Maryborough, Queensland

Photo with Mary Poppins

The only thing we knew about Maryborough before we came here was that it was a long way up a river and it is where the lady that wrote Mary Poppins was born and lived.  We called the Mary River Marina and fortunately they had a mooring that had just opened up or we wouldn't have risked anchoring in the strong reversing tidal currents.  Not a bad price either ($105/week).

River mooring, taken from Queens Park

The trip up the river took 4 hours from the Sandy Straits.  We ran aground once and almost hit 2 other times.  The river has silted in from the agricultural runoff and major floods over the past 3 years.  There is almost no visibility due to the muddiness.  It is impossible to see the shifting uncharted sandbars.  Even when you are stuck on one.  Fortunately the diesel engines were able to back us off against the current.  I would much rather hit a mud bank than a coral head.

The Post Office Pub

 

As it turns out, Maryborough has a rich history, was a major port of entry in the mid 1800's and was slated to be the capital of Queensland.  Gold was discovered in the 1870's near here and gold fever added to the population growth. 

Inside the Post Office

The architecture in the town is some of the nicest we have seen in Oz.  The Historic District on Wharf Street has been kept to original appearance.

The Mary River has had some huge summer floods that put most of the waterfront underwater.  There were 2 in 2012 that were around 35 feet above normal river level which wreaked havoc on the marina.  The boats in the boatyards all floated away and the floating docks went higher than the pilings and were washed away.  The residents seem to take it all in stride and the boaters all keep a good eye on the weather when it starts to rain.

A 6 month old orphan Swamp Wallabee. His mum was killed by a car but he survived

We went to yet another wildlife sanctuary outside of town.  Like we haven't seen enough kangaroos.  This one had more birds than the others and the roos were plentiful.

 

The usual suspects, at the daily marina Happy Hour

This was a great place to explore and wait out the strong SE winds.  It looks like north winds are coming and we need to get back out to the Great Sandy Straits in position for a run south.

Check out that baby catamaran.  A guy actually lives on it.

Up to Townsville and Trying to Get South

We came north to Townsville to find our friends on ZENITUDE and go exploring the Barrier Reef.  We thought there would be more time to spend here and more calmer days to anchor out at the reef but the wind was blowing strong.  Oscar had water pump problems with his dinghy engine so we fixed that but he had to take the ferry to Townsville twice to get parts.  This delayed us to the point that if we took the next calm period, we would not be able to head back to the Whitsundays for at least 2 more weeks.   

Booker, Jane, and Phil

We went in to the Nelly Bay Marina for 5 days to get away from the rolling swell in Horseshoe.  The days were spent hauling diesel from the petrol station, grocery shopping, washing the boat, and doing preventative maintenance.  We met some backpackers, Phil and Jane, partied, and spent some time walking about.

The top of a Stepping Stone

We used the north wind and had a nice 24 hour trip down to Bait Reef.  We sailed the entire time except for 5 hours when it got calm. 

The reef was really nice.  The Stepping Stones are a row of maybe 10 giant flat topped coral heads about 50 feet high and 20 feet in diameter.  The coral was beautiful, the water crystal clear, and heaps of fish.  We were using a Marine Park mooring so as to not destroy the coral.  One sweep of our anchor chain across the bottom can wipe out a thousand years of coral growth in a minute.

Our fish friend. He let us touch him. No worries.

We left the following day and went to Whitehaven Bay.  The last place on our checklist of anchorages in the Whitsundays.  The beach was beautiful white sand but very crowded with tourist boats during the day.

The plan was to start south when the winds would allow.  The normal wind pattern has been to have 3-4 hours of calm in the morning that we could use to motor to the next place.  We were passing Burning Point on Shaw Island and got a call on the radio from our friends, Terry and Elaine, on Virgos Child.  They were anchored there with Colin and Sjani on Shikama.  We dropped anchor next to them and ended up spending the next 2 weeks with them there and in the Mackay Marina.

Booker on Whitehaven Beach

We waited 10 days in Mackay paying $75/day for the berth.  Ouch.  Finally things looked good and we headed out only to find the winds on our nose.  We turned northeast and went to anchor at Scawfell Island.  We saw some incredibly large sea turtles in the anchorages.

The 100 mile stretch of coast south of Mackay is a difficult passage.  The 20+ foot tides cause strong currents that run counter to the winds, at least twice a day.   Cape Townshend, is not quite like Cape Hatteras but is nothing to mess around with.  The currents whip around the Cape and there are always steep short period waves that are called 'overfalls'.  You need to time the tides for your passage around the cape.  

Whitehaven Beach

We left Scawfell and were able to sail for most of the day.  We were doing well until passing the Percy Islands at sunset and had an unexpected 2 knot current reversal.  We went from 8 to 4 knots.  We wanted to pass Cape Townshend at midnight for the tides so we fired up the diesels to keep our speed at 8 knots.  At 11PM we heard on the radio a very worried 'bloke' on QUE SERA calling for help.  Nobody was answering so we called him back to see what was going on.  He had lost his engine and couldn't sail faster than the current.   His position was 5 miles from us, closer to the land, about 1 mile from the rocks and being pulled into 'Thirsty Sound'.  We diverted to his position, dropped our sails, and stood by in case he was grounded.  When the tide changed at midnight he was able to make headway and headed south along with us and another boat, ANDIAMO.

Mackay Marina... notice the height of the pilings... huge tides.

After Cape Townshend we saw no reason to stop anywhere so we continued for another day and arrived at Bundaberg just in time for thunderstorms to dump rain and wind on us when trying to get docked.  We stayed at the Bundaberg Marina, $65/day, for 2 days and headed to the Great Sandy Straits between Fraser Island and the mainland.  We anchored at Moon Point, were greeted by more sea turtles, and had a nice night.

It takes a full day to make it down the Straits to Wide Bay where we once again enter the ocean.  A high pressure over the Tasman Sea is reinforcing the tradewinds and are forecast to blow hard from the southeast for 5-6 days.

Our options are to go hide behind an islet for that time or head 16 miles up the Mary River to historic Maryborough and explore.  We chose Maryborough.

Bowen

Bowen, Queensland was a nice stop for us.  The wind was kicking up and we needed a place to tuck in.  The boat harbor has rows of steel piling which you tie the boat between.  It was actually very secure in the howling winds and the price was much better than a marina.  You did have to use your dinghy to get to the dock but otherwise it was quite satisfactory.

Nicole Kidman rides in to 'Darwin'

Bowen is a very rural Australian town.  It is where the Nicole Kidman/Hugh Jackman movie 'Australia' was filmed.  We watched the movie a while back but had to see it again after seeing the 'real' places.  

Old Customs House, Bowen

 Here's a picture from the movie and the actual building.  They brought hundreds of truckloads of dirt and covered the paved streets to simulate Darwin in 1940.  The cattle station was set up right at the waterfront and the coal loading pier was modified to look like the Darwin shipping pier.  It was a pretty good movie.

Booker modeling my Aussie Hat

We met Gordie James at the Sailing Club.  He had great stories.  We rode our bikes to the Sunday Market at the beach.   I got an nice Aussie Hat to keep the sun from destroying my ears.  Baseball caps just don't provide the sun protection down under. 

The Giant Mango

We met up with Gordie and Roseanne there.  We put our bikes in his van and they took us around to see the big Bowen sights such as the 360 Restaurant and the Giant Mango.  We burned off the extra calories from breakfast ('brekky' in Australian) by biking back to the marina.  Bowen, an unexpectedly great stopover on our journey to Townsville.

Bowen Bay, Boat Harbor on the right. Very dry in the winter.

Whales, Wallabies, and Cockatoos

It is so hard to get a good picture of a whale.  The delay between when you press the button and when the picture actually takes is enough that the whale has already gone under.  We have seen quite a few whales.  We are careful not to get too close and make them feel harassed but they have come close to the boat on their own.

Cockatoos are around here like pigeons are in the US.  We see them alot and hear them more than that.  They are loud squawkers.  One afternoon we heard noise outside and came out to find a cockatoo walking around the boat.  We gave him some peanuts which he devoured.  He flew away when they were gone but came back an hour later for more.   This time he got a cracker but left a crumby mess.  I think he liked the peanuts better.

At Geoffrey Bay, Magnetic Island, there are Rock Wallabies living in, guess where? (the rocks).  They are like small Kangaroos.  About the size of racoons.  Like many of the other animals here, they don't seem to be too worried about people.   We brought some carrots to them which seemed to be a big hit.  They gently take the carrot and slowly eat it.  There were mum wallabies that had baby joey's in their pouches.  This place is like being at the zoo, without the zoo.

 

Let's Shag, baby

 

There is a small island 20 miles north of the Whitsundays that acquired the name of SHAG ISLAND.  A group of cruisers founded the Shag Island Cruisers Yacht Club (sicyc.com.au).  The name has evolved to 'Shaggers' and has members from all over the world.  Every member is a Vice-Commodore and is responsible for a specific geographic area that they are knowledgeable about briefing others that may be cruising there.  We are now members and my location is Harvey Cedars, New Jersey, of course.  There is an annual Shaggers Rendezvous at Shag Island and Monte's Resort on Gloucester Point.

 

There are quite a few business sponsors of Shagges and they give nice discounts. 

We arrived Friday afternoon and anchored with about 200 other boats.  We didn't get a close parking spot so the dinghy ride was quite far.  We did Friday Happy Hour with a band that played on the beach.  Saturday had plenty of events and a concert by a Jimmy Buffett cover band.  The Rendezvous is not just a drunk-fest but actually raises money for the Australian Prostate Cancer Foundation.  This year they raised almost $200,000.

So, we met old friends and made new ones.  We left on Sunday, made the 20 mile sail back to the Whitsundays and picked up a mooring ball in Butterfly Bay on Hook Island.

Cid Harbor, Whitsunday Island

There were a few days of rough weather coming in so we went up a nice creek for some calm.  They call them Inlets but the US definition of an inlet is different.  It's really not a creek either because there is no water flowing out.  Just tidal flow.

View from Whitsunday Peak

Gulnare Inlet was very peaceful and we had no idea how hard the wind was whooping outside.  This anchorage is rarely used because the entrance depth is 1 foot at low tide.  We need 4 feet or we'll hit bottom.  But with a 10' tide and good timing you can go in and you're in an inland lake at low tide with no way out.  At least until the next high tide.

We left after 2 days for Cid Harbor.  It's really not a harbor but a big protected anchorage.  The US fleet hid in there during WWII.




We made the 5K hike to Whitsunday Peak and it was worth the aches we had the next day.

Gulnare Inlet where we 'were' anchored for 3 days

Aussies Love Camping

One thing that we have seen everywhere we go is that Aussies love to camp.  Whether it is in a tent pitched on the beaches we pass while sailing, or in beachfront RV parks in just about every town.  There are huge migrations of 'Caravans' (RV's) heading up the Queensland Motorways this time of year similar to the US West Coasters heading up to Alaska for the summer.  

Green Areas are Parks

The Australian National Park System make the US National Parks look miniscule.  They have parks everywhere.  Town parks, roadside parks, beachfront parks, big, small, complete islands, even a reef and surrounding islands, (The Great Barrier Reef National Park).  Camping seems to be promoted everywhere by businesses and the government and is hugely cultural.

Up until now, we have never met cruisers that carry tents on their boats.  Now we have.  They have cook stoves, shovels, dutch ovens, griddles, fire pokers, and of course the tents.  A beach to an Aussie is just another place to set up camp.  If you can't get there in a 4 wheel drive, take the boat.  We've seen heaps (there's that Aussie word again) of small aluminum boats, they call'em 'Tinnies', pulled up on the beaches with tents pitched on the dunes.

So we pull in to the anchorage at Thomas Island and just because there is a sign on the beach that says 'No Fires", no worries!  We're not just talking about a campfire that you sit around and tell stories.  We're talking about building a campfire in the afternoon, doing Happy Hour, cooking dinner on it, and drinking and talking for hours.

We had so much fun and haven't smelled of smoke that much since doing a weekend of Boy Scout camping.  Dinner and conversation around an open fire has such a great feel to it.  There was still firewood left so we stayed another night just to do it all again. 

I think the Aussies really have it figured out.