photos of last weeks visit

fruit bat
Going for our walk
out on the town
Coast roast coffee they make the best thick shakes!
Kuranda rainforest markets
Michalmas Cay bird sanctuary momma and her chick
Chynae on the Cay
Lagoon pool at night

Out again

We hung around the Cairns area for a few more days getting exercise, and a few things finished on the boat. We had an antennae installed at the top of the mast to receive better internet. The engines had to be checked because the tacko was still not right. Turn out to be a bad sender. That part has been ordered and will be fitted by Bruce later next week. We also found out we need to replace the fuel lines, and that will be done once I'm off the boat in a couple of weeks. With this finished we were now free to leave the docks, so we left for Turtle Bay yesterday. It is SO good to be out again! This is such a peaceful anchorage! We will sail onto Fitzroy tomorrow after the weekend crowd goes in. We're planning on staying there for a couple of days, and then returning to Cairns. I'm sure I have some photos to upload and will do so soon. I haven't been on the computer much lately. Well, thats all for now. Going to put little soul in the water and see if we can catch a fish for dinner.

Where has the time gone?

We've been rather busy with the girls, and LOVING every minute of it! Kendra joined us on the 12th, and 2 days later her best friend Chynae joined us. We sailed out to Michalmas Cay for a snorkel. We watched a hump back whale play in the waters not far from the Cay. It was breaching and splashing the water over and over again. We should have left on Friday, but stayed 2 nights there. On Friday night the strong winds came in, we had gust up to 38 kts in the anchorage! Saturday morning we were still dealing with strong winds and high tides to make the anchorage very rollie. The winds were expected to ease some on Saturday afternoon, and then pick up again. We left around noon, and sailed in 25/30kts of SSE winds. If they had been SE we could have had a tack right into the channel, but being more from the south, we had to tack in and out again. We were quite impressed on the way our girl, Tropical Soul sailed! We usually don't venture out into these kind of winds, so we didn't know what to expect of her. We arrived back in Cairns late Saturday afternoon in enough time for the girls to shower eat and hit the town. The girls started to pre drinks on the boat jamming to their tunes. As we came back to the boat after a dinner out, the 2 of them were heading off to check out the music scene in town.

The next day we planned a trip up to Kuranda rainforest and markets. The ride up the mountain was a bit windy, and the girls were feeling a bit hung over from their night out. Stopping at the look out to get some fresh air seem to cure them, and later after a walk around the town a bite to eat really made them feel all right again!

Chynae flew home on Monday afternoon. It was a FUN time for us all!

Good times on the Sunny Coast

Jerrica tackling a rocky road at Hog's Breath Cafe. She had some help!!
At the park where Jerrica & I use to go when she was a little girl. They still had the ships wheel!
21!!!!!!!

Kendra having some vodka
Bruce having a good time with the kids!
Sam's bd party which also happen to be State of Origin.
Sam's 21st birthday, actually this was the Saturday before and Sam and her mates had pre drinks at our condo.

Night life in Cairns

Cairns such a hive of activity, concerts, head boats, bbq, and people, people, and more people everywhere. We are without working engines at the moment. The injectors are out for a clean. Tomorrow we have the mechanics coming to polish the fuel, and hopefully install the injectors. We stayed on the boat all day today catching up on chores. Oiling the timber toe rails, cleaning up inside, laundry, ect. Jerrica, Bruce and I ventured out for some dinner tonight. Was another good meal and a stroll around the esplanade. Back at the boat and if we can get off the computers we may watch a movie or circus dvd.

Back on board

We arrived from the Sunny coast late last night. Jerrica flew back with us. We're all unpacked, now with a few groceries on board. Kendra joins us on Tuesday, and her girlfriend Chynae joins us in Thursday. If the weather is good and the engines are finished we will go out to a reef for a snorkel.