New year, new adventures

Farewell Salacia!

2024 started with the “new”: new apartment in a new state, new furniture and decorations, new friends and neighbours. We moved in to Salacia Waters at Paradise Point on 3rd January and we have been busy settling in ever since. We are loving our new life, with “Liberty” tied up in the marina and plenty of other boats to watch cruise by, and many stunning sunsets to enjoy from our balcony. A few visitors have enjoyed our hospitality and we look forward to many more in the future! But now, it’s all about cruising to find the sun….

We untied our ropes, stored the fenders and slipped out of our marina berth just after 8am on the 10th of May. We’d spent the previous week stocking up the pantry and fridge and filling the water tanks (we have enough fuel to take us to Mooloolaba, where we’ll take advantage of the cheap prices at the local fuel jetty). We cruised up the Broadwater, past Tipplers and Jumpin Bar, then turned west following the Canaipa Channel up past Russell Island. It was very quiet on the waters, with just two Rivs churning past us, burning fuel and creating waves. We arrived at Canaipa Point before lunch and enjoyed a lazy afternoon on anchor. On Saturday morning we continued, stopping at Blakesleys anchorage for breakfast and then continuing up to anchor off Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island, near the Little Ships club. We could hear the band playing at the club, but the inclement weather did not tempt us to go there!

Just before lunch, the ferry carrying Kirsty and Ben arrived at the jetty, and the captain motored over in the dinghy to collect them. Fortunately it was between showers, which continued off and on through the afternoon, but stopped before we went ashore for a sunset drink at the Little Ships club. We returned to Liberty for a convivial night aboard. Sunday was Mothers Day and we’d booked a table at Straddie Brewery for lunch. Earlier we visited the fascinating Stradbroke Island history museum, learning a lot about the Quandamooka people, the quarantine station, the local environment and other interesting facts. Lunch (and a few drinks!) was lovely, followed by a visit to “St Stradbroke” and back to the Little Ships before our guests boarded the ferry and we returned to the boat. 

On Monday morning, after a walk around town and a visit to the butcher, greengrocer and baker, we briefly met up with caravanning friends Maryanne and Neil before we raised the anchor and cruised over to Peel Island. The weather was beautiful to anchor at Horseshoe Bay for the night. On Tuesday we walked along the beach and then, with the wind shifting to the south east, we cruised to the other side of Peel Island, in The Lazarette, a channel to the Leprosy colony that existed on the island in the early 1900s. From here you can see the lights of Brisbane, the port and the airport - just beautiful!

On Wednesday morning we continued west across to St Helena island, another place with a grim history as the penal colony for Brisbane. There are ruins, including many gravestones to view and signposts tell the history of the place. Later we cruised into the Brisbane River, past the busy port and anchored near Hamilton Reach, just after the Gateway bridge and near the end of the City Cat route. On Thursday we motored up to New Farm for lunch and then the first mate caught the City Cat for a night with Kirsty while the captain cruised back to Hamilton Reach for the night. Early Friday morning the first mate returned on the City Cat and we raised the anchor and cruised out of the port again, turning north east towards Bribie Island for a night in the Pumicestone Passage. 

On Saturday morning, after a short tangle with a sunken mooring, we finally raised the anchor and continued around Bribie Island and into the Coral Sea. Conditions were perfect for cruising with only a slight swell, and the entrance to the Mooloolah river was very calm as we came in. We headed straight to the fuel dock, where we added 1300 litres to the tanks, before making our way to the marina for a quiet night in. We walked into town for some supplies on Sunday morning, then up to the co-op for some local fish, before Kirsty, Ben, Tom and Lachlan came to visit. The boys enjoyed digging in the sand and paddling in the sea and we all had a delicious lunch at the local surf club. It’s a fair way for them to travel to see us, and we really enjoyed their visit! After a pizza dinner we had an early night.

At first light on Monday morning we were off again, slipping out of the Mooloolah river into a light swell and perfect conditions. We cruised past all the tourist spots of the Sunshine Coast, rounding Double Island point and dropping anchor for lunch before continuing on towards the Wide Bay bar. The entrance to the Great Sandy Straits is notorious for shallow, choppy conditions and a “virtual track” is plotted regularly by the local coastguard. The captain rang to get the coordinates for four waypoints to follow and we entered them on the navigation system. We rocked and rolled around for the half hour it takes to get through the bar; we could hear crockery and bottles banging around in the cupboards but it was too rough for the first mate to be interested in checking out the noise and the captain was busy wrestling the wheel! Finally we got past the last waypoint and into the strait between Inskip Point and K’gari (Fraser Island) and we rounded the point into Pelican Bay dropping the anchor with relief. A lovely night and a beautiful sunset followed. We’ll spend a bit of time travelling through and exploring the Great Sandy Straits before we continue north…