Category Archives: travel
Finally the old capital of Louang Prabang
View from our hotel
Arrival at the Luang Prabang bus station was reminiscent of the atmosphere at Vientiane and we fought our way past the gaggle of tuktuk drivers until we found one who we thought understood where we wanted to go. We were tuktuk virgins and really enjoyed the ride into the hotel. The wrong hotel. So commenced our second ride where the clerk could not find our Agoda booking. This was because we were in the old Ancient and not the new Ancient hotel. By this time I had twigged that tuktuk drivers can read Lao with its indianesque alphabet but don’t do so well with the English one. So on our third attempt we arrived at the quirky but comfortable Ancient hotel with a very designery bath placed in the bedroom. The location was perfect though and we felt immersed in the local community as we sat on the room’s small roadside balcony. Nice.
Local market
Buying silk scarves
Our first temple Wat Mai
The following day was spent lazily strolling the town researching the many offers available for treks and tours, previewing one of the many temples and was rounded off with an evening meal overlooking the river.
The ornate entrance
Beautiful Buddha in the grounds
Beautiful mong children
Traditional village
The village shop
Difficult to tell the age of this lovely lady
This set us up for our four hour jungle trek starting out at a Mong village where a small ethnic group, of what I understood to be descendants of Genghis Khan’s hoards, showed us some of the techniques used to build their homes out of materials harvested from the jungle. I found the similarities with the Solomon’s striking and wondered at how far the brutal empire had spread its influence.
Trekking through the jungle
The jungle trek was a demanding but not arduous one through ancient but well defined tracks which eventually lead us to a clearing where a simple but tasty lunch was served.
Buddha on the hill at the entrance to the cave
More Buddha inside
Hunger sated our guide lead us up past a golden Buddha statue to a cave mouth and explained that, during the war, this served as home for 200 people and a guerrilla base from which the American forces were harried at night. The cave was large and went back a long way with small Buddhist shrines in various niches but it must have been a dark and unpleasant place when it was occupied by so many people.
The blue hole source of the Kouang Si waterfall
A short walk took us to a “blue hole” spring, source of the Kouang Si waterfall which the track eventually took us to the top of.
Bill dangerously near the edge to get this photo
A rest at the top
From this group of calm pools we could peer over the precipice and watch the water cascade down the hundred or so feet below into a group of small lakes dammed by calcification.
Lots of steps to the bottom
The base of the beautiful Kouang Si falls
The steep track and steps followed the falls to a spot where you could swim if the urge took you to join the crowds who had arrived by bus to avoid the jungle walk.
Beautiful rescued brown bear, love him.
At the lower end of this park stands a small black bear sanctuary where the slightly bored animals are kept in a cluster of well laid out compounds. Not an ideal situation but these rescue cases are better off here than being abused as pets or worse as donors for body parts or even the inhuman practice of keeping them half alive to drain their bile for quack medicines.
Some where in there there’s a path!
As we got up the next morning Sue was fair squeaking with excitement and rightly so as today would realise her little girls dream of meeting and riding an elephant. What she had not been banking on though was the ” medium to challenging” trek that proceeded it. I suppose we should have rumbled it when we arrived at a muddy track by the side of the road, gamely leaped out of the tour minibus to discover that none of the other passengers followed. Just the young guide, all sinew and wirey with a big smile on his face. Did we like walking?
I was allowed one 5 minute sit down.
A gentle hillside transformed itself into better than a 2:1 gradient with a loose covering of leaves and dry gritty earth which was just like skating on a near vertical lake of ball bearings. We both struggled through the thicket of huge bamboo until we had ascended around 400 meters vertically. Without Sigh the guide and Sue’s stubborn sense of purpose I’m sure we would still be on that mountainside.
My reward – an elephant ride
It was the toughest 2 hour ascent we have ever done together bar none but like so many of these things the pain of the memory dissolved on contact with the first of the majestic beasts we had come to find. There were three elephants in the small camp we arrived at and after a short break for lunch we were lead to one which was saddled and mounted her via a raised platform.
The mahout guided her along
Along the shores of the lake
The mahout first lead her and then rode her neck just in front of us as she gently and politely took us on a half hour tour of her domain. Sue, a little disturbed by the rickety double saddle as it pitched and rolled with our steed’s gentle gait was the picture of the happy little girl who had finally got her Jumbo ride.
Stroking her leathery skin
It was a pure magic moment as we descended from the huge animals back and gently stroked her course and leathery skin.
Slow boat across the Mekong
Even the slowboat ride across the Mekong to the Pak Ou cave of 1000 Buddhas that followed could not eclipse this special moment. That evening we returned to the sanctuary of our hotel room utterly exhausted but fulfilled.
It may have been a combination of excessive emotion and effort or just a nasty bug but Sue was poorly during the night so a gentle day inspecting Luang Prabang’s temples or wats was a good follow on for the next morning.
Wat Saen
The old towns UNESCO status is well deserved as its treasure trove of guilded and ornate buildings reveal themselves as you wander through the narrow streets and lanes which, although carrying traffic, are pervaded by a certain sense of tranquility almost leeching out of the fabric of this town with it’s many attendant orange robed monks.
The monastery’s two ornate longboats
It is situated on the confluence of two rivers that almost surround the town, and beneath a temple-topped hill, Luang Prabang is a wonderful patchwork of traditional Lao wooden houses and hints of European architecture; reminders of when Laos was part of the French colony of Indochine. Golden-roofed wats, decorated with mosaics and murals of the life of Buddha, sit under the gaze of wrap-around teak balconies and 19th century shuttered windows. All of this is set against a backdrop of verdant greenery and rugged mountains.
One of the exquisite entrances of Wat Saen
The monks of Wat Saen had already made themselves known to us at 4am each morning when they sounded their call to prayer on a drum situated just behind our otherwise very peaceful hotel. Their Wat was built in 1718 by King Kitsarath with 100 000 stones from the Mekong river and was restored in 1957 commemorating the Buddha’s birth 2500 years earlier. History just coursed through these streets like blood through veins.
Wat Xiang Thong
The wall of this building was made of semi precious stones
Grand Wat Xieng Thong is one of the most important of Lao monasteries and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art. There are over twenty structures on the grounds including a sim, shrines, pavilions and residences, in addition to its gardens of various flowers, ornamental shrubs and trees.
Funerary carriage hall
The funeral carriage but it was so big it was impossible to get far enough away to photograph it.
Lunch by the river
Lunch was spent in the shade of a tree lined roadside cafe overlooking the Nam Khan river as it approaches from the south east wondering whether it’s spindley bamboo foot bridge was strong enough to survive the wet season’s rain or if it was rebuilt each year when the water receeds.
The Royal palace seen from above
The Royal Palace museum was built in 1904 during the French colonial era for King Sisavang Vong and his family. The site for the palace was chosen so that official visitors to Luang Prabang could disembark from their river voyages directly below the palace and be received there. Crown Prince Savang Vatthana and his family were the last to occupy the grounds. In 1975, the monarchy was overthrown by the communists and the Royal Family were taken to re-education camps. The palace was then converted into a national museum where the interesting and ornate exhibits of weapons, ceremonial garb and gifts from abroad are displayed against an often impressive, imposing “front of house” but, at times, stark private apartments.
The top of That Chomsi
That Chomsi is the monument atop the highest land for many miles around, can be reached by its 328 steps but rewards with a magnificent view of the city below with its many guilded children glinting in the late afternoon sun. I was Watted out.
With “that” coach trip still in mind we had booked a Laos Air return flight to Vientiane. This was £15 vs £65 and 9 hours vs 35 minutes though, more importantly, it was less likely that the pilot would be as manic as the coach driver.
We had a wonderful view of a stunning city.
Arriving safely in Kupang
Our position at 9.00 Tuesday 30th July
10º 09.6 south
123º 34.2 east
Kupang harbour
A rickety Indonesian fishing boat
Our 4th day at sea had seen some wind and we sailed with the twizzle rig up all day. Now we had a dilemma because as the passage had been slow our predicted time of arrival was going to be after dark. We could motor, but probably still wouldn’t get there in time, or we could slow the boat down. We opted for the latter. I hate doing that, it seemed crazy to slow ourselves down but the approach to Kupang is through a fairly narrow channel and travelling through after dark would be difficult. We were 20 miles from the entrance at 22.00 with 5 other boats around us. After communicating on the vhf radio we all decided to hove-to for the night. We didn’t have the main up so we just winced the gennies in and let the boat drift. We were still travelling at 1½ kts towards the entrance. Bill had 4 hours sleep then let a bit more sail out. At 6am we proceeded into the channel. There were lots of fishing boats on their way back in with their catch plus lobster pot buoys everywhere so I think we had made a wise decision.
Our first sight of Indonesians was in a fishing boat coming towards us on its way out of the channel to go fishing. It looked very rickety with a tatty sail; I don’t think I would have liked to sail in it.
The Kupang fishing fleet
This is the local fishing fleet a little way away from Kupang.
Bill hoisting the Indonesian courtesy flag plus the ‘Q’ flag
When we arrived Bill hoisted our Indonesian courtesy flag along with our yellow ‘Q’ flag to await the customs. During the day the last of the fleet arrived, mostly under their own steam.
Tiare Tiporo III being brought in by the dinghies
This boat’s engine had broken down on the third day and they had sailed with whatever wind they could find. When they arrived at the anchorage I put a call out on the net to ask for dinghies to help tow them in the last bit. The camaraderie of the rally is starting to show.
We’re back on line
Sara, Norman, Bill and Sue on Bill’s birthday
Bill has finally managed to get the website back on line. Sorry it’s been down so long. Lots been happening. We made it safely to Darwin for Bill’s birthday but the next day we had bad news from home that my Mum was very ill. I decided to fly back to the UK to see her even though she might not have been there. Fortunately she started getting better when I got there. Sadly I couldn’t stay long because we are due to leave on Sail Indonesia on 27th July. We will be in Indonesia for 3 months before we move onto Malaysia when we plan to come home for a couple of months for Christmas.
The base of this ‘London bus’ is made of beer cans
Before I went away we went to watch the Darwin Beer can rally. All the rafts were made of beer cans and most of them floated. It was a fun day out with lots of activities going on all day.
Another beer can raft
Any one for tennis?
Bill next to a termite mound
While I was away Bill went a trip with Norman and Sara and our BWR friend Tom to the Litchfield national park where they saw huge termite mounds, saw beautiful waterfalls and sat in lovely crystal clear water.
Beautiful waterfall
Norman and Sara enjoying the cool water
Tom with his 4 x 4
Brampton Island
We stayed in Mackay marina for 4 nights. It was great to be able to catch up with washing and shopping as well as chatting to Norman and Sara about our adventures and theirs. It was strange meeting up in Mackay as it’s almost 3 years since our friends in the Blue Water rally checked into Australia here on their fateful journey home.
Approaching Brampton Island
On Sunday the 5th we were ready to leave after Norman, Bill and I had had one last jog (bet you didn’t think you’d ever hear me say that!) Bill fired up the engine and I released the lines as we reversed out of our berth. Suddenly, without warning, we lost propulsion. It was a strange feeling, like sliding on ice out of control. I called to some passing yachties to take a line, which they were happy to do and bring us back onto the berth. Norman and Sara saw we were having problems and came running. Bill made a quick assessment and found the throttle cable had snapped, fortunately he had a spare. Bill and Norman set about stripping the old one out and replacing it with the spare so that within a couple of hours we were on our way. Norman and Sara were a bit apprehensive as they haven’t sailed for 7 months. They didn’t need to worry because it was a beautiful day, although there wasn’t any wind, and we motored to Brampton island some 20 miles north.
Norsa, Camomile and Inspiration Lady at anchor
We dropped our anchor off Swordfish point alongside Norsa and Inspiration Lady.
Norman and Sara on Oyster beach
On Monday the 6th the 6 of us went ashore for a walk around the island. It was a beautiful day and the walk led us up over the top of the island with wonderful views from the top. We came out on the beach in Oyster Bay where we sat and eat out picnic.
I spotted this beautiful kangaroo
There was a lot of wildlife on the island; I spotted this kangaroo sitting below the path eating the foliage.
A lizard in the undergrowth
These kangaroos were running wild around the resort
I think this is a Goanna, a type of lizard, we saw lots of them in the undergrowth. We continued on our circuit of the island until we came to overgrown resort. We had been hoping for a cold beer at the end of our 8km hike but the resort had closed down 2 years ago and now the only thing that inhabited it were more kangaroos. It was eerie walking among the empty resort buildings and past the deserted restaurants. The beachfront bar still had a price list up.
Beautiful beach in front of deserted resort
Sadly there were half a dozen sailing catamarans that could have been donated to a local sailing school for children to learn to sail in but they lay abandoned on the beach.
That evening we all boarded Norsa for a ‘pot luck’ supper followed by a game of cards; Jackie and Gary are teaching us.
Tuesday the 7th was wet and windy and we all stayed on our boats.
We left Brampton Island on the 8th to sail to the Whitsunday’s.
Camomile’s new friend, Rocco
Camomile ready to go
We were weather watching once again and, this time, I wanted something like perfect sailing conditions to restore our confidence on this first passage since our force 10 trashing. I was confident in Camomile as she is a tough old bird and all her hardware, with the exception of the dinghy and outboard had been brought back up to scratch. It was the human-ware which needed to get back in the saddle to repair the psychological dents and scratches.
Looking over the harbour wall to see what the conditions were like – no, not going yet!
Monday the 4th March brought the kind of windy conditions we would have normally contemplated at a push but it was not right for this occasion. Tuesday was less windy but the swell was still large and so it was Wednesday before we finally bade the nice folks at Coffs g’day, thanked them for all their support, especially Graham for the loan of his car, and headed north on the 166 mile passage to Southport. Sue was so so brave and pretended not to be apprehensive but after a few hours of rolling around and being pressed back by the adverse current her butterflies got the better of her when both breakfast and lunch made reappearance on the lee deck. (sick with fear more like. S)
The high rises of Surfers Paradise
Motoring at first with the single reefed main up for stability the southerly wind eventually struck up and after one false start we were able to twizzle the two genoas, finally starting to make some headway against the current which must have been running at more than two knots plus. We passed Byron Bay, the most easterly cape in Australia, and pressed on back into Queensland.
I was apprehensive on the approach to the Goldcoast Seaway as it is not far from a place called Surfers Paradise and, like most entrances hereabouts, is shallow. This might make it a paradise for surfers but it can also make it Yottie Hell in onshore conditions.
All was well though and we dropped our hook in the quiet, shallow Broadwater protected from the sea by its massive sand bank.
Camomile dinghy-less
The following morning it was back to business and we headed up the Coomera River to the City Marina where several of the local dinghy suppliers were based. I was particularly interested in a Sirocco ex display model which was heavily discounted as it had some marks on it. Perfect! Arriving at the showroom though I was devastated to be told it had just been sold. We spent the rest of the morning looking around other suppliers but it was really starting to seem that the new tender was going to cost well above the insurance cover.
Beautiful riverside house
Returning down the river to the anchorage at Broadwater we admired the multimillion houses lining one side of the river which came in all possible styles and sizes with swimming pools, moorings at the bottom of the garden and, a little strangely we thought, meshing around the balconies which we assumed was to keep the sun from the fair skin of the Aussie elite who occupied these palaces.
Some of them were unreal
Most with pontoons at the bottom of the garden
Sitting back at the anchorage on Saturday afternoon and back on the internet I was surprised to see the dinghy I liked had been re-listed and thinking this was a mistake phoned up to ask “is it sold or not?”. I was elated to hear that the sale of earlier that day had fallen through so arranged to meet at the shop the following morning. We hauled up the anchor straight away and hotfooted it back up the river arriving at the marina just before dark.
As I was securing to a mooring buoy though I suddenly noticed that I was surrounded by a fine buzzing noise. I looked straight up in case I was under a power line (not good when you have a mast) but there was no sign. I peered out into the gathering gloom and saw that I was surrounded by the biggest mosquitoes I have ever seen. Suddenly the mesh around all the houses balconies made sense and we went into MosCon 5 locking down the boat and setting out on an extermination spree down below where some intruders had already penetrated. They were the size of sparrows, fair dinkum!
Shaun and Bill unloading the dinghy
The following morning we put Camomile alongside and went off to find her new tender.
Launching the dinghy
Mission accomplished
Shaun was quick and efficient so within an hour we were back with a shiny new inflatable which was duly introduced to Camomile and they were both told to “play nicely” Guess who?
Bill with the new dinghy that’s going to be called Rocco and is a boy.
Sue had the first sit in Rocco
And guess who had to have the first go in him too!
Rocco on Camomile’s stern
So with the dinghy davited, again we motored back down the river to the anchorage. We could now get ashore and it was great to be mobile again as we rowed to the beach that evening. We walked across the sandy spit by the Broadwater to walk along the beach where the surf pounded the shallow approaches.
Mike delivering the new 15hp Yamaha
Rowing is all right but it is overrated when you need to travel a proper distance so it was anchor up the next day and into Runaway Bay marina where we could unload the bikes and cycle to the outboard suppliers. After cycling more miles around Labrador than our bottoms are used to and some thorough interrogation of the local suppliers we became the proud owners of another outboard motor which was duly delivered to Runaway Bay Marina the following morning.
Wahoo!
My turn to play wahoo! The boys are really going to enjoy having a go with this one too.
Camomile was finally complete again so we were all set to make our way up to Brisbane where we were planning a family reunion with my sister Kate and family and our Aussie cousins.
Mission accomplished.
February Update
I haven’t written any thing for the website for ages because we’ve been so busy but I wanted to fill in some gaps before we continue on our travels.
Pelicans waiting to be fed
After Australia Day the weather took a turn for the worse and we couldn’t leave Sydney until 30th January. It was sad leaving Sydney for the last time, we had enjoyed our time in the city but it was time to start heading north again.
We sailed to Pittwater where we spent 4 days with rain on and off so we didn’t do a lot. Monday 4th February we arrived at Lake Macquarie. A saltwater lake that covers an area 4 times the size of Sydney harbour. We spent a week in the lake trying various anchorages as the wind changed direction; they had some nice pelicans there.
On the 7th February we took the bus to Newcastle, which occupies a bizarre parallel universe to its namesake in northern England. Both were once grimy industrial mill towns based on coal mining that in recent years have been transformed into pleasant places to visit. Both have a fanatical devotion to their local sports teams, although for the Australian Newcastle its rugby rather than football, but that’s where the similarity ends. The Australian Newcastle is sunny most of the time and a surf beach around every bend.
Fort Scratchley
We took a walk to fort Scratchley, which was one of the few gun installations in Australia to fire a gun in anger in WWII. On 8th June 1942 a Japanese sub suddenly surfaced raining shells on the city, Fort Scratchley returned fire negating the threat after just four rounds.
A walk around the casements
It’s now open to the public with a fascinating walk through the old casements and a view over Nobby’s beach and out to the harbour entrance.
A walk through the gardens
The obelisk stands on the site of the old windmill
We continued our walk along the sea front, through the gardens and up to the obelisk, which stands on the site of one of the earliest windmills in Australia.
Tomaree Head at the entrance to Port Stephens
The 11th February brought brisk winds, which gave us a good sail to Port Stephens. We spent a couple of days doing ‘jobs’ (the jobs list never seems to get smaller) tied to a buoy in Nelson bay. Valentines day was gloriously sunny so we decided to unwrap the bikes and go on a bike ride. We headed east to the Tomaree National park where ‘you’re bound to spot a koala or wallaby’, how many did we see? None!!
The view across One Mile beach to Fingal bay
One mile beach on the left and Shoal bay on the right
But we left the bikes and climbed the Tomaree Head Summit walk and enjoyed the spectacular views back down across the peninsular with Shoal bay on one side and across One Mile beach stretching across to Fingal Bay on the other.
Fingal beach
We climbed back down and cycled to Fingal Bay for our picnic lunch. We treated ourselves to an Indian meal in the evening for Valentines Day.
Another lovely beach
Nelson Bay was hosting a fishing competition over the weekend which would have made the anchorage uncomfortable with all the wash from the gin palaces so we motored across the bay and crept up to Hawks nest on the flood tide touching the bottom a couple of times. There was an anchorage at the top with enough water for us to stay for a few days. Hawks Nest and its neighbour Tea Gardens were sleepy little towns where not very much happens! We went ashore for a walk and found a lovely beach on the other side of the peninsular.
This was the winning Marlin
Sunday we crept back down the river to Nelson just in time to see the winning team land their huge Marlin weighing in at a massive 180kgs. It was a beautiful creature and I really felt it should be swimming free but at least it was donated to the local Meals on Wheels and not wasted.
Resting at Harbour bay
Monday 18th we went on a longer bike ride. We stopped for a rest at Harbour bay (the Aussies aren’t very imaginative with their names although there wasn’t a harbour in this bay).
The beach at Anna bay
Then continued on to Anna bay at the western end of the Tomaree National park (not a single koala or wallaby spotted again) backed by the amazing Worimi Conservation lands home to the Worimi people who have lived here for thousands of years.
The ascent up the dunes was steeper than it looks
Walking on top of the dunes
The Worimi Conservation Lands are the longest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere stretching over 35km. Think Lawrence of Arabia to get an idea of the sight surrounding us; shimmering sand as far as the eye could see.
Camomile alongside at the Nelson jetty
On our return we took Camomile into the harbour for our 3 free days on the pontoon inside. It was nice to be alongside for a change and spent the next few days doing shopping and washing.
This is Bracken who belonged to the boat next door but decided we were a good bet for a peaceful sleep while his owner wasn’t looking. Isn’t he beautiful? I wish we could keep him but he had to go back.
Bracken adopted us for the afternoon
After being in Port Stephens for 10 days Thursday 21st brought a weather window allowing us to leave Port Stephens for Camden Haven. We had dolphins swimming in our bow as we left and a good weather window ahead of us……
Coffs Harbour entrance on a calmer day
After the storm (see next blog) we managed to get into Coffs harbour on Saturday 23rd. We were befriended by lots of people all anxious to hear our story and how we managed to survive the storm, including Graham from the VMR who we had spoken to every 2 hours throughout the night. He had been plotting our position and keeping the Maritime services informed of our position who, he said, would have come out to rescue us if any thing drastic had happened. That would have meant abandoning ship and having let the dinghy go Bill was determined Camomile wasn’t going the same way.
The dead outboard (not our boat in the background)
Graham informed us our dinghy was on the beach about 5 miles away and took Bill out to see it. Sadly it lay on the beach looking very sad full of sand with the outboard laying next to it with just it’s security wire holding them together. The outboard was put in Graham’s Ute and brought back to the boat but there wasn’t anything Bill could do to revive it. I spent the rest of the day trying to get everything back to where it belonged. I had to wash the floor 3 times to remove all traces of the salt water.
The bent Hydrovane shaft
Sunday was spent in the laundry washing all the towels that had been used to mop up the numerous dousings and we were kindly invited to Grahams house for a welcome meal, he also generously lent us his vehicle to borrow while we were in the harbour.
The bent frame holding the solar panels
and the bent davit
It meant that for the next few days we were able to take the torn sail and the sailbag to the sail maker to be repaired and the bent metalwork to Gary the metalworker. It was strange travelling in a car again.
Sue busy sewing
The sprayhood had been torn both sides with the weight of seawater on it. We stripped it off the frame and I set about repairing it.
The torn sprayhood
All beautiful again
Fortunately it had torn along the seam, which was quite easy to re-sew, but the area around the handle was badly shredded so I had to sew a patch over it.
The tear on the other side
All patched up
The tear along the other side needed a patch too.
Thursday 28th the sail and metalwork was ready to pick up so off we went in Graham’s car to pick everything up. We also did a big shop. Life is so much easier with a car.
The footpath running past the marina up on to Mutton bird island
It was great being in a marina for a change, each morning I went for my run up over Mutton bird island to look at the sea. Gradually during our stay it had calmed down but it took several days, good job we came in when we did. Bill worked hard getting the boat back into working order so we could leave, he takes up the next part of the story.
Camomile safely tucked up in the marina
Happy Birthday Australia
The Soren Larsen
Saturday 26th January was Australia day. It was created to celebrate the arrival of the ‘first fleet’ arriving in Botany bay in 1788. The Aussies commemorate the occasion with a day of events.
The first event in Sydney was at 11.00 with a Ferrython. This is a race of four old ferries starting at the Opera house, encircling the harbour and ending with a finishing line under the harbour bridge. We decided the best vantage point would be from the bridge. On our way across we spotted Camomile’s old friend the English ship Soren Larsen, berthed next to a local tall ship called Southern Star. They were both taking part in the Tall ships race later in the afternoon.
Walking on Sydney Harbour bridge
We were pleased to walk on the bridge because it now means we’ve driven in a car, been driven in a bus, sailed under and walked over the top of Sydney harbour bridge as well as walking across it.
RAN helicopter
While we were waiting for the ferries to return a RAN helicopter flew over flying an Australian navy ensign much to the delight of the crowd who cheered as it passed by.
and the winner was Zip
Eventually the ferries arrived and the red one called Zip, who also happens to be the main sponsor for the Sydney festival, won the race. The ANZ blue one came a close second.
They had a lot of followers
The ferries were followed by an assortment of watercraft that wanted to join the spectacle. We had considered taking Camomile out but it would have complicated things for later. We had a good view from the bridge.
We had some lunch then took up station in front of the Opera house with our friends Dave and Jacqui from Jackster to watch the Tall ships race scheduled for a 2pm start. At 1.30 while we were chatting three RAAF F/A-18 hornets flew past. They were so fast it was difficult to photograph them. This is the best photo I have of them coming back round over the Harbour bridge, a group on a walk over the top of the bridge had a brilliant view of them. I held my hands over my ears as they roared passed. The Aussies were all cheering.
The Soren Larsen won the Tall Ships race
The Tall ships race started at the other end of the harbour and again ended under the bridge.
The James Craig came second
To our delight and cheers the Soren Larsen won followed by the wonderful James Craig that we had visited in the Maritime museum.
The beautiful Endeavour replica
Third to finish was a replica of the Endeavour that is also normally on display at the Maritime museum.
“It’s a fair cop Gov”!
On our way back into the city we came across this group of policemen with very little to do so Jacqui and I had our photo taken next to them. It looks like Jacqui has a guilty conscience as she’s offering her wrists for the handcuffs.
Can you see us in the middle?
On the way back home we passed the Museum of Contemporary Art that had this exhibit outside. At first sight it looks like a satellite dish but it’s not its art. It acts like a big mirror; we stood on the inside and took this photo. I’m in the centre with Bill standing behind me taking the photo. It’s very clever.
It’s art mate!
We made our way home and packed up our picnic ready for the free concert in the Domain in the evening. It’s like ‘Party in the Park’ meets ‘Last night of the Proms’, although on a much smaller scale, being part of the Sydney festival taking place over 3 weeks in January. This would be our third and final free concert we’ve seen. The first was soul music, (when we were lucky enough to have VIP tickets), the second was jazz and blues and the third was going to be classical.
Ready for the concert
With an 8pm start the four of us got there just after 6pm to be sure of a good spot. The concert included performances of iconic classical music from Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic masterpieces featured in A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut as well as a few favourites from the English Proms concerts. It finished with a Sydney tradition of the 1812 Overture complete with ‘firing canons’, cathedral bells and fireworks; it was an amazing finale. I’ll attempt to post a short video of the end but no promises. The rain held off but the next morning the heavens opened just in time for the bank holiday weekend – just like home really.
November Update
We are enjoying life in Australia and I haven’t had a chance to post any blogs for ages so this is an update of what we did in November.
Enjoying Kingfisher resort
We enjoyed our time in Bundaberg but we were anxious to start our cruising in Australia. On the 1st November we sailed back down the river and across Hervey bay to enter the Great Sandy Straight in the lee of Fraser island. Created over hundreds of thousands of years from sand drifting off the east coast of mainland Australia, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. It’s over 60 miles long and the only place where rainforest grows on sand. We anchored off the Kingfisher resort hotel, a very yachtie friendly place.
With the main part of the resort set further up the hillside, down by the waters edge there were showers, a restaurant and even a pool we could use. We went on some nice walks around the surrounding area through the rainforest returning along the beach.
These tree roots had washed up on the beach.
Bird life at Pelican bay
On the 5th we motor sailed further down through the Sandy straights carrying the flood tide to Turkey island where at high tide the water flow changes direction. We continued on the ebb to Tin can bay where we spent a few days in Pelican bay. While there we were visited by some dolphins and saw lots of bird life. On the 7th we went to bed surrounded by 8 boats. We were all waiting for the 2pm tide the next day to cross the wide bar bay, a notorious spot in these parts for high waves and confused sea. We woke to find everyone had gone they had obvious decided to cross at 2am even through the locals advised against it. It must have been something we said!!
Entrance to Brisbane river
We left at 2pm as planned and, after uneventfully crossing the bar, sailed overnight to Brisbane. We entered the river just after 8am and sailed all the way to the city centre on the genny. It was a good way to enter the city and London could learn a thing or two from Brisbane. We passed lots of commercial wharfs with big container ships berthed alongside but they looked very clean and tidy, no graffiti or piles of rubbish lying around.
The same for the power stations and other factories set along the waterside. They were surrounded by nice gardens and walkways and the gaps kept giving us tantalising glimpses of the CBD area as we got closer.
The CBD in the distance
It all made the journey up the river very pleasant.
Beautiful waterside house
Sailing up the river
Our view from the mooring
We finally rolled away the sail as we approached the Story bridge, which is their main bridge where it’s possible to climb over the top – no I won’t be doing that! We tied fore and aft to pile mooring next to the Botanical gardens right in the heart of the city. There are showers, a launderette, dinghy pontoon and free water all for A$70 (£46) a week, a bargain for Australia I can assure you.
The Wintergarden shopping mall
The weekend of 10th November was spent exploring the city. We were really impressed with Brisbane, again no graffiti anywhere, lots of brightly lit shops (lots and lots of shops, yes!), nice wide pathways, and a good sprinkling of cafes to keep me supplied with cappuccinos.
A close up of the façade of butterflies
This shopping mall is called the Wintergardens and the outside is covered with this beautiful perforated metal facia with large butterflies attached to it. It looked delightful but it’s very difficult to pick it out in these photos.
Bill with Helen and cousin John
Monday 12th was an exciting day because we had arranged to meet Bill’s long lost relative. Bill’s Grandmother’s brother emigrated as a young man and John is his son so he’s Bill 1st cousin once removed. We met him and his wife Helen for coffee. We had a lovely time talking about families before they came back to have a look at Camomile. We’ll catch up again in March when Kate and family come across from NZ for a holiday in the Brisbane area.
Inside the Brisbane parliament building
On the 15th we did the tourist route. Brisbane is the capital of the state of Queensland and has it’s own state parliament. (The federal parliament is in Canberra) The parliament building is open to the public and offers a free-guided tour. As free is a magical word to cruisers we went along to have a look. We were shown around by a very interesting man who told us all about their parliamentary system. The building dates from 1868 which is old for Oz and looked very attractive. Just around the corner was the Italian Renaissance-style treasury building with it’s lavish façade which is now a 24-hour casino.
The city hall
Moving onto King George’s square we came across Brisbane’s city hall that was getting a huge makeover and sadly was closed but looked as though it would definitely been worth a look.
Quaint church
Opposite the other side of the square was this quaint little church which was dwarfed by the surrounding buildings. The Aussies like to keep their heritage buildings and just build their skyscrapers around them. Strangely they seem to compliment each other.
A friendly kangaroo
I had been complaining that I still hadn’t seen a kangaroo since we’d arrived in Australia when we came across these very cleverly built sculptures made from engine parts sitting around on the pavement.
Chris cooking the ‘snags’ on the barbie
While in Brisbane we caught up with some Aussie cruisers that we had met in the south Pacific. We met Chris and Cate with their lovely girls Grace and Sarah from Equinox on the ICA rally last year and it was great to catch up again . Cate very kindly took me shopping in the car and, more importantly, offered me the use of her washing machine, a wonderful offer to a fellow cruiser. We joined them for a proper Aussie Barbie while my sheets and curtains churned around in her washing machine. They live in a pretty Queenslander house with the main rooms on the upper floor overlooking a huge balcony and the garage and lesser rooms downstairs. This is Chris cooking snags (sausages) on the Barbie, delicious they were too.
Newspaper headlines after the storm
The next day we had the mother of all thunder storms. Bill and I had been out for a walk in the morning the other side of the river when the heavens opened. By the time we caught the ferry back across the river we were soaked to the skin. Later the lightening became really violent, crashing over our heads every few minutes. This photo was on the front page of the newspaper the next day and shows how ferocious the lightening became. As seems to be normal these days the weather forecasters didn’t predict it.
Kennedy, Sue, Bill, Jackie and Gary
The 20th saw some waifs and strays otherwise known as cruisers head out of the city for the day. Gary and Jackie from the Canadian boat Inspiration Lady (which took Gary 23 years to build from scratch!) and Kennedy an American single hander on a boat called Far Star joined us on the bus to Mt Coot-tha. This was a ‘pink’ trip to make up for the ‘blue’ trip of the day before which saw us touring the hardware stores of an out of town retail park. First stop was the botanical gardens where we were shown around by a very nice lady who told us all about the plants of the region and the history of the gardens. After a nice lunch in the café we headed further up the hill to the look out. With a perfect blue-sky day we had a fantastic view over the city and the surrounding suburbs.
A Brisbane train
On the 21st we were back on the train for a trip north to Shorncliffe to meet some more cruisers from the town of Redcliffe. We had teamed up with Lloyd and Lynelle of Chappie in French Polynesia when we fell behind on the Blue Water rally in 2010. We’d said goodbye in Fiji but had always promised we would look them up when we made it to Oz and it was wonderful to meet up with them again.
Lynelle and Lloyd outside their home near Redcliffe
They drove us around the area and took us out for a lovely lunch before going back to see their lovely Aussie home. Thanks Guys it was great to see you again.
Pittwater
Having spent over 2 weeks in Brisbane we felt we ought to get moving before we took root in Brisbane, something that would have been very easy to do. Bill had been keeping a regular eye on the weather, watching for a northerly to head our way. It arrived on the 23rd so we dropped our mooring lines and headed back down the river with the ebb tide. We spent the day sailing across Morton bay and down through the Broadwater. We anchored overnight by the Gold coast seaway and joined a group of yachts at 5am the next morning for the trip south. There were Jackie and Jake on the American boat Hokele’a and Mike and Liz on the British boat Aurora B who we kept in touch with by VHF on the trip. We had met both boats before in the South Pacific; the cruising network is very small. It was a fast passage with 2 or 3kts of current with us all the way down. Originally we had planned on 3 days and nights but we arrived in Pittwater at lunchtime on the third day having travelled at an average of 7.6kts all the way, probably one of the fastest passages on our travels so far. Mike on Aurora B had arranged for the 3 boats to pick up buoys at Church Point in Pittwater harbour. That evening we watched another one of Australia’s thunderstorms.
Liz with her birthday cake
The 28th was Liz on Aurora B’s birthday so I made her a cake and Jackie found some balloons. The 6 of us enjoyed a lovely afternoon celebrating on Aurora B. So that was November.
Bundaberg, Australia
The entrance to Bundaberg
Our position on 19th October 2012
24º 45.4 South
152º 54.6 East
Bundaberg, Australia
As we approached the outer buoy the sea changed from Pacific blue to sea green. The entrance reminded us of a big Littlehampton with its training wall and beautiful orange ‘sandcastle sand’ beach. We were very excited to be in Australia at last.
Charlie the cormorant
We arrived on the 19th with this shag (we think that’s what it was), which had landed on the boat the day before and roosted on the solar panel all night, flying off as we arrived at the outer entrance buoy. There were 2 other boats on the quarantine dock, Aurora B with Mike and Liz from the UK and Yellow dog with Oliver and Daniel from Switzerland, both of whom we had met up in the islands. We also discovered Lorrigray is here, an ex blue water rally boat. The marina prices here are similar to the UK so we dropped our anchor in the bay outside.
The drive-through liquor store
Bundaberg marina is outside the town near a village called Burnett heads with the town of Bundaberg a further 8 miles up the river. Burnett heads is a pleasant 20 minute walk along the waterfront. There’s a hairdressers, where I had a much needed hair cut, a bakers, chemist, small hardware shop, a fish and chip shop, a pub selling good food and a ‘drive through’ drink shop. This is an amazing concept where you literally drive in, give your order at the window, it’s put together, put in the back of your car and you drive off without even needing to get out!
The Bundaberg barrel
The supermarket next door was my first stop to restock the boat after the customs had relieved me of the last of my meat, fruit & veg. It was wonderful to be able to enter a supermarket with a list and get every thing on it. The cost of living here is quite high but the prices aren’t as bad as I was expecting. They also offer an excellent service of a free minibus ride back to the marina. The Port2port rally that we have joined has been busy organising various drinks evenings, barbeques, pot luck suppers, chart marking sessions and outings. This is the Bundaberg barrel where the local ginger beer is made that we visited one afternoon on Judy’s free tours of the area.
“I want that one”
We also went to Bunnings, the Australian version of B&Q where Bill spotted this toolbox. “No you can’t have it”
We’ve kept ourselves busy doing washing, interneting, sorting out the boat, although fortunately we didn’t have any major breakages on the trip down, socialising and generally getting used to living in a first world country again.
Didgeridoos being played
On Saturday 27th we went to the Lighthouse festival organised by the Burnett Heads rotary, which was a bit like a summer fete. This guy was playing Didgeridoos and they were giving off an amazing sound. We spent the morning wandering around the stalls and listening to local bands playing on the stage. In the afternoon we lifted the anchor and sailed upstream into the town, a distance of about 8 miles. The surrounding area reminded us of the east coast of England because it’s very flat and as we floated up the river it was possible to see Bundaberg across the flood plains.
Invicta the steam train
On Sunday we walked to the botanical gardens a pleasant oasis of tropical shrubs, towering trees and flowering gardens surrounding a few small lakes. There is a little steam train running around the perimeter that is maintained by a local preservation society. It formally spent it’s working life transporting sugar cane that is grown prolifically in this area to the sugar mills. I’ve loved steam trains since I was a little girl when my Dad often took me to see them and the ride brought back happy memories.
Hinkler house
The gardens are also home to the Hinkler House museum set inside the house of Bunderberg’s famous son, aviator Bert Hinkler, who made the first solo flight between England and Australia in 1928. The house was painstakingly relocated from Southampton in 1983. As it’s so totally different from normal Australian houses it looked very strange in it’s setting. We had coffee in the railway café then returned to Camomile anchored in the river.
Camomile anchored by the bridge in Bundaberg
Bundaberg gardens in the town
We spent 2 days in the town wandering around the shops, it seems you can buy just about any thing here; Bill even managed to get a new battery pack for his cordless drill so he was happy. The town looked very similar to many we saw in NZ, being laid out in blocks it’s easy to get your bearings. The gardens in front of the town hall had been freshly planted with summer bedding. We discovered the RSL club (returning servicemen league) similar to the British legion in the UK, where, for one dollar, it was possible to join and enjoy the delicious, reasonably priced meals while sitting in an air-conditioned lounge overlooking the river.
A view of Burnett heads as we left
On Wednesday 31st we motored back down the river to Burnett heads in time for the Halloween/pirate/pizza night organised by the Port2port people before leaving the next day to start our journey south.
The final blog from the Solomons
This is Bill’s last blog on the Solomons.
Our Dolphin escort
On the 28th September it was with little regret that we left Honiara port. We headed out towards Rodrick Bay in the Florida group of islands about 28 miles to the North. Motoring until the heat of the sun struck up a sea breeze we ploughed through the biggest pod of dolphins we have ever seen. The water was thick with them. Soon the sails were unfurled and we were creaming along for 2 hours with a fresh breeze on our beam.
Camomile settled by the beach at Rodrick bay
Approaching the bay the wind dropped as we slipped into the lee of the land under the cooling cloud cover overhead. The 33’ yacht Tomboy with Janice and Tom on board was already in the anchorage and Tom, rowing from the shore in his dinghy, helped David and Nathanial in their dugout canoe make Camomile fast to buoys fore and aft not far from the shore. Looking down into the 20 metre depth of crystal clear water I could clearly see the coral growth on the bottom and was glad not to have my anchor down there in it.
The wreck of the World Discovery
David, the son of one of the three brothers at the head of the extended village family, explained that we were welcome to use the buoys at no charge for as long as we wanted. We were also welcome to come ashore, swim, snorkel and generally roam around. We had been impressed by the wreck of a cruise ship beached on the shallow reefs close to the shore. This had apparently been holed and was sinking but managed to disembark her passengers before being beached to save her for salvage. David explained that the local chief of the next village had claimed her, after he had repelled attempts to salvage the vessel, and he now charges a fee to visit the slowly rusting hulk.
Old vanity unit
Needless to say, pilfered bits of cruise liner showed up throughout the villages in the bay. This vanity unit was being used as a work top.
Lillian on her way home from her garden with fresh produce
John the chief of their village and the youngest of the 3 brothers was away from the village and Lillian, his wife, was in charge and could be heard on the shore haranguing the remaining two brothers, Nathanial and David even though she was about 4’6″ tall
Very soon this diminutive, doughty and eloquent lady who brought us a gift of shells and fruit visited us. She explained that they liked to welcome newcomers with what we would call a “pot luck” dinner and would we like to come ashore tomorrow evening to meet the whole family.
Lillian’s kitchen
Even from the boat we could see that this village was tidy and well looked after but even more primitive than anything we had come across to date. This is Lillian’s kitchen which has an open fire in the corner. The fire serves two purposes, it has a large cooking pot over it for boiling vegetables but also rocks are heated in the fire which in turn are used to form an oven to roast fish or veggies (they rarely have meat) covered with old sacking and banana leaves.
Tom and Janice came on board for drinks that afternoon and we chatted about their time here. It turned out that Janice, although a vet, was running a free clinic for the local tribes and Tom was teaching various subjects to some of the local children. Their selfless generosity was humbling and makes you realize that the more people like this we have on the planet the better the place becomes.
I was embarrassed, though grateful, when Janice insisted on treating my knee injury that had recently flared up. She introduced me to something she called acupressure, a treatment manipulating pressure points, which she explained, controlled the flow of energies through the body. Decades of cynicism dropped away as the treatment started to relieve the painful symptoms but I still felt a bit of a fraud because, compared to the ailments she was seeing at the clinic, mine was trivial.
The table prepared for the food, my saucepans are tucked in amongst the decorations
The following afternoon Sue made a large chili-con-carne with rice on Camomile and Tomboy prepared a huge pasta dish and a banana cake all of which was ferried ashore at the appointed hour.
I was bowled over by the preparations that the villagers had been making during the day. Every inch of the huge table under the palm fronded roof was covered in brightly coloured hibiscus petals and leaves.
Sue decorated with the beautiful flower garland and the decorated drinking coconut.
The ladies presented us with beautiful garlands and offered us green coconuts decorated with petals and fine bamboo straws to drink the fresh coconut milk. The men had been out fishing in the lagoon, returning with clams for the chowder starter and reef fish for the main course. This along with the vegetables from their gardens and the contributions from the boats served up on hand made plates freshly woven from palm leaves made the best welcome feast we have been treated to on our travels. How extraordinary that it should also come from probably the poorest people we had yet encountered.
The children enjoying popcorn.
Everyone ate well but the star of the show as far as the kids were concerned was Janice’s popcorn, which they ate in huge volumes for starters. Some of these little girls are wearing tops that Sue had handed out that afternoon and which they were very proud of.
The wood carvings
The woodcarvers from a village across the bay set up their stall for us to view and I spent an entertaining hour bartering a head torch, twist drills, hacksaw blades, and a few Solomon dollars for some carvings. We choose a wooden shell and a war club, not sure if we’ll get them past the Australian customs.
Enjoying island hospitality
Coral waiting to be burnt
My knee had improved enough now to take a walk to the end of the next village so we trekked off into the bush only stopping to admire the work of a local man building his home from materials straight from the surrounding jungle, and wonder at the heaps of coral on pyres of logs being prepared to burn down into the lime dust taken by beetlenut users to intensify their hit. Hmmm.
Chiefs and Elders on board Camomile
Sue ventured further afield with Janice to visit the chief in the next village and we also received a visit on board Camomile from Ben the paramount chief of the area who wanted to show us the DVD he had of the recent festival at Roderick bay. It turned out that Lillian and the brothers had not seen this recording either so we all piled below to watch it on Janice’s PC. All thought our home really lovely. It’s amazing to think they don’t have anything like the facilities we have on board.
Repairing dugout canoes
I noticed when we were visited by Lillian and some of the kids that they spent almost as much time bailing as they did paddling so offered to do something about it. They hauled their canoes out of the water for a couple of days to let them dry out and then I set about them making repairs to the sizable holes that had eroded their way through the wood of the aging craft. Sue discovered that Lillian had a hand controlled sewing machine and a little bit of fabric but no patterns. She spent an afternoon with her tracing patterns onto some thin card that Lillian had and cutting them out followed by instructions on how to use them. It felt good to help and it was well received by the village whom by now felt like really good friends.
We snorkelled the surrounding lagoon and among the myriad of smaller fish we spotted a grouper, as large as he looked grumpy, the first we’ve seen and some small string rays.
All this time I had been downloading GRIP files from the SSB and keeping an eye on the weather systems careening up the eastern seaboard of Australia, our next destination.
Sad goodbyes to the family and Janice
It became clearer that we should move off before the tougher November weather set in and after 12 days in this beautiful place we said our sad goodbyes and headed back off to the armpit of Honiara to check out ready for the 1,100 mile beat to the shores of the first continent we would landfall since arriving in Panama from the Caribbean.
Comment from Sue
All these children are under 6
We will be sad to leave the south Pacific after 2½ years. During that time we have visited some stunning places, stopping at many islands, and met some wonderful people from different civilisations whose generosity has been very humbling. At times I’ve been a little nervous when the boat has been approached by dug out canoes or small launches but that’s soon dispersed when faced with welcoming, happy smiling faces, particularly on the children.
A thoughtful little chap
A lovely boy called Frank
This little chap is sitting on the washing and the washing-up!!
Most of these people have no hope of having any thing like the sort of life styles we take for granted but do you know, they don’t seem to miss it one bit, they are so rich in their surroundings. The freedom they enjoy is so liberating and I’m not sure which one of us are the lucky ones.
Faces of the South Pacific
Camomile 