​Well we thought that Cape Gloucester would be the furthest north that we would go in ITIKI this season, mindful of a long return journey ahead of us. A conversation with our friends Cheryl and Richie on Serenity Now made us change our minds though, and so glad we did. Magnetic Island, or Maggie as it is affectionately known, is a real gem of a place and well worth a visit.

Magnetic Island is just 8km from Townsville within the UNESCO Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area. Most of the Island’s 5,184ha land area is protected - 78% is National Park and Conservation Park. With 23 stunning beaches and bays, a wide array of wildlife, and a small and friendly residential population of over 2,300. This low key "resort free" island is a favourite with cruisers and even hosts its own Race Week around September each year. 

It took us 2 long days to make the 132nm from Airlie Beach to Horseshoe Bay on the north side of Magnetic Island, with early starts both days. The first leg from Airlie took us
outside of Gloucester Island to Cape Upstart. It was great to do some sailing under main and gennaker, with a little Volvo assistance at times. Spotted plenty of whales along the way as well, which is always a delight! Cape Upstart is a big anchorage with some shacks ashore, good protection from the south-east trades and a very  popular stopover for boats on the way north and south. A little rolly at first but settled during the night and we slept well.

​An early start the next day as well, with the main up, although we were expecting to motor, with light winds forecast. The forecast was for less than 10kts from any random direction, however we ended up with 15-18 from the south which gave us a good reach once we got past the very long and low Cape Bowling Green, and turned westward towards Maggie. It was quite choppy past the point as its fairly shallow, but we settled in to a rhythm and made good time. A bit overcast when we arrived at Horseshoe bay, there are quite a few boats here, but plenty of space and nicely protected.

Took the paddle boards ashore, into the wind, which was hard work as we are quite a way out! Walked along the beach and checked out the “town” which is pretty basic, a couple of tourist shops, a pub and a few restaurants/cafes. What more could you want?! The water is not really clear here and although there is a netted swimming area we are not tempted. Tides are fairly substantial up this way and there was a tri-maran and a Wharrum cat beached on the shore, their owners doing some much needed hull and keel work.

We took advantage of Queensland’s 50c bus fares to head uphill to the Forts Junction and tackle the famous Forts Walk. Saw a couple of koalas chillin' out in the trees along the way. It is quite a hike to see the various ruins and lookouts with several side paths and back tracks. Hot and sweaty work so we head down to Florence Bay for a picnic lunch. Lots of steep steps on the way down and as our legs were starting to turn to jelly we thought it might have been a mistake, particularly if we need to go back the same way! Florence Beach is lovely, beautiful white sand and very clean. Not too many people either as most come on foot or by boat. We have a quick dip but there is quite an algal bloom on the water here and a little difficult to avoid the slick. After a picnic lunch and a rest before heading back we manage to get back on our feet. Fortunately we can return on a gently sloping road up to Forts Junction, but even so it is slow going. Made it to the bus stop and just as we did a couple of locals stopped in their car and offered us a lift back! What a lovely gesture and very welcome!

​Back on the 50c buses again this morning (no expense spared!) First stop at Alma Bay. There is a lovely beach here which has life savers, grassed BBQ and picnic area. This must be the main tourist beach as it was quite busy. We spy an older couple who are having a picnic with a table cloth and wine in glasses! Very civilised! Why didn’t we think of that.
 
We enjoy a swim here as the water is lovely and clean, then its 2kms walk to Nelly Bay where the ferry wharf and IGA are located. Stopped for lunch at SOS seafoods and some ordinary barra and an average glass of wine, before getting back onto the bus to Picnic Bay. This is the end of the line and there is not much here at all. The beach is unpatrolled and there is an old, long, disused jetty in the middle. Some kids are having a bit of a carnival at the SLSC but none seem too keen to go in the water. We walk along the foreshore, past the signs announcing a recent croc sighting, and then succumb to the temptation of the local craft Brewery where we have a “tasting board” before heading back to Horseshoe Bay on the bus. As we have a little time to kill on board the bus before departure, the driver treats us to several verses of “The wheels on the bus…” complete with actions, including horn going beep, beep, beep and wipers going woosh, woosh, woosh. Hilarious!
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​After a couple of full-on days we make the most of some rainy weather to stay on board, rest & recover, bake, eat, drink and repeat – and of course a few boat jobs.  

Our legs have stopped wobbling so we tackle the (much shorter) walk from Horseshoe beach to Radical Bay and Balding Bay. There are several strategically placed warning signs along the way announcing that Balding Bay is a nudist beach. Both are really lovely beaches, with beautiful white sand, crystal clear water and lined with spectacular boulder formations. We saw one yacht anchored at Balding bay, although they came over to Horseshoe for the evening, so we decided to come over in ITIKI tomorrow. We had dinner ashore at Barefoot wine bar, lovely meal, and met some fellow Tasmanians.

​As planned, the next day we took ITIKI around to Radical Bay after breakfast. Went ashore and had a walk and swim, so good. A great day relaxing, watching the comings and goings of humans and birds.
 
Sadly it ended up being a radically rolly anchorage overnight, which explains why boats only come around here for the day, so we woke in the wee hours and ended up leaving at 3am! Got to Cape Upstart just after lunch, mostly motor sailed. Keith went up the mast when we got there to sort out a halyard, and spotted a Dugong between us and the shore. What a treat! We motored back to Airlie the next day, having thoroughly enjoyed a “side trip” to Maggie.

We spent just on three months in the Whitsundays and as you can see from our NFL track we made several loops around the major islands of the Whitsundays, using Airlie Beach as a base and catching up with friends, old and new, and welcoming our final guests on board ITIKI. It was a great time to relax and enjoy the area with no time pressures and no great distances to travel. We also used the opportunity to get some regular maintenance and outstanding works done and generally peace out. Here are some of the highlights of our time here.

It might not have the white sand beaches and palm trees, but Macona Inlet, on the southern end of Hook Island is a magical anchorage. It is a long, fjordlike bay surrounded by high, rocky cliffs and lined with mangroves - great for exploring in the dinghy or SUPs. With two distinct anchorages and several small beaches, which all but disappear at high tide, so be quick if you want a swim! Turtles, rays and dolphins frequent the bay and possibly sharks as well. Great protection from the SE trade winds. We stopped here a couple of times and would definitely recommend it. Very peaceful and good protection from SE winds.

The bay to the west of Macona, is much better known and frequented, and also very beautiful. What makes Nara Inlet so special is the historical site including cave paintings left by the ngaro peoples, the local sea peoples and traditional owners. Its a short walk up hill from the tiny landing point on the rocky shore and the visit is well presented with interpretive information and voice recordings from descendants of the ngaro tribe. Its a bit challenging to anchor the dinghy here at high tide, so its good to have someone drop you off to visit the cave.

When conditions permit we love to jump in the water and check out what is happening below the surface. The Whitsundays and Barrier Reef are renown for the abundance of underwater life. The long reef off Chalkies Beach, is definitely worth a visit. We picked up a mooring here and took the dinghy to the southern end, swimming north back towards the boat. The bays at the top of Hook Island, such as Butterfly Bay and Manta Ray Bay were also well worthwhile and are popular favourites when it comes to searching for nemo, with pretty good coral and varied sea life. Our most adventurous trip was getting out to Bait Reef, which is 17nm NE of Hook island, offshore on the Barrier Reef. As there is no protection from wind or swell here, so its best to go in very calm conditions. If you get lucky its well worth a visit. The coral is in excellent condition and whale spotting is almost guaranteed in July and August.
As anywhere the underwater experience really depends on the weather conditions which can determines the visibility and comfort factor when snorkelling. One really pleasant surprise was a spot we had not been to before and not even considered for snorkelling, but it proved quite interesting.  Cairn Beach is the starting point for the challenging Whitsunday Cairn walk, and while we were not up for that, we had perfectly calm conditions to explore the long and colourful coral reef that extends from the beach a long way south. We picked up a free mooring buoy, and in perfect and calm conditions I jumped off ITIKI and swam over to the reef, while Keith took the SUP. It was so super calm and he could see the reef clearly from the board. What a lovely surprise location this one was! 

The prevailing trade winds come from the South East and during our time in the area we regularly had forecasts of 20+kts from this direction. So when the going gets tough, everyone gets going...to Cid Harbour! There are no mooring buoys here but plenty of room to anchor and great holding in sticky mud. There is excellent wind and swell protection, and with no high cliffs around, no katabatics. You will arrive to find dozens of boats here if a big blow is forecast but fear not, there is always enough space for more! Yes we did spend quite a few days and nights here and (sometimes) in good company.
​Ashore you can access the Whitsunday Peak walk, which is not for the faint hearted or unfit (ie us). Otherwise there is a lovely and less challenging walk from Sawmill Beach to Dugong Beach, where there is a camping area. Great to stretch those legs when you have been hunkering down listening to the howling of the wind in the rigging. The only downside is that there is no swimming, after several shark attacks in this area some warning buoys and signs have been added to the anchorage. Keith bravely went exploring on the SUP and can confirm the presence of "noahs" in the area!

Not sure if Insta is still a thing, but its hard to beat Hill Inlet / Whitehaven Beach for world class, stunning scenery and the "money shot" of selfies. The picture postcard perfect shifting sands of Hill Inlet are best appreciated from the lookout above the bay, which can be easily accessed when anchored at Tongue Bay, to the NW. Its best spend the night there and to head ashore early-ish before the tourist hoards start arriving, so you dont have random backpackers in your selfies. From the lookout you can walk down to the northern end of Whitehaven Beach and check out the rays sunbathing in the shallows of Hill Inlet, and even take a dip with them. The brave, and shallow drafted, may even want to take the big boat up the inlet (at high tide) and spend the night tucked in close to shore. We visited this lovely location at least three times and it is a must to enjoy, especially with your visitors. As always check the tides before you go ashore at Tongue Bay and position your dinghy accordingly, or better still take the SUPs.

Well of course Whitehaven Beach has to be the pick! Consistently voted top beach in Australia, its unique, pure white silica sand is just amazing to walk on and the water is crystal clear. It is a very popular spot with day trippers at the southern end of the anchorage, and the beach fills up pretty quickly during the day. Its easy to find space further along the shore though, and swim, SUP or dinghy to the beach for a walk. There are a couple of paths through the forest to overgrown lookouts if you fancy it, but we prefer to stick to strolling along the sand. Watch out for the helicopters  landing along the middle of the beach and wave to the many sightseeing flights passing overhead! We visited Whitehaven several times and each time is different. On a calm day it is absolute heaven. 

​Across from Whitehaven is Chalkies Beach, on Haslewood Island, another long stretch of sand, but strangely, given its proximity, just regular sand and not the silica of Whitehaven. A dozen or so mooring buoys stretch out along the shore, just outside the fringing reef, which is well worth a look. Its nice to start at the southern end when the tide is ebbing north and follow the reef along with the current.
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​Special mention: For something truly unique a visit to the smallest beach in the Whitsundays is a must. We picked up a mooring at Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island and took the SUPs to the northern tip of the island, carefully manoeuvring between the rocks and the surge onto the 2 meter wide, corally "beach". Its about a 50m walk across from the west to the eastern side of the "spit", where there is at least a bit of sand! 

Of course the disappearing beach, off Langford reef is also quite unique! See next section

Between Stonehaven and Hayman is Langford Island, a tiny pimple of land with a large reef stretching out to the south and south east of it, that all but dries at low tide. A long sandspit on the NE of the reef is walkable at low tide but completely disappears at high tide. It looks spectacular from the air, and the resorts sometimes drop guests off by helicopter for a picnic. We dinghied ashore here walking up to the small lookout to check out the view, as well as the unique Whitsunday Bottle Tree.
Its also a popular spot with charter boats and with limited buoys (and a 2 hour limit) you need to time your arrival with the tides. Nearby Black Island and Stonehaven are popular alternatives, and most folk just stop for a couple of hours before moving on to their next destination.

We encountered a wonderful array of bird and sealife in the Whitsundays. We regularly spotted turtles in the anchorages, raising their heads to look around before spotting a camera and making a swift exit into the depths. The mangroves provide a protected habitat for several different types of rays, including the cow-tail ray, that we had not seen before. It's definitely aptly named! We had pods of dolphins come and check us out, sometimes swimming along with us for a while, and sometimes not the least bit interested. It was wonderful to see a pair of them fishing together in Macona Inlet, with one animal herding the fish towards the others waiting mouth! The sea eagles and ospreys are always lovely to see on the wing, and they regularly make their nests on the channel markers which guide us through the reefs and shallows. While on a buoy at Langford we had two lovely batfish putting on a display, dancing in the water off the back of the transom. It was also a real treat to spot a dugong off the beach at Cape Upstart on our way back from Maggie, the first I have ever seen in the wild. Sorry no camera ready for that one. And of course, the majestic animal that we all love seeing, the humpback whales! Wow there were so many of them and numerous encounters. We had to dodge a pod of them just out side Bait Reef as we were leaving, had to hold back to let them pass the exit channel! We also saw mothers feeding their young and plenty of tail and fin slapping. They were generally on the move, initially heading north but later in our stay we were starting to see them head south. 

The advantage of a long stay in the area is that  you get to go to places a little off the beaten track. Border island is one such spot we had not been to but were able to stay and play, while the charter boats came and went on their way to somewhere else. The island is quite small but there is a lovely walk up over the ridge with spectacular views southwards to Haslewood Island and beyond. Cateran Bay is lovely, and nicely protected bay so well worth a stop.

Haslewood Island is best known for Chalkies Beach on its western side, which is directly opposite Whitehaven Beach. As we had a bit of time we decided to stop at Windy Bay on the North East of the island, a lovely bay with a couple of beaches, where we had been for a picnic many years ago when Keith was working on Hamilton Island. The Commodore had borrowed the start boat of the Cruising Yacht Club of Hamilton Island for the day trip and we had lovely weather, anchoring in the wide bay and climbing off to swim ashore. As we were relaxing in the shade of our little beach tent and enjoying a cold beer, we looked out to see our little boat high and dry! Ooops, too late to move her. Needless to say we spent a little longer here than we expected to that day... I seem to remember running out of fuel just as we got into Dent Passage as well, and having to be rescued! Fortunately no such dramas this time around. Anchored a fair way out and took the dinghy ashore for a walk on the beach, check out the local rays before a quick swim and sundowners aboard.​

Now that we are based in Tasmania, we have gotten used to calling the rest of Australia The Mainland". From the lovely Whitsunday Islands we made several forays across from the islands to The Mainland. The most memorable was a short hop from Airlie up to Cape Gloucester, with the added bonus that an "old" school friend of mine was staying at Monte's resort with a bunch of her friends. Monte's is a low key resort with a bar and restaurant that is sometimes open, but is also home to the Shag Islet Yacht Club, a bunch of reprobates that meet annually at the resort for fun and festivities. We were too early for the event but enjoyed an evening ashore and BBQ and bonfire, and a few ales, with a lovely bunch of people. The beaches here are really lovely and well protected from the south, and the sunset was incredible. We enjoyed stopping at Jonah Bay on the way back, another superb beach, and protected anchorage, only reachable by boat.

We used Airlie Beach as our base and it is very handy for provisioning, grooming, getting work done and of course catching up with friends. A big shout out to Nick and Suzie, good friends and our "bridal party" who fed us delicious meals (especially "road slam" - aka Roast Lamb), took us shopping and out to lunches and dinners and generally looked after us when we in town. 

Queensland is littered with abandoned resorts, relics of a bygone, pre-AirBnB era, when it wasn't cheaper to fly to Bali. We motored past Lindeman, formerly the Club Med, where we had once played golf and enjoyed lunch. Sadly it is now quite derelict and overgrown, unlikely it will ever be recovered. South Molle was once a popular spot at the cheaper end of the market, but the buildings are now completely in ruins and ready for a bulldozer. Strangely however there is an amazingly engineered and fairly new looking wharf, with a lifting section on the end. There is a caretaker living on the island and the grounds and walking trails are well maintained. It can be a rolly anchorage if the wind is much above 15kts, but in calm conditions it is really pleasant. We enjoyed the walk up to Balancing Rock, which gives some lovely views southward. It was a treat to have a pod of dolphins show up and cruise around the bay too.

With Keith having spent 9 years living and working on Hamilton Island we were really looking forward to seeing how it had changed since he left, and of course catching up with friends who are still living and working up this way. We had drinks with (and delivered honey to) Jon and Liz Hickling (former caretakers of  the private end of Dent Island, and Percy Islands), had a lovely lunch at The Beach Club with Laurelle, now Executive Concierge to the stars, and enjoyed buzzing around the island on a borrowed buggy, checking out our old haunts and new resorts. 
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Race week marked the end of our planned time in the Whitsundays as we had planned to head south as soon as it was over. After all its a long way back to Surges Bay! Well as we well know plans are written in sand at low tide, so on Sunday we headed over to Stonehaven to meet a potential buyer for ITIKI, with Pete from TYSCo. And the rest, as they say, is history...

No this is not a follow up act to Crosby, Stills and Nash, but the next 3 islands we get to visit on our way north. From Middle Percy Island we made our way the 22nm northwest to Digby Island. We are trying to break up our trips into bite size pieces, so definitely no overnight-ers and a short enough day to allow at least an afternoon at our destination as we skip north. According to our pilot book Digby could be a rolly anchorage, but we figured after being out on the reefs in nasty conditions, how bad could it be?! Conditions were reasonably calm, so we took our chances and so glad we did. A lovely island and very well protected. There is a short and rocky beach ashore which we could check out on the SUPs. There is also a small wreck on the beach but not much else and we get a good night's sleep. 

From Digby it is 42nm to Scawfell Island and we pass through the big ship parking lot that is off the coast of Mackay. Its here that Hay Point VTS direct the bulk coal carriers to a set location to anchor and wait for their turn to go into the port to pick up a load. The stationary ones are not a problem but you have to keep an ear out for any ships being called into the port, and keep out of their way as they are in a hurry! Not quite as many ships as waiting off Panama, but still a fair few!

Although its just an overnight stop we arrive at Scawfell Island in time to check out the underwater life in West Refuge Bay. First we go for a bit of a reconnaissance on the SUPs and then I decided to go back and get the snorkel gear and check out the eastern side of the bay. The tide was starting to come in and with it quite an algal bloom (ick!) so I didn't have much time. I also read a review of the bay from some friends of ours who had spotted a rather large hammerhead shark in the area... ​

We were planning to go to Brampton Island, and check out the abandoned holiday resort. Keith had stayed here with family during the '90s. Sadly though the SW conditions would not be good for the night, so we diverted to Thomas Island. This is a lovely spot that we visited back when Keith was working on Hammo. It must have been northerly winds because we stopped at a bay on the south coast. I cant say I remember it that well. Anyway this time around we have southerlies so we head to the anchorage on the northern side of the bay. Its such a lovely island so we decided to spend a couple of nights here. We went ashore on the SUPs and did the walk across to the southern side of the island. The track is a bit overgrown and challenging to find, the first few marks are green triangles on trees, but after that the trail is marked by discarded flip flops and various other pieces of flotsam and jetsom, helpfully installed by passing cruisers. As you can see we had some beautiful weather!

​It's an early departure from GKI for the 47nm trip to Pearl Bay. As we approach the Shoalwater Bay area we hear a "securite" call on the VHF. Of course this is a Military Practice Area we are approaching and there is a live firing exercise scheduled to start today! Ooops! Must have missed that one! We quickly consult the Notice to Mariners on the QLD Maritime website. Phew, Pearl Bay is a designated safe anchorage so we can go in. Although we do get a bit paranoid when we see a power boat approaching us at speed from behind, that is not on AIS...

We radio another nearby boat for more information and he gives us the coordinates of the area that we missed during the announcement. Its the eastern most point of the targeted area, which is not always the same. He was planning to go into an anchorage further north but makes a bee line for Pearl Bay too when he realises that his preferred anchorage is off limits! Anyway there is no sign of any military activity and we figure it's Sunday and they probably cant afford the overtime rates!

There is a lovely long beach here and as we are just here for the night we make an effort to SUP ashore. Its a tough paddle into the wind which is funnelling down the bay, and we both end up a little further along the beach that we planned, but at least (in theory) it will be easy going back. Its always lovely walk along a beach and feel the sand in your toes after a day of sitting on our bums on a passage.

Its reasonably protected but gets quite rolly in the evening as the wind backs off and the tide brings in the swell. In the morning it is very calm and a misty cloud hugs the hills over looking the anchorage. Magic!

We start early and head back out of Pearl Bay, through the military practice area. We can see the boundary on our charts and head directly north, which seems the shortest route through it. Still no sigh of any activity so we think we got away with it. Probably should have turned off the AIS but then again...

We arrive at Hexham Bay in the early afternoon and it is really quite lovely, well protected from the south with a sand beach and a small, rocky bay on the western side. We take the SUPs into this bay at high tide and could easily go between a gap in the rocks. At low tide you would have to go around the northern point. The tides are getting pretty big now at 3-4m difference from low to high! 

For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to swim from the boat to the shore, like I needed some exercise... It was harder than I thought and then I met Sharon from Catlypso who told me about tiger and hammerhead sharks… Maybe time to rethink my exercise regime! 
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We end up staying 3 nights, which is a long time for us, enjoying beach walks and SUPing around bay. There are amazing rock formations along the shore and Keith spots a Reef Tip shark. Some fisherman come by and offer us some fish, a small sweetlips, which we proceed to butcher! What was left of it was delicious! 

Meanwhile on board we knock over a few boat jobs and lots of cleaning of course. We discovered a swallows nest under the solar panels, with four eggs! Not sure how long it has been there but sadly we have to remove it.

We also finally finished replacing our lifelines with Dyneema, a  job that had been staring me in the face since we picked up the materials in Sydney (on our way south...)! I guess I got side-tracked. Very happy with the results!

After breakfast and with a forecast for 15-20kts from the south, its time to depart but we are lucky to be getting 5 so after sailing for a little, the motors are on again! Its 24nm to Middle Percy Island and we arrive at West Bay in the early afternoon, immediately taking the SUPs ashore its so rolly we were keen to get off the boat! There is quite a swell coming into the bay, a remnant of the previous days SW winds, which have since clocked east.
 
The Percy Islands are legendary amongst cruisers who make the pilgrimage north to the Whitsundays and beyond. Its my first time here but Keith visited when bringing TooUp south. We are also on a very important mission here as we are tasked with collecting a 20L bucket of the famous Percy Islands honey for Liz and Jon Hickling, the previous caretakers of the island. Jon Hickling has written an excellent History of the Percy Islands which is sold at the A Frame. Liz and Jon are now living on Hamilton Island, where Keith and I met them during Keith's time there. We got in touch to let them know we will be visiting with them prior to visiting, we happily accepted the delivery mission!
 
One of the current caretakers is Marty who is living in the TreeHouse, the other is Steve who is up in the Homestead. Steve knows Liz and Jon Hickling (and their “kids”) very well, from when they lived and worked on the island. 
 
We visit the famous A Frame building, which is the Percy Islands Yacht Club. Here we can find many years of memorabilia left by passing yachties. We even find the signboard that Keith left when he passed by here on our previous boat Too Up. We have made up a sign for ITIKI and scope out where we want to attach it.
 
It was a very rolly night, without too much sleep and we are thinking of leaving after we collect the honey. Go ashore add the ITIKI sign to the A frame collection. Drop into the TreeHouse for a chat to Marty and Sam and decide to walk up to the homestead. Marty is heading up on his motorbike to get the honey. First we walk over to the lagoon, check out the shallows, where Marty’s trailer sailor is kept. This is an ideal cyclone hole and later we hear from Steve about sitting out a cyclone here on a boat, safe and sound in the mangroves.

We take the “short track” up to the homestead, over the mud/sand flats and then a steady but steepish climb. Most people must do this trail the opposite way as the sighs are all pointing back down to the beach. Up at the homestead, we share a cup of tea with Steve, he has made some videos about the Percy Islands which he shows us. Life is very simple and self-sufficient here, with chooks and a garden. Walk back down via the long track, Andy’s lookout, Sundial and rock arrangement – what is the significance? First kangaroo. Longer but less steep trail down to the beach. Marty passes us on the bike. A few more boats have arrived and it’s a lot less rolly. The tide has gone out and we get some help to take the dinghy to the waters’ edge and get the honey in. It’s a 20kg tub! Much less rolly night.

While we were here we heard some strange rumbling noises, which we initially blamed on each other, then ITIKI... Thinking back to Pearl Bay, we quickly realised that what we heard was the distant sound of live missile firings! The sounds really do reverberate through the water! Guess this time we really did dodge a bullet or missile!

The small string of reefs off the coast of Gladstone is sometimes called The Capricorn Group and is the start of The Great Barrier Reef. ​The southern most of those, Lady Musgrave Island is a 14 hectare coral cay on The Great Barrier Reef, with a 1,200 hectare surrounding reef. The reef forms a large kidney-shaped lagoon which is easy to enter by boat and provides a very spacious anchorage. Our route through these four reefs/islands is shown below.

We departed early from Burnett Heads to track due north for 54nm to reach the Lady Musgrave Island (LMI) mid-afternoon. The ABF spotter plan does a flyover of the route to LMI and calls a few boats including ITIKI for an identification check. Similar to our time in the Tuamotus, we want to arrive with the sun still reasonably high overhead so that we have good visibility on the entrance channel into the reef, and on any bommies lurking under the surface. With very little wind we sadly have to motor all of the way, arriving around 3pm. The “cut” or entrance channel is well marked and fairly wide and the tide is rising (ie going in), which makes for an easy entrance. Still as you can see from the picture the water is swirling through the narrow channel. There are a lot of yachts already here, as well as a permanent floating platform for one of the tour companies. There is plenty of room though and we find a nice patch of sand to drop the anchor, around the middle of the kidney, and relax for the afternoon.

Sunday we head over to the island in the dinghy and go for a walk ashore. There is a discovery path weaving its way through the island and we can see some ground birds, the Buff Banded Rail, as well as shearwater burrows. This island is a favoured spot for turtles to nest and while we can see some empty nests, and even turtle tracks leading down to the beach, the baby turtles are long gone. We do a lap of the island before heading back to the boat. There is not much else to do here, as the snorkelling did not look too good, but it is lovely to be swimming off the back of the boat again, in crystal clear water. In the afternoon a guy comes over in a dinghy offering us some fish. He has speared a large Spanish Mackeral and doesn’t have room for it in his fridge so gives us a huge chunk. We hack a couple of cutlets for dinner and it is delicious. As we are really rubbish at fishing, and have completely given up anyway, some fresh seafood is greatly appreciated. We have fish for the next couple of days and there is still another portion in the freezer!

Tuesday we decide to head across to Fitzroy Reef. It’s a tiny coral atoll, about 2000 acres, with a very narrow and challenging entrance. There is no island here at all, only reef and low tide the coral reef is fully exposed and you can see just how narrow the channel is. It’s not charted but there are a couple of markers on the entrance. We arrive right on low tide, however the water is still rushing out of the narrow channel quite quickly, running at 3-4kts against us. All the water that comes into this lagoon over the top of the reef at high tide, only has one small exit as the tide falls and this is it! As we line up to go through I hit the panic button as a wave exposes a shallowish rock off our starboard bow. It looked like the passage would be too narrow for us, but after backing up a bit (and a few "gently heated” words) our skipper judged we would make it through  - between a rock and a hard place! It was fairly hairy as the passage must have been about 10m wide (and we are 7.5m wide) so not a lot of wriggle room. At least going out we will have our inbound track to follow.

We take one of the three public mooring buoys, which is heavily encrusted with growth. We are the only ones here. Once the tide comes in the reef is completely invisible and you feel like you are sitting in the middle of the ocean! Of course there is no wind protection at all and at high tide, no  protection from the swell either so it gets pretty uncomfortable. Overnight we have a front go through and wind gusts up to 34kts, which is lucky because the buoys are only rated to 34kts... We are safe on the buoy but it is noisy and uncomfortable as we bounce around, creaking and jerking, waiting for the tide to go down so that the reef would give us some protection from the swell. The next morning we consider leaving on the high tide as we are feeling a bit cranky, but it’s still blowing some and with considerable swell so we decide to stay on. The wind abates by the early afternoon and the sun comes out so we go exploring. The sea life and coral here are supposed to be spectacular, which is why we came. However as we scout around the bommies in the middle of the cay, all we can see is 50 shades of brown. A lot of dead coral and no sign of any fish or rays. Not sure if this is what we have to look forward to thanks to climate change. We have a calmer night and a much better night sleep, although we can tell when the tide is high as we bounce about for a few hours.

​We leave on the high tide at mid-morning and it is a much less stressful transit. Very strange though as the reef is not visible at all so you are totally reliant on following the inbound track (saved on the chart plotter), three channel markers and a very nervous lookout on the bow.
 
It’s only a short (17nm) hop across to Heron Island and we pull out a headsail and motor sail, picking up a mooring at Wistari Reef. Heron Island has a private resort and a research facility, neither of which are open to visitors. It is possible to visit the small harbour, however the weather is fairly ordinary so we relax and enjoy the view. As with Fitzroy, Wistari Reef gives us some protection from the swell until the tide comes up and covers the reef, letting the waves through, and we start bouncing around. We get some squalls overnight but it’s not too uncomfortable.

An early start the next morning for the 58nm journey to Great Keppel Island (or Wop-pa). We hoist the main up in anticipation of the forecast 15kts, and it builds we unfurl the gennaker. Motors stay on most of the time as the wind is up and down and shifting a lot in direction, and we gybe the gennaker a few times. We have a few squalls pass over us and it pretty much rains the whole journey. Checking the chartplotter for any nasties along the route I came across an interesting find: A wreck is named after me! Yes the Linda Jane! Well that explains a few things...

​As we get closer to the island the winds builds and we have to furl the gennaker and go to the genoa. Better late than never I guess. We came close to reefing the genoa but eventually got into the lee of Great Keppel and were able to sail around the top and into the anchorage at Leekes Beach.

​After a quick cuppa we head ashore in the dinghy, around the point to Putney Beach to go to the resort here. Not because we are desperate for a drink but – long story short – I accidentally almost ran out of my medication, not realising until we got to Lady Musgrave Island! After a bit of ringing around (thanks to StarLink) I could organise a pharmacy in Yeppoon to fill an e-script, deliver to the GKI ferry who would drop it at the resort reception. All for a $5 delivery fee! How good is that! There is no dinghy dock though so rather than pull our heavy dinghy up on the beach we decide to do a “touch and go” on the beach. I still have my wet weather gear and sea boots on, so what could possibly go wrong… Of course as I jump off the front of the dinghy I realise I have under-estimated the depth of the crystal clear water, immediately filling one seaboot, and to top it off the next incoming wave fills the other. I slosh my way through the resort to reception, looking like something the cat dragged in, and gratefully collect my package! After emptying my sea boots, squeezing out my socks, I squelch my way back through the resort to the beach. Keith has been bimbling around in the dinghy waiting my return and comes in to pick me up. As I am already wet I just wade straight in, refilling both boots. Somehow he has only managed to fill one of his seaboots when he dropped me off! We head back to ITIKI for a well-earned sundowner.

​The following day is still cloudy and we get a few spits of rain, but decide to ignore the weather and take the SUPs ashore for a walk along our long and lovely beach.  Once we get to the end there is a creek leading into some mangroves, with a couple of boats tucked up amongst the trees. After lunch we come back in the dinghy to explore the Leekes Creek  and take a closer look at the boats moored there. One boat is inhabited and reasonably well loved, the other looks like it hasn’t been checked on for a while and at low tide it lies on its side. There are a few nooks and crannies in the creek that would make great boltholes for cyclones.

I found out that the resort is hosting a “music festival” this afternoon, with a few local and cover bands from the mainland. We didn’t fancy stumping up $100 for a ticket, but decided to go and see (and hear) what we were missing. We could hear the sound check from ITIKI. We take the SUPs ashore again and there is a steep scramble, with a rope, up to top of the ridge. From there we can walk through the forest and down to Putney Beach and along past the resort where I came ashore yesterday. The dulcet tones of Status Quo give way to Elton Jack and we continue on to Fisherman’s Beach. Keith and I have both been here before, many, many years ago. Me as a backpacker in ’84, staying at a youth hostel on the island, and Keith about 30 years ago staying at a resort which is long since closed. We head back to ITIKI, have a swim from the boat, put Elton John on the stereo and pour a glass of wine. It’s been a busy day!

I can raise the anchor with the controller though so we continue north, ducking and weaving through the shallow channels of Moreton Bay. We are using our southbound track as a guide to through the narrow channels to make sure we keep away from the shallows and sand/mud banks that make this passage so challenging. A momentary lapse of concentration, cutting it a bit fine by a navigation mark, saw us come to a standstill with a hull parked on a mudbank. It took a bit of pushing and pulling with the Volvos to get into deeper water and get moving again, and we probably left a fair bit of the anti-foul behind as well. Next challenge is to pass under the powerlines at Jacobs Well, and even though we have been through here before it is still a little nerve wracking navigating under them. We need to go as close as possible to the western tower to get the maximum height clearance, as we know the lines hang down to less than our air clearance in the centre. We follow our southbound track and make it through with plenty of room, anchoring at Peel island. The rain has returned and so we spend the night on board.

​Peel Island gets a little rolly overnight and that once again gets us up early and on the way to the next anchorage (22nm away). Its a cloudy morning but by the time we arrive at Lucinda Bay, just south of the Tangalooma wrecks on Moreton Island, we have beautiful blue skies. We take the SUP ashore for a lovely walk along the beach. There are some dolphins hanging around ITIKI which is always lovely to see. Overnight the southerly breeze builds it gets rolly so another early start. People think that cats don’t need to worry too much about rolly anchorages, and it is true to some extent but if there is no wind and the swell comes in on the beam, it is not much fun! Anyway this time we are off to Mooloolaba which is 39nm. We skipped it on the way south because of the conditions, but this time conditions are pretty good. 

From Moreton Island we start to get out into open water, so we can hoist the freshly repaired main up and manage to sail most of the way. After passing the busy shipping channel for Brisbane port we are in clear water and on our way. We have the gennaker out and goose-winged with the main, and a queen bedsheet on the line for good measure!  We arrive at midday and it is easy getting through the Mooloolaba entrance as we follow a marine Rescue Boat towing a stray beach cat, before weaving our way past the waterfront MacMansions lining the muddy “canals” into Kawana waters. There is a small anchorage just off the marina here it’s tight and shallow but it will do for a couple of nights. The marina staff have kindly left a key out for us to use the dinghy dock, which is really lovely. We did try to get a berth here but there were none to be had! We do a trip to the shops, catch up with Patrick from Multihull Solutions (who sold us ITIKI), wait for a strong wind warning to pass and then it’s time to head off again on Tuesday. It’s back out through the canals again and into the bay, hoisting the main up before turning north for a 64nm cruise to Rainbow Beach.

Once we get away from the bay and the wind direction settles, we are delighted to have perfect conditions for sailing. Even some sunshine! We have the gennaker out and goose-winged with the main, again, but no washing as we are all up to date! We have 15-18kts from the SE and its only partly cloudy, so we are making great speeds of 9-10kts through the water under sail. This  means that we will be able to get through the Wide Bay Bar this afternoon, just on high tide which is great! We had expected to arrive too late and have to wait another day.

Wide Bay Bar is the channel between Rainbow Beach and K’gari / Fraser Island. Heading up the inside of Fraser cuts a lot of miles off the journey north, especially as we want to do a final pitstop for fuel and food at Burnett Heads / Bundaberg, so it’s definitely worthwhile taking this route. The Wide Bay Bar has a notorious reputation which is well deserved. There are shifting sands, shoals and reefs surround this channel and it can be treacherous. If the swell is over 1.5m and the winds over 15kts it can get pretty hairy. Looking back over the data from the nearby wave rider buoy we can see that earlier in May the wave height was reaching 6-7m!!! That would have made it impassable! We are well prepared for our transit having called Tin Can Bay VMR to get the latest waypoints for the channel to plug into the chart plotter. The channel is surveyed on a regular basis and these waypoints had changed since our last visit. We also receive the latest info on the newly installed / adjusted sector lights, on the southern tip of K’gari (Hook Point) and the other at Inskip point on the mainland north end of Rainbow Beach. These give us a bearing for our entrance through the channel, helping to guide us through the reefs and shoals. There are no port and starboard markers here, because of shifting sands, they would have to keep moving them. Instead there are virtual AIS port and starboard markers, which appear on the chartplotter but not in real life! Much easier to move if  the regular survey shows they are in the wrong place. How clever is that! It’s so good to have such great information to help us.

The wave-rider buoy outside the bar gives “significant” wave height at 1.7m and we have winds at 15-17kts so we are right on the edge of the “comfort zone” for transit, but we are bang on high / slack tide as we get to the start of the channel and it is looking pretty good. You can see from our track we need to enter the channel from the ENE, picking up the first waypoint, and head WSW initially, aiming first at the sector light on Hook Point. At the second waypoint we can turn SW towards the sector light at Inskip point and towards the third waypoint. All the while there are waves breaking on shoals and reefs either side of us, with not a lot of room for error. Its pretty disconcerting to be so close to these. Both engines are on and our skipper is the picture of concentration, hand steering, and with both of us keeping a watch out for rogue waves. Everything in the saloon is secured as the waves are hitting us on the beam, with the odd rogue rattling the wine bottles, but overall not too bad. It takes about an hour to get through the reefs and rough stuff to waypoint 3 where we are into the calmer waters in the channel. We can safely turn west and proceed another 20 mins or so before we tuck into our anchorage at Pelican Point.

​While we have a reasonably calm night there is still enough breeze to work up a bit of fetch in the broad but shallow anchorage, which slaps on the hulls through the night. No point sleeping in with that racket so up we get at first light! It’s still a long day and 31nm to get to the Kingfisher Resort anchorage on k’gari by early afternoon. The tide is rising so we should be fine to follow the preferred course through Sheridan Flats. There are a lot of shallow and drying sand banks through this section and but it is well charted and a preferred course is given on our charts. We also have our course from out southbound journey to follow. That said, I made the mistake of remarking to Keith that I thought we were through the nastiest shallows of Sheridan flats when bang! We come to a halt, having clipped the edge of a sandbank with the Starboard hull – of course the depth sounder is on the port side and still in 1/2m of water, hmmm. This one took a bit of work to move us off and back in to the deeper part of the channel. Definitely no antifoul left on the keels now! We continue on and reach our destination at Kingfisher without further incident, heading ashore on the SUP for a walk on the beach, frightening a large ray as we approach the beach (and carrying a stick in case of dingo encounters). I might mention that we only have one SUP inflated at the moment so we ride in two up! Now that’s how much I trust my skipper!

Above: Sheridan Flats and k'gari

I am pleased to report that the anchorage was not rolly so we did have a good night’s sleep, but nevertheless we had an early start to get to Burnett Heads at a reasonable hour and its 54nm away. No wind so we could only motor (at 6.5kts if we are lucky) and we arrived around 3pm, first doing a hot lap of the anchorage to check it out before heading to the fuel dock at Bundy marina. This would be our last opportunity to refuel for a while. Back to the familiar Duck Pond anchorage we pick a spot in front of the Coast Guard. There is a large dredge in front of the public dock which takes up a bit of space but we have good depth in the western part of the bay. Friday’s activities include doing a provisioning run, picking up a couple of parcels from the post office that Kev has sent. This includes a new windlass controller which sadly does not fix our problem – the down function still doesn’t work! Grrr – more trouble shooting to come. We go for a walk later in the morning, stop at a coffee shop for a beverage and a treat, and then do a few boat jobs in the afternoon, including fitting the first of our Dyneema lifelines. We finish the day with schnitty and chips at the Lighthouse hotel. It’s off to Lady Musgrave tomorrow as our island adventures are about to begin!

​We set a cracking pace from Sydney to Southport 419 nm in 10 days, thanks in part to the procession of southerly fronts that have been gracing the east coast of Australia. After more than 2 weeks enjoying the delights of Sydney, catching up with family and friends, taking a ride on the new, super fast Metro and finally getting our AIS & VHF transmission sorted (3rd time lucky), we could finally restart our push north. There has been lots of motoring, in fact more motoring, and more diesel usage than our Atlantic and Pacific crossings combined! But hey, if we waited for perfect sailing conditions we might still be in Hobart. The weather has been very challenging to deal with since we left rainy Sydney. 

Well we haven’t done an overnighter for a while and the skipper assures me this will be the last one for a while. We leave our mooring around 9am and put the main up in the harbour. It will be great to leave this rolly harbour anyway. The wind is forecast to be 15kts from the SE. The swell is still significant and the waves rolling in across the entrance are pretty scary looking. We hoist the main with waves pushing us back into the bay, and wait for a couple of biggies to roll through before heading out. Still the sphincter rating is quite high, although not as bad as the 3.5m waves we had coming out of Middle Harbour over Easter! Of course it turns out that the wind is coming from the SW and so after lots of involuntary gybing, partly due to the swell pushing us around, and not having a vang, we decide to drop the main and go with 2 headsails for a while. With squalls and building winds we are on the edge our range, so we furl the gennaker just before nightfall, which of course means the winds drop right down - Murphy's law of sailing. The Volvo goes on and we motor sail the rest of the way to Southport, arriving just after 9am Tuesday morning. The seaway webcam is not the best but conditions look ok, and local VMR describe conditions as “moderate” whatever that means… Anyway we pick a gap between incoming waves and Keith expertly hand steers us down the centre of the channel, wondering all the while where the leads are!

Finally left the lovely Gippsland lakes on the morning of the 10th of April. Our plan was to aim for Eden possibly arriving after dark, maybe in the wee hours, which we were quite ok with. Having been there before we know the well charted and wide open harbour so would have been happy to go in at night. Plans changed along the way though and we decided to push on to Bermagui. It was a pretty uneventful journey, first heading east along the south coast of Victoria, Passing Point Hicks and Gabo Island before turning the corner at the VIC-NSW border. Once we got to Green Cape its pretty much due north and we arrived at Bermagui just after 9am, having motor sailed most of the way, with the emphasis on motoring...

Having spoken to both the marina (aka Fisherman's Coop), who wanted to put us on the fuel dock, and local Marina Rescue "yeah yachts go into the lagoon all the time..." we opted to anchor in the lagoon. Well that was interesting, it is indeed a very shallow anchorage and while we arrived at high tide and anchored in the deepest water we could find, just inside the entrance, it wasn't long before our freshly wiped bottoms were sitting on the bottom! In fact we sat motionless for 2 hours either side of high tide. It was fairly clean sand but still not a good look and it was going to restrict our departure time. We spent a couple of days here just chilling out and exploring. Keith had not been into Bermagui since the '98 Sydney to Hobart race, when Sienna was towed in with a busted engine and crew the worst for wear. They had stood by Offshore Stand Aside, who had rolled, lost the mast and cabin top and were totally disabled awaiting helicopter rescue. Alot has changed here in that time, hard to believe it was 27 years ago! We popped into Marine Rescue to say hi, sadly the folk who were around at that time had long since retired.

Meanwhile we enjoyed wandering around the lovely, and sleepy town of Bermagui. The rocky coastline is spectacular and the beaches are beautiful. There are some pretty good coffee shops and boutiques here too. We waited for a small-ish southerly front to pass through, and for winds and seas to ease. We eventually relented, went into the harbour and spent our last night on the Fuel Dock so we didn't have to wait for the high tide to depart! And off we went, spag bol at the ready, an overnight passage to Sydney town!​

After spending most of our first day resting and recovering from our passage, we welcomed a 35' mono onto the dock. They had just arrived after a 54hr passage from Triabunna on the east coast of Tassie, weary but elated. By the time they made it to the pub the forecast southerly, that we had both run from, had kicked in. Coupled with a big east coast low off southern NSW, lets just say conditions were pretty ordinary for the next couple of days. We stayed put on the Cunninghame "4 hour" dock over the weekend, doing a few odd jobs on board and a bit of shopping.

​The sun reappeared on Monday and we decided to head west and explore a little bit ahead of our lift out on Thursday. We pass by the channel of Lakes Entrance, where we came in on Friday. Even from a distance we can see big waves breaking across the channel. No wonder the fishing boats have been staying put!

First stop was not very far, a tiny little bay on the edge of the channel called Harpers Bight, where we had our first encounter with the public moorings. These are large, round, flat floats with a 50cm high post and ring on top, and a thick coating of hull-scraping mussels on the float and the anchor line. Unfortunately the post is not tall enough for my short arms to reach from the cross beam at the front of the boat and you can't lift the buoy out of the water either. This means Keith has to manoeuvre the boat so that the mooring buoy is adjacent to the transom, avoiding fouling our prop on the mooring anchor line, then I can reach it to pass a line through the ring.  Once that is done I have to walk the captive buoy forward while Keith reverses the boat. I can then take the buoy around to the front of the boat, lead the mooring line under the seagull striker and two sets of furling lines, and attach the line to the forward cleat. Simple! Keith can then lean far enough over the side to get a second line through the same ring to attached to the other side, so we have a bridle arrangement. Difficult to do in high winds and with a strong tide pushing you around, but not too bad in calm conditions. Particularly if no one is watching...​

From our lovely anchorage we do some exploring, with a "drive by" of Metung as well as Paynesville. There are lots of great facilities here, free docks and moorings but we head further west to an area called Duck Arm - who knew ducks had arms! Anyway its a lovely, protected nook and we do our thing with the mooring buoys and spend a very calm evening. It must be school holidays or last week of term, and there are quite a few school camps in the area. The high pitched voices of kids having fun! In the morning there are kayakers and dinghy sailors abuzz in the bay.

​We head over to a spot called Ocean Grove (or Steamers Landing) for a lunch stop. There are more free moorings here and the tidal effect makes the pick up "interesting" - only took 3 goes... We go for a walk ashore, across the spit to the surf beach which is still pumping! Quite a bit of ocean foam, a few bluebottles and loads of cuttlefish washed up on the beach. ​

The next day its back to Lakes Entrance in the afternoon as our haul out is tomorrow at 7:30am. By the time we get there its blowing 25+kts, and all the good spots on the docks are taken. Picking up the mooring buoy in those conditions was really challenging, Keith can't hear me yelling instructions at him... Still it only took 3 attempts to finally wrangle the buoy, and as a bonus we did not prop the boat on the mooring! I wonder if the people who design these things have actually ever used them!

We are up early and head straight across to the Bullock Island boatyard. Fortunately the strong winds have abated and its nice and calm. Keith carefully manoeuvres us into the lifting dock and the boys use some grapple hooks to help us line up. Very quickly the slings are slipped into place and we are ushered off ITIKI. She is carefully lifted out of the water and out onto dry land. The hull is not too dirty as its not long since the diver gave her a bum clean. Nevertheless the pressure wash is underway as we head off for a walk. Aldi is nearby and its been a while since we have had a trip down the centre aisle...

We couldn't stay on the boat so chose a motel in the town. Its quite a walk but that will do us some good as there has not been enough leg stretching lately! We did not have any major work to do, but it had been a while since we lifted out. One of the main reasons to lift out was to take a look at the keel repair that Keith did in Fiji, after we discovered an uncharted reef... Turns out it was pretty good so nothing to do there! Some other jobs we ticked of the list:

• Burnish the CopperCoat - a light sand with 400 grit to expose more of the copper and "re-activate" the anti-foul properties.
• Sika around the hull windows (for a 3rd time) to prevent the FP mascara runs (IYKYK)
• Open the port escape hatch, scrape out all of the salt from around the seal, clean it up, re-bed it and seal the escape hatch with Sika - hopefully it will stop leaking now!
• Finish Sika-ing (sealing) around the bimini skylight
• Drop the rusty anchor chain on the ground, inspect it and cut off 40m (!!!) of really, really, rusty anchor chain, leaving us with 60m of rusty anchor chain - we have ordered some new chain...
• Clean the rust stains from under the bridge deck around the rusty anchor chain drains holes
• Clean every single eeeny, weeny mollusc shell off the hull and keel
• Clean the props with a course sanding disc and scrape off all the molluscs from every nook and cranny; Replace the anodes
• Sand and clean the sail drives, re-prime and re-antifoul
• Paint regular anti-foul on the bottoms of the keels where there is no CopperCoat, touching up any scratches and scrapes here and there
• Clean the brown stains from around the waterline and give them a polish

We are back in the water before we know it, and pleasantly surprised when we got the bill! Yes I know you don't usually hear boat owners say that! The team at Bullock Island were a pleasure to work with. As a bonus, this is the first time ITIKI has been in a travel lift that could give us her weight! Guesses anyone? You know you should never ask a lady her age, or her weight...

The boat yard was closed on Sunday and so we had an enforced rest day. Its lovely weather so after a well deserved sleep in, we walk across the footbridge and across to 90 Mile Beach, the nearby ocean beach. The swell has backed off quite a bit by now. We follow the beach all the way along to the breakwater at the entrance and watch the seals frolicking in the swirling currents. On the way back you can take a walk through the trees, past the Flagstaff and jetty. We reward ourselves with a late lunch at a local cafe.

We have a few more days in the lakes before a weather window opens for our trip north so we decide to explore a little bit more. We spend a night on the Cunninghame public buoy in Lakes Entrance, making a meal out of picking it up in 27kts! ​​After a quick provisioning run in the morning we head west again, past the entrance and on to Paynesville. We need to get some water and fuel here so stop at the Paynesville fuel dock, dodging the chain ferry which crosses the channel to Raymond Island. After a stroll around town and along the shore we get invited to drinks with some fellow cruisers we have been crossing paths with. A couple of hours of tall tales at the Paynesville pub in great company.

In the morning we board the chain ferry and head across to Raymond Island for some wild Koala spotting. We had our doubts about this, however our first sighting was in a tree right by the ferry wharf! A small specimen who was of course asleep and oblivious - possibly a plant... Following the "Koala trail" around the streets with our necks craned upwards like we must have looked ridiculous, but I guess the locals were used to it. We found a couple more Koala's high up in the trees but it wasn't until we came to a small nature reserve that we found at least 6 of the little beasties, some in quite low branches, and one or two of them were actually awake! They really remind me of the sloths we saw in Columbia and Panama. 

After that exciting morning we motor around to Metung and avail ourselves of another "free" dock for the night. Although the pub has a great reputation we have been recommended an interesting sounding Cafe Chez Joe - combination of Egyptian and Malaysian food - Yum! It didn't disappoint! 

We have a weather window to head north. After a strong wind warning on Monday, Tuesday settles to lighter southerly winds so we will head to Eden, or maybe on to Bermagui. In the meantime we are back to (you guessed it) the 4 hour dock at Lakes Entrance (Cunninghame Wharf). We drop by to say hi to some fellow cruisers we have been crossing paths with and end up coming aboard for drinks. As we were sitting chatting, two other cats headed out of the bay, bound for Bermagui. When we get back to ITIKI we hear from an "old" Sydney friend that just happens to be in Lake's Entrance and has been stalking us. He joins us for dinner and we watch a beautiful sunset on our last evening in Lakes Entrance. Tomorrow's departure is set for 8am!

​

While many sailors are keen to get across Bass Strait as quickly as possible, there are good reasons to slow down and island hop your way across. If you have ever flown down to Hobart and looked out the window as you fly over Flinders Island, you will see some of the most spectacular cruising grounds in Tasmania. While it can be a challenging place to cruise and anchor, its well worth a visit. 

The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of these islands after leaving Adventure Bay in 1773 on his way to New Zealand to rejoin Captain James Cook. The largest island is Flinders which is about 62 kilometres from north to south, and 37 kilometres from east to west, with a total land area of 1,333 square kilometres.

​Mount Strzelecki in the south west is the island's highest peak at 782 metres, and dominates the vista as you approach the island from the south. About a third of the island is mountainous and rugged with ridges of granite running the length of the island, punctuated by grazing pastures. The coastal areas offer beautiful sandy beaches with granite boulders that look like they are spray painted orange. The temperatures are mild and the island is very dry, and of course exposed to the roaring 40s.

We are anchored at Lady Barron in the south of the island, its very well protected and a great place to explore from. We hired a car for 3 days which was dropped of by at the general store by the lovely Mick and Marianne. They briefed us on the highlights of the Island, a suggested itinerary, the "no go" areas and of course the obligation to wave at every oncoming car! More on that later...​

The suggestion to cover the far north of the island first was a good one, so we stopped first at Whitemark, the main town, which is on the west coast. The bakery had some home made sandwiches for a picnic lunch and we planned our tour over a cuppa before heading even further north. Narrow asphalt ribbons give way to gravel roads, which deteriorate further, becoming bone jarringly corrugated. Of course being Tasmania we sadly do see a fair bit of road kill, mainly wallabies and pademelons. We do also see some live fauna as well, including wombats and echidnas. 

And of course the Cape Barren Geese. These are large (75-100cm tall) grey birds that graze on the grass. For me they bring back painful memories of studying ornithology at Uni. Picture a field trip to majestic Maria Island for a catch, tag and release program for Cape Barren Geese. Try to imagine a bunch of scruffy and hungover university students running around after these poor animals, trying to catch them by leaping on top of them and tackling them to the ground rugby style. This technique unfortunately triggered a "fright" response leading to an explosive defecation of lice ridden $h1t all over aforementioned university students, much to the bemusement of the tutors, and possibly the geese...

​We head north crossing the 40th Parallel for the first time via on road! A few cows watch on... Palana Beach, is on the north coast of Flinders island. There are a some holiday homes here and not much else. We have our picnic lunch overlooking the Sisters Islands. The tide must be running very fast at the moment, creating what looks like "rapids" in the narrow channel between the shore and the islands. We take a walk along the beach, sinking our feet into the lovely soft sand. The water is quite mild by Tassie standards.

Further east we find the North East River, which looks a little like Hill Inlet on Whitsunday Island, with its meandering river with white shifting sands. Nothing much here but orange rocks, a small campground, a characterless lighthouse and fishermen try their luck. A very peaceful place.

Mount Killiekrankie dominates the landscape to the north. Its pink granite peak similar to Strzelecki and of course the famous Wineglass Bay. We opt  not to climb it today, but instead head to Killiekrankie Beach, on the western side of the island. Keith is impressed to find a large fleet of Hobie Cats on the beach, which according to a local are usually raced on a Sunday. Killiecrankie is famous for its Diamonds, which are actually a unique type of Topaz, only found in this area. Topaz is the birthstone for November and the gem for the 16th wedding anniversary. Legends have it that topaz has the power to protect the wearer from illness and accidents. We walk along the beach but sadly don't find any of them on our way, collecting a few nice shells instead. 

When we get back to the anchorage there is an interesting, "agricultural" smell, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of cattle mooing on the recently arrived supply ship. There also seems to have been a delivery of industrial strength fertiliser too. Something else seems to have come along for the ride and dispersed around the anchorage - ITIKI is covered in flies!! We fight our way through the throngs, put up the fly screens and light a mosquito coil, before hiding inside for the evening.

After cleaning lots of dead flies and salt off the deck in the morning we took off in the car, heading north again. We missed the turn off to Marshall Beach and Castle Rock yesterday so came back again this morning. So glad we did!. Castle Rock is a huge bolder just perched on the coastline beside a beautiful, small sandy beach. The rocks along the shoreline here are quite spectacular, granite boulders covered with bright orange lichen. Veins of limestone run through the granite, looking like a row of bricks. The long expanse of Marshall Beach stretches to the north. A couple of fishermen are fishing off the rocks and one of them lands at least 3 good sized flathead while we are watching. Gummy shark and flathead are the favoured local catches, I opted to buy some flathead from the IGA given our track record with fishing. 

From here we head towards Settlement Point, also on the west coast, stopping first at Old Jetty beach where I decide to have a swim. Flinders Island is reputed to have a Mediterranean climate and it is a beautiful, warm sunny day. The water is refreshing, and nowhere near as cold as down south. 
We continue stopping to take a look at Wybalenna Church and Cemetery. This place has a very sad history, as during the Black Wars, many Aboriginal people relocated here against their will. Many died due to starvation and disease. 
We continue on to Settlement point, also known Port Davies or Emita. There are quite a few boats anchored here and it looks like a great anchorage, well protected from the south, which is good as there is a nasty southerly front on its way! Again its a stunning beach with some pretty interesting rock formations, including some mushroom shaped ones. 

We head inland next and find a steep and sandy road up into the hills to Walker's lookout. From here we can see both sides of Flinders island. We wont be able to go down the east coast because the roads are no good, and there is not much there anyway apart from farms. We can see Badger island, Prime Seal Island and some other smaller islands off the west coast. 
Back to the coast we stop at Trouser Point. On the south side is a lovely anchorage with Mt Strzelecki for a dramatic backdrop. The group of boats we last saw at Eddystone Point are all here for the night. From this beach we can walk north over the headland, on the Trouser Point Track, and along the coast to the other side, a beach called Fotheringate Beach. Also a lovely anchorage, but very shallow. Nobody here though. The coastline is spectacular, with the granite boulders, orange rocks and limestone outcrops. We spot a couple of wallabies and Pademelons hanging around the campground. Heading back to the main road we stop briefly at the start of the walk to Strzelecki. Its a tough one and we know we are not "match fit" for such a walk. Anyway I can still pose for a photo at the start of the track and pretend...

After a couple of big days on the road hitting all the major sights we feel its time to chill. We head up to Whitemark for morning tea at The Tuck Shop, wander around this sleepy little town, and stretch our legs with a walk along the beach. What better way to finish our stay at Flinders than to have a long, lazy, late lunch in the vineyards. The only winery on the island, Unavale Wines, is owned and managed by Cassie and Ben, who moved here from the Clare Valley in SA. They have four different wines, and the riesling and rose were excellent. We opt for a riesling with lunch and with our picnic basket in hand set out to our assigned table amongst the vines. Cassie arrives a few minutes later with our grazing plate and freshly baked sourdough. What more could you want? Well the basket included a small bluetooth speaker so we could enjoy some lovely music as well! What a great afternoon and (spoiler alert!) end to our time on Flinders Island.

A final word about the Flinders Island wave. We were told that it was standard practice to wave at every oncoming car as you pass. A bit like boaties always wave to each other. Fortunately its not Military Road (that wave is a bit different anyway..) and you see so few other cars you tend to forget to wave. Anyway by the time we dropped off the car I had it sorted. The wave can involve lifting one finger off the steering wheel, maybe two, occasionally four. The tourists (in white MG SUVs) mostly forget to wave, or wave their full hand and grin stupidly. You also have to get the timing right. Too early and your hand is down by the time the oncoming car sees you, too late and they might miss your wave as they whizz past. Need to find that Goldilocks moment. I opted for the one finger wave and eventually got the timing perfect! 

Deal Island, the largest island of the Kent Group, is a 1,576-hectare (3,890-acre) granite island, located in northern Bass Strait. It lies between the Furneaux Group and Wilsons Promontory. Deal Island, and adjacent Erith Island, are 80km off the coast of Victoria, and 80 kilometres north west of Flinders Island. It really is stuck out their on its own.

By all accounts it is a wild and beautiful place and well worth a visit, not least to shorten the Bass Strait crossing. As much as we wanted to visit this island, we always have one eye on the long range forecast. A very strong Southerly is on its way for the weekend, and an East Coast Low is predicted for The Mainland. We have great looking Easterly weather window for Thursday that will get us into Lakes Entrance early Friday morning, on a beam reach. Sadly this time its No Deal!

We had been warned about the channel from Lady Barron out to the east, its called The Pot Boil. Its a large area of shoals stretching several miles offshore and with wind over tide can generate fearsome standing waves. Our forecast was for very light winds from the east (5kts) and we would be heading out on slack tide. How bad could it be?!! Well you guessed it, wind was actually 18kts and by the time we got to the nasty zone, the tide was already incoming! So we got hammered for about an hour on some big, bouncy, nasty waves, with breakers either side of us, before we crossed the shoals and could finally, safely turn north and get onto our course. Lesson learned! Thats why everyone heads up the West Coast, even though its quite a bit longer. 

Pleased to say that after that traumatic start we had a great reaching breeze with 15-20kts from east, gusting a little higher at times. We had one reef in the main and the full genoa initially, reefing that later as the winds built. Although the waves were relatively small, and from the NE, they were a little short and irregular at times so it was a bumpy ride, more annoying and uncomfortable than anything, but by Bass Strait standards a pretty good crossing! We also had 2.5 to 3.5kts of current coming from the NE, which didn't help our boat speed. Still we were making good time and sailing! The pre-cooked spag. bol. was well received. We crossed the busy, commercial shipping lane, just south of the oil rigs off the coast of Victoria, close to midnight. It was a very dark night, with no moon at all. At one stage we had three big cargo ships approaching from our port side, (the first to within one nautical mile!) and two more from our starboard side. Keith called the nearest boat on the radio to inform him of our presence and intention to cross in front of him, but sadly he could not see us on AIS - our signal is not great! To make sure we would get across Keith put both engines on full throttle. Thank goodness for AIS and big engines! It was a relief to see his port light as we made it across his path. ​

From there we come through two distinct rows of oil rigs. These are well lit and charted and at least they don't move! As we approached the coast the pre-dawn light revealed a misty coastline. The wind was dropping as we got closer and so was our speed, so on come the Volvos. We were able to check the web cams for Lakes Entrance Bar and it looked pretty good. We could also follow a fishing boat in, radioing to announce our presence in case someone was coming out. Its a beautiful sunny day but all we want to do is sleep. After anchoring in the wrong place and getting the evil eye from the fishermen, we move on and find the (free) Cunninghame Dock where we can rest our heads, and wait out the crappy weather. ​