Queensland at Last......

Yes, we have made it Queensland, but before I get ahead of myself, I had better fill you all in on today's happenings......

South Solitary Island Lighthouse -  Image by Navman

It was an early start again, up at just after 0500hrs, so that we could depart before dawn to get fuel after yesterday's fiasco in Coffs Harbour.

I know I keep repeating myself, but it was yet another beautiful clear morning, and it was a great reward for getting up so early.

We powered north, past tiny islands with beautiful lighthouses, past families of whales, past fishing boats and yachts.

After about three hours we entered the Clarence River at Iluka/Yamba. The bar was flat, so we had no issues, though of course we had our lifejackets on as required by NSW law.

Firstly we went upriver to the Yamba Marina, only to be told that they couldn't give us any fuel because their bowser was broken. Oops, we hadn't counted on that happening and we didn't have enough fuel to get us to the Gold Coast. I also had a terrible thought that we had been blackbanned because of what wrote in yesterday's blog about poor fuel service in Coffs Harbour. This wasn't the case however and we were redirected to the fuel dock in Iluka. Here we got friendly service and very reasonably priced diesel.

The dolphins were jumping - Image by Navman

After about an hour we were on our way again. We passed several pods of playful dolphins, some of whom seemed intent on a career in acrobatics.

By 1330hrs we were abeam of Byron Bay lighthouse, the most easterly place in mainland Australia.

Surfers Paradise in the grey - Imaage by Navman

All afternoon the clouds were building and at one stage we had rain on both sides of us. It was pouring on Mt Warning and Surfers Paradise was bathed in an eerie gloom.

We had to reduce speed for a while as the sea was building, but this was only for about ten minutes.

At exactly 1600hrs we entered the Gold Coast Seaway under clearing skies. Captain Bligh suggested that we should take Endless Summer down for a look at Southport, which we did.

"I came, I saw, I concreted" - Image by Navman, caption with apologies to Julius Caesar

The city was bathed in an amazing light, which reflected off the massive skyscrapers. It was very dramatic, but we all agreed that it was not a place we would like to live. After our impromptu tour, Captain Bligh  motored us  back to the aptly named "Bum's Bay". This is a delightful anchorage within site of the city, but without the hustle and bustle.

Here we dropped anchor and enjoyed a very nice beer before dinner. Dinner tonight was some home baked lasagna which Marina had prepared. We all enjoyed it immensely, even though we were dog tired. Sea-Dog even brought out a bottle of his special red wine. This also we enjoyed and savored.

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Tomorrow we are having a sleep in till at least 0700hrs before setting off on the next part of our adventure.

Bye for now,

Navman