Koalas, Kangaroos & Crocodiles

After a brief trip back to the US for me, and an epic final pacific leg for Dan, we were ready to take on everything 'down under'. We were both remarking at how cold it was in Queensland Australia at this time of year. I was bringing out my long puffy jackets and amazingly Dan was wearing jeans and sweatshirt. It was only getting as warm as 75 F during the day and quite chilly in the evening.

Hundreds of lounging Kangaroos at the Lone Pine Koala Refuge, just soaking up the sun.

I had a 24 hour layover in Brisbane. I enjoyed cruising up and down the river for $.50, stopping along the way and ultimately visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This park, easily accessible by public transit was a delight. I enjoyed seeing so many Koala's up close and then lingering in a field full of various species of Kangaroo. I had lunch along the river at a well established brewery, only wishing that my jacket was thicker and I'd brought a hat. In the afternoon the rains came and I headed back to the airport to finish my long journey.

This old guy, was happy to take a selfy with me. I rubbed the back of his head and he just closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Dan based in Mackay had the chance to go on a tour to see Kangaroos in the wild with the ARC crews and then got deep into boat work. If he wasn't working on our boat, he was working on someone else's. Things had gone fairly well on the recent crossing from Vanuatu but as per usual maintenance was always required. Our short list included replacing our carpets, waxing the boat and doing some deep cleaning. The last few days we were in Mackay we watched the conclusion of the Gold Coast to Mackay sailboat race. All night long boats came across the finish line and into the marina with much cheering from the awaiting support teams. There was live music, a morning market and lots of excited sailors. It was fun to be there in the thick of things with some seriously fast boats. Dan enjoyed running every morning along the breakwater to the Mackay Marina.

The Mackay Marina at sunrise

Before we headed out of Mackay we were joined by our good friends Dan and Becky. We left early on a crisp morning. Sailing out of the harbor was extremely sporty with some wind against tide. We experienced some pretty big seas leaving Mackay harbor for about 30 minutes, then things chilled out and we enjoyed a lovely cruise northwest towards the Whitsunday islands.

Our friends Dan & Becky walking with us down Whitehaven's magnificent silica sand beach

Interesting limestone rock formations are found around every corner, but watch out for crocs if you stand a few feet from the waters edge!

We visited many anchorages over the next few days, enjoying lovely sunsets and pleasant afternoons exploring beaches. It was a bit frustrating to have such lovely beaches in which we were unable to swim due to the crocodiles, stinging jellyfish, sawdust algae and sharks. But we felt that the water was too cold anyway. I mean really, who can swim in water that is 74 degrees F? We were still wearing jeans! It was amazing though to be able to do so much activity without constantly sweating during the day! Tradeoffs!

The lagoon at Whitehaven beach. Spectacular sunrise!

Our favorite stop along the way was the picturesque Magnet Island (known as Maggie....) There we enjoyed hiking, spotting 'wild' koalas, tons of new birds (new to us) and of course some fabulous gelato.

This cute Koala was found on our hike up to the forts on Magnetic Island

We arrived in Cairns (pronounced 'Cans'), Australia earlier this week after a 24 hour trip from Maggie. We are now settled in at the Cairns Marlin Marina. Cairns harbor is a bustling hive of activity. There is a constant stream of tourist boats heading up the river (to see crocs) or out to the great barrier reef. There are multiple chandleries in town (better than those in we remember from Seattle) that we were thrilled to visit.

Sunrise run along the boardwalk in Cairns...faster than a crocodile I'm sure!

We've eaten Thai food, Korean food, Italian food, Greek food and more gelato. It has been amazing! We also got a chance to experience the Australian health care as I had benign spot removed from the local skin cancer clinic (apparently Cairns is the skin care capital of the world??). Time is now ticking down, and it is time for us to load up our food and get on our way. We've got a 1000 nm push onto Darwin. Onward!

Rusty's weekend market in Cairns has the best produce we've seen in many months at reasonable prices.