MARCH, 2001
Latitude 27 degrees 11 minutes 06 seconds South
Longitude: 153 degrees 06 minutes 03 seconds East
Scarborough Harbor Marina
All the local Queenslanders keep telling us that the temperature will drop at the end of February to the early March, but so far no so luck. It is still brutally hot and humid here. It makes it hard to have the energy to do much but complain about the heat. We did receive our boom back from its refurbishment at the mast shop. They did a nice job of adding on a few metal tangs, welding shut all the various unused holes and giving it a new coat of paint. We spent the better part of a day reinstalling it to the mast and rigging it all together. I worked on a few mainsail repairs before we reattached the main to the boom and the mast.
March 7th marked the birthday of Lee from Voyager. This was celebrated by having a girl’s day out. Lee and I started it out by going to the gym, then coming back to the marina to pick up her daughter Kate and going out for a girl’s lunch at our favorite spot in Redcliffe. After lunch we watched a movie back at our boat, which was followed up with birthday cake and margaritas! It was such a fun day it almost felt like it was my birthday! On Friday we were witnesses to one of the biggest lightening storms we have ever seen. It lasted all night and kept the sky lit with lots of activity and thunder! It was so spectacular that David even decided to film it for a bit. All I have to say is that I’m glad we weren’t sailing out in that storm.
There were many big events that hit Australia this month, some were good and some were not. First the good news; the first Australian ever to walk in space happened when the young man went to space on the American spaceship and assisted with repairs to the space station. This was a very big event in Australia and was splashed all over the media. The bad news is the Australian dollar hit its all time low of 47.8 U.S. cents. Great for us, but not so great for Australians.
Tom, David and I made a trip into the big town of Brisbane to visit customs and get our cruising permits to head up the coast of Australia with our boats. Tom was able to get his, but David and I were denied a permit until we leave the country and come back. Our 4-year multiple entry visas that we were granted have the stipulation that we leave the country every 6 months. Very strange custom of kicking out your tourist. Anyway we now have to go somewhere and then he will grant us our cruising permit. It looks like we will go to New Zealand sometime in April to satisfy this requirement.
I decided to venture into Brisbane one Sunday afternoon to visit one of the largest home shows in Australia. I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of products they use in home building and gardening in Australia. It was very interesting to say the least. I learned a lot, and the thing that impressed me the most was the focus they had on solar energy for everything from hot water to electricity. They also use a lot of rainwater catchment systems for fresh water into the house. All toilets have the two flush system. The half flush and the full flush for water conservation. They seem to be a very energy conscious and environmentally conscious country, despite having the highest output of green house gasses per capita in the world. I also found a company who makes beautiful furniture from coconut palm trees (a very renewable resource in the south pacific) it was a very interesting day and I’m glad the opportunity to see how things are done in the land of Oz.
Life in the marina is feeling a frenzied pace as people return from overseas to prepare for the next sailing season. The boat yard is full of activity with boats going in and out of the water all day long. The sounds of sanders, hammers, drills and welders fills the air most of the days as people prepare their boats for the next season. I’m glad we have been slowly attacking the list of things to do so we aren’t as panicked to get things done, as most of our neighbors seem to be. Plus it is still so hot that it makes it hard to work outside in the middle of the day. We did decide to undertake a small renovation in the kitchen (known as the galley). Years of abuse had left our countertops looking a little ragged as well as the faucet. So we picked out some new laminate and new faucet and the kitchen deconstruction began. We also had a few of the drawers enlarged and asked that the sliding mechanism tried to be improved upon. This process lasted for about one week. While this was happening we had no water in the boat, so I could be found washing the dishes and my teeth on the dock by the water tap. Now that the project is complete we are very happy with our new look.
To take a break from the marina and the heat we decided to take a little trip to the hinterland with the Voyagers. Tom, Lee, Kate, David and I loaded up the car with our gear, my Mt. Bike and Kate’s little nipper bike and headed for the hills and hopefully some cooler weather. We decided on a place called the Kooralbyn Resort. We had heard that they had rustic lodge, swimming pools and Mt. Biking single-track trails to ride! We arrived around noon and quickly found our way to bike rental shop where the rest of the gang was fitted with bikes. David and I headed to the single-track trials in the woods while the voyagers stuck to the paved trails around the resort. I know it had been a long time since I’ve done some serious Mt. Biking but these were the most challenging trails I’ve ever ridden on. Later we found out that they have the state trials on these trails! After an exhausting ride we went straight for the pool! The day was topped off with a lovely meal at the resort. The next morning when we awoke and looked outside we were surprised to see around 20 kangaroos munching on the grass. Some were lying down while others were hopping around and playing. Two even looked like they were having a boxing match. David and Tom went running while I hit the trails with the bike again. Somehow we all ended up in the pool again for a cooling off. After a quick breakfast we had a round of mini golf before leaving the resort. On the way home we had heard about a place called O’Riellys up in the mountains. We were told not to miss it so we took the detour and headed up a very winding road. After about an hour and half of driving the narrow gravel road up the mountain we finally arrived at O’Riellys. What a spectacular view they had of the whole mountain range and forest. We saw many new things hear, the first being something called a paddymellon. What’s a paddymellon? It sounds like it should be the name the name of some exotic sandwich or desert, but it is in fact a little tiny marsupial very similar to a wallaby, but smaller. The place was also a flutter with the most beautiful birds I’ve seen. The most spectacular was the Crimson Rossella. This bird had a bright blue body with vivid red wings and tail. They were so tame that they would come up and eat right out of your hands. There were also very large green parrots flying about and eating out of the guest hands. This was a very interesting place for they also had a rainforest tree top walk. They built a walkway through the top canopy of the trees. The walkway was suspension bridges built between giant trees. So how could we resist? We took the tour through the treetops. It was little scary, but Kate and her parents even climbed to the tops of one of the trees for a better look over the treetops! We finally decided to head home. It was a long couple of days, but it was just the break we needed from the marina and the projects.
The last Friday in March Kate had organized a cruisers farewell picnic in the park. Around 70 people showed up for the festivities of baseball, volleyball, bat mitten and eating! Fun was had by all as we heard of everyone’s plans of where they were heading off to and the long list of things to do before they can go. The last Saturday of March was a big centennial celebration in Brisbane, marked by a giant parade of lights on the Brisbane River that night. David and I went into town and got some take out for a picnic along the shores of the river while we watched the spectacular boats and decorated barges float by.
Seems like it was a very busy month and another one marked off the calendar.
New Australian terminology for the day:
Tomato sauce: is what they call ketchup
Lay buy: is the term they use for layaway
Torch: is the term they use for flashlight
Jumper: is the term they use for jacket or coat
BYO: is the lettering on the outside of most restaurants. This means that they don’t serve booze, but you are more then welcome to bring your own and they will open it for you and in some cases charge you a bottle opening fee!