Tuesday 26th August - Magnetic Island

It’s finally time to say goodbye to Maggie.

We were up at 6am for a 6:30am departure, motoring towards Orpheus Island.

There wasn’t any wind, so motoring the entire way.

We enjoyed watching a pod of dolphins and a whale on the way north.

Quick lunch after we grabbed a mooring. There are a few moorings around this area.
Two yellow (10m - too ‘small’ for us) just at Yanks Jetty, and some blue and green just around the corner to the north.
These two were taken so we had to grab one a bit further away to the north.

Tender down, wetsuits on, and off to Yanks Jetty for snorkeling, fish feeding, jumping off the jetty.
The coral at the jetty isn’t much chop, but there are plenty of fish who were most interested in the bread we took along :)

The girls did some jumping off the jetty, and made good use of the lifting ladder (only Kristie managed to get her fingers in the wrong spot!).

We swam into the beach to do some exploring. There’s a little lookout with a short ladder to climb up.

Two cats (> 10m!) had come in and grabbed the two yellow moorings. One couple was at the jetty having a swim and a beer.
We had a good chat with them before we got back in the tender and back to Lazuli.

Kristina’s recount about Yanks Jetty

After we finally left Magnetic island we sailed on up to Orpheus Island.
There was still a couple of hours left in the day, so we got all our swimming stuff and tendered over to Yanks Jetty.
There was a big pontoon with spots to tie you tender, tables to eat at, and two ladders to get in and out of the water.

I was the first one to get wet, diving into the water see how cold it was. It was freezing at first but the more I stayed in there the warmer it got.
Everyone else got in then we really started to see how much fish and coral there really was.
Luckily we had brought some of our stale bread which all the fish still liked.

I quickly got bored of that but when I was heading up I realised how much fun the ladder was.
If you put pressure on it the ladder would go down, then when you got off the ladder would rocket up!
So while mum, dad, and Emma were snorkeling elsewhere I kept on jumping off in all sorts of wacky ways then using the ladder to get back up.

I loved it, but eventually we all got cold so we tendered back to Lazuli.

Emma’s recount about Yanks Jetty

We anchored at Orpheus Island near the resort so we hopped in our tender and motored over to the jetty so we could snorkel.
When we tied up our tender all the fish came assuming we had food.
We threw some tiny bits of bread at the fish then jumped in with them!
So fun.

On the beach there was a tiny tiny walk to a small lookout.
From the lookout we could see all of the small shells on the sand.

Wednesday 27th

We had been waiting longer at Maggie to get the best weather and tides for exploring Zoe Falls. Today was the day we wanted!

Up early to motor across to Zoe Bay; up at 6am leaving at 6:30am.
Kristie took the helm while I got in some work hours.

I had the lure out; we hooked something but lost it pulling in :(
Changed lures, then hooked some seaweed :(

2:40hr later, just after 9am, we dropped anchor in Zoe Bay in about 4m of water.

Tender down, and we all got in quickly to head to the beach. Pulled the tender up, keeping an eye out for big lizards.

We had about a 1km walk to bottom of the waterfall.

Stopped for a quick photo (taken by a hiker who’d just finished his swim), and then crossed the creek to scramble up to the top.

The hiker had beaten us up, but he didn’t stay long so we had the place to ourselves.

The “infinity pools” at the top were amazing. We spent some time in these, then got dry and explored the creek a bit.

Walked back down for a swim at the bottom.

We weren’t alone this time; there were 4 adults from two Cats also at the bottom.
We had a chat with them, one of them pointed out that all these fish in here were “Jungle Perch”.
We didn’t have any bread with us, but it turns out they like corn chips just as much.

Two of them got in the water, but we had the rope swing all to ourselves :D

We all had fun. Kristina jumped off the rocks to start with, then the rope swing.

Kristie had been taking photos of us, then came over for her swing. Nice jump in, then realised that the prescription sunnies she was wearing were no longer on her head!

The girls swam back out with their googles, and Kristina quickly spotted them at the bottom.
Too deep for the girls, so Kristie borrowed their googles and went down to get them!

We swam over to the waterfall. There was a nice rock/ledge to sit/stand on and get a good back massage from the water.
The water coming down was also warmer thanks to the hot rocks/sun it was coming down from up top.

Had some snacks, then back to Lazuli.

Too rolly/bumpy to spend the night here, so sailed back to Pioneer Bay (Orpheus Island) and grabbed a mooring there.

Caught a baby shark with the lure. Flake for dinner.

Kristina’s recount about Zoe Falls

We’ve been to lots of cool places on Lazuli but my new favourite is Zoe Falls on Hinchenbrook Island.
The walk there had lots of rocks and a creek that you could cross using stepping stones.
The walk to the falls took about 25min and it hurt my feet a tiny bit.
Although it was definitely worth it when you got to that amazing place.

The first thing that I noticed was all the little jungle perch sitting in tht water, practically begging to be fed.
Of course, me and Emma didn’t let them down. There were several adults that were already there but most of them were just leaving.

As we swapped places with them one of the men mentioned a rope swing on the other side of the plunge pool.
If you know me well, then you would have guessed that I explored around the edge to find it.
If so, you’re right. That’s exactly what I did. When I got to it, I called over to mum and dad so they could come over and help.
At first I was nervous that it wouldn’t hold me but after dad had a go, I felt carefree!
It was amazing and I had a great time at Zoe Falls which is why I was sad when mum said we might never ever be able to go there again.

Emma’s recount about Zoe Falls

We motored Lazuli over to Hinchenbrook for the Zoe Falls walk.
There was crocodiles in the nearby creek so we had to pull the tender up quickly.
The walk to the top was about 1km long, and the path was very uneven.

Eventually we reached the waterfall at the bottom, but we had to go to the top.
When we reached the top we got on our togs (no wetsuits) then we went for a dip in the infinity pool.
It was then I realised how cold it was in the water but I still had fun at the top.

Soon it was time to go back to the little lake below.
It was still just as cold at the bottom but way bigger so I could move around!
There was also a rope swing going into the water.

The waterfall was so fun!

Thursday 28th

Work and School.

We had hoped to go to visit the Orpheus Island Research Station (my sister Jess had been there a few times over the last year or two).
However, when Kristie finally managed to get through to them they said they were too busy (60+ guests) so they weren’t doing tours this week :(
(maybe on the way back south?)

Also, the giant clam garden is dead, so we didn’t really bother snorkeling.

We moved down to Hazard Bay thinking we could get off the boat, but the wind was 20knts from the north instead of the 7knts NE it was supposed to be.
It got quite uncomfortable, so we motored back to Pioneer Bay and got a mooring there, which was much nicer for us all.

Friday 29th

My work calendar had me with 4hrs of meeting today (2hrs in the morning, 2hrs after lunch).
We had worked out the maybe the best option would be to head back to Zoe Falls and the girls could spend the morning there,
and then during my afternoon meeting we’d motor back towards Lucinda to go inside Hinchenbrook Island.

So another early start, up at 6am for 6:30am trip to Zoe Bay.

Tender down, dropped the girls into the beach and watch them walk off.

Got back to the boat, checked email… morning meeting cancelled!!

I couldn’t contact the girls, and couldn’t move the tender by myself. I was a bit annoyed.

Thankfully managed to get the afternoon meeting rescheduled and done in the morning.

The three girls had lots of fun back at the falls.

Kristie had carried in their mermaid tails and wetsuits.

More fun on the rope swing, and feeding the fish.

I finished my meeting, and went in to pick them up.

Lunch, and then we motored to Lucinda while I worked a bit more.

Slow trip in across the shallow bits, then following the channel up around the island.

Lure out but no bites.

We stopped at Haycock Island for the night.

There was one other yacht there.

Sip’s ‘n dips. Then midges gate crashed our afternoon/evening!

Lit a few mozzie coils, then we all abandoned Kristie and went downstairs to escape the onslaught.

Saturday 30th

More midges in the morning.

Lazy start, off at 10am to continue motoring around Hinchenbrook.
Had the lure out the back and hooked something. Got it all the way to the boat then it came free as we were trying to get it in the net :(
Not exactly sure what it was, but it looked like a salmon.

We were aiming to spend the night anchored off Goold Island.

About 0.5nm out I started winding in the lure getting ready to drop anchor. Had it halfway in before it took off on me!

Good fight, and finally got it alongside. It hooked up good and proper, and this time Kristie got it in the net and we got it onboard.

Turned out to be a nice 85cm Spanish Mackerel. So good.

With it onboard we turned around and got back to where we needed to anchor.

Fish preparation (which is code for ‘splattering Lazuli with blood and guts’).

Boat cleaning.

Fish and chips for dinner.

Kristina declared it was the best fish she’d ever had, and would only accept Spanish Mackerel in the future.

After dinner, we were upstairs and could hear something nearby breathing loudly. We assume it was a Dugong.
We had our spotlights out, but never saw it :(

Sunday 31st

I’d been neglecting some of my regular boat jobs and suffered the consequences.
While Kristina was using the front toilet, it overflowed :|

Off to Dunk Island today. Our friends Stuart and Sanne (Vanetta) were already there after experiencing their worst night ever anchored at Zoe Bay!

We had our anchor up and sailing away from Goold at 10:45am.

It was only 15nm to Dunk, bit of a slow sail but weren’t in any rush.

Anchored at Dunk, dropping anchor not too far from Vanetta.

We had Stuart and Sanne over to Lazuli for nibbles followed by Spanish Mackerel for dinner.
Sanne brought over a salad and some delicious GF apple crumble. Boat friends are awesome.

Monday 1st

Kristie was up at 3am as it was a bit rolly. The rest of us up at normal time.

Work and School.

Kriste had a quick nap while class was underway. The girls didn’t mind :)

Vanetta were off to the beach but swung past and dropped in a tray of delicious boat baked “Kanelsnegle” (Danish - “cinnamon snails”).
Something like this I guess: https://scandinaviancookbook.com/kanelsnegle-danish-cinnamon-rolls/

Sanne (who is Danish) had baked them that night we first met them at Middle Percy Island at the start of June.

Full of gluten, so the girls and I (to be fair mostly me!) had Kristie’s share :)

After lunch had swim at the beach and play on the mat.

Vanetta joined us and shared their coconut. Girls were still not much of a fan of coconut.

When the swim was over we made good use of the public shower facilities.

Tuesday 2nd

School and work.

Early lunch.

More work.

Off the boat to head into the beach to go walk up Mount Kootaloo.
The track starts at the end of the beach, and you can do a loop up to the summit and around the bottom of Dunk Island.

There were great views from the top.

Also the remains of a radar / listening station that was in use briefly during the 2nd world war.

The walk down was quicker/easier.

Kristie had posted on a few of the FB sailing pages to see if anyone wanted to meet up this afternoon for drinks/catch up on the beach.

One or two boats replied in the affirmative.

Running a bit behind on the walk, we rushed back to Lazuli, showered on the back, and then tender back to the beach.
Only Jason and Kym from Argo ended up coming in.
We’d seen Argo on AIS for a while, so was good to finally catch up with them.

Back to Lazuli in the dark.

Wednesday 3rd

Woke up to rain.

Work and school with more rain.

While we had ok weather (other than rain) for the next few days, it was going to get worse.
Our plan was to be in Cairns, with a day or two at Fitzroy Island beforehand.

Anchor up at 10:15am. I had figured we could stay at Russel Island instead of going all the way to Fiztroy.

We (I) hadn’t decided if we were sailing or motoring. We undid the rope that holds the boom still, but left the infill up.
Wasn’t long before a few waves had us rocking about and the infill tore. :|

Took the damaged infill off and started sailing. I made a call to see if we could get a new one made in Cairns.

As always, we had the lure out. We hooked something, but it came off pretty quickly.

Lure back out. Hooked another fish. This one stayed on until we got it along side.
Saw it was a Mac Tuna and decided it could go back into the water :)

Dropped the sails.

I had a meeting; Kristie put the lure back out.

Hooked another fish. This one took off. Whatever it was, it was much bigger than the tuna we had just hooked.

At various points it just took off and all I could do was to get Kristie to turn Lazuli around and follow it!

Eventually got the monster Spanish Mackerel alongside and I gave the rod to Kristie while I got the gaff hook out (no way it would have gone in the net!).

Got it onboard and into the wheel well while we got stuff sorted.

By this time we were at Russell Island, and it wasn’t going to be suitable to stop for the night, which meant pressing on to Fitzroy.

With that decision made, Kristie took the wheel while I processed the fish.

Finally got the chance to measure it: 130cm. My record for a fish.

My 55cm filleting table was not built for this sort of work! A Beneteau First is also not the ideal fishing/filleting platform!

I got it all filleted and deboned, and ended up with a fridge full of delicious fish!

I cooked dinner (not fish) while underway and before it got dark.

We got to Fitzroy around 8pm; we did a few circles looking for somewhere to drop anchor.

Vanetta were on mooring but there weren’t any free ones, so we ended up near the port channel marker.

Kristina’s recount about Dunk Island

We spent a few days exploring Dunk Island. There was a perfect spot to swim over near the spit of the island.
The water was clear with a sandy bottom and it got very deep very quickly.
This meant it was the perfect spot for us to bring back out big foam mat.
When you’re playing on the mat there is lots of things you can do.
My favourite thing is to make up little tumbling routines then backflip into the water.

On the second day we were there we didn’t do much. There was a lookout walk we did but it was kind of rushed as mum had organised some sundowners with another boat.
There were drinks chips and cheese for all of us to share. At first the sunset wasn’t very good, but then the colours really came out.

Emma’s recount about Dunk Island

We spent a few days at Dunk Island to explore and play.
On the first day we went for a swim near the spit.
It was nice clear water without any rocks, so it was the perfect spot for the swimming mat.
I liked doing front flips off the mat into the water!

On day 2 we headed over to shore for our walk up Mt Kootaloo.
The walk was a bit steep, very hot, and a tiny bit uneven (but the workers were fixing that).
When we started the walk some people came down and said “There is a excavator up ahead”. I was like how is there an ‘escalator’ up ahead, but I misheard them.
When we finally made it to the top the view was great, looking over all the Family Islands.

Thursday 4th

A few boats left early that morning, so we quickly moved to one of the moorings that were now free.

Work and school.

Kristie jumped off the back and swam in towards shore for a snorkel by herself.

She ended up getting a lift back to Lazuli with Sanne. We gifted them a bag of Spanish Mackerel (I had processed the fish and we ended up with 6 large clipsal bags).

There was another cat in the bay with a kid onboard.
We took the tender over to try and meet ROAM1, but we were too slow and by the time we got there they were pulling up anchor and then steaming off to Cairns and all we could do was wave.

Lunch.

We all geared up for a family snorkel. We spent ages in the water. There were a few decent sized clams, and a very friendly turtle that the girls loved.

Emma was having fun taking Kristie’s dive camera down to take photos of the clam and turtles.

I dropped the girls back when they were cold and then came back to Kristie and we kept snorkeling for a bit longer.

Mackerel for dinner. So delicious.

Friday 5th

As I had an afternoon meeting, we took the morning to go for a walk.

There’s a loop walk up to the Lighthouse, then the Summit and back down.

It was HOT, and lots of spots on the track had no breeze at all.
Many skittle stops were required.

Good views from the lighthouse and summit.

The walk down was easy, with some stunning views back towards Cairns and Lazuli.

Down the bottom it was time for our ice cream. Walked down to Foxy’s Bar.

We ended up getting lunch there first, and then the ice cream :)

Started to head back to Lazuli for my afternoon work meeting.

Kristie took off for another snorkel from the boat, asking me to come pick her up when my meeting was done.

Back on the boat Kristie got changed and the two of us snuck back to Foxy’s Bar for happy hour cocktails.

Whilst there it started spitting, so messaged the girls to ask them close up the windows and take cushions down.
Kristina went above and beyond and covered the generator with a tarp to keep it dry.

It was still running… so it ended up melting a bit of the tarp.

I messaged to thank them for being so thoughtful, and also ask her to turn it off!

We took hot chips and delicious mango and avo salad back to the boat to go with another round of spanish mackerel for dinner (2 bags down - 3 still left)

Back to the boat just before more rain came, we had time to put the sides up and then cook dinner.

Tomorrow we’re off to Cairns. We need to get the infill replaced, pick up a few deliveries from the Post Office, and resupply (and hide from the weather).

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 sore 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 headed 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 treats 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 swing back on the beach, 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.