Saturday 16th - Magnetic Island

Today we’re heading out to John Brewer Reef, which is the location for the Museum Of Underwater Art.

It’s about 30nm (~55km) out from Maggie, so we wanted an early start to a) get there at the best time for navigating reefs, and b) to make the most of our time there.

We left at first light with the sun coming up.

There wasn’t any wind first thing in the morning, so we had a bit of a motor until the wind came up, then a nice sail all the way out to the reef.

Dropped the sails as we were coming around the bottom of the reef.
It had dropped and was coming right from behind us. At 4knts SOG it was time to motor!

The girls also took the opportunity to tell me I was wrong again about Starlink.
I said I was 99.9% sure we won’t have it (it’s 30nm offshore). But we did have it, and I was wrong!
My chances of me ever being right around these three are minimal ;)

There are two public moorings (for boats our size), and both were free. We opted for the western one that looked like it might have more protection from swell.

We geared up and Kristie and I jumped in the tender to go for a dive. It’s about 1nm from our mooring to where the MOUA site is.

There’s 3 private ($250/day) moorings, and 2 x 10m public moorings.

We geared up for a dive, at which point I realised my mask was still back on Lazuli :(

So I did surface watch while Kristie went for a dive.

Kristine enjoyed an hour-long dive, then we went back to Lazuli to unload dive gear.

I got my 3mm wetsuit and spear gun and jumped in for a quick swim/spear. Ended up with a Goldline Rabbit fish.

Back on the boat for a quick rinse, then sip’s ‘n dips.

Fish and chips for dinner :)

Sunday 17th

Weather was perfect again today. Still nobody else out here.

I geared up and got my gear (and mask!) ready to for my first solo dive of this trip.

Got to the moorings and still nobody else about.

I had even better conditions than Kristie did yesterday. Easily 25+m vis.

I enjoyed my dive; I had a quicker dive than Kristie had, but saw all the sentinels and coral greenhouse.

Went back to get the girls so they could come back for a dive/snorkel.

Just as we got back to MOUA, a rather large dive/snorkel tourist boat turned up and tied on to two of the private moorings.
They then proceed to unload 30+ divers and snorkelers on the reef that we had to our self previously :(

Kristina had a good 15min dive on the Ocean sentinels and around the reef. The dive ended when I swam back to Kristie with a dive pouch she’d dropped and not realised.

Emma had troubles with her mask, but then we swapped to another mask (thanks Nick!) and that had a much better fit.

She was still having a bit of troubles equalizing so she didn’t get much of a dive. They both did see the structures though.

After the girls were done, Kristie took off for another quick solo dive to go and photograph the sentinels she’d missed yesteday.

The sentinels are quite remarkable.

The one above: https://www.moua.com.au/visit/ocean-sentinels/molly-steer

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Molly Steer is a remarkable young activist who took action against plastic straws at the age of nine. 
Inspired by the documentary 'A Plastic Ocean,' Molly embarked on a mission to eliminate 
single-use plastic straws by encouraging schools across Australia to join her 
'Straw No More' movement. Her initiative has garnered support from over 3,000 schools in Australia 
and has gained traction globally with hundreds of thousands of individuals pledging 
to stop using plastic straws. 
Molly's campaign showcases the power of young voices in effecting real change.

https://www.moua.com.au/visit/ocean-sentinels/sir-charles-maurice-yonge

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The late Sir Charles Maurice Yonge is a renowned marine zoologist known for leading the 
Great Barrier Reef Expedition in the 1920s. 
This groundbreaking 13-month voyage opened up the scientific world to the marvels of the 
Great Barrier Reef and laid the groundwork for modern coral reef biology.
Sir Yonge, an Englishman, made significant contributions to the study of marine 
invertebrate feeding and digestion and dedicated his life to teaching and
inspiring future scientists.

Back to Lazuli for lunch and Kristie started filling our tanks.

Kristie then got ready for another solo dive on bommies not far from where our mooring was.

The visibility was still on point!

Was hot up top though!

We got back to the boat, and I was keen for another go with the speargun. By the time I was in the water it was 3:45pm.. getting a bit late.
Swam a bunch but didn’t see anything, and then two reef sharks came swimming past. Back in the tender.

Came back to Lazuli and had a nap :)

Monday 18th

The wind was up a bit this morning.
We had contemplated taking the girls back for another dive an MOUA, but it wouldn’t have been much fun getting across there, or trying to gear them up on the surface.

We waited for the tide to drop a bit before leaving. Not too hard to drop mooring, do a 180, then head back out following our track in.

Motored to Loadstone with thoughts that we could stay there if it was ok, but the swell was wrapping around the smaller reef so we decide to head back to Maggie.

Kristie did a few circles in the protection of the reef while I got lunch sorted.

She had company up top - a few whales, 6 dolphins and a turtle.

Once ready we got the sails up and had a good upwind sail back to Horseshoe Bay.

Maggie feels like our 2nd home now!

Tuesday 19th

Rained during breakfast, so put the sides up.

School and work.

Lunch.

More work.

I dropped Kristie in to the beach so she could catch the bus across to Nelly bay to buy three water jerry cans from the Mitre 10.
Our watermaker isn’t working, so we’ll just use these to top up when we’re at Lizard.

I took the girls in to the beach to meet Kristie. They had tyre swing while I took the water back to Lazuli.

Kristie went to check that the milk situation at local shop. Still none.

Wednesday 20th

School and work.

Kristie headed into the campground after lunch to make use of showers and free wifi there. The tables at the campground also don’t move so much ;)

She enjoyed the butterfly walk on the way back to beach.

Thursday 21st

School and work.

I dropped Kristie in to do a big walk after lunch.
Started at Horseshoe Bay, and did Radical Bay, Florence Bay, Arthur Bay, and then walked up to Forts Junction. Bus home from there.

Friday 22nd

School and work.

We enjoyed watching some dolphins hunting near the boat.

Had lunch then got the tender in to get bus to go for a swim.

We turned up and were going to have to wait 40min for the next bus.
It was quite hot, so an ice cream helped pass the time until we could get back on the bus.

The buses here are great. $1 to ride all day.
One of the locals was saying a few years back when they had a power outage, he just spent all day on the bus in the aircon. Smart!

We took the bus to Alma Bay. The waves weren’t quite as big as when we were there last week with Rod and Chris.

Enjoyed a swim, exploring/climbing some rocks, and a quick turn at the playground.

Changed there, and then took the next bus to IGA at Nelly Bay. Grabbed a few bags of groceries to last us until our Woolies delivery on Monday.

Bus back to the beach.

Saturday 23rd

Got the bus up to the Forts Junction, then did the 700m walk down hill to Arthur Bay.

It wasn’t too busy when we got there, but over the time we were there quite a few more turned up.

We had a quick snorkel, our first on Magnetic Island. Girls declared not very good coral and hopped out.
They were correct. Compared to the reefs they were a bit dull. Not much fish life either.

The girls (it was Kristina’s idea) and I enjoyed making a largish sandcastle. It wasn’t nice sand, very course. Fingers were saw from digging (no tender = no shovels).

As always, Kristina wanted to go off exploring on the rocks. I went with her and we ended up at the top fo the rock overlooking the beach!
Emma and Kristie joined us after a bit as well.
Great views from the top.

Got changed, shoes on, and walked back up the hill then got the bus home.

On our previous stay we’d met Gavin, one of the locals. He invited us to come and join them (locals) on their next catch up.
They were having it tonight. Heated up some sausage rolls in the oven, and brought them into the beach in the billy boil.

I’d fed the girls earlier, so they happily stayed on board this time.

Vanetta had just turned up in the bay: we’d last seen them back at Stonehaven in the Whitsundays.

Kristie had invited them in as well. They stayed for a quick chat and then went off to find dinner.

Kristie and I left around 7:45pm to get back to the girls.

It was fun to hang out and chat with the locals and some others that had come in from their boats as well.

Sunday 24th - My Birthday!

Birthday pressies to start the day. Got some more fishing gear (can’t have enough!), and a Sharkbandz to wear when I’m in the water spearing! Thanks Kristie and girls :)

At one point I said out loud: “I’m so lucky to have 3 beautiful girls in my life”.

Emma said (in all seriousness): “I’m confused, is it me, Kristina, and Lazuli?, or me, Kristina and Mummy?”

I’m going to be Taking the 5th on that one ;)

The girls prepared the scrambled eggs while I cooked bacon (Emma got spurted by hot bacon fat last time we tried to do it at the same time).

With the bacon safely in the billy boil, Emma could work her magic on the stove with the scrambled eggs.

With breakfast done, and the tide up, we took the tender around to Radical Bay.

We had a good time at the beach. We played with the beach balls, frisby, cricket, and mermaid tails.
We met another family on the beach that had two young kids. Grandparents were taking one of their kids and two grandkids out for a few nights on boat.
Had a good chat with them, and the kids had a good time together.

At various points through out time there we had whales breaching (full out of the water) just off the point.

We hadn’t taken any lunch, so had to get back to the boat. Saw two turtles on the way back.

After lunch Kristie and I took the tender in and filled up the three water jerry cans.

Back on Lazuli I baked some chocolate cupcakes for my birthday cake. Kristie had bought candles, but at some point during putting stuff away they got lost. So no candles.

Tender into the beach and then walked to campground. One last hot shower, a load of washing, and then we had dinner.
As it was Sunday, the pizza oven truck was there. I enjoyed the “Red Devil” again! And a ginger beer or two.

The girls had another go at the darts, and a few tries at ping pong.

Kristina had been wanting to have Sticky Date Pudding ever since Scarlett had it in Airlie.
Tonight was that night! One of the restaurants on the main street served it.
She and I both ordered it. She only got through half of hers :(

Monday 25th

Work and school.

We had a Woolies delivery that was going to turn up at the boat ramp sometime today.
Our plan was to head to Orpheus as soon as we had it.

Dropped Kristie to the boat ramp to wait for the delivery. She got the message saying we were next in line, so I came in.

An hour later it still wasn’t here. She called up and spent 20min on the phone, only to find out that the order had been cancelled as the truck was overloaded.
Sadly, the driver hadn’t updated the order so we didn’t know :(

Kristie eventually got transferred through to supervisor, and managed to get a $40 credit and free delivery to try and make up for mix up.
Their next available delivery was going to be Friday :|

Back to lazuli to get the girls. Kristie took the girls (and their backpacks) back in to get the bus to the IGA to get the essentials to last us until Cairns.

We invited Stuart and Sanne from Vanetta to pop over for drinks and nibbles with us.
Enjoyed a good catch up that was interrupted briefly by what looked like an out of control BBQ, large flames, on the back of the boat next to us.
We couldn’t see anyone doing anything about it so Stuart and Sanne went over to check it out while I got our fire extinguisher ready.
This was the same boat (American couple) we’d been next to in Townsville marina.
He came up and was like “yep that’s how I cook”. No thanks for coming to check on him.

After this episode I was reminiscing with Stuart and Sanne about a conversation I’d had with him in the marina.
I had been talking with this American guy about diving (they had tanks on board) and I had mentioned how good it was in QLD.
He was: “I doubt that, my yardstick for diving is pretty high. Oh, that’s an American thing, you wouldn’t know what a yardstick is”.
LOL.

We continued our nibbles.

Tomorrow we head off to Orpheus. Without our Woolies delivery.

It’s been fun exploring Magnetic Island, but time to move north.

Kristina’s recount of Sunday

Yesterday we celebrated Dads birthday with bacon and eggs then a trip to the beach.
Me and Emma helped make the scrambled eggs by cracking all 12 of the eggs then putting the rest of the ingredients in.
We then did our Duolingo while Dad cooked the bacon.
The birthday breakfast was amazing!

After everyone was full of food we haded into the beach for a play.

Instead of doing the walk we got in the tender and motored over to Radical bay.

The sun was shining and there was no clouds in sight. It was the perfect day for the beach.

First off we headed to the rocks as Emma wanted to find some quick sand. She did find some.
Eventually she sunk to her knees but it stopped there. I had to go get Dad to pull her out but even though he pulled and pulled he wasn’t strong enough.
After about three minutes the sand started to loosen and Emma got free.

We then went into the water and had a play there. I got the balls out so we could play catch and piggy in the middle but then someone else saw some whales doing back flips about 6 kilometers out.
Emma and I then started to try and swim like the whales, diving down then doing backflips in the water.

After that we came back to Lazuli while Dad claimed he was so happy to share his day with his four girls.
Me, Emma, Mum… and Lazuli. This gave us all a good laugh.

A Poem by Kristina

We motored to Radical By,
So that we could all have a play.
It was such a beautiful day,
Which we spent at Radical Bay.

We went there for Daddy’s Birthday,
And had muffins along the way.
It was such an amazing day,
For Daddy to have a birthday.

Emma’s recount of Sunday

It was dads birthday so we motored our tender around the corner to radical bay.
We were at radical bay because it was way more clear than horseshoe bay.

Kristina and I went to go check on the quick sand in the creek. I found some that pulled me down almost to my knees.
I was stuck so I asked Kristina for help, she tried, she failed!
I asked dad for help, he tried, he failed!
But dad got me loose so I got out!

For dads Birthday dinner we went out for pizza. I ordered a mini ham pizza and ate all of it!
It was a 8 inch pizza. I was so full my tummy hurt!

Saturday 2nd August - Coral Sea Marina

Today is the day we leave the Whitsundays behind and start making progress heading north.

But first, a Parkrun. This is our first one we’ve managed since being down at the Southport Marina back in March!
The Airlie Beach Parkrun starts at the marina just up the ramp from us.
The run is a two lap out and back along the foreshore heading west from the Marina.

Emma and Kristie chose stay onboard; Kristina and I jogged/walked in just over 40min.

Short walk back to Lazuli and showered before we all went out for a nice breakfast.

At the run briefing they mentioned they head to a cafe just down the road (as most Parkruns do!), so we ended up heading there rather than one of the expensive marina cafe options.

They bake all their own bread, croissants and sausage rolls. Lovely breakfast with a good view.

With breakfast done it was time to get ready to head off. We were only planning to get as far as Bowen/Queens Beach today so weren’t in too much of a rush.

Viv and Russ called past in their tender, so hugs and sad goodbyes to them. Kenny, Nic, and Charlee came past in their tender just as we were leaving the dock.
Shouted our goodbyes to them. We’ve had a lot of fun, drinks, and catch-ups with these two boats since we first met them in May at Fraser Island.
They’re hanging around the Whitsundays for a while longer so we may not see them until we return south :(

We had 10-15knt SW winds, which made for easy sailing and flat seas.

Coming around Cape Glouster we saw something odd in the water. Getting closer we could make out it was a Whale tail, the Whale just hanging upside down by it’s tail by the looks of things.
We thought it might have been dead, but after 5min or so it started moving and swam on.

Had the trolling line out when we could. Hooked something big and tried to get it in. A few jumps out of the water before it pulled free of the lure :(

We got around to Queens Beach without any trouble.
Got in as close as we could to minimise any wind chop.

Sunday 3rd

I hadn’t made any firm plans of where to be tonight.
I’d see a few boats anchored on the eastern side of Cape Upstart the night before so figured we’d get as far as that.

So with no rush, we had Pancakes for Breakfast.
We eventually got moving, but not until 10am. Sails up and off we went.

We dropped sails and went in to check out that bay on the eastern side of Cape Upstart - but no good. Too much swell wrapping around for us.
Figured we’d head over to the western side of Upstart Bay (pretty much due west of the top of Cape Upstart).
The charts said “not adequately surveyed”. We were motoring in towards the coast, depth was showing 9m.. then 2.5m… 2.4… all when the charts said it should be 8m+!
We quickly turned around and got back to deeper water.

With this area out of action, and still 10-15knt SW winds there weren’t many other places we could stop and it was getting towards sunset.

With no other obvious anchorage in a SW we made the decision to kick on to Magnetic Island.

This was 60nm away!

I cooked dinner while it was still light and got what I could ready for a night motor.

Kristie took the first shift until 10pm. I tried but failed to get any sleep.

Emma went to bed at the usual time and was fine, however Kristina needed (wanted?) to sleep up on deck.
So she slept on the floor on a seat cushion.

We didn’t have any traffic to dodge so a pretty easy passage.

Motored through the night to Maggie arrived 2:30am (about 10min after the moon set!).
Anchored out the back of all the boats there, wasn’t worth trying to find a spot closer in at that time!
I was in bed by 3am.

Monday 4th

Work & School.

Lowered the tender to head into the beach. Got halfway in and realised there was a large spot we could move Lazuli to.
So back we went and shifted in closer. We were going to be here for a week so worth getting a good spot.

One of our neighbours got down on his back step with his laser sight to see how close we were getting to him (not close!).

Back to beach, fish and chip lunch. I ordered a family pack of chips, and we actually got a proper family serving of chips (that we didn’t / couldn’t finish!).

Ice cream after lunch.

Kristie walked up to the campground that her parents would be staying at later in the week. It’s only 400m down the road.
I hung out at the swings/beach with the girls.

Back to Lazuli, and there’s now another boat between us and the other guy that thought we were too close!

Dropped Kristie to beach so she could go for a walk and do some exploring.

She ended up walking to Balding Bay, discovered it was a clothes optional beach!
Then walked back up the hill and down to Radical Bay. Saw a cute echidna there.

Back on Lazuli for dinner.

Tuesday 5th

Work & School.

Early lunch then we took the tender around to Radical Bay.

Kristina wanted to stop in at Balding bay but there were a few people there enjoying the freedom of no clothes, so we didn’t stop!

We enjoyed a good play on rocks (jumping rock), exploring the beach, swimming, and playing with the ball (piggy in the middle).

Headed back around to Lazuli. Dropped girls back then Kristie and I went to shore to try to buy some milk.
No milk available in the shop today, but was told milk day is Wednesday.

Wednesday 6th

Work & School.

Lunch left girls on Lazuli and jumped in the tender to drop off rubbish and get milk.

Still no milk. Kristie and I enjoyed coffee & cake instead.

Walking back to the tender, we noticed another tender coming in with three kids. As we’re always on the lookout for other kid boats we walked over to say hi.
Turns out they’re a UK family, doing the ARC (around the world crusing regatta). We had a quick chat with them.
They’re only on Maggie for one night. They had less than a month to get to Darwin ready to leave with the rest of the fleet!

Back to Lazuli for more work.

Thursday 7th

Work & School.

Early lunch.

Tender to shore, and then up to the campground to meet Rod & Chris who’d just arrived.

There was a Koala and it’s joey in tree right next to their campsite!

It eventually shifted for a better view.

There were also two chooks roaming around, so the girls fed them as well (Emma especially wanted to catch it and pet it!)

Rod drove us all over to the start of the Forts walk (two quick trips - it’s only a minute or two down the road).

We saw a wallaby, and then two different Koala’s in the trees right next to the path.

A base had been constructed on the island during the 2nd Wold War, primarily to host two cannons to protect the entrance to Townsville.

We stopped at the ruins of the women’s latrines, and then the mess/kitchen.

Unlike our tour around Bear Island (Botany Bay), there aren’t any actual canons still in place on the island.

On the last walk up the hill we had a competition to see who could guess closest to the number of steps to the top.
The prize would be a handful of skittles. Grandma won.

The viewing hut at the top had some good views, as well as the machine to tap out morse code. The girls got to tap out their name.

Back to camp for sips ‘n dips.

Rod and Christine had brought up Birthday present for Kristie and I. I opened up mine and poured some into a cup straight away :)

They also brought up a supply of homemade teats for us:

• 5 jars of relish (no onion)
• 2 bags of anzac biscuits
• 1 large choc brownie and icing!
• 2 large bag of choc-chip/fruit biscuits

Thanks very much for the presents and supplies!!

Tasty bacon and egg burgers at camp, and then Rod dropped us back to the boat ramp and a quick tender back to Lazuli in the dark.

Friday 8th

Quick bit of work before starting the day on land.

Tender in to the beach, quick stop at the inconvenience store - still no milk.

Walked up to the campsite to meet Rod and Chris, and then drove across to Alma Beach.
The weather forecast had suggested it should have been southerly winds which would have been nice.
However, the “surf” we encountered when we got there suggested the forecast was wrong!

We still had a fun time exploring the beach and playing around on the rocks. We enjoyed a swim in the waves… no snorkeling.

The girls did hopscotch in the sand with Grandma.

Rod and Kriste went for a quick drive to the Post Office, pharmacy and then Food Works.

Kristie brought back a hot chook for lunch back at camp.

I went back to Lazuli for a work meeting.

The girls and kristie fed chickens, kookaburras (it stole food) and a wallaby.

Kristie had purchased two broom sticks back in Airlie. These were to become “Sniffy Sticks”.
We had taken these to camp, along with some twine (the left over from our anchor markings) and glue.
Grandpa and Grandma helped the girls take off the labels then glue the rope on.

They all walked back down the road ice cream, and then spent some time playing on the tyre swing at the beach.

The girls enjoyed playing on the beach with the newly made sniffy sticks, and then onto the tyre swing.

I was still on the boat, but getting ready to come in, so we could all go back to camp for dinner.
I had made the noodle salad sauce to take in. I had it in a plastic jar.
While getting in the tender I noticed it was leaking from the bag.
I burnt my fingers getting it, and I had inadvertently dropped the rope to the tender.
I only noticed that when it was about 10m away and drifting off!
Lightning quick change into boardies and a quick swim and I was back at Lazuli for a quick rinse off and gather the sauce ingredients to take in and make there!

Back at camp the girls fed the birds (4:15pm every day) at the camp.

The rainbow lorikeets have sharp claws and had previously left quite a mark on the girls arms.

Showers all round, then sips and dips at camp.

One of the kookaburras swooped down and stole some sausage as it was being cooked.

When it was our turn to eat, both girls stood guard duty over us with their sniffy sticks to keep the birds away.

Another lift down the beach from Rod.

Saturday 9th

Breakfast and then into the beach to meet Rod and Chris at 9am to then walk over to Radical Bay.

It’s a fairly steep walk - up and then back down to the other side.

Did it without any complaints from the girls.

Oh, and a few skittle stops.

The girls enjoyed showing Grandma and Grandpa the rock they were jumping off.

There were more people at the beach than the other day. A least three of the tourist boats were here.

The water and beach conditions here were much nicer than Alma beach the other day.

Chris had a quick snorkel.

Walked back. Emma got a bit of a fright by a snake that was trying to get away from Rod’s boots.

We all went back to camp.

I went back to Lazuli to get all the shower stuff and swim stuff (and mermaid tails).
After dropping them back to the beach I went back and did some more work.

Girls looked through the photo books and then had a mermaid swim with Grandma in the pool at the campground..

Showers for the girls, then bird feeding, this time with gloves.

They then needed a second shower as they ended up with bird food through their hair!

I met them on the beach for nibbles, then followed by fish and chips for dinner. Lovely sunset tonight.

The girls (and I) enjoyed more time at the tyre swing before heading back to Lazuli.

Sunday 10th

Grandma paddled all the way out on her kayak to Lazuli to come onboard for a cuppa and say hi.

Fun and games getting her on board (we didn’t have the ladder down.)

There are Markets on every Sunday at Horseshoe Bay. With Grandma back in the Kayak and on the way into shore we got ready to come in.

There wasn’t as much as we were expecting. No food stalls. I enjoyed a coffee and Kristie a hot chocolate from a local cafe
(I was done waiting for the girls to choose something to buy, so went wandering instead!)

Back to camp with Rod and Christine. Christine had brought up a collection of beads and other assorted crafting materials so the girls could make necklaces
(The girls had really liked the necklaces that Jess on Nauti Kitty had made and we taking some inspiration from her).

We needed a few supplies and the local shop wasn’t much help. Rod and I drove over to the IGA for a quick shop.

Lunch, followed by a swim in the pool.

Rod opened the coconut that Emma and Chris carried back from Radical Bay. Wasn’t much in it and perhaps not worth the effort in carrying it back :)

We have been making good use of the camp facilities… we did showers and a load of washing.

More nibbles back at the camp site, then wandered down to the bird feeding area at 4pm.

They also have darts and a ping-pong table, so the girls and I used them for a bit.
(we all had turns throwing the dart and having it land on the concrete!)

Sunday night they have a pizza oven truck there, so pizza for dinner.

I enjoyed the “Red Devil”, spicy salami, gorgonzola, and caramelised onion! Yum.

A bit more ping pong and then time to head back to the beach.

The girls enjoyed another tyre sing back, and we enjoyed a final beach sunset with Rod and Christine.

Monday 11th

Quick school and a bit of work for me.

Rod and Chris were heading back to the mainland this morning, and we’d arranged to come in and meet them for one last hug goodbye.

Tender in and got to the beach before 9am.

Christine had made some custard the day before and we’d forgotten to eat it… so we had that for a 2nd breakfast :)

Hugs and farewells. We really enjoyed the catch-up and thankful that Grandma and Grandpa could drive all this way to see us.
The girls had really been missing Grandpa’s lolly box… I also enjoyed helping the girls clean it out a bit ;)

More tyre swings for the girls.

With some windy days ahead, and the need to stock up a bit, I called Breakwater Marina and booked us in for a few nights.

It’s about a 2hr trip from Horseshoe bay to the marina. Kristie at helm while I worked.

The marina advised a “1.5m LAT” for the channel on the way in. We only just made it in with the tide.
We would have been ok if it actually was “1.5m”… it’s more like 1m or less!
2.4m was the lowest I saw on the way in on a 1.5m tide!

Easy enough tie up with some help from a dock hand and another boatie.

Tuesday 12

Kristie had registered with Tracer the night before, and got the early call for a day at a local school.
She followed the directions on google maps only to end up walking to the wrong school first! After both yellow cabs and black and white cabs both cancelled her ride due to lack of drivers, Kristie finally managed to get an Uber to the right school with 7 minutes to spare.
THe school is aware of the problem with Google maps (apparently this is a regular occurrence) and put in yet another complaint to try and get it fixed.

Back on Lazuli I combined work and school for the girls with daddy in charge.

At one point in the morning I hear some commotion from the boat in the pen next to us.
Their neighbour (who was part of the ARC) had taken off and messed up. They were on the blow-off side, and ended up rubbing the entire way down our neighbours.
I think the big rub-strip saved the boat, but at one point it looked like their solar panels hanging off the side were going to be toast.

Kristie stopped at Coles on the way back for some more supplies.

The girls (mostly Kristina) had been on us for a movie night for a while. Being in the marina was a good time :)
Kristina chose “Spellbound”. Dinner followed by popcorn.

Wednesday 13

School.

Kristie had invited her Aunty Robyn (who lives about 45/50min north of Townsville) to come and visit us onboard.

The visit was the kick we needed to get Lazuli tidy.

We enjoyed a lovely morning tea with Robyn.

Quick lunch, and then off the boat to go for a walk along the front to get Ice cream.

The local pier is very well set up for fishing.

Got to the end of the walk way and found the flying fox.

Booked one more night at the marina.

Another movie night, this time KPOP Demon Hunters.
Kristina had been on at us to watch it for a while, but it wasn’t until another friend on FB suggested it was worth watching with your kids that I relented).
Good fun movie to watch with your kids :)

Thursday 14th

Kristie got another early call teaching.

School and work with daddy.

Lunch then persuaded the girls to leave the boat and head off to the local water play park. A bit windy, but still good fun.

Back on the boat I got what I could ready for tomorrow. Topped up the water, and gave the decks a wash.

Woolies delivery turned up. Got that all stowed away.

Kristie finished school and got a taxi/Uber to Coles, and then walked home from there… about 7km!

Out for dinner, more walking to find somewhere reasonable.

Friday 15th

I walked up to put on a load of washing.

When filling the water and washing the decks the day before, I hadn’t fully closed the cap after filling the water, and then realised that some of the soapy water had probably flowed in.
So emptied that tank and then had to top it back up.

Kristie walked to Coles, the Post Office, news agency, and bottle shop.

Fuel dock before heading out of the marina.

Back over to Horseshoe bay on Maggie. Weather looks good for a reef visit tomorrow so best to stage out of there.

John and Katrina had posted on the Cruising Queensland FB page about a catch up on the beach if anyone wanted.

So into the beach at 5pm for a few drinks. Not a big catch-up but was great to meet them.

Back on the boat for dinner.

Emma’s recount of our time here on Magnetic Island

Part 1:

We sailed up to Magnetic Island to meet grandma and grandpa at their camp site.
At their camp site there was two chickens. I tried to feed and hug them (I only got to feed and pet them).
There were three cheeky kookaburras annoying us when we ate. They kept on swooping down and stealing our food, one even stole my bread roll!.

Mum bought some beads from a shop and delivered them to grandmas house so she could bring them up to us.
Mum told us how to thread the beads to make a necklace and I was surprised how good mine turned out! I love it.

Back at Airlie Beach mum bought two sticks for us to decorate and play with. It just so happens that the camp site was the perfect place to decorate them.

Part 2:

We anchored at horseshoe bay because it was close to where grandma and grandpa were camping.
On the beach there was a fun tire swing. Me and Kristina like to sit on the top of the swing and push each other really high.

There was some markets on the grassy patch next to the beach. I lost my purse so mum gave me 10 bucks to spend.
At the markets there was a stall that had pirates and mermaids. There was some tiny pirate treasure chests.
Originally they were just for display but they changed it so we could buy them.

I also bought a pink and purple incense burner shaped as a turtle.

Grandma bought us both a lip balm.

Part 3:

We tendered into the beach to meet grandma and grandpa for a walk to radical bay.
On the walk it goes up and down, it was also steep. Thats why we got sweets, yay!

It was a 1.5k walk so when we go there I went to the jumping rock (A rock with a easy staircase at the back into soft sand, very fun.)

We went for a quick swim on the other side of the beach.

In a little creek me and Kristina discovered a material like quicksand (Kristina couldn’t get out so I got dad!)

Grandpa found a peanut shaped coconut so I brought it back (the adults like it.)

Kristina’s recount of our time here on Magnetic Island

Part 1:

Last week we went to Magnetic Island with Grandma and Grandpa Grattan.
It was so much fun and we spent so much time with them because they had driven all the way from Logan just to see us.
One of the funnest things was the tire swing that someone had set up on the beach. You could sit on it and rest to look at the beautiful sunset or you could zoom round and round in circles if you were bored.

On the lat day we were there a big market was just up on the street. Me and Emma only liked this pirate and mermaid shop where we got a mini treasure chest and mermaid lip balm from.

Another one of the days we were there it was boiling hot. I was sweating to much that I asked Mum for ice cream and she said… Yes!

Part 2:

We visited Grandma and Grandpa at their campsite where there was so many things to do.

Every afternoon some of the people who worked there brought out a bucket full of bird food.
For free you could get several spoons of the food so that the birds would come and land on you.

On the same day that we first did the bird feeding we saw a mother koala and her joey up in one of the trees.
At first they were sleeping but later on in the day they woke up and had a snack.
It was so so cute watching the joey reach up to try and get the leaves but when it failed the mother would always just get the leaves for her baby.

Kookaburras were another one of the animals that visited the camp site daily.
On the first couple times when I fed them they were cute, friendly and I was doing it on purpose but eventually the kookaburras would swoop in and steal the food of our plates.

Thursday 24th - Coral Sea Marina

Said goodbye to our guests as they had a big drive home.

Quick school, then a load or two of washing.

I did a quick trip to the chandlery to get some dynema. One of the wires that supports the back transom had snapped, so I needed to fix that.

Kristie had taken the courtesy car to head out for some shopping:

• Big W - we needed to replace some tea-towels, rulers for the girls, and new socks.
• Whitsunday marine watersports (where we bought the outboard) to get the adapter to flush the outboard.
• Bunnings for two broom sticks - the girls want to make some “sniffy sticks”.

Nic had taken the girls and Charlee swimming at the pool in the resort. Quick swim and then back to the boats via the ice cream shop!
Thanks Nic!

We got off the dock not long after 11am
Sailed to Hayman - but no moorings.

Motored to Stonehaven for windy sunset and a night of banging (the mooring ball on our hull).

Friday 25th

School and work, then moved across to Langford following Exhale. There’s not too many moorings there and they usually fill up on good days.
(They were all full by the time we got in the water).

The tide was down, but coming in, so there was still a bit of a sandbar there (its completely underwater at high tide).

We enjoyed a snorkel with the ladies from Exhale. We were searching for the turtle statue that’s supposed to be there.

No luck finding that, but we did find a real live turtle just hanging out at about 2m depth just having a bit of a feed.

It didn’t mind us swimming down to get a closer look or give it a bit of a scratch.

Back on the Lazuli and we got a call from Exhale letting us know a couple of whales were swimming past. They come in close to all of us.

We were planning to have the night in Butterfly Bay, and that always fills up. Left before the others and ended up getting a mooring right down the end.

Exhale were a bit slower and ended up on a mooring out near the wall… rolly but for some good snorkeling.

Charlee came over to Lazuli to paint lanterns with the girls (Kristie ordered some paper lanterns in preparation for the lantern parade happening at the marina on the 1st).

Back over to Exhale for some rolly sip’s dips.

Saturday 26th

The girls had declared the day before that they wouldn’t be able to do anything this morning as it was their cousin’s Birthday and they were dedicating the morning to play Minecraft with her!

We attempted to head around the top of Hook, looking to get to one of the bays further down, but too windy and wild so went to Hayman and got a mooring at Blue Pearl Bay instead.
Exhale followed and got there not long after us, picking up the mooring next to us.

More whales about, had to dodge one coming in around the corner.

Took the tender into the beach so the girls could play with Charlee, and then went for a snorkel looking for the Maori wrasse statue.
Kristina and Emma played on the beach with Charlee, then Emma came out for a good snorkel.

No luck finding the statue.

Kenny and Nic took the girls back to Exhale (via Lazuli so they could get changed and grab iPads), and then left to head to Nara Inlet.

There were two dive boats on the tender moorings when we first came in, and we’d gone over to talk to them about the diving.

The deck hand (skipper?) didn’t know much - doubt he was a diver. The chick DM was “yeah you should just dive with our shop” and didn’t pass on any actual info.

Helpful.

We had the last laugh… she’d gone to get changed and come back up with a massive wardrobe malfunction… Kristie made a joke with the deckhand about if we’ll see Mantas or “white pointers” on the dive… he laughed… but it went right over her head!

Kristie jumped in and dived from Lazuli, then up the wall along to Dolphin Point.

I watched most of the dive from Lazuli, then jumped in the tender when she got closer to the point.

While she was underwater, I’d tried to find the GPS location of the Maori Wrasse. With Kristie back in the tender we went over again to have another look.
We had snorkeled that area a lot already, the GPS mark didn’t help.

We had two whales that swam into the bay. Around the mooring that Exhale had been on, and then they came back under Lazuli and kept swimming north.

With dive gear stowed, we cast off and got out to the wind to try and sail down to Nara.

Lots more whales along the way, making plenty of splashes.

There was large naval ship in the bay. It and a smaller ship had been around in the morning and then headed out to sea.
This one came back in and dropped anchor just near Langford Island.

We’d been listening to them on the VHF. They were using #69 for talking to their small boats as they had crew doing water activities.

Exhale had come around the corner earlier and was “Warship! Warship!” on #69 as we’ve been using that. Wonder what they think of our endless nattering on that channel.

We ended up dropping sail half way down Hook as the wind dropped as we got closer in. Motored and dropped anchor close to Exhale.

Nibbles on Exhale again, this time Viv & Russ were there as well.

We (Kristie) had bought a bottle of Port to give to Russ in thanks for his spare prop that we got.
It was finished before we left Exhale and went back for dinner on Lazuli :)

Sunday 27th

Bella and Exhale left this morning to head into Airlie Beach.

Kristie went for a SUP around Nara, while I worked.

It was a rainy day so we didn’t bother moving or doing anything else.

Monday 28th

School and work, then moved to Hayman. Weather is looking good for another trip out to the reef, and we wanted to stage from the top of Hayman or Hook.

Lots of whales the whole way up.

There were 3 or 4 free moorings in Blue Pearl Bay when we turned up, so had a few options.
As we were deciding we saw a Manta ray swimming around. Tied up to the mooring ball quickly, and wasn’t long before Kristie jumped in to snorkel with it.
It wasn’t that curious, and the visibility wasn’t the best. It swam off, and Kristie continue snorkeling around the bay for a while longer.

Kristie filled tanks so that we would ready for diving out on the reef.

The girls helped me make/cook banana muffins (using our standard banana bread recipe).

Tuesday 29th

Early start, up at 5:30am for a 6am departure.

No wind, so motoring all the way to Bait. The other three boats were heading to Hook, but we were keen for a dive at Bait if possible.

However, there weren’t any free moorings, so we went back out and around to the mooring at the Dropoff, which was free.

Kristie jumped in for a solo dive. She’d been in the water less than 5min when “Vyper” (one of the fast jetboats with a load of snorkelers/divers) came speeding up.
The skipper asked if we’d be able to move off the mooring so that they could use it.
I pointed to the dive flag we had up (not sure how they missed it) and said we had a diver in the water, and we’d be at least another hour and a half before we moved.
He kindly reminded me that they were 2hr moorings. I agreed and said something along the lines of “go have fun telling that to all the others that spent the night at Bait Reef and are still on the 2hr moorings”!.
It took them a good 30min to get a mooring over there!

While Kristie was underwater, the girls discovered the Nara Inlet mud on the anchor/chain and started making sculptures with it.

I put my wetsuit on and had a quick snorkel towards the end of her dive. Just swimming/drifting along with the tender.

With Kristie back onboard, I made some lunch then we started motoring around to join the others at Hook Reef.

The girls were most excited that half way back to hook we got Starlink back online. Their world would now be ok!

We had to dodge the bommies on the way in. We had good conditions for navigating around them (sun overhead, flat and clear water), but I needed Kristie upfront pointing to where to go.

We ended up dropping our anchor next to a cat called “Trim”, who are actually neighbours of Kristie’s mum and dad.

Popped over in the tender to say hi to them.

Kenny and Tom were in the water spearing, and as I was keen to have a go I got Kristie to drop me over.

While I was having fun chasing fish and trying not to spear myself, Kristie was busy in the tender:

• Picked up Charlee so that she could come over and make clay sculptures.
• Took Kristina & Charlee back over to Exhale to swim on their mat.
• Picked Kristina & Charlee to come back to play Roblox with Emma
• Took Kristina & Charlee back to Exhale to watch a movie.
• Picked up Kristina as Charlee was sick and falling asleep.

I went to the outside wall/reef - but no luck for me (the others both nabbed a fish or two).

No sip’s ‘n dips as Charlee was still asleep.

Wednesday 30th

A bit of school and work before taking Kristie out to dive the other slope (it wasn’t really a wall).

No tender moorings, and the tide was ripping out over the wall, so I was constantly motoring back into the lagoon and then drifting out towards Kristie.

Not long before the dive ended I got a call on the VHF from Kenny. They’d been chased out of the water by reef sharks and were planning to head off/back to the Whitsundays.

Got Kristie back onboard and wasn’t long before all four boats were ready to depart.

We let the sacrificial cat go first, then us, Bella, and Driftwood.

They all headed back in, but we went back to Bait Reef. The conditions weren’t so good up top, so no issues getting a mooring this time.

Kristie geared up and jumped in near the entrance to the lagoon. I snorkeled, towing the tender along with me.
Conditions were great, easily 25m vis.

We didn’t end up leaving Bait until close to 3pm. Sails up and was making reasonably good progress.

The wind died out close to 5pm, so we had to motor the rest of the way in from there.

The other three were on moorings in the northern section of Stonehaven. As we got close they hailed us on the VHF to say they still had a mooring free next to them.

Grabbed the mooring in last light, the sun had gone down but still just enough light to grab it without needing a torch!

Quick drop of the tender and over to Exhale for dinner (Kenny was cooking up the fish they got into a Thai green curry).
I’d cooked dinner for the girls on the way in knowing that they wouldn’t be so keen on the spicy curry.
I enjoyed it, went back for 2nds.

Had a good catch up with Kenny and Nic, and Tom and Toni from Driftwood.

Thursday 31st

School and work. Exhale and Bella left early to get back to Airlie.

Kristie filled tanks.

Windy, cloudy, and cold; didn’t leave the boat.

Friday 1st

School and work.

Raining in the morning.

Had an early lunch then we took advantage of a small break in the weather after my work meetings to drop the mooring.
Kristie then motored in the rain back to Coral Sea Marina.

They put us back on L8 again. No complaints from us. It’s at the end of the finger, so you can’t run into any other boats!

Boat jobs as usual: rubbish, gas refill, fuel (just carried the jerry cans down the end to get filled), water.

Kristie walked to Woolies, and taxied back. The driver was a bit cranky that the online fare was paid and didn’t include the time he had to spend loading and unloading. LOL.

Kristie took the washing up to be done, and dragged the girls to the showers. They walked back by themselves. They’re quite comfortable walking around marinas.

I got the lights set up in the lanterns the girls had painted, then headed up to the marina area where the lantern parade was starting.
Charlee, Kenny, and Nic were also there.

Somehow Kenny and I got voluntold to help cary a big whale tail lantern that someone had made (see below).

Stopped at the northern section of the marina for a photo, then walked all the way in to town, trying not to hit high obstacles with the tail!

We ditched the tail and legged it. The festival was in full swing and the girls were keen for rides.

We gave them a budget and they had to work out what rides they wanted to go on.

Emma had no hesitation in lining up for the bungee trampoline. (she had sore core body muscles for a few days after her efforts of double flips!)

I walked off to go find food for Kristie and I; I’d made naan pizza’s for the girls before the parade.
I found the sourdough pizza guys and ordered two from there.
Another yummy Nutella & Banana pizza :)

The girls finished their rides, and we walked back over to where the food stalls and displays were.

Back through to the carnival section as we were thirsty, and we all got some slushies.

The fireworks were going to start at 8:30, so we walked over to a shelter to sit down and wait.

Fireworks were ok, not quite up to the standard of our local school fete or the Ekka (that we’ll be missing out on)

Walked home in the rain.

Whitsundays - Done and Dusted

This is it! We’re done with the Whitsundays after just more than a month:

• 5 nights with The Meades
• 5 nights with Craig and Tal
• 4 nights with Jess and Chris
• 5 nights with Scott and his partner
• Two trips out to the local reefs

We loved having visitors, thanks to all those that made the effort to come and visit us.

Our highlights:

• Snorkeling/diving at Bait Reef
• Sunsets from Chalkies
• Snorkeling/diving at Black Island (eastern side)
• Snorkeling with Manta rays at various locations
• Swimming with/feeding the fish at Mantaray Bay
• Lookouts - Hill Inlet & Border Island
• Sips ‘n dips on various beaches
• Catching up with boat friends (and making new ones)
• Some lovely sailing in good wind and not too much swell

Things we missed out on:

• Exploring some of the bays (and snorkeling) on the eastern side of Hook Island
• More sunsets at Chalkies - it’s always busy there!
• Catching (eatable) fish

I guess we can have another go on the way back south!

Tomorrow we head north!

As part of their writing the girls wrote about their highlights of our time here.

Kristina’s Top 5

My five favourite things at the Whitsundays

In the past few weeks we have been visiting the Whitsundays and exploring.
We have had so many things to do and so many friends to share it with.
It has been a great few weeks.
Although there have been so many great things to do there have been five things that I’ve liked more than others.

My favourite thing by far has definitely been Manta Ray Bay and how we got to feed all the cool fish.
Our parents bought a whole loaf of cheap bread for us to feed them each time we went to Manta Ray Bay (we went there four times with all our visitors).
Me and Emma would each take a slice of bread, tear it up into smaller pieces, then throw it down at the adults so that they could get a better view of the fish.
When we had nearly run out of bread I got our Mum to come back in the tender so that she could throw the rest to me and Emma.
Before I got in I put on my mermaid-tail so it would be easier for me to swim.
It was amazing how many fish there were and it was even cooler how they would all just swim up to you so close that you could touch them.
(They must have been really hungry if they would come that close to humans for food.)
One of the times a Maori Wrasse came right up to my face for a piece of bread so I reached out to pet it and succeeded by running my hand gently across its side.

My second favourite thing was our time over at Chalkies.
There was some beautiful coral with so many pretty colours and different textures.
While we were snorkelling and swimming Dad spotted a small turtle that was so, so cute!
It was smaller than the average turtle but it didn’t look like a full baby.
I think it was probably a kid like me and Emma.
When we couldn’t find the turtle anymore we continued swimming and saw lots and lots of clams, some yummy looking fish and another turtle.
This one was bigger than the other and was nearly the same size as me!
I was wearing my mermaid-tail again and I decided to swim underneath our Aunty Jess.
Whenever I do that to people it always makes them smile.
A different time when we went there it was with our friends the Meads and one of the turtles came right up to the back of our boat.
Luckily Dad had some spare squid that he had caught so each of us got two tentacles to hand feed the turtle.
It came so close to eat it that each of us got to pat it as well.
Justin got out his phone and started taking photos so those might appear later in the blog.
When we pet the turtle I realised that the turtles shell was kind of slimy but at the same time soft.

My third favourite thing was when we went to WhiteHaven beach at sunset.
We had gone over to Nauti Kitty earlier for sips n’ dips then dinner.
The Dads cooked some chicken on a barbecue while us kids did Sniffy obstacle courses on the front deck.
There was a full crew of fourteen people at sips n’ dips but then Viv and Rus went back to their boat for dinner.
After that there was just twelve of us but that still took three tender rides to get into the beach.
The Sniffys and their parents brought over their poi’s and every one had a turn of it and swinging it around to the beat of the music.
We had brought over two packs of ten glow sticks and with the four kids we each got five.
I really liked that because there were five colours of glow sticks so we each got a rainbow.
The adults were still doing a concert sort of thing with the poi’s so the Sniffy’s came up with the idea to play a game of tag.
Baby Sniffy was it first but despite being the youngest he was also the speediest.
He easily got all of us so by the end of the trip to the beach we were all tired and ready to go to bed.
It was such a fun night and we all had a great time.

My fourth favourite thing was how we got to go scuba diving over at Border Island.
When we first got there, there were no moorings so Mum and Dad put the anchor down to wait for one.
After about thirty minutes later one of the boats left the moorings and we were ready to pounce on it like a tiger.
When the boat was secured we got ready to go diving.
Craig and Tal stayed on the boat and had a rest from the sail but we got changed into togs and wetsuits.
The diving gear all went to the tender, then Emma and me and then mum got in with the tender rope so we could actually go somewhere.
When we found a good spot to dive, Mum got her gear and tank on then got in the water.
Dad tried to put it on me but my arm got twisted while the arm strap was going on.
It really hurt so Emma went diving first. They saw some beautiful coral and lots of fish.
When they came back up to the surface I got into the gear as my arm was feeling better.
We went down and it was like a whole new world.
There were fish everywhere and coral galore. It was amazing!
The diving was great and I’m glad that I went.

My final favourite spot was over at Hill inlet.
We moored in Tung Bay and cautiously tendered into shore to do the walk.
The track was very steep but it was worth it when we got to the top and saw the amazing view the lookout had to offer.
We did the walk with our Aunty and Uncle so they got to see the Awesome view aswell.
After we had gotten to all three of the lookouts, we headed back down to the bag racks so we could get all our things.
The adults grabbed the bags then we walked down to the beach for sips n’ dips.
Charlee and her parents had come aswell so when we had all had our sip n’ dips dad got out our frisbee to play.

At every place we went to we had a good time and did so many fun things.
In conclusion the Whitsundays are a great place to visit with friends!

Emma’s Top 4 for the Whitsundays

My Four Favourite Places In The Whitsundays

For the last few weeks we have been in the Whitsundays.

I have four favourite places:

1. Mantaray bay

At mantaray bay I liked feeding the fish.
The little fish would come to the surface to eat the bread and sometimes Nibble your fingers.

2. Black Island

We went snorkeling at Blacks island. The water at the top was cold so I dove deep down under water to get warm.
The coral was the healthiest we’ve seen and there was a good variety of fish.

3. Chalkies

At Chalkies a turtle came right to the back of our boat. We happened to have some spare squid so we fed it.
Since it came so close we got to pat it!

4. Border Island

Mum had a good idea to go scuba diving at Border island.
When I was scuba diving I saw lots of fish and coral but lots of it was rubble and dead still.

Kristina’s Recount of the time at Nara Inlet

The weather was bad so we decided to head over to Nara Inlet.
If we had gone anywhere else the swell would have gotten us, but in there we were protected.from the swell and wind.
There is a walking track up to a cave with some aboriginal paintings.
The walk was steep but it was surrounded by trees which gave us shade.
We stopped about half way and listened to stories from the Aboriginal Elders.
Just a bit further up the tack there was a big space cleared but with lots of signs talking about how the aboriginals survived and what they had to do.
We finished off the track with the help of a couple of skittle breaks and rests.
When we got to the top we tried to decode the old and slightly faded paintings before giving up and going to have another look at the signs.
We then went back down to the beach on dropped Charlee back at her boat.

Emma’s Thoughts on Bait Reef

Bait Reef has no land because it’s a reef that’s surrounded by water.
It has to be perfect weather to enjoy Bait Reef because it’s 57 kilometres from the main land.
There’s no internet because it’s so far from land.
AND THE NO INTERNET IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!!!!
We jumped off the side of the boat to get in the water.
We went to snorkel at the steppingstones but then the Sealink came and dropped off so many people.
But we still had a good time with all the fishies.
When we got back from our snorkel we got dry and warm we went over to Wild Kat for sundowners.
We saw lots of whales but they had a dog so I had to hide.
But over all I had a great time!

Emma’s recount of Mantaray Bay

On our fourth lap, we went back to Mantaray bay.
Again while we were snorkeling bread was thrown at us to attract the fish.
Last lap we found out that the Maori Wrasse name is George. Each time he comes with his babies.
Oh and George is a father.
We snorkeled over to the statues to show our aunty and uncle.
Me and Kristina held onto dads shoulders and he swam us down 5 meters to touch the mantaray statue.
When the others were snorkeling back I swam down to touch it myself and I succeeded!
Dad saw it for proof.

Emma’s recount of Nara Inlet

We anchored at Nara Inlet in the Whitsundays.
There was a walking track that started on the beach.
It took us to some Aboriginal cave paintings.
The cave paintings where very old and slightly faded.
There was a fence to make sure nothing touches them.

The next day we paddled across the inlet to a cave on the other side.
We had to climb up some rocks which was a bit scary.
There was a big cave and a small cave.
We didn’t find any paintings in the big cave but there was some in the small cave.

Kristina’s recount of the Lantern Parade

We’ve done lots of things recently but out of all of them my new favourite was definitely the Airlie Beach festival.
Usually around this time of year we go to the Ekka but we’re to far up to do that so instead we got to go to a lantern parade.
To do this Mum bought 6 packs of lanterns, each pack containing one lantern.

We invited Charlee over to our boat so we could paint and assemble each of our lanterns.
Mum bought six in case the Sniffys were here they would get one too.
I made my lantern blue and lilac which I thought looked really cute especially with how the warm lights shone from the inside.

The parade started at sunset and we got to view all of the amazing creations done by a whole bunch of kids at their school.
There were sharks, turtles, jelly fish and stingrays galore.
There were two big whale tails and one of the ladys who had organised the parade asked Dad and Kenny to carry the bigger one.
The tail was bigger than me.

Every one (including us) marched along the coast and streets for about fifteen minutes before stopping and putting the lanterns down near the ferris wheel.
We went under several arches and low wires so the dads got to play a bit of limbo with the whale tail.

After the parade was officially over we fast walked to the rides to check them out.
In the first minute Emma was already on the bungee jump.
Meanwhile, I had asked Mum if I could go check out the prices for the rides I wanted to do.

I firstly checked out the Wizzer which is a ride where you can have one-three people per cart.
There was twelve carts on three arms that went round and round really fast.
We went on a ride very similar to that when we were down in Coffs.

My favourite ride was the Star which had lots of seats and went up, around then down.
Me and Emma used the expression ‘our bums are free’ as we kept lifting up off the seat when we went up.
Neither of us got hurt although it was still really fun.

Emma’s recount of the Lantern Parade

There was a lantern parade at Airlie Beach. Mum bought some paper lanterns for us to make.
There was a spare for Charlee.
Charlee came over to our boat to assemble and paint her lantern.
I used pink and purple paint for my lantern.

The lantern parade started at six o’clock near the marina.
We walked along the coast to the ferris wheel. Dad and Kenny got to carry the whale tail.
It was so big I could see it when I drifted to the back.

There was lots of rides at the festival. My favourite rides were the “Star” and the bungee trampoline.
On the bungee trampoline I managed to do a double back flip.

When it was really dark there was some fireworks. I found the fireworks too loud and I was tired.