Voyage Interruptus- Part One

 

Whitsundays Departure

We got notice that there was keen interest on our property “Kulgera” which affected our travel in the Whitsundays.  Securing telco in anchorages close to mainland  to enable communications on contract offers meant that we missed out on a few snorkeling opportunities on the reef and more exploeing on the outer reefs.

We received a contract, negotiated selling  price and waited 7 days to hear if building and pest inspections were satisfactory.  That completed we now had 21 days before contract goes unconditional plus another 30 days form this date to settlement.

Selling our home was a significant change in our lives, we were  excited for our future not to be encumbered with maintaining a large home and acreage whilst we embark on our sailing adventure living aboard Sens de la Vie.

We revised our travel up the coast heading for Townsville where will leave Sens de la Vie to come back home and pack up, sell , gift  and dispose of our accumulated possessions of 40 years of marriage together.

We traversed Whitsunday passage to have a few nights at Gloucester Island then onwards to Bowen.

Bowen was a delightful surprise and we stayed at the Marina, a bit industrial being the fishing fleet port and berthing. Seafood coming straight off the trawlers was amazing and also very cheap from the two Co Ops that process incoming hauls from the fishing fleet.

 

  

We hired a bomb car to get around for a day to check out the many bays and beaches of Bowen, run errands and get some provisions.

Having Floss onboard can be challenging and Terry and I taking turns off the boat. However.  we did leave her for about an hour whilst we took in the sights together at the lookouts.

Great country feel to this town with its historic pubs and loading jetty which featured in the Movie “Australia”.  Must have been very exciting for the locals having Huge Jackman, Nicole Kidman and the Hollywood entourage in town making the movie.

 

Onwards up the coast we made passage to Cape Upstart.  A National Park with no access roads, with a few dwellings lining the bay privately leased.  Everything to those residents has to come by private boat. 

The cape is rugged, remote  mainly bare to seaward and has significant indigenous cultural importance. Cape Upstart Mountain rises out of the flat delta region of Burdekin River with Ayr and Home Hill being the towns in this area.  It is unmistakable from the Main Highway,  as we witnessed on our way traveling via car back home  a couple weeks latter.

t

The dreaded Cape Bowling Green which should have been named Rolling Green. 

It takes forever to get around this Cape.  Stretching long and flat out to sea.  Boring and lumpy sea conditions we have experienced every time we have made passage around this Cape.

The original wooden lighthouse which is now sited at Sydney Maritime Museum would have been a welcoming sight instead of the replacement metal  rocket ship Lighthouse.  

 The historic Yongala Steamship Wreck is sited in this area, the site a declared National Park, you would have to wait for good conditions to dive or snorkel on this wreck.  We have never experienced this on any of our passages traversing the cape.

Magnetic Island was our next port of call, as timing would have it with weather,  we anchored  in Horseshoe bay for over a week as weather and Sea conditions were not favourable.

 

We made the most of our time exploring the island Terry walking the dog across the island and myself on a bus.  Terry did get picked up by 2 women going to the pub with dogs in the back of 4wd.

Noodies Spanish/Mexican Café on the beach at Horse Shoe Bay was a favourite eatery as it was dog friendly and the owner paid special attention to Floss with treats. Magnetic Island remains a favourite destination not only for its locality close to Townsville, Maggie feels miles away with great nature walks, history,  variety of the fauna and flora, pristine bays.  

Snorkelling is very safe on the fringing reefs.

As the date for contract was upon us we started making plans, organising a berth at Townsville Breakwater Marina,  hiring a car, organising accommodation that was dog friendly for the road trip and packing down the yacht, closed down systems and ready ourselves for the trip home and the mammoth task ahead.