There were only 2 stops from Hinchinbrook Island to Cairns: Kent Island, which is part of the North Barnard Group, and Fitzroy Island. As we approached Fitzroy Island we heard a VHF message from an Australian warship to "All Ships": "Live weapons practice will begin at 12oo hours..." It wasn't long before we saw the ships. We noticed a ship guarding the entrance channel to Fitzroy and another one guarding the exit channel, so we thought it best to anchor immediately. That night 6 warships anchored behind us.
The next morning at 6.00am, 5 of the ships were on the move. We decided to escape to Cairns. An amazing coincidence occurred next. We heard the British yacht, Gryphon II, call the marina. We had left NZ on the same day but had taken different routes to Oz. Gryphon had been to Fiji and Vanuatu, and here we were arriving at Cairns within half an hour of each other! Incredible! It was good to catch up with Chris and Lorraine again. We also met a number of yachts taking part in the Sail Indonesia Rally at a Pot Luck supper the next evening. Cairns is busy and bustling with many tourists arriving to take boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef. We are waiting for a parcel to arrive from England but two nights in the most expensive marina so far in Oz, was enough. We motored down the creeks and anchored for 2 nights in Garrison Creek, only 2.5 miles upstream from Cairns, but it might have been in another country, so quiet was it in comparison. No crocodiles were seen but we didn't swim - just in case.
There were only 2 stops from Hinchinbrook Island to Cairns: Kent Island, which is part of the North Barnard Group, and Fitzroy Island. As we approached Fitzroy Island we heard a VHF message from an Australian warship to "All Ships": "Live weapons practice will begin at 12oo hours..." It wasn't long before we saw the ships. We noticed a ship guarding the entrance channel to Fitzroy and another one guarding the exit channel, so we thought it best to anchor immediately. That night 6 warships anchored behind us.
The next morning at 6.00am, 5 of the ships were on the move. We decided to escape to Cairns. An amazing coincidence occurred next. We heard the British yacht, Gryphon II, call the marina. We had left NZ on the same day but had taken different routes to Oz. Gryphon had been to Fiji and Vanuatu, and here we were arriving at Cairns within half an hour of each other! Incredible! It was good to catch up with Chris and Lorraine again. We also met a number of yachts taking part in the Sail Indonesia Rally at a Pot Luck supper the next evening. Cairns is busy and bustling with many tourists arriving to take boat trips out to the Great Barrier Reef. We are waiting for a parcel to arrive from England but two nights in the most expensive marina so far in Oz, was enough. We motored down the creeks and anchored for 2 nights in Garrison Creek, only 2.5 miles upstream from Cairns, but it might have been in another country, so quiet was it in comparison. No crocodiles were seen but we didn't swim - just in case.
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