We finally left Bundaberg on July 18th after almost two years of living at the Port Marina. It's so nice to be 'on the road' again, but there are some things that take a bit of getting used to, like the constant motion. The anchorages so far haven't always been flat and it's a lot different to being snug and staying still in a marina berth.
Conditions weren't right for Lady Musgrave and its coral lagoon so we headed inshore to Pancake Creek. Here we spent an unexpected four days, thanks to a bout of northerly winds. The extended stay gave us a chance to get to know the place better. Below are a couple of pics.
From Pancake Creek we headed north to Cape Capricorn. The anchorage here was shocking - we rolled from gunwale to gunwale all night. Now that we're officially in the tropics I was hoping the weather would be warmer, but as you can see from Julian's clothing the temperature has a long way to rise yet!
We carried on to the island of Great Keppel. Here we were able to rendezvous with some friends from Bundaberg, Hugh and Kryssie on 'Kasyma'. There were a lot of boats gathered off the north coast of the island waiting for the closure to finish in Shoalwater Bay. This is controlled by the Australian Army who use the area for live firing practice. For obvious reasons access is restricted at such times. We all took advantage of the mass meeting to get to know one another at a beach bbq one afternoon.
Great Keppel is a beautiful destination with white sand beaches, steep walking tracks, rugged coastline and a closed-down resort. The resort area is like a ghost town at the moment although there are still some private enterprises such as 'Island Pizza' and the 'Rainbow Hut' that are open for business as well as a few options for accommodation. If you really want to get away from it all, then come here now before the developers get stuck in.
From Great Keppel it was on to the Shoalwater Bay area, visiting Port Clinton and Pearl Bay. Pearl Bay is a gorgeous place, and one of those special locations you can only get to by boat (or by joining the Army Reserve!).
During the last week the winds have been strengthening giving us fairly boisterous daily runs. Our anchorage at Hexham Island was as lively as the weather we've been experiencing but quite stunning nonetheless.
To finish off the second week of our voyage we called in to West Bay on Middle Percy Island. This bay is famous amongst the cruising fraternity for its A-Frame shack filled with the memorabilia of several decades worth of passing boats. Known as the Percy Hilton, the A-Frame was originally established by an Englishman named Andrew Martin who lived in the homestead, supplying goat meat and honey to the crews of visiting yachts. The island is now leased by Andy's cousin Cathryn who has set about restoring the legendary tradition of hospitality. Hanging from one of the entry posts is our contribution to the cruising 'hall of fame' - a driftwood carving with 'Brilliant II' and our names engraved into it, made by Julian in 2007.
Ahead of us lie the islands of the Whitsundays, with all the excitement of the 'best job' campaign and Hamilton Island Race Week to come. Already we're seeing several racing yachts, making their way up the coast in preparation for the year's biggest sailing event. It's certainly a great time to be in the area and I'm really looking forward to the anchorages of the next couple of weeks.
