Australia!

Sorry to keep you all in suspense, but it was a while before we could set up a reliable internet connection. We are safe in Gladstone Marina, Queensland. Leaving NZ, it was our intention to sail to Brisbane but the winds had a different idea. After 11 days of sailing on every point of sail with too much wind and no wind, we arrived in Bundaberg on Sat 30th April. Customs and Quarantine met us and we were charged double the usual rate ($618AU) because it was the weekend. It was also a holiday weekend so we could do nothing until the following Tuesday. Straight away we set ourselves up with an Oz mobile phone SIM and a mobile broadband. The latter did not work. We booked our trip to Sydney and travelled there by Tilt train and plane - a 12 hour journey. We had 2 nights in a hotel and 2 nights with Jeremy's uncle and aunt, Peter and Judy. Here I am at Sydney Harbour with the famous bridge in the background.

We boarded an open top bus and toured the sights taking in the Opera House and Bondi Beach. We had lunch sitting in the sunshine, the Opera House behind us and the Bridge in front of us. Wow!
The next day we spent the morning in the Sydney Museum and learnt that one of the first fleet of ships carrying convicts was built in Sunderland, Jeremy's home town. Soon it was time to take the ferry across the harbour to Manly to meet Peter and Judy. Fellow sailors, Jonny and Kate sailed from the UK to Oz over a year ago. We tried to meet up with them as they also live in Manly, but sadly it was not to be. Our schedule was tight and we needed to spend time with Peter and Judy as we had not seen them for 30 years.

Here they are sitting on "The Whale" on the headland near their home. They were excellent hosts and made us feel very welcome. We were introduced to Jeremy's cousin, Louise, her husband Charles and son, Andrew. Andrew was attacked by a shark a couple of years ago, while he was out surfing with his father. He still bears the scars, but has not been put off surfing.

Once we were back in Bundaberg, we provisioned Sal Darago and set off north, day sailing along the coast. On our second day the propellor started vibrating. This had happened while we were crossing the Tasman Sea. We anchored and Jeremy braved the possibility of salt water crocodiles lurking in the water, to go over the side and check the prop. He quickly confirmed that the cutlass bearing was working loose. We decided to turn around and go back 35 miles to Gladstone Marina. We are to be lifted out on Tuesday 17th May to replace the cutlass bearing on the prop shaft. The last one was engineered in Panama. The weather has been brilliant recently, but Oz is much busier and more expensive than NZ.