Back to Bundaberg, Where Aussie Land began for us...

We departed the next day for a brisk and pleasant sail north to Bundaberg where our Aussie adventure began in Nov of 2018.  We reunited with Aussie cruising friends Brian and Eva Sv Zofia. 

We have met a lot of cruising couples and made a lot of friends over the years, but here were two of the happiest people we have met on Mother Earth.  They are about as much fun as you can have with your pants on.  Brian was just born funny and his adorable lovely wife Eva has her hands full putting up with him, but does so with charm and a dry wit that makes them akin to a full time vaudeville act.  Happy 66 B 

 We met Mark Reichardt who has a unique and special talent in creating a very fine tasting rum (not that I would know,  but well liked by most cruisers) 

and a somewhat shy Jasmine Carter who is a very talented artist.   

on their lovely yacht Sv Veritas

  

We all sailed north to Pancake Creek to enjoy a full moon beach party.   William and Allison joined along with other cruisers in the anchorage...there was fun and mayhem into the wee hours of the morning, culminating in a wonderful bonfire and marshmellow roast.   It was great fun had by all. Maybe a wee bit too much fun...

Wide Bay Bar to KingFisher Resort June 2018

We departed Mooloolaba for Wide Bay Bar and Fraser Island which is the largest sand bank island in Australia.  Crossing this bar is always a bit of a white knuckle experience and this time proved no different.  It is all about timing wind, sea state and tide and local knowledge as the bar crossing changes as the sea bed is constantly shifting.  With the prevailing conditions as favorable as we could ask and the latest updates on the crossing point provided by the Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) station nearby we successfully crossed the Wide Bay Bar and negotiated the hazards off the lee shore for a very bumpy mile before turning safely into the channel.  From here we had an easy motor sail in soft water up the inside passage stopping for the night at Garry’s Anchorage.  The following day we caught the morning tide traveling north and we dropped hook at the Kingfisher resort.  Wes and Stine (Sv Sarabande had arrived and suggested a 'wee' hike the following day to Lake McKenzie and to see the local dingoes.  Lake Mackenzie is unique in the fact it is 100 percent rain water and houses its own brand of fresh water turtles.  The hike was pleasantly enjoyable on a perfect kinda day, up and down thru leaf covered trails, too tall trees and a variety of sand dunes.  It seemed to take a little longer than we thought but we finally arrived  at this picturesque pristine oasis of flat water stretching as far as the eye could see.  We were more than ready for a rest to enjoy a picnic lunch in this idyllic setting.  Despite being ready for a cool down swim, Kaija and found the water a tadd too chilly for our liking.  But being younger and braver this did not stop Wes and Stine from diving to find the elusive fresh water Lake turtles.

These pie plate sized creatures are not easy to find by Wes did manage to locate a couple to the delight of Stine and Kaija.  Somehow on the way back to the boats we managed to find the ‘path less traveled’.  As dusk was approaching, and not a dingo seen all day, we limped back to the shore to find the dinghy high and dry approx. 500 ft. from the water’s edge.  With dark fast falling and what remaining strength we could muster we all grabbed hold of the dinghy and while sinking to our knees in mud we managed to get to the water and the dingy floating.  Needless to say we arrived back aboard KaijaSong a wee bit weary and ready to lick our wounds and soak our tired feet.  We were reminded again of the joys of youth…or at least the strength of youth and Wes and Stine looked like they could have repeated the hike which turned out to be a whopping 22 km…which to this old boat boy is NOT A WEE HIKE! … However, fun was had by all and all survived the bantering and floggings to fight another day.