Wind  SE  10 knts Sunny  27 °

A busy day getting organised for guests. More washing and a lot of grocery shopping as we will be out for at least 10 days and of course the most important , alcohol shopping. We walked the short distance to the shops but caught a  taxi back for $10 which wasn’t too bad as we detoured via the botlle shop.

I rode down to the ferry terminal to buy  a muzzle for Morgan as we are going over to Maggie tonight for a birthday party . All dogs on Qld ferries have to be muzzled, even on the concrete outside the terminal. We tried the muzzle on Morgan and she wasn’t happy about it but she did get slightly accustomed to it. The ferry ride is about 25 minutes .

Martin  and Ed ( Johns brother and wife)  arrived for a visit. They are currently holidaying up the Qld coast and will come out to Maggie with us for a couple of days then catch the ferry back.

 

It was Bryans 61^st  birthday so John and I took our bikes on the ferry as we would have had  a 15 minute walk to the local Thai restaurant . We decided not to subject Morgan to the muzzling so left her on O’vive.

The meal was very tasty and cheap and with three extras to the usual six of usturned into a jolly evening. Moor R & R are moored in Nelly Bay marina with Back Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We caught the 9:30 ferry back and rode the short distance back to Ovive.

Wind  SE  10knts Sunny

Not much wind at the moment so its quite warm in Townsville about 26°. Morgan and I put two loads of washing in the machines in the laundry and went for a walk while waiting for it to wash.

John and I rode up the Strand to get a paper and have breaky at a lovely cafe overlooking the bay. We had a beautiful view, with Magnetic island in the background.

Didn’t seem like I achieved much today, although a fellow came and sorted out my laptop as it had another virus and wouldn’t connect to the internet. He also sorted out my email problems. He wasn’t impressed with the work the fellow at Airlie Beach had done but neither am I.

Maintenance on my bike involved a clean and replacement of the brake pads .Much to Morgans dislike she was given a wash and a haircut. She looks a lot smarter and probably feels much cooler. I cut three quarters of a bucket of hair off her.

Deb and Bryan are staying in the marina as the repair fellow is replacing their alternator so they came round for happy hour.

Steve and Leanne are arriving Wednesday so we will start getting organised for their 10 day visit.

Wind  SE  10knts Sunny                     12 nm

Another gorgeous morning in paradise.

We sat down to a large full Sunday breakfast  while watching turtles, fish , fishermen and general movement around the anchorage of boats and people.

The foreshore markets which are held once a month were on so we dinghied ashore to have a look. There wern’t many stalls mostly jewellery and clothes ,but something to look at . I purchased some tomatoes apparently from the Atherton tableland.

Back on Ovive we pulled the anchor ready to head back to Townsville. Moor R & R moved into our spot as the fellow running the jet ski hire had told Paul to pull up his anchor and move out of his so called jet skiing area. We don’t really think he can legitimately do that.

The trip back to Townsville was slow on a very flat sea as there was only 6 knts of wind.  We motored with both lures out but nothing hooked up.

Arrived back in Townsville at 3:00 and Barry and Anne headed back to Rolling Stone creek.

Doug’s sister Wendy came down to the marina for happy hour and we had a good yarn and catch up as we hadn’t seen her  for quite some years. She brought bags of fresh paw paws, oranges, passion fruit lemons and limes picked from her garden.

Wind  SE  10knts Sunny                      HT 5:30

Woke up to a beautiful calm morning after a good nights sleep. Over the other side of the bay I could see birds diving for fish and a turtle surfacing nearby.

After a relaxing breakfast on board we dinghied ashore fo a day on the island. Anne and I walked along the entire length of the four kilometre beach with Morgan chasing the ball and looking for fish.

The horse riders had already been down on the beach swimming their horses leaving tracks in the sand. Horseshoe Bay must be one of the last horse riding ranches you can go on a trail ride then ride along the beach then swim your horse in the crystal clear water.

 

 

 

John and Barry caught the bus to Nellie Bay ferry terminal to hire a moke for the day. It was a little expensive at $107 per day but not too bad when the cost is shared between the four of us.

There are not too many roads on Magnetic however we enjoyed the drive across through Arcadia, Nelly Bay and onto Picnic Bay.

More than half the island is National Park, with Mt.Cook in the centre rising to 497 metres. Huge granite boulders are softened by tall Hoop pines, eucalypt forest and small patches of rainforest. As of 2013, there were over 800 koalas estimated to be present on the island although we didn’t see any. The name of the island came about because of the apparent “magnetic” effect it had on the ship’s compass of Captain Cook as he passed the island when sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770. As most of the Queensland coast has been this year, the island is very dry and  suffering from lack of rain.

 

 

We strolled along the jetty at Picnic Bay and saw what looked like a large fluorescent green parrot fish rolling round nibbling at the coral below us.

We pulled up and enjoyed lunch at the Arcadia Hotel and ordered the best pizza we’ve had in years. The restaurant which is separate from the hotel advertises as pizza made by original wogs. Apparently the Calabrese family brought genuine Southern Italian and Neapolitan flavours to the island. With a crispy thin base the prawn, smoked salmon and mozzarella pizza with baby spinach was absolutely delicious.

Drove back to Horseshoe Bay which was very busy with the weekend crowds. John returned the car to the hire joint and caught the bus back while we relaxed on board Ovive.

Moor R & R arrived about 4:30 and anchored behind us. Paul and Kath dinghied over to us for happy hour then we all went ashore to the pub again for another delicious meal.

Wind  SE  15 – 20 Sunny                      HT 4.45   12 nm

John headed off to golf with John Clark from Maclean for a quick nine holes before we departed at midday. John and Robyn Clark are travelling up the coast at the moment and have stopped in Townsville.

I tidied the boat and filled the water tanks then took Morgan for a walk in the Anzac park near the marina. It is a well manicured park with beautiful trees and memorials to those who have defended the country. There was an interesting section in  memory of The Battle of the Coral Sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While Morgan stayed on the boat I walked down to Coles to get some supplies then caught a $7 taxi ride back with the groceries. Our guests Barry Muegeli and Anne from Khancoban who are currently staying just north of Townsville arrived about 12:00 and we departed not long after.

We headed around the western side of Maggie as the sea was much calmer. The boys put the rods out but no luck with the fishing.

Anchored in Horseshoe bay amongst 27 other boats, it was quite crowded at this time of the year so we anchored in close to the shore. A guy who runs the jetski hire  came out and informed us we were in the jetskiing area and would we please move by 10 in the morning. John was not overly impressed with this as he felt the guy had no right to cordon off an area for his private purposes.

 

We sat and enjoyed happy hour on O’vive then went ashore for a delicious dinner at the Marlin Bar.  I won’t describe the meals as some of you out there are getting fed up with me describing the sumptuous fare.

It was an idyllic setting overlooking the anchored boats at sunset  punctuated by the Bush stone curlews’ mournful wailing cry.

SE 15 – 20 knts   32 nm Sunny

The wind changed direction and picked up from the mainland  during the night making for an uncomfortable sleep. We had a short choppy swell as we were anchored in very shallow water and the whole area is shallow. Everything that possibly could was banging, clicking, clanging and making all sorts of annoying noises.

We pulled anchor as soon as we woke  and hauled up the sails in about 18 knts of wind and headed off into an even stronger wind further out. It was an uncomfortable ride as the waves and wind were from the south and we were heading west at a fairly fast 10 knts. The rigging was shaking with the impact of the waves jarring the whole boat.

 

 

 

 

Once we rounded Cape Cleveland the whole scenario changed to flat water a little wind and we had a peaceful sail into Townsville Marina. We had covered the 32 nautical miles in 3.5 hours , not bad.

We tied up in the marina on B finger adjacent to the park and road at the end of the Strand.

After checking in and paying the reasonable rate of $96 per night we strolled up the Strand for lunch. Deb and Bryan were over from Magnetic Island ( Maggie)  trying to get their alternator fixed so we caught up with them  at the bathing pool cafe for a chat before they caught the ferry back.

 

 

Morgan , John and I strolled  along the Strand looking at an art exhibition with some very interesting and  different displays by local handicraft groups including the school children. I was fascinated by the coral reef display by the fabrics and weavers group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to stroll up to Molly Malone’s pub about one block from the boat for dinner. We were a bit disappointed as there was no Irish stew on the menu in an Irish pub. The Guinness pie had too much tomatoe paste in it but the bangers and mash were quite tasty.

The gelato shop opposite the marina was a great choice for dessert on the way home.

Tomorrow we pick up a mate of Johns and head out to Maggie for a couple of days.

Wind  SE 10 – 15  Sunny                      HT 1.15   35nm

Woke up to a breezy morning so it looked like the forecast wind of 15 – 20 may eventuate giving us a good sail. Unfortunately the wind died down not long after we left to 15knts at the most so we alternatively sailed and motored throughout the day.

 

The day was uneventful with a sideways swell making for a sloppy movement of the boat. We had the rods out and the only hope of a fish came when John realised he had had a fish on for a while and it bent his swivel and took off with his lure. It must have been quite a large fish which made him spend the rest of the ay lamenting the lost fish.

Saw a couple of whales in the distance that looked like they were heading south and a tanker of our starboard bow heading for Brisbane.

Arrived at Cape Bowling Green at 4:30 and anchored in 1.7 metres of water just behind the first low set of sand dunes. Bowling green is not a cape as you would expect, its a long flat peninsula of sand at juts out for about 30kms and looks very inhospitable with only a few strands of dune grass topping the slightly raised parts. It makes a great shelter when anchoring in behind it if the wind doesn’t change.

 

We went ashore and Morgan and I went for a long walk while John cast unsuccessfully for fish and then trolled with no luck in either task. The beach was covered with debris and shells but nothing good to find as people on quad bikes had combed the beach earlier. Morgan had fun though charging along the flat sand and in the water.

John put a line out while I cooked steak and vegies for dinner. The steak had been cryovaked and emitted a strange smell almost like ammonia, it wasn’t off but even after it was cooked put us off our meal a little. I ‘ll be very cautious when I go to that butcher in Cannonvale again.

 

The fishing was poor John only caught a grinner and two small sharks, one of them a hammer head which looked very funny with his eyes on the end of his hammer.

Wind  variable  10 knts  Sunny                      HT 12:41  40 nm

We departed Grays Bay at 8:30 and motored out of the bay. It was a lovely calm morning with lots of small fishing boats out further hoping for fish. Yesterday we saw one of the boats bring in a 25 lb long finned tuna. The couple were quite pleased with their catch and they would have had the tiniest tinny of the lot. Later we saw them cooking it with friends at the caravan park. (the tuna I mean)

John had hardly put the rods out when he had something big on . Whatever he had on fought like buggery ( John’s words) and while I steered the boat towards the fish he slowly reeled it in. It was a 17 lb Golden Trevally with great big blubber lips and no teeth. We let it go as it was too big for us to eat although it’s supposed to be good table fish.

We pulled the jib and motored in the light winds until we saw what looked like the flukes of a whale floating,with the rest of the whale down below. It was motionless but as we got closer another whale surfaced an breathed. We continued past for nearly  a k then thought we should go back and see if there was a problem. The whale had been down a long time but as we got closer we could see a small whale swimming around it and surfacing.

John was on the phone at the time and Bryan mentioned it might be calving but I googled humpbacks and they said you can identify a feeding calf as the female humpback

usually stays underwater while the calf returns to the surface every few minutes to breath between feeding. The calf will surface 4 – 6 times before the mother comes up for a breath. A few females will feed by remaining motionless in an upright position

while the calf feeds underwater, though this position is relatively rare. Well we were lucky we got to see this rare position.

 

We moved on as we didn’t want to disturb mum and baby. By the way a baby Humpback consumes 200 plus litres of milk per day.

The rest of the day was quieter, we motor sailed all day averaging only 4.8 knts. I did some paperwork and John got a sunburnt torso as he had his shirt off. We saw a few more whales in the distance.

Just before lunch he pulled in a small spotted Mackeral which he filleted and cooked in a Tempura batter. The fish was delicious, you couldn’t get it any fresher. We topped it off with the last of the Tim Tam cheesecake.

 

 

We arrived at Cape Upstart and anchored off the second beach along in 5.4 metres of water at half tide. Morgan was looking longingly at the shore so we dinghied over to see if Andy a fellow we had met in 2005 and 09 was still there. He is the only permanent resident here , all the others go to and from their fisherman shacks.

He wasn’t there so after a walk along the beach we headed back to Ovive for happy hour. We didn’t expect Andy to be there as the last time we saw him he said he had some medical issues and might have to move back to civilisation.

It was more like fishing hour than sit down and drink hour as soon as the lines went out a small Trevally and and black tip reef shark were on the lines. They both went back in the water but were followed by another 4 small trevally and 4 more sharks. John gave up on the fishing, the sharks got the better of him.

No TV reception so John beat me at scrabble.

Wind  SE 10 – 15   Sunny                      HT 11:00   LT 6.00 pm

After breakfast John , Morgs and I motored the dinghy across to shore and pulled it way up the beach to allow for the extra large tide.

We strolled down to Horseshoe Bay then began the Edgecomb Cape walk that takes you along the headlands past large acid granite boulders and delightful little inlets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The views over Queens Bay, Bowen, Rose Bay and Horseshoe Bay were stunning. Abbot Point coal loading facility was easily distinguishable in the distance.

We climbed up skinny stone steps and wound our way around weathered  rock faces up to lookouts.

The vegetation was very dry, definitely suffering from lack of rain. The sign said wallabies and brush turkeys could be seen but it was far too dry for them to live up there at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sat beside Mother Beddock, a huge rock overlooking Rose Bay as at least 20 Black Kites soared above and below us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walk was fairly hot so we were quite glad to be back down the beach where Morgan had a swim.

While looking for a paper and a coffee to purchase we checked the caravan park and found Josie and Mike Conroy from Corryong camped there. We yarned for quite a while then went back to O’vive for a late lunch and snooze.

Happy hour tonight for a change was on land, with Josie and Mike then pork chops for dinner before heading north tomorrow.

Wind  SE 10 – 15   15 nm      Sunny                      HT 11:00   LT 5.10 pm

Morgan and I went for a paddleboard to shore for a walk along the rocks and sandy beach.

We watched a guy put his net out to catch whitebait to take up to his house for breakfast. He said he had already got one bucket ful. The houses here all front the beach and water, the house front being about 50 metres from the water, not far for a swim or a fish. The water is beautiful and clear and inviting, a perfect place to live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We departed Montes at 10:00 and headed towards Bowen in anticipation of a good sail.

The forecast wind did not eventuate, the most wind we got was 8 knts. With both sails up it was not enough so we dropped the main and sailed with just the large blue and white screecher for a while. The wind died further so we furled the sail and motored the last hour to Greys Bay arriving not long after Back Friday who are also sailing to Townsville. Moor R & R have headed back to the Whitsundays for some more fun with friends.

We anchored in the usual spot off  the boat ramp in about 1.7 metres of water. As it is a full moon the tidal range is quite large ( about 3 mts) so  at low tide we anticipated having 300 under the keel. That would be just enough.

Dave Simpson from the Biggara valley in the Upper Murray, now living in Bowen came for a visit. John picked him up at the boat ramp and we enjoyed an early happy hour with David looking over the boat. He and Sue have a cataraman which they have currently left in Port Douglas for 6 weeks and rae heading back there shortly.

After dropping David back to shore we walked to Horseshoe Bay a short distance away. On the way back we grabbed takeaway chinese from the restaurant at the resort overlooking Greys Bay.