After a couple of pleasant days in Yeppoon we headed off again on our quest to go south. This time we didn't have far to go as we were off to Kingfisher Bay Resort for a few days which is only about 15NM. We had a lovely sail to Kingfisher and after a bit of a wander around the resort in the arvo headed back ashore in the evening for Sundowners at the Sand Bar on the pier and a meal. It was really nice to see a resort up here doing well and there seemed to be plenty of coming and going's every day.
On the morning of the 18th we thought it was a good idea to have a bit of an explore so did a couple of the walks that leave from the Resort. The first was up to the look out at North White Cliffs lookout and we then headed off to the McKenzie Pier and then back to the resort past the remains of the WW2 Commando Training centre which was based on Fraser Island.
After all the morning activity we were back to the boat for a swim off the back and a bit of R&R on the aft deck.
On the 19th we are going back through the Great Sandy Straits. With a bit of luck and good management we seemed to time the tides perfectly and had current with us all the way and also had plenty of depth to get through the shallows. We decided to spend the night at Elbow Point which is just around the corner from the Wide Bay Bar as we will be having an early start in the morning to get through the bar at the best time.
Up at 4.00am on the 20th which means we will get through the Wide Bar Bar just at the end of the Flood. The swells are pretty low at the moment so our exit was relatively gentle which was rather nice as it can get very nasty going across this bar. We had light north easterly winds so had a lovely motor sail down to Mooloolaba - one of our favorite spots! Initially we were only going to spend a night here and then head off to Tangalooma (North Stradbroke Island) for a couple of nights but with some odd weather forecast plus I really like Mooloolaba we decided to spend a couple of nights here so we had a good walk around and also managed to fit in a body surf - always a favorite!
Up again early on the 21st and this time we are heading to Manly (just south of Brisbane). This will be our last sail on Sally until we come back up in January to bring her back home to Melbourne so feeling a bit sad - especially as this means this part of our adventure is actually coming to an end.
The trip to Manly was quite pleasant although the wind did build to 25knts during the day which meant parking procedures were going to be a bit exciting but luckily one of the locals here helped with our lines which was much appreciated as always.
The next couple of days are going to be spent giving Sally a bit of TLC and pack her up before we fly home for a couple of months. We will be back up at the end of January when we finish off the trip and sail her back home to Melbourne.
So far to date we have done around 6200NM (or around 12,400kms) and looking forward to our next big adventure in 2013....
Sorry but we didn't think to take any photos for this entry.
We will be catching up with Leapy Lynda on Friday for a bit of a celebration - she has just finished her first week of work.
This will be the last Blog until Jan or Feb 2012 so thanks for following and hope you will keep tabs on us again when we set off again next year
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