break and we went for it!

There was a break in the rain and we decided to go for it. Untied the dock lines and we pushed off with the help of 3 earth Angels who happen to be walking up to the end of the finger we were on! WOW was it rough!! As soon as we turned the corner out of the marina it hit us. Wind against tide yuck! We kept on as it's only a little over an hour to Great Keppel Island. It remained pretty ordinary the whole trip, but did a get a bit better as we got into some deeper water. We decided we would anchor at Monkey Beach. We had to be right out as there are quite a few boats around at the moment. Wasn't too bad but then the tide changed where did these waves come from???? Wind holding the boat side on to the swell moving through. Then in the night as soon as the tide changed the swell disappeared. This morning we were able to move up a bit into the anchorage. Still getting rainy showers some quite heavy, and constant wind. Swell still moving through on the incoming tide. We did get off the boat this afternoon for a snorkel. I took some photos may post some later. There is quite a bit of fish life around and we quite enjoyed the hour or so swimming around with them. We had hundreds of these little fish who would love to chase the bubbles from your fins. I noticed when swimming behind Bruce and then I should him with my flippers.

28th of Dec

We are back on the boat and it was sosososo good to be back! I slept so good in our own bed! The past two days we have been busy unpacking, stowing stuff away, reorganizing, restocking, and cleaning. We are now ready to shove off again!! Now we will just wait for this weather to clear. Weather here is like a tropical depression remnants of the cyclone that crossed from western Australia. We are having HEAVY showers (much needed!), some winds, and then light rain. We may leave tomorrow if we can.

Boxing day

We left Brisbane around 5 am to make our way back to the boat in Roslyn Bay. We had showers all the way till just south of Childers. Here is a rainbow taken from the car and a shot of the rainbows end. Where's the pot of gold?? We also had a hugh kangaroo jump across the road in front of us, but happened to fast for a picture. ( we did also see a dingo run across the road on our trip from Nowra around the Coff's Harbour way.)

Christmas in Brisbane

We had a really lovely Christmas in Brisbane. Brisbane had plenty of rainfall with showers sometimes heavy. We all enjoyed the day playing and eating. These are some photos from Christmas. We started Christmas Eve in Byron Bay as we were traveling back from Nowra (south of Sydney) and drove as far as Byron Bay (12 hours). We did the rest of the drive on the morning of Christmas eve. I love this Christmas decoration as I think it shows Christmas as it should be down under. Our Christmas pressies looks like we will have the pirate theme again this year!!

Kiama

Here are some photos of the area. The grey building in the background here at the harbour is where we went for my birthday dinner. Will post more pics later. That's me in the Southern ocean taking a birthday dip!! brrr it is cold!!!

Kiama

We had a really nice visit with the daughters, and have moved further South (by car). We are on our way to Nowra, but made a stop in Kiama for my birthday. We drove 12 hours yesterday, and stopped at Raymond Terrace just near New Castle, NSW. Up at 5am ( really 4am Queensland time) to drive another 3 1/2 hrs. to Kiama. We had a lovely day here today. It was only 17 degrees (c) this morning but warmed up nicely to about 22. We had a walk to the beach, went for swim(brrr), had a relax, and then back to our sea side cabin where we relaxed and had a read for a bit. Bruce made a dinner reservation for us at a seafood rest., but before we went out we had a Luxurious Spa bath!! I opened my birthday pressies at the cabin.

Gold Coast

Well we made it to the Gold Coast on the 10th of Dec. to be met by bumper to bumper traffic coming through Brisbane! Had a nice visit with our friends from The Wanderer. We celebrated my birthday a little early!! From here we are back to Brisbane for a short visit with daughters Jo& Peta. Then onto the Sunshine Coast for a relax and visit with daughter Samantha.

Monkey Beach Sundowners

Our last night out here in the islands for about 3 weeks. We leave for the marina tomorrow, and in the car on Thursday for a road trip south. Heading down to the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshne Coast, and then down to Nowra. Visiting family & friends for the holidays. On our last night here at the anchorage we had 7 cats & 1 mono anchored off Monkey Beach GKI. Beautiful sunset, and a good crowd for sundowners. 4 of the boats are from Mooloolaba. See some of you real soon. Cheers.

more photos

What is it?

Is it a teletubby? No it's me geared up for a swim in tropical waters during stinger season!!!! Hahaha I know very stylish. Actually these suits have been great. We've been for a swim, and then a walk and guess what no CHUB RUB! They are actually pretty comfy, and cool to wear. Enjoy the other photos of Great Keppel. There is another billy goat only this time he has come down to the sea with his family! How cute. Pic of Bruce oyster harvetsing, and the bird that was watching us as he was also hunting on the rocks.

Another anchorage

We moved around again today. We are at Svendsens Beach, GKI. There has been quite a bit of storm activity around us all day today. Before we moved around we saw a water spout and we could actually see the water being picked up from the surface from a funnel cloud. I tried a photo, but it didn't turn out. We have been lucky that the storms seem to move around us, with us just on the edge of them.
Last night we put up our xmas tree. I went into the bow storage today to get out the rest of our xmas things, but sadly they are in storage. Today was just a day to hang out and we both read must of the day.
There is a severe thunderstorm warning out into the night and at present the wind is gusty from the SE.

Dec 1st

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month.... padlock white rabbits. That's a little game that is played here in Australia. The saying is given with a pinch and a punch and if you don't say padlock then the person you are pinching can say a hit and a kick for being so quick. :o)
It is also the 1st day of summer Down Under.
We are still here at GKI (Great Keppel Island) We moved from Long Beach today as there is a SE change in the weather expected to move through sometime tonight. We have moved around to a beach called Fisherman's Beach which is right in front of the resort. have to say at the moment it is not the most comfortable anchorage. The winds have been blowing from the N and got up to the 20 knot mark and now have died all together leaving us to hang in the current which is running on the strong side due to the spring tides ( tides run higher highs & lower lows, which makes for more current moving, due to the Full moon tomorrow also happens on the new moon), anyway it is carrying us side on to the swell. a bit rocky rolley! We met up with some friends of ours from Mooloolaba
( Just Magic) when at Long Beach and they moved around to this beach as well. We met on the beach and went and got an ice cream from the resort. Also as we were sitting having a chat we saw a monitor lizard. Sunset pic is from last night.

return to GKI

Well I made it back to the boat on Thursday. We set out on Friday. Had a nice sail back to Great Keppel Island. We anchored off Long Beach due to the NE/ NW winds. Winds are blowing 15/20 to 25/30 knots for a couple of days now. Tonight we had thunderstorm warnings!
We took a walk today around Monkey Point. Photos attached. I Love the one of the Billy goat!!!!
Sunset and you can see the storm clouds around.

Sunshine Coast

Well I can post that I have come to the Sunshine Coast to see my daughters. Kendra flew in from Florida to SURPRISE her mates for their graduation. They are there now at the ceremony. I drove down to the coast to be with her and her sister Samantha. Bruce stayed behind to do some things on the boat, and make her ready for my return. Next week when I return we will scoot back out again (weather permitting) to the islands off of the coast of Rockhampton, for a couple of weeks before the holidays.

Marina

This page will be a bit quiet now. We pulled into Keppel Bay marina this morning. Have to say Bruce gets a bit depressed when we pull into marinas, and I on the other hand savor the land connections. Don't get me wrong I do LOVE it out there, but there is something special about coming to the mainland. Washing the boat down, laundry, restocking, maintenance, cleaning out the fridges, washing the cushion covers, okay maybe I can see why Bruce gets a bit down. We do a lot of work when we come in. hahaha LOL This time though we are have the luxury of time as we are staying more then a few days. We are taking a rent a car up the road to Laguna Quay to get our cars on Monday. This is going to be our home base for a couple of months. NO we're not taying in that long, but intend to come in for a day or two and go back out. There is so much we haven't explored here. We will be coming to the Sunshine Coast a few times over the next couple of months so maybe we can catch up with some of you.

back at the boat

After our explore of the island and creek we came back to the boat, and there were schools of fish tearing up the water. From way far out to right next to the boat. After watching for at least an hour I took heaps of photos we made out that they were some kind of tuna, and after talking to Greg & Jan from 'Outahia' there were some sharks among them as well. Tuna eating the bait fish, and sharks hunting the tuna. We also had another fab sunset. Some nature shots as well. 

Great walk

Bruce and I had a great walk yesterday. What started out as a little walk, as Bruce is nursing a sore foot from an old injury, turned into a 5 hour walk!!! Started from Leeks beach walked u to the homestead and then the track to the lighthouse, and back down towards Wrecks Bay. Luckly we had some good wind to keep us cool, as it was a pretty hot day. Left at 11 and returned at 4. We also had an explore of the creek here. One day we will go in and stand Tropical Soul up in there. Saw some wild goats on the island, and jellyfish in the creek. Also had my first experience of getting the dingy from the beach through breaking waves. We waited for the right time except I didn't make it into the dingy, I lost my footing and ended up under water, so we had to hold the boat through some breakers until the next set came through. Yikes was quite a learning curve. 

GKI

We did get a couple of sundowns that it wasn’t raining, so some of the people in the anchorage gathered on the beach. Bruce & I had a little explore on one of the beaches, and are hoping to have a bit of a longer explore on a walk through the bush. We are going to be in this area for the next month or two, so if not this time definitely next time we are here.