The flight to Syndey was without much distinction. Time passed more quickly as Susan rented a Digeplayer. It’s like a little handheld DVD player, but has several movies and television shows. We shared it back and forth. I watched Happy Feet & Epic Movie. Both of which did help pass time. On the airplane’s screen I watched Music & Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrimore. Once again, no great work of art.
Customs & Immigration was a breeze and we took a $14(Austrailian) taxi ride to the hotel. Our key was waiting for us and we proceeded to room 606. It was a very small room with a double bed and a bunk bed above it. A very small TV and a clock radio that hovered over small desk rounded out the room. The bathroom reminded me of one on a cruise ship. It was that small. The view out the window was of a Krispy Creme. We were in bed by 8:30.
We awoke the next morning very early. We got ready and headed off to the domestic terminal which right across the street for our 6:30 flight. We got checked in and headed off for coffee. I had a large long black and Susan had a large long white. I think I talked about these terms for coffee last year. Remember when you come Howard, you want a long black. We asked as the French man was making them if it was OK to take them through and he said “Well, yes, it’s just coffee. Wiskey, no. Coffee, yes. I don’t know why but it’s ‘whiskey, mayday, mayday!'” Or something close to that. We laughed about he ‘mayday, mayday’ comment.
Indeed they let us through with our coffees and without having to take our shoes off. We sat at our gate for a while and I realized that there was hardly anyone there. I looked at the boarding pass and noticed I was looking at the gate for our connection in Brisbane. Oops. We moved down to the right gate and boarded fairly soon after that. We got to Brisbane and got some gooey breakfast items. Mine was pretty good, Susan wasn’t that happy with hers. Soon after we boarded the plane for Mackay and noticed it was the same crew as the one that brought us to Brisbane, even though it was a different gate and plane.
Arriving in Brisbane reminded me of the size the Kauai airport was the first time I flew into it. It’s small, not Raiatea small, but small. Our carriage awaited and with our bags we took a 15 minute or so ride to the marina, which is located out of town.
We ran into the boat’s caretaker on the pier and she told us that it was opened up and waiting for us. The bottom had been cleaned the day before. We unpacked and went off for lunch at Ants Cafe. We both had meat pies. They were tasty if a little soggy. I think they were warmed in a microwave and the crusts weren’t as crispy as they should be. The filling was good though. There were beautiful lorikeets by the dozens in the park across the street. I walked over to see them. I didn’t have my camera though.
Susan went off to customs and I worked around the boat. I got the old dead radio out of it’s slot and the new one in. However, the connector was different, so I left the wiring for later.
We caught the bus into Mackay and got groceries and a fitting for the hose. Shopping took quite a while, as the boat’s stores were pretty low. We stocked up a little, but don’t need to prepare for days on end of offshore sailing. The store was quite fun, but I was a bit tired or it would have been more fun. One of the cheapest meats is kangaroo, so I got some. I had to convince Susan a little, but mostly she convinced herself saying that they have to kill them anyway because of over population.
Back at the boat we unpacked the groceries and crashed. I was going to cook, but instead we went for Thai takeaway. There is a nice strip of restaurants at the marina. The food was pretty good and much more reasonable since we got it to go.
Bed came fairly early as I couldn’t keep my eyes open much past 8:30. I had smelled some mold in the v-berth and it started to bother my allergies. I had to get up, take medicine and move to the center cabin. I think the culprit was actually the sheets. Today I cleaned the berth and we ran the sheet and towels through the laundry even though they were clean when we got here. I think they may have been put away slightly damp.
Around 10:00 am this morning we decided that we were pretty much ready to go. So we did the remaining chores of getting water and fuel and left right around noon. We headed north under motor, but were soon sailing with just the jib out. The wind was steady which kept us going above 5 knots. Somewhere around 3:15 we arrived here at Brampton Island. We anchored twice since we didn’t like the first spot we chose. While wandering around to the second site we saw a nice big sea turtle. It’s overcast and cool.
Brampton Island is at the lower end of the Whitsunday Islands. It’s about 20 nautical miles north of Mackay. I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, but I suspect not long. There are small hikes on the island and a resort that is exclusive. It is the place Susan saw dugongs, though. That would be cool! Brampton is also where Susan did her first solo sail. The sunset was great.
It was a good first sail for us. The first time just the two of us too.
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