Leaving Oz

Vivo went on the hard today. Odd feeling. A new lifestyle coming up and all. Its been home for almost a year, and ½ a planet. Still no parts for the anchor windlass. But we’ve never been closer. We had to pull up the chain manually. All 350 feet of it. Took about two hours and we were pretty sore afterword. My rotator cuff is not talking to me. Actually it’s barking mad! Oh and still no hot water. Although I did get the replacement units shipped in but its not worth doing the install now. I’ll get on it when I come back. So she’s on the hard and ready to sit out a cyclone season.

We finish up putting her to bed tomorrow and then off to New Zealand for a tour on the dirt side of the shore line.  Should be some nice stuff to post from there.

All for now

M

Airlie Beach

Might recall from a previous posting that we came here without reservations for anywhere to stay. Worked out fine. Booked the first place that had a vacancy. 5 star. Well, maybe not 5. Maybe more like 2. In a 1960s cinderblock, corrugated tin, smelly kind of way. But cheap! Dawn says its not going to happen again. Oh well. Just think of all the money I saved!

Home away from home, away from home.

Anyway, Airlie Beach is hip little place. ½ of it is families with little kids and the other ½ backpackers. We are situated on the beach next to two very large salt-water lagoons. They filter out the stingers and sharks and all. Jammed with little Aussies. On the other side of the place is the main drag. Shops and bars. Lots of bars. So we sit between Disneyland on one side and spring break Daytona Beach on the other. It’s the end of the rugby season and entire teams get dropped off here by the busload. And they celebrate the end of the season pretty hard.

We have hiked one end of the place to the other. There is a nice boardwalk and some trails that go up into the hills. Flocks of wild Cockatoos that make a heck of a racket. There are several beaches and a couple of nice marinas. Lots of boats out on anchor. I’m envious.

Strangler Fig. Pretty awesome tree. As trees go.

 

View from way up the hill.

So we had to get out to the barrier reef to get in some sightseeing and snorkeling. And since Vivo is a dockominium stuck in Mackay we took a day sail on and old wooden tall ship. The Derwent Hunter. Pretty cool. Built in the 40s. Gaff rigged. Old tank of a vessel. Sailed out a couple of hours and went to a couple of snorkel spots. The water was WAY cold. We are spoiled snorkel snobs. We have been to so many places where the water is gin clear and warm.  Swim all day. Here we get out after about ½ hour with our teeth chattering. But it was a lovely time and we got to haul some lines. Very different sailing than what we are accustomed to on Vivo. No winches. All leverage and manpower.

Poor quality pic I nicked from their website.

Me in the Blue shirt, red hat.

Back to Mackay again. Windlass parts are still about two weeks out. Really want to get done with it and move on to New Zealand.

All for now.

M

Finally got some wifi. Here are a few shots I have been meaning to post.

Heading to Airlie Beach tomorrow for a few days. Still waiting for parts for the anchor windlass.

This is in the Blue Mountains. Hiding out from the rain under an interesting rock outcropping.

This is in Port Douglas. A little salt water croc on the river bank.

A Tan Kite hunting. Same river.

A BIG saltie. This is in the Baintree Rainforest. Had an interesting tour there.

A Boyds Forest Dragon. Beautifully camouflaged.  This one is about a foot long. They get to about twice this size. 

So were off tomorrow. Taking a bus from Mackay to Airlie. We have no reservations for anyplace to stay. Just going to hoof it till we find something. This is a BIG step for Dawn. Being the planner that she is. This one is way out of the comfort zone. I'm not conceded. Me and my buddy, visa, can fix it up just right. I hope anyway. If this goes sideways its my azz for sure. Wish us luck!

All for a while maybe. Who knows what wifi they have in Airlie.

M

Port Douglas

Blue Mountains were great. But cold and wet. The morning we left it was in the thirties and pouring rain. We might go back there later when it’s nicer. We like it there. So we headed north. Flew to Cairns then by car to Port Douglas. Our friends on Nexus stopped off here and said it was nice. It is. It is about as far north as you can get in Queensland. Tourist town. Shops and restaurants. But a nice 4 mile beach. We walked it the other day. 8-mile hike. Its also salt-water crocodile territory. Signs on the beach warn of stingers, sharks and salt water crocs. Lets go swimming kids! Y'all go first!

I have some shots of wildlife from some tours and hikes we did but the wifi here is so bad that I cannot download photos. And they charge $40 a week for it. Useless. There is a national debate over a plan to deploy nationwide high speed internet. Some people don't want it, and see no value in it. Apparently they have never experienced it.

Going back to Mackay in a couple of days. Will get some better wifi there.

M

Katoomba

A two-minute walk from where we are staying is an overlook into the Blue Mountains. Looks a lot like the Rockies or some places we have been in Arizona. They say you can hike into the mountains here and never see another soul. 120,000 people live in and around the Blue Mountains but it is an area the size of Britain. Nice break from Sydney. Where 120,000 are waiting at the cross walk for the light to go green. And 90,000 of them are smoking.

We have been hiking all over the place. Rain, sun, chilly out.

Right down from our place is this view. Called Three Sisters. The aborigines say that during the dreaming time three sisters were being pursued by an evil spirit. In order to save them the gods turned them to stone. They have names but I can't remember them. If you look close at the one on the left there is a walkway into the spire from the cliff face. We are going there today.

Cable car ride across the gorge. Long way down baby!

Water fall shot from the cable car. It was blowing so hard that the bottom section of the falls just about blows right back up the wall.

They boast the worlds steepest railroad. And, oh yeah, its steep! More like a roller coaster ride. Dawn is not a fan.

Heya Tim. How ya going?

M

Blue Mountains, Katoomba.

Took a train. Two hour ride heading west from Sydney. Not very pretty till about the last ½ hour. Then you’re in the Blue Mountains. It’s a federal preserve area. About the size of Great Britain they say. So we get off the train and wait in a café for the bus. And for the FRIGGIN HAIL to stop. We will be buying some warmer cloths here. Its 37 deg this morning. 3 deg C!!!  Wish I was in Fiji! The mountains are beautiful. I will post some pix if and when the sun comes out.

We bought a weeklong hopper pass for the bus and some tics for cable car and train rides. Got tickets for an aboriginal education program with it and turns out the place is right across the street from the place we are staying. So we pop in there and it turns out we are the only two people in the audience. We told them we could easily come back another time but they insisted on doing the show. So we got our own private ½ hour show and education put on by some local aborigines. They were related but were from four different tribal areas. And four different dialects. It was kind of embarrassing but they were very gracious and made us feel quite at home.

Nice folks. I would not even attempt to spell, much less pronounce  their names. I would say 30 syllables each, minimum. Its your name, your fathers, his father before, etc., all rolled into one. Goes on forever. 

Going to go buy some socks and long johns. Bought a cap yesterday. 

M