forcasting....an unreliable dark art at the best of times. We've loved all the messages and emails and they have been passed on and appreciated.

Cocos Keeling Island

I have now put up the Christmas Island photos on the previous blog

We left Christmas a day after the main boats as we were still messing with the generator. There were three of us that took it easy leaving.

Oscar had a rough day and a half after his Chinese lunch came back to haunt him but after that was able to take his place in the night watches. it makes it all very easy as we now do only two hours on and six off.

I am sitting in the shelter shed on Direction Island at the wifi hot spot. It is so bright hat I have a towel over my head and the laptop trying to see the screen. Nearly jumped out of my skin when a coconut dropped out of it's tree just by me! We had a fairly uneventful mostly sailing trip from Christmas Is. We did manage to have another fright with a fishing line around the prop as we forgot to pull the lines in when we went into the wind to get the main down. We got the label maker out and now have a sticker on each throttle saying "RODS IN!"

 I made Pete a hazelnut mocha layer cake for his birthday then we had only just finished that and it was Oscar's!  So I made a chocolate cake for him.  What with some ice cream that we made and the lollies his cousins gave him from Darwin we all were sugared up! Cocos Keeling is a very pretty lagoon with fringing islands and snorkelling anywhere you're inclined to put your head in the water. We all snorkelled the famous "Rip".  Lots of very big schools of very big fish and loads of black tipped reef sharks - that luckily are very well fed on the reef fish! We had a bommie right under the boat with it's own resident turtle. Pete and I went to Home Island and from there by ferry to West Island where the shops etc are and the next diesel mechanic! Hopefully we are all fixed this time!!!. We left Oscar and Huw swimming and doing more Rip snorkels. Today Oscar is going to West Island for the day with the other family and tomorrow is the BBQ and skippers briefing for Mauritius. There is a lot of navel history here and is the sight of Australia's first ever navel victory - Pete and I are going to walk through the island today to see some of the remains of the instalments that used to be here. it was a catalina flying boat base too.

Christmas Island

We arrived about midnight and anchored in Flying fish Cove. The trip was a bit short on wind for the first day or two but it did give us thw chance to get the gennaker sewed and glued back together. We lost a day of good wind letting it dry but when it got up we were wing on wing all the next two days at a good speed. Waking up in the morning after coming in in the dark is always interesting as you're never quite where you thought you were at night and the shore is quite different too. There are heavily forested hills rising right up from the sea front. the buildings are shabby and old but the supermarkets have a huge range of good Australian food and the liquour is very duty free in a genuine way not like duty free at the airport. Extra large bottle of gin for $13 - got to be happy with that. Our supplies last well as we don't drink at all out at sea!

Oscar did the Jungle Tour on Friday morning and Huw haunted the info centre wifi. Pete and I stayed on board after the customs and immigration clearances as a diesel mechanic was coming on to see why we were getting water in the oil (there is always something!) There was a beach Rally BBQ on that night but unfortunately Huw and Pete only got cold left overs as one of the two boats rafted up on a mooring behind us panicked that we were getting to close to them and we had to move. We were on a huge drum mooring and very stable but you have to consider other people's panics even though unwarranted. Saturday was spent re mooring at a better spot and diving for the second anchor from the night before. by lunchtime we were all at the info centre wifi, then the supermarket and lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Oscar and Huw took the shopping back to the boat planning a shorkel later on and Pete and I did an island drive with the Rav4 that the diesel engineers let us use - very kind. There was a net grotto and blow holes. the place is filled with crabs of all shapes, colours and sizes. If you google "crab migration Christmas Island" you can see what we missed due to timing - an amazing natural event.

It is now Saturday afternoon and we will try to refurl the gennaker on the wharf so we can put it up when we leave. (it wasn't put away properly last time) Then Oscar Pete and I plan to go to the pub for dinner and buy the mechanics a drink. We leave at 8 am tomorrow as soon as we have cleared out with Border force, who are very much in evidence here due to the illegal immigration problems that Australia experiences from Indonesia etc. Big boats, lost of very obvious uniformed forces including the Navy and lots of checks on visiting boats. All handled very politely but firmly.

Pete's birthday tomorrow - I have a cake to make!

Have put up a few extra pics under leaving Lombok. The Christmas Island ones will have to wait till Cocos Keeling Island (should be there in 5 days) as I'm running out of battery and patience sitting in the car at the now closed info centre!

Leaving Lombok

The start was delayed by 20 minutes because the start marker boat was late. We got off to a good start with the main and the gennaker out but after about half an hour the wind started to gust and we tore the tack out of the bottom of the gennaker! Anyway the guys have all been sewing and sticking and contact glueing so we will be able to use it, but now of course it's all unravelled....if the wind dies away sufficiently we will put it back out and see what happens. So far we're mostly running last because of the time taken out to get the sail down etc. Oscar's not worried as it is giving him extra time near the coast for internet coverage of his game. The seas started out pretty rough but have settled down to a nice swell but some current against all of us. Talk again from Christmas Island! We've been seeing the blogs and getting all the emails - really enjoy them, please keep it up! By the way Oscar and the Craven kids did all go to a local school and gave a presentation about themselves (via a translator) I'll put a photo up as soon as Casper gets one to me. An open air under a tree school with some very excited local kids who do not see many Europeans, if any, especially ones as fair as Oscar and the Cravens!

Don't seem to have enough coverage for putting pics up - will do from Christmas Island

Saturday - Lombok

This might be the last blog before we leave. Start time is 9 am tomorrow with half an hour to get to the start line. I'll try to get something up. We have the skippers briefing tonight at the "resort". Oscar has gone over to "Aretha" with the kayaks. Last night there was some talk of all the kids going to an Indonesian school today but I'm not sure if that is still on.  I've just looked out and seen Oscar with Columbus on the back of one kayak and Bluebell being towed behind on the other - they're off visiting the other boats.

Friday - Lombok

Just been for a great snorkel! This time we caught a water taxi as last time it was a bit rough getting back. Also you have to weave through pearl farms!. The island we went to is Gili Layar just inside the harbour entrance. We asked the water taxi to come back in an hour and a half so we had time for a quick Bintang at the resort on the island. Not sure how I'll go getting gopro footage up as for this website you have to load to u tube and then set up a link. Not enough internet here for that. Will try for some stills though. Indonesian customs came on board this morning. Not sure what they actually managed to do except some paperwork and some very general photos inside the boat. All very nice and polite though. So even though we have spent a few days here going ashore etc we have only just officially cleared in!

I've put a few extra photos up on the previous blog - bit hard getting my act together some days! It is confirmed that we leave here on Sunday morning for Christmas Island. Oscar is happy as with the time difference in Melbourne he may get to watch his team (Richmond) playing as we leave Indonesia. He's bought some extra data for his phone. Here is the current itinerary to in the pics.

More Lombok

Our tour on Wednesday was interesting. Started out at a water taxi pick up from the boats then off to a market by bus. The market is on twice a week and sells just about everything you can imagine from fresh local food to pink plastic junk toy items - very crowded. We then were driven to Mataran, a near by city (if you could call it that) where we all got into little pony drawn carts to go to a typical village to see some pottery making. Oscar made a little dish he was able to keep. All unbelievably poor. There seems to be no shortage of food but  hygene is almost non existent with the water ways clogged with rubbish and no central or organised collections. A very high infant morality rate from water borne disease.  The mosques, temples and other religion related buildings are in top repair and clean and tidy. The various religions, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim seem to live well beside each other. We stopped for lunch and had a traditional Sasak meal and a very strong rice wine! (25%). From there we went to Lingsar Temple then Namarda Palace which was the ancient summer palace for the Balinese royal family. it was a full day followed up by a BBQ on the beach organised by he Marina guy, Ray. We've now met just about everyone in the rally from the various boats. All very nice and friendly. There are three kids on "Aretha" who have befriended Oscar.

Thursday was the scheduled refuelling day for us. A bit of a fiasco as there is no fuel jetty or anything. A tanker arrived after being delayed in a road jam for a few hours and filled drums on the stone wharf which was then piped down to us via an extremely long hose across two other boats into our tanks where we were anchored stern on to the wharf.  There was fuel spilled everywhere! Then it seemed that there was not enough to go round - but eventually it all sorted out and we have full fuel tanks again. Hoping of course not to use much on this next leg! In the evening we went ashore to the Secret Island Resort. (the word resort used very loosely). A quirky building with a very eclectic variety of decorating styles. No wine for sale (apparently they got one bottle in especially and it went the first night). I had a gin and tonic in a wine glass and the others drank Bintang beer. Oscar, Huw and Pete played pool. We've got a Rally dinner here tomorrow night.

Lombok

Motoring, motoring, motoring! We are so sick of the sound of the engines! There was hardly any wind the whole trip (7 days). There was plenty of activity apart from sailing though. We saw lots of dophins and Oscar got some good gopro footage. We might try to get the camera onto the end of the boat hook next time and get some underwater shots. huw and Oscar caught and landed a mackerel, tuna and a large Mahi Mahi. We had sushi and sashimi for a few lunches and steaks and curry for dinners. There was a breath of wind one day and we tried out the new whisker pole. It worked really well so we are confident that we will use it on the next leg with the anticipated wind direction to Christmas Island.

We are anchored at Marina Del Ray (run by an Australian named Ray, not sure which came first)on Gili Gede Island. It's very pretty and just a short ferry trip to Lombok itself. We arrived just after dawn and everyone was up to see the sunrise and approach after a great run through the Lombok Straits with the current - some of the other boats had a struggle against it. After lunch Pete caught up on some sleep and Huw, Oscar and I went off in the dingy to a snorkelling spot the ARC guys recommended. It was a fair way off on another Island but was well worth the effort. The most small fish that Huw and I have ever seen on one dive! A great first reef experience for Oscar. He took lots of gopro footage, of course.

Today is Wednesday and we are going on an island tour that the rally has organised. it's a day long with visits to villages, temples etc.

Follow the boats link

Follow the boats

Please click on the above link and go to the Darwin onwards button, then select our boat and see where we are and have been.

The last of Darwin and off.........

We're on our way to the start line for the run to Lombok!  We've left Rupert and Oscar's parents waving at the dock. I'll try to get Darwin pics up as we leave.

It's been a fun and interesting time in Darwin. Stocking up our wine turned into a challenge when the first liquor store we went to told us the law only allowed them to sell one cask per person per day! We had visions of us spending the next week or two driving from store to store trying to get our casks. However we found out that some stores don't have this limit if they are not in a recognised problem area. It seems that some of the locals have a bit of a problem. The other interesting thing we were told that one way of getting around Darwin where there was no bus route was to go to Dominoes and order a pizza for delivery to where you want to go then ask to hop in the car........

Pete, Rupert and I went to see the umping crocodiles in Adelaide River. A very good tour and some truly revolting crocodiles - there is nothing redeeming about them till they turn into a handbag. The trip was organised by the rally we are joining as was a welcome drinks at Tipperary Marina, so now we have met most of the other people on the 13 other boats. We passed all our checks with flying colours and "dressed the boat" with the international flags - very festive. Katrina and Richard flew up form Sydney to see us off which was very much appreciated by us. Richard has been a huge help getting s most of our sailing paper charts. they also gave us a valuable back up navigation tool (see the pics) We  all went out for a day sail on Sunday and a sunset cruise. Monday was taken up by an enormous shop to last us till La Reunion and Mauritius as we won't really stock up in Lombok or Christmas and Cocos. We could hardly see Oscar in the back of the little rental car! The Border Force people came to Tipperary Marina to do all the paperwork that was handled  very smoothly. this was also when we got the GST back on all the stuff we've been buying - that was welcome! Cullen Bay Marina has been a great place to stay with a lock entrance that kept everything safe. Now on our way and travelling well against the others (although it's not a race!) Fishing lines are out and we've had lunch. Will put the gennaker out once we have tacked our way out of the harbour then we'll go even better.! (although it's not a race) 7 knots from 13 at the moment.

Darwin 23 August

The sail is back on now all fixed up with a modification to the sail bag. The whisker pole has been built but not tried out yet. Scott the sailmaker made a splice that in the 1700's used to be commonly called a c--t splice! Yes, not kidding! it's used to join two bits of rope without a knot.... We've finally got the salt water rinse tap working for the kitchen after re running all the hose as we were advised on the wrong sort initially! Will save LOTS of water.

We went to the famous night markets at Mindil Beach where you HAVE to watch the sunset. Bit weird really - just an ordinary old sunset but all the people stand and stare at it (every Thursday and Sunday...) almost expected them to start swaying or something... Huw has gone off to Melbourne to catch up with Laura.

Pete and I have had a busy week including a very un eco, non cultural outback tour! We were picked up and taken to a float plane which then flew to and landed on Sweeties Lagoon. After a barramundi lunch floating around the lagoon we got on a air boat for a tour of the wetlands and rainforest. We met Sweetie the crocodile. It's definitely HER lagoon - it seems that she had a fight with and took out Lumpy earlier this year! Matt, our boat driver, slapped his thong (the shoe variety) on the waters edge and she came up and had a go at it. Very in the wild and not a semi tame croc. After that we had a helicopter trip to look at termite mounds then a final air boat high speed couple of laps. Boy toy heaven. We hired a car for one day and did lots of running around jobs so as to be relaxed when everybody starts arriving - starting with Rupert tonight.

Darwin - week 2

Well - the main sail has gone off to get a few things done and the whisker pole is under order. We've got a quirky restaurant/bar up the top of the marina walkway called Lola's Pergola! It has a strange carnival circus theme and gourmet burgers. We've lost a bit of time in there! But it's not all beer and skittles - Pete has fixed the satellite dish pole and many other little odd jobs with Huw's help. We've got a few city jobs to do like getting global roaming sim cards, cancelling phone accounts etc. It's very pleasant weather wise when the breeze is blowing but pretty hot when not! And it's mid winter.....Darwin Festival is on at the moment so there is lots going on around the town, we'll try to fit a show in. Hannah Gadsby the comedian is on tomorrow night.

Darwin

Here we are in Darwin! Only one scary bit in the Cumberland passage with a very strong current against a 4m swell in the dark (of course). We had a bit of drama with the generator not starting but after a fair bit of trouble shooting (in the dark of course 9.30 pm) we found a leaf in the non return valve for the cooling water. I was committed to then clean out and defrost one of the fridges as I had turned it off to save power in the event that we couldn't get the generator started......Fun thing to do at 10.30 pm. Arrived in Darwin on Thursday and stayed the night anchored out at Fannie Bay. Next morning we went into Cullen Bay Marina, via their lock, where we will stay for the next 3 weeks. Some repairs to be done, an aluminium whisker pole to get made and the engines serviced etc.  My brother Mark, his wife Annabelle and son Oscar arrive on 26th. Oscar is joining us to do the trip through to Cape Town. He will have his 15th birthday somewhere around Christmas Island - very exciting. He's between school terms - the family is moving from Luxembourg back to Melbourne.

Thursday Island to Gove

We left Thurday Island and decided to sail to Gove for a look instead of straight through to Darwin. First night the wind was strong with 4 metre swells so we reefed the sails and carried on. About midnight (of course!) I noticed a clang clang noise after a particularly big slide down a swell and found the satellite pole support had come free. Woke everyone up and we hove to and tied it up temporarily. we then took the main sail down altogether and fully reefed the genoa so as to continue at a slower rate. After all that everything was fine. In the morning all had calmed down and we had a few slow days and night to Gove. A fabulous golden syrup coloured moon made the night watches very easy and beautiful. Got in at 10.20 and went ashore for a look around. First thing we saw was a large crocodile trap on the beach just between the mangroves and the Boat Club! We checked out the facilities"" and came back for the boat to get the laundry. Pete and I had a lost afternoon in the bar waiting for the washing to wash and dry! We had to pay $100 deposit for the laundry key! Obviously people sail off with them regularly....There seemed to be a number of just abandoned, sunken or nearly wrecked boats in the harbour,,,,I noticed a sign at the boat club saying that they were intending to tidy up the foreshore. the red dust everywhere is bauxite, apparently this is the largest bauxite deposit in the world but unfortunately the smelter closed last year and lost the town 1000 jobs. Probably labour costs -  the cooks and cleaners in these sorts of places get paid hundreds of thousands a year!! Today as soon as I have finished this we sail for Darwin. About 3 days we are planning it will take. I'll label the pictures then as the website is paying up again and won't let me.....

Cooktown to Thursday Island

Didn't go to Low Woody isles in the end. the local that told us all about he millions of mud crabs and the friendly croc that "wouldn't bother you"  neglected to say that it was entirely in a no fish zone! So in the interests of keeping the boat we sailed on.... to Cape Flattery. It was an interesting spot and we went ashore to look at the rocks and saw lots of lobster shells that "something" had eaten. Maybe we're being a bit paranoid about crocs but there you go. Good anchorage for the night. it's been surprisingly cold and windy for FNQ (Far North Queensland). Next day 21 July we went to Lizard Island. This is where Captain Cook climbed to look for a break in the reef to get him out. We also climbed the same hill, and I mean climbed, it was very steep over straight up and down rocks. I gave in to an old skiing knee injury whinging at me about half an hour from the top but Heroic Huw and Persistent Pete carried on and saw Cooks Passage from the  top. Huw has climbed Mont Blanc and said it was a bit hard! that made me feel better...the next day with aching muscles we sailed for Howick Island. We caught a mackerel and had that for sashimi then dinner. Next couple of days we went past Cape Melville the ndicided to night sail up through Lads Passage (OK I know, I know). Lots of shipping through here , freighters and even the Navy to avoid.. We went into Lloyds Bay and found a tear in the main sail and two loose battens that we tried to fix prior to getting to Darwin for a proper fix. Portland Road (pronounced Roads for some reason) was next. nothing much there but for some very pricey ($?) and remote real estate. We got to Margaret Bay and caught a blue fin tuna just as we arrived so more sashimi and dinner again!. Once there we put out some lines and caught sharks! Both we let go, a 3 and 3 m plus! the last one gave Huw a run or two around the boat for half an hour! We drank a toast to the sharks - Pete and I on wine  and Huw on Richard's remaining single malt. After this we sailed for Shallow Bay for the night then the run to Thursday Island. We were all quite excited about arriving at Thursday Island - don't really know why - But it was a big disappointment, Really horrible anchorage with big wind and huge current and a lee shore!! Why did they ever decide this was a good place to put a port?? Pete stayed with the boat because of the position and Huw and I went ashore to see quarantine re taking food from somewhere to Darwin... It was a bit vague. We were underwhelmed with the town. There was a tree that if you ate a fruit from it meant that you would return ( we made sure not to eat one!) After a soaking wet ghastly uncomfortable trip back to the boat  we up anchored and  went to Horn island across he way for a more comfortable night. Going tomorrow for Gove Harbour.

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Cook Town

Left the Low Isles early and sailed to Hope Island where we anchored in the lagoon overnight. It was cold and windy so we didn't even go ashore. From there the next morning to Cook Town. the weather was a bit rough with the wind directly behind and a bit too much for the whisker pole although we tried. Cook Town is predictably all about Captain Cook! Monuments, museum etc. We had drinks at the Captain Cook Hotel. We are staying her another day as there looks like a storm out to sea. We're anchored in the Endeavour River where Cook came to make repairs to his boat while he was trying to find a way out of the reef. it's surprisingly cold for so far north - a result of the general cold snap all over Queensland I think. Anyway we're spending the time finishing off installing a salt water  tap in the galley to save fresh water when rinsing dishes. As you can see I have failed completely to get the GoPro videos up so far! Maybe today....

Port Douglas

Left Cairns yesterday morning for Port Douglas but decided to stay overnight at the Low Isles just off. Very pretty little island with a light house. While we were sailing yesterday Huw made a whisker pole out of some bamboo from Paul and Glenys' land. It worked really well enabling us to sail quite fast downwind so now we're ringing riggers in Port Douglas to get a proper one made up. We'd have been happy to keep our home made one - but imagine customs! We'd have to ditch it each country and make a new one!

Ignore all that bit about getting a whisper pole in Port D - they haven't got the bits! So instead we looked out the back and thought - snorkelling? Then 2 big Lagoon charter boats turned up with people in wet suits so in we went. It was amazing coral and fish everywhere - hard to know where to go and where to look. Every fish and type of coral you've ever seen in a tank or tourist brochure was there. Huge clams, reef sharks Warm water, sunny day, top visibility etc. Awesome. We're going back in after lunch from the back of the boat in the deeper water to see different fish. I'm going to dedicate the rest of the afternoon to trying to get the GoPro videos onto Youtube for putting on here. Hmmmm, we'll see how how successful I am..

Cairns

We're now in Cairns. The trip up from Bowen was good. Some great sailing but Laura was not well with sea sickness. Magnetic Island was much changed from when most of us were last there - no surprises it's been many years. We had a bit of a lost afternoon at "Sandi's" at Horseshoe Bay! Sailed to Orpheus Is on the way to Hinchenbrook Is. The east side of Hinchenbrook was not an option because of easterlies and unfortunately that is when the walks etc are. The only spot to go ashore on the west had Huw and Laura hurrying back when they say the crocodile warning signs! We put out crab pots successfully but the mangroves did look very crocodiley......From there we went to Dunk Island where the resort had been savaged by cyclone Yasi last year but was still operating some water sports by the look of it. We then sailed to Mourilyn Harbour where we picked up Pete's brother Paul and his wife Glenys. They came with us to Fitzroy Island just off Cairns. Poor Glenys was sea sick a bit but recovered the next day for the trip into Cairns. Pete and I stayed with them at their place in Woopen Creek and the next day Paul took us around looking at all the places they grew up around Mirriwinni.  Now we are spending money at the chandlery and doing jobs on board for a few days before we leave. All very impressed with Cairns - although I think the summer would be far too hot! Laura has decided that the sailing life is not for her and will leave the boat here in Cairns but may join us in Cape Town for a bit.

The world's largest sailing catamaran has just come in...."Hemisphere" Google it - it's huge. We're second in on the right - it's the big thing at the end. 44 metres long!

Bowen - Hinchenbrook

Left Bowen and day sailed via Cape Upstart and Cape Bowling Green  to Magnetic Island (the island that messed up Captain Cook's compass back in 1770). Not sure why but ours was OK......Stayed the night and Pete and I took the local bus round the island and ended up at Sandi's bar and restaurant for the afternoon! Left the next day and sailed to Orpheus Island for the night. Huw hooked a mahi-mahi but it got away.The Hinchenbrook channel and Island are our next stops. World Heritage listed and will be very pristine. Lots of mangroves so potentially mud crabs - and crocs too.!!

In Bowan getting some supplies and haircuts etc. The movie "Australia" was filmed here a few years ago. The Marina has lent us a car so we're going to have a look around the beaches here today. Decided to stay an extra day and let the weather settle down then continue to Magnetic Island. Really great seafood here thanks to the local fishing industry and friendly people. Had lunch yesterday at the yacht club.