Cairns and Yorkeys Knob

It has been a busy time for us in Cairns doing some repairs and maintenance and storing and fuelling ready to sail on Thursday on our big new adventure. It is really north of here that the new adventure really starts as we have sailed up to Lizard Island before but that is the furthest north we have gone on the coast. We have three days sailing to Lizard Island but we will be stopping along the way at Lowe Isle, Cooktown before arriving at Lizard Island. We need winds to save fuel usage although we do have a back stop in case we need additional fuel.

Monday - 24/09/2012

We have hired a car for a couple of days to do all the running around, one of the first things on the list was to purchase an air-conditioner a portable type as we will need one for the months we spend in Darwin during the wet season, we shopped around eventually buying one from The Good Guys, they didn't event haggle the price the manager came over to the girl that was serving us and told her to knock $100 off the price for us. We also bought a couple of other needed items that were on special. On the way we met up with Yvonne, Vic's wife who we saw yesterday, it was good to catch up and say hello.

The next was to purchase some flat fenders to go through the lock gate at the marina in Darwin as we believe we do not have that much clearance getting through the gate with our width, I could be wrong but we need to be prepared. We did some shopping at The Deck Store which Brian on 'Muscat 7' told us about and we also went to Whittworths for some items that the other store did not have. After that we visited  SeaSwift that runs a Mother-ship Service, we registered with them so that if we need fuel or water we can get it from their vessels that will be going to the Torres Straits it is also possible to get food goods or supplies delivered  to SeaSwift to be sent to you on your travels, naturally it all has to be timed to their schedule.

The next item was to try and get cables for the Pactor 3 we have purchased so we can send emails via HF Radio, we were not successful with that project so that will have to wait until Darwin. When we had finished the running around we headed back to the marina to unload all the gear. By the time we had finished it was time for late lunch and a relax.

Tuesday - 25/09/2012

It was time for more shopping, we had listed the places we had to go and Nancy was navigator again giving me the directions to get to the different locations. After we had done some running around in the city we went down to the esplanade for an early lunch after a short walk around the swimming lagoon.

(The Esplanade In Cairns)

(The Esplanade is full of Cafes and Restaurants and gets rather crowded in the evenings)

(Now I reckon that this Lifeguard would have the toughest job going)

(The tides well out, this young fella up to his knees in mud)

Then we drove out to the Smithfield Shopping centre to do the grocery shopping and then to Dan Murphy's to top up the beer and wine supplies, then we had to go back to the city because the Chemist did not have all the medication that we needed.

The car was packed with stuff and it took two four wheel trolley loads to get it from the car to boat the only light items were my wallet and the bank balance.

Then it was stowing all the extra stuff trying to balance weight throughout the boat, we finally got it all done. With everything stowed away it was time to have showers and then meet friends Trish and Courtney for dinner at the yacht club here at the marina, Trish being a school friend and Courtney being her daughter. We had a very nice evening with two very nice people.

Wednesday - 26/09/2012

Cleaning day, Nancy went off with the laundry and I scrubbed the boat and filled water tanks and containers then started getting things ready to sail tomorrow. That took all day.

In the evening we went to dinner with my good ex-Navy mate Billy Simpson and his lovely wife Lynette, yes we went to the yacht club again. It is a great place to eat and the views over the sea are terrific. After a good meal and long chats we turned in for the night.

Cheers