Where is Lucey Blue?

Just thought I'd pop a little message here and let you know that tonight we are nestled in Sawmill Bay, Cid Harbour, on the western side of Whitsunday Island (along with approximately 41 other boats). When I looked outside this evening it was hard to tell where the stars stopped and the anchor lights started, and Nick commented that it felt like Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve!

Our internet coverage has been sporadic over the last few days...while we were visiting Whitehaven Beach and then Border Island (which are overshadowed by towering granite peaks to their west). I have been trying to update our Google location map, which you can find at the top of the page here, whenever I get a chance.

I have plenty of pictures to edit and pop up, but they'll have to wait for another time. For now, I'll leave  you with this pic we caught of a calf playing in the sea off Border Island (mum was nearby, maybe giving technique pointers)...

Definitely something very special to behold!

A day at the Audi Hamilton Island Races...

I know this post is out of order...we still have several posts to add here covering our visits to Middle Percy, Brampton, Shaw and Lindeman Islands (I have been a pretty slack blogger of late)...but I was so excited after witnessing some of the maxi yachts up close today (part of the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week), that I couldn't wait to pop up a few pictures.

We left our anchorage at Lindeman Island at 8:00 am this morning and sailed under spinnaker up to Hamilton Island and through Dent Passage, arriving just as the race fleet departed the Hamilton Island Marina.

We weren't sure where the races started from, so we dropped the spinnaker and followed the back of the fleet right up to the start line (and then promptly got out of the way).

Check out the water!! The current through Fitzalan Passage was about 3 kts...against us!

We ended up in Turtle Bay, on the south coast of Whitsunday Island, and were bobbing about directly off the start line, where we got the following shots...

I had to put this one up, because I got one for my birthday! A silver Pandora bracelet...not a Hanse 540e racing yacht ;-)...

As soon as the majority of the fleet had departed we motored back past Hamilton Island and anchored off Henning Island, just in time to catch the race leaders come flying back home...

It was a poopy, overcast and drizzly day, but it was so much fun watching the race fleet that we hardly noticed the poor weather. There were hardly any spectator boats out either, which surprised us, but enabled us a good clear view.

We finished off a fabulous day with a quick jaunt ashore on Henning Island, where we helped the kids construct a driftwood shelter on the beach. This project was inspired by one of Emily's Distance Education units on different types of shelters, and someone had even thoughtfully started the shelter for us too!

Anyhoo, way past time this chook was in bed.

Night!!

Leaving a memento at the Percy Hilton...

One of the fun things to do at Middle Percy Island is to leave a memento of your visit in the A-frame hut on the beach, dubbed the Percy Hilton...

Nick and his parents had done the same when they passed this way back in the early 80's (although we failed to locate their plaque, which was a cow bone and may well have disintegrated). We found some plaques and memorabilia dating back as far as the 60's, so there is a fair bit of interesting history hanging about on the island. It is also a fun way to meet new people. As we were searching for the Kudjinka plaque, we met another group searching for their old plaque too...so we shared boat names to try and speed up the search process.

Nick started on our plaque back in Island Head Creek, choosing an off-cut of ply that he had stashed away on Lucey Blue. I wrote out the details for him in pencil, and he proceeded to carve out the words using a stanley knife.

He then scorched the wording using his soldering iron. We also decided to add the kids' hand-prints and ages on the back side of the plaque as an extra touch...

Nick then coated it in epoxy glue...for a long-lasting finish. We'd like to think it might still be hanging around there in another 20 - 30 years, and that maybe the kids will go back and look for it at some point.

We also hope that having these photos here might aid any future search. Knowing what you are looking for, and roughly where it was left is definitely a bonus, because there are HUNDREDS of bits and pieces in this hut!

I am already looking forward to returning to Middle Percy Island some time soon!

'morning Mackay!

It was so hard to say goodbye to Middle Percy Island at stupid o'clock this morning. I have so much to say about our five days there...fantastic people, great food, cute animals, beautiful scenery, and lots of pics too...but its going to have to wait, because while my seasickness has been minimal of late (and non-existent today), I don't want to push my luck by burying my head in the computer for a half hour.

Here is one I played with last night before bed...

Right now we are at: 21 04.697S 149 16.718E and motoring towards Mackay at 6+ kts, with almost no wind, on a beautiful sunny day (I am about to take the polar fleece off because this-here sub-snow dwelling Canberran is SWELTERING - even though the locals are busy complaining about it being a cold winter ;-).

I am on watch, Rhino is on the cockpit floor, holding on to Eric and singing to him (one of his rhyming compilations...which sometimes contain identifiable snippets of Pink and/or Katy Perry tunes). Eric is in turn shrieking....one would assume it is in agreement, or enjoyment or something like that! Emily is reading at the saloon table, and dad is catching a coupl'a Zzzzzzs in our cabin.

Better go check the charts, and make sure that I steer clear of the rather impressive line of tankers and cargo ships anchored off Mackay, and rapidly expanding on our horizon.

Have a great day,
Sam.

En-route Middle Percy Island

We left Keppel Bay Marina on Wednesday morning and spent the last two nights in Island Head Creek, part of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (amazing scenery in that neck of the woods).

This morning we headed out towards Middle Percy Island and expect to arrive around late afternoon today. We've had the spinnaker up and have been motor-sailing at up to 10.2 kts!!! Without the motor we averaged around 8 kts. But now the wind is dropping and the spinnaker is flapping about all over the place.

Be back when the internet gets more reliable...

PS. We saw turtles, dolphins and whales off Port Clinton on the way up on Wednesday!

It looks like Great Keppel got wrecked!

I last visited Great Keppel Island 26 years ago. I only stayed about a week, and don't remember much, but I do remember a pretty and busy island. At the time the tourism slogan ran something along the lines of 'Get wrecked on Great Keppel Island' (one of the beaches is called wreck beach, so I guess it came about through that?)!! Obviously it was before the age of responsible drinking, and I was under-age at the time anyway, so I have no information on how successful that campaign was, but it appears times have changed in more ways than one.

Yesterday we packed our day packs, slathered ourselves in sunscreen, braved the short dinghy ride ashore (travelling into the wind, but miraculously managing to stay dry {thanks to Nick :-}), and set off on an adventure to the other side of the island (in search of an ice-cream and maybe lunch).

We left Leeke's Beach and took the walking track to the nearby lookout. The view from the top was not great, the vegetation blocking most of the view out over Leeke's Beach, but we had managed to get a nice shot from a smaller lookout the previous day, so we weren't too disappointed.

We passed a couple of signs in various states of repair, but all pointing the way to the resort (our carrot on a stick if you will ;-)...so we bravely trekked on!

A little over an hour later (remembering we did have three small children in tow...so it actually felt like a six day foot safari through the Sahara), we came upon the first signs of habitation. Habitation is a term I use loosely! The resort part of the island was a ghost-town!! If I'd seen a big ol' Dharma Initiative emblem painted on the side of the wire enclosed compound...I would not have blinked an eye. I was fully expecting Matthew Fox to come bolting out of the bush with a Polar Bear in hot pursuit...it had that kind of feel about it...very eerie.

I don't know what the story is there, but I am confident in my conclusion that the Great Keppel Island resort on Fisherman's Beach is not currently taking guests, not of the human-kind at any rate. The in-house guests we came across included fruit bats (a colony of which appear to have taken up residence in a big old fig tree on the grounds), and a variety of other skittery, crittery types (and quite possibly Polar Bears ;-).

We eventually found an operational cabin/tent accommodation area at the other end of the beach, and more important to us...a gift shop (which also sold ice cream...HOORAY), and a small bistro serving lunch (double HOORAY). So our island trek had not been in vain. It seems a shame that what was obviously a significant part of the island has been shut down now, but the kids had a lovely time rolling around in the beautiful, fine sand on Fisherman's Beach regardless...

This morning we motor-sailed away from our rather rolly anchorage, arriving at the Keppel Bay Marina in Rosslyn Bay around midday. We are starting to recognise quite a few boats and crews as we move from place to place which is nice, especially when they can offer advice on places to go, things to see, stuff to avoid etc, etc. Some of these people have done this trip several times, and are a fabulous wealth of knowledge, and seem more than happy to answer all my questions too.

I am going to leave you with a picture I just found in my iPhoto catalogue. It is one Nick took while he was out snorkelling with the kids on Lady Musgrave Island. I tell you what, if I'd seen this one before we left, we'd still be there right now! One day they went off in the dinghy to some far-flung corner of the reef, well away from the island proper, and found a beautiful, protected, oasis of aquatic life. This picture looks like it was taken in a crystal-clear aquarium...not on the edge of a reef with a 15 knot sou'easter blowing! I can't wait to get back there!!

Bed time now.

Night-night.

Our new anchorage

...this picture taken as we slowly approached the anchorage off Leeke's Beach on the northern side of Great Keppel Island around 6 am this morning.

We left Lady Musgrave Island lagoon at 2 pm yesterday and motor-sailed/sailed the approximately 90 nm to Great Keppel Island over night.

Shortly after we'd left the Lady Musgrave Island lagoon I saw a whale breach, and several large plumes of air/water too...but they were a good distance away, and obviously moving a fair bit faster than us, we didn't see them again after that :-(.

We are now resting up and getting ourselves sorted before venturing ashore and checking out the sights.

Before the wind started...

We've had a bit of south-easterly wind over the last few days. Sunny and mild, but not the nicest weather for snorkelling or swimming, so there has been lots of school work done, books read and some baking done too. I managed to cook my first loaf of bread on Lucey Blue, and by some miracle it turned out beautifully!

Before the wind started up, we also got in a bit more snorkelling...

... choosing the best spot

... no wonder things were looking a bit foggy to me that day!

Parrotfish...

The last shot is very murky, but if you squint a bit I think you should be able to see the turtle. This was as close as I got to it before it rocketed off into the distance...

PS. Phone and internet connection is very, very patchy of late. This post was uploaded in tiny installments over a couple of hours. So if you can't get through to us....that'll be why.

More pictures from Lady Musgrave Island, The Great Barrier Reef...

Again, my apologies for boring your soxs off with my multitudes of pics from here and there. I'm a visual person, and enjoy fiddling with my pictures while I'm feeding the first-class passenger (and as you can probably tell...I do a lot of feeding of the first-class passenger...he is going to be a big, healthy boy :-). I am much less likely to come up with an interesting spiel...after all, what more can I add to a picture of a large, peaceful, turquoise-blue lagoon in the middle of nowhere? It pretty much speaks for itself in my opinion.

Yesterday we went ashore in the morning...

...and after securing the dinghy so it didn't go drifting off at an inappropriate moment and leave us stranded here {OH...wait a minute, what an EXCELLENT IDEA ;-}, we had a little walkabout! Don't you think those clouds in the shot above make it look like a steam ship just disappeared over the horizon to photo right?

...it is hard to get lost on a 14 hectare coral cay...so I don't think we can do a Tom Hanks and hide out here with Wilson for five years...

When we got back aboard Lucey Blue Nick could hardly wait to get back off. He tried to convince Emily to follow his lead, but she'd have none of it. Opting for a less acrobatic entrance off the sugar scoops.

We went back ashore late in the afternoon, after the tour boat had departed (you can visit Lady Musgrave on a day tour out of the town of 1770)...and did a bit of beach-combing and admired the sun set. Unfortunately the camera battery died shortly into this trip (did I just hear a chorus of hoorays????)...but we did manage to catch this cute shot of the kids...

When we got back to the boat we were just deciding on dinner and getting ourselves sorted when Rick (our first visitor to Lucey Blue when we arrived here on Monday morning), came across to deliver us two large pieces of beautifully filleted Spanish Mackerel (freshly caught that morning). We were so excited, not having managed to catch anything ourselves so far, that we could hardly wait to cook it up! Nick crumbed it and fried it in oil...

...and it was DELICIOUS. A beautiful, delicate fish flavour with a lovely flaky texture. None of that mushy, been frozen for who-knows-how-long fish...this was the fish that John West WISHES he had caught...and a biggie by all accounts. Thank you so much Rick, you are the best!

Nick is planning some more technical posts detailing how we have achieved phone/internet connection out here on the Great Barrier Reef, and also how we have been using our iPad as a mobile navigation tool. So if you're into those aspects of trip planning...stay tuned.

I am going to go dip my toe in the lagoon now and see if it feels as warm as it did yesterday :-). Have a good one!

Swimming in July at 07:30 am...

If we were back home in Canberra right now, the chances you'd find me swimming in anything other than a temperature controlled, indoor swimming pool are zero. No way, no how, not possible, NOT HAPPENING! But at 07:30 this morning the Lady Musgrave Lagoon was still, and the most amazing shade of blue, and the temperature felt AWESOME (and I'd just crawled out of bed at the time of testing...so that's saying something!).

I hurriedly donned my swimmers and wetsuit (a 3mm summer suit, so nothing significant in terms of keeping me warm)...

...and dove right in. It wasn't even gasp producing. The water felt delicious!

Emily was keen too, so she quickly came to join me...

We stayed in for about half an hour, doing laps of Lucey Blue and just floating about enjoying the scenery (you could clearly see the coral and fish on the bottom, 6 metres below).

Last night we slept with the hatches in our rooms open wide. The roar of the ocean waves crashing into the coral reef surrounding the lagoon is a very, very pleasant way to fall asleep.

I think I could spend the rest of our holiday right here and not regret it at all. I am sure that there are other awesome places to visit too, but the bar has been set very high!