Wind   NE  10 – 15   Sunny

This morning the  trap only produced two female blue swimmers , a small muddy and one male blue swimmer and nothing out of the ordinary. I dumped them all back and gave the trap a thorough clean as it was extremely muddy and had leaves sticks and weed caught in it. I didn’t put the trap back in as I already had plenty of crabs to eat.

The freezer finally got its well deserved defrost along with a few other things that have needed doing for a while.

Morgan and I strolled to the park for a game of ball then up to Woolies for a few supplies.

John’s plane due at 8:20pm was an hour late, so we waited in the park opposite the esplanade and ate a curry from the night markets food court. A couple of blokes were singing and playing guitar so we enjoyed mealtime entertainment.

While still waiting for John we strolled past the Cairns library and as part of the Cairns festival a presentation depicting the natural environment was being projected onto the outside wall of the library building. Craig Walsh is a renowned Australian artist known for amazingly grand artworks and his  display titled EnLIGHTenment  reflects the experience of living in this unique location and some of its wildlife.The sound and visual display was quite stunning and very enjoyable until the wall  went dark and simulated a rain storm after which a large colourful gecko scurried across the wall.

Well that was it for Morgan she started barking at the lizard so we had to leave. She spent the rest of the way home very nervous, looking over shoulder for I am presuming, the giant gecko. I had a good laugh at her but would have liked to see the rest of the display.

 

John arrived back at 10 and actually got dropped off at the Shangri –la right in front of the marina.

We finally got word today that Doug and Sandra are able to come up for a week so we have  extended our booking until next Sunday.

Today being Sunday was a day of doing anything, relaxation, reading looking.

The crab trap once again proved it can surprise with only one blue swimmer and a 6 ” live bailer shell. It was a grotesque looking thing with its very large soft foot outside the shell. The crab went into the pot and the shell went back into the unknown below the boat.

I took a ride to Rustys markets which are only on Fri, Sat and Sundays. The stalls were piled high with all manner of fresh looking fruit and vegetables and at excellent prices.

 

I didn’t need much so I only bought some English spinach and passionfruits. I’ll go there next weekend to stock up before our visitors hopefully arrive. I continued on down to Cairns Central for a spot of retail therapy and some lunch.

Later in the day saw Morgan and I weaving our way among the Sunday afternoon crowds along the waterfront.

We pedaled up to the ended of the deserted docks where only two tugs were waiting for their next task, then to the end of the road. We stopped at the Cairns Coast guard shack and had  a quick chat to the officer in charge about coast guards further north .

The day ended with live music from Salt Restaurant drifting across the water to us.

Seems like there is always something to do on O’vive. This morning I did a few things that hadn’t been done for a while like defrost the fridge, wash Morgan and get the mould off the cockpit cushions. Of course I also had to remove all the visitors to my crab trap overnight.  Something was thrashing around as I pulled it up, I was hoping it wasn’t a huge slimey eel again. Lucky ; it was a large estuary cod about 50 cm long thrashing around amongst some small muddies and two blue swimmers.

I decided my filleting skills weren’t up to scratch so I let him live another day and only kept one blue swimmer.

John was not happy when I informed him over the phone, said I should have gutted it and put it in the frig for him to fillet when he got back. Didn’t think of that at the time. Oh well, there’s plenty of everything in this marina it seems, pot luck every time I pull it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan and I rode along the busy esplanade which winds along the foreshore of Trinity Bay to visit Kay at the hospital. There is a cycle path all the way, the local council have done a wonderful job for cyclists in the city and its so easy to get around too as its very flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cairns festival is on for a week with live music in the park, markets ,displays , a parade and fireworks. Sue Donovan a long time friend  who lives in Herberton up on the tableland, arrived at about the same time the parade was on  so we missed it.

We sat on O’vive and ate crab and prawns and caught up on news.

The fireworks display was spectacular with some new and varied pyrotechnics. They were so close to the marina, we had the perfect spot to watch them without going anywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

The festival after party was at Salt, the restaurant at the end of our finger so it was a very festive atmosphere all evening. Sue left to drive home about 9:00.

Pulled the crab trap in this morning and found another three small mud crabs and a small estuary cod. They all went back. It seems a lot of the muddies have missing nippers, I guess the estuary cod like to eat them, especially when they have them cornered in a trap. The bait was fairly smelly so I replaced it with a lovely fresh skeleton we have had in the freezer since Gladstone and hopefully will get some bigger crabs.

I rode the pushy to Whitworths and Tackle World to purchase a few items including a new GPS to replace the one that isn’t working. The ride back was a bit hard into a headwind as my basket was grossly overloaded putting a fair amount of weight on the front wheel.

Met up with Adrian, Deanna and Dustin as they had taken our gas bottle with them the other night to be refilled as there is no refill services at this marina. Bad news for them today.  Kay had badly broken her leg that morning on the bank of the Mitchell River in a very isolated spot and had to be airlifted back to Cairns Base hospital in a helicopter.

I checked the trap  before dark and there were five more blue swimmers in it and but only four were  worth keeping and over the legal size of 11.5 cm so I put them on ice until more turned up hopefully in the morning.

Morgan and I went for a long walk along the inlet past the new cruise ship terminal and up to the docks. The riverside restaurants were overflowing musicians were performing and everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves. Since we were here in 2005 the cruise ship terminal has had a major face lift and its heritage listed wharf and shed is  surrounded by landscaped gardens and various statues and tributes. Chinese takeaway for dinner which was very tasty.

Up early and a walk to the esplanade where John caught the shuttle bus to the airport as his plane left at 9:00.

Just before we left I checked the crab trap and it had five blue swimmers in it and a small muddie. A huge slimy eel slipped out of the pot as I hauled it up, glad I didn’t have to deal with that. I put the trap back in the water until I got back as we were short of time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my return I let the muddie go and cooked up the blue swimmers. Martin and Ed called in for a coffee on their way south as their holidays are coming to an end. Morgan and I had an easy day of chores ( Morgan more easier than mine) ending with a walk through the park past about 150 people all performing synchronized exercises to music.

I checked the crab pot and this time I had three muddies, two of them slightly smaller than the regulation 15cm and the large one unfortunately was a female ( jenny) so I had to throw them all back.

Took rubbish and another couple of  loads of washing to the laundry then breakfast at the cafe out the front of the marina just under the Shangrai – la Hotel. The fare was average but we met a fellow Raymond ( huge bloke) who we met here in 2005. The first thing he asked was does your daughter still have that ugly cat. Well the answer is of course yes and its called Yoda. We yarned with him for a while , apparently he comes and goes on his boat from Cairns to Perth. He is thinking he may brave the NSW bars next years. ( not the alcoholic ones)

After buying some new golf clothes for John we went back and tidied the boat. John then took a taxi to the driving range at Cairns Golf club in the hope of honing his rather rusty skills in preparation for tomorrow. He flies to Newcastle for his annual golf weekend with Joel, Bloomy, Michael Barlee Kelly Gailbraith (all from the Upper Murray ) and some others.

Adrian and Kay Cass from Khancoban are in Cairns at the moment visiting Deanna and Dusty, so along with Andy H they came for dinner on board. We had an enjoyable time catching up , especially with Deanna and Dusty as we haven’t seen them for quite a few years.

After they left I put the crab trap off the back transom in the hope of catching a crab.

Wind   SE  5 – 10  Sunny    12 nm

What can I say, another glorious morning, lovely day in paradise, beautiful outlook! I’m running out of words for this fantastic lifestyle. I am so glad we finally retired and did it.

While we were finishing breakfast a  whale breached about 500mts from us in the passage between Fitzroy Is and  Cape Grafton then frolicked along with two others, one of them a calf. I missed the actual leap but heard the loud slap and the splash which was well worth looking at. I just love watching whales, they are so large and majestic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John threw the scrap bait overboard as it was rather smelly and we wouldn’t be needing it in Cairns. A school of Bat fish appeared and then below them we saw a very large Giant Trevally come zooming in for its share of the scraps. I think we should have fished last night instead of assuming there were no fish.

 

We headed off , pulled out the screecher and motor sailed across shallow Mission Bay towards Cairns, then up the dredged channel into Marlin Marina where we tied up on F finger.

After washing the back deck and cockpit as it was quite dirty we went ashore for showers, paying marina fees and an iced chocolate and coffee. The marina fees here are quite dear compared to Townsville $115 per night for our boat and that is the weekly rate.

Andy Hallinan formerly from Walwa and an ex employee came down to the boat for happy hour then John and I walked up the esplanade and grabbed a takeaway pizza which was tasty but not worth $25 dollars.

Wind   SE  5 – 10  Sunny   18 n m  Forecast Temp 28°

Very warm this morning, the temperature is definitely climbing the further north we go making us feel very lethargic.  We gave fishing another go but still only small colourful reef fish, yellow lipped bream and blue faced whiptails. We probably should have hopped in the dinghy and found some coral to fish off and maybe caught the elusive coral trout. After completing a few chores we pulled the anchor at 10:45 and headed north towards Cape Grafton. There was no wind to speak of so we motored all day with the lures out and the jib unfurled to give us some shade.

John slept shirtless on the trampoline in the shade of the jib but later on discovered his torso was rather pink.

No whales, no fish no dolphins and such a long way to tow a lure without a touch, it was very disappointing. Still the weather was lovely.

We arrived at Fitzroy Is  at about 2:30 and picked up a 10 metre mooring buoy just off picturesque Nudey Beach. As there was minimal wind and no current we felt the buoy would hold us without any problems. A beautiful cool breeze was funnelling round the corner of the island so we decided to stay here for the night instead of going into Mission Bay where we suspected no breeze and midges or mozzies.

John cooked us a late lunch of mackerel in white sauce, very delicious then we climbed in the dinghy and went ashore in search of a paper. He hasn’t seen a paper since Magnetic Island nine days ago, so was very keen to get one. There was nowhere to pull the dinghy up on the beach as it was all coral rubble and too steep with a rolling wave. John dropped me off and waited out while I grabbed icecreams , the last Cairns post and yesterdays Courier Mail ( better than nothing). The general store was not like the ones I  am used to stocked with all manner of big and little things it was very sparse with a few basics and some touristy goods. The drumsticks at $5.60 each were tasty but a little over the top.

 

When the crowds left Nudey beach I put the paddle board in and took Morgan across for a run. The water was so clear you could see the bottom even though it was about 10 metres deep. The beach had very liitle sand and was mostly coral rubble. It seemed very popular with visitors on Fitzroy.

 

After a quick chicken pasta for dinner we watched telly as we finally had reception. The anchor alarm in our cabin went off for no apparent reason even though it wasn’t turned on.The only way we could turn it off was to turn off the lights as it’s wired into the lights circuit. When we turned the lights back on the GPS wouldn’t come on so we need to have a look at it in Cairns as we don’t really want to go further north without an anchor alarm. We could put the one at the helm on but that means leaving the instruments on at night and its doubtful whether we would hear it beeping at the helm especially in windy noisy  conditions.

Wind   SE  10 – 15  80 % chance of showers   23 nm

What a change a drizzly morning and rain during the night. Its the first lot of rain we have had since we left in May. The ocean was flat and calm as we motored out of Mourilyan harbour with about five knots of wind so we didn’t even bother to put up any sails.

The rods went out and we towed the lures all day admist intermittent rain storms. At times the land, tankers, islands and the horizon all blurred into one greay mass.

We hooked one small spotted mackerel just before we reached Russell Island. John thought it was a lump of weed until he got it close as he didn’t put up much of a fight.

 

We arrived at Russell at 2:00 and picked up a mooring buoy. There are three bouys around the north eastern side but only one is an 18mt one suitable for our boat, the others are for a 10 mt boat. A couple of day trippers were on shore and a trawler was anchored just around the corner.

John cooked us fresh mackerel and sweet potatoe chips for lunch which complimented each other well. We went ashore to explore the island which had a high peak and adjoining island with a mainly coral rubble beach.  I didn’t take my shoes so it was very hard on the feet. Scavenging was excellent as it seems to be a spot where lots of flotsam and shells come ashore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lagoon on the ocean side was full of sea slugs and as usual Morgan wore herself out chasing fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a small camping area with picnic tables and a composting toilet.

 

Back on Ovive we fished but only caught a variety of small colourful fish that we threw back. John got bitten off by a couple of what he assumed were large sharks so we gave up.

Wind   SE  10 – 15  Sunny

Well we were up and away early in time to get Steve and Leanne to Clump Point just north of Mission Beach to rendezvous with their lift. We dropped anchor not far from the boat ramp pontoon in three metres of water and took the very loaded dinghy ashore with luggage,bags, rubbish, passengers and Morgan. The pontoon was a handy drop off spot as no one had to get wet feet.

Mick Wild a friend who grew up on a farm in Biggara  about 5 minutes from Steve and Leanne’s place arrived not long after and sad farewells took place . We had all had a wonderful time.

Before departing John and I poached a couple of eggs for breakfast then we hauked the jib and screecher and set off. The ocean was reasonably flat and we averaged 5 knots most of the way hoping to catch a fish , but no luck.

Over in the distance a large humpback whale was frolicking, slapping his tail and leaping clear out of the water. As we got closer he looked to be on a collision course with us but then he disappeared then reappeared  on the other side of the boat paralleling us.

He must have gone under the boat. I’m glad his sonar is so good. We watched him or her ( although she had no calf with her so I thought it was probably a male) for about 40 minutes as he drifted along.

We arrived outside Mourilyan harbour at about 1:30 and entered the almost hidden entrance to the Moresby River. From the ocean until you are level with the entrance you wouldn’t know  that there was a magnificent harbour concealed within the narrow ‘rock grit’ entrance bounded by a rainforest draped shoreline.

A large school of pelagic fish either Tuna or Mackeral chasing small fish greeted us in the entrance, its a pity we didn’t still have the rods out.

We dropped anchor just outside the swing basin close to a large yellow buoy and in between two other yachts and cooked up some venison chops for lunch.

The port of Mourilyan exports raw sugar and molasses from Innisfail , Tully and the Atherton tableland and also has a livestock export facility. At 220 metres long the wharf is reputed to be the longest in the world.We took Morgan ashore for a leg stretch, since we were here in 05 Qld ports have built a new boat ramp and put in a dinghy pontoon which makes getting ashore a lot easier. As it was a Saturday the ramp was quite busy.

Lamb ribs with all the trimmings for dinner with strawberries and cream for dessert, however John was disappointed as he couldn’t get the cricket on the TV.