G’day Boatblog® fans,
And Merry Christmas from The Land Down Under.
Though it does seem strange to have a Christmas tree in 30ºC
Yes – we finally made it to Oz. We arrived just as the sun was setting,
…so we had to anchor out and wait for morning to clear customs and immigration.
There was a time when all you had to do to enter Australia was steal a sheep, and in more recent times hand over a tenner. But nowadays it’s a little trickier. Before you can officially enter, you have to go through Biosecurity. It’s all very friendly and efficient, but the boat has to be fully inspected inside and out – they even have sniffer dogs – not so much looking for illegal drugs but checking for invasive species of insects or plants. They’re worried about you bringing in a cockroach. This, in the land of the Funnel Web and the Death Adder.
We landed in Bundaberg because we had joined the Down Under Rally which is based there – not as some have suggested because that’s where they make all the rum. The Down Under Rally is great and among other things, they put on lectures about sailing the east coast of Oz,
And they throw parties – lots of parties – film nights, jam sessions and barbies. (That’s barbecues for those of you who don’t speak Australian) This one featured a one man band – not just a bass drum, elbow tambourine and a mouth organ here. This was didgeridoos, Ry Cooder guitar and a load of ethnic percussion. Brilliant.
But soon it was time to move on, as we needed to be south of Brisbane by December to be out of the cyclone zone.
So we headed south past Fraser Island. Which is a pretty scary place. It has crocodiles, great white sharks, dingos, brown snakes, and spiders. Not to mention deadly stinging jelly fish.
We were told to be, “…alert, not alarmed,” though if a crocodile isn’t a reason to be alarmed it makes you wonder what is.
So we stayed alert. We were told to carry sticks, and stand back-to-back if you were attacked by a pack of dingos.
No worries.
We did see one dingo but he kept his distance, probably because he could see we were armed and dangerous.
We also saw a brown snake – the second most poisonous snake in the world – which alas we don’t have a picture of as it is hard to take photos and run at the same time.
But not all of the animals in Australia are deadly.
We went to The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. For thirty dollars you could actually hold one.
Thirty bucks! They must think we’re a few stubbies short of a six pack.
But the roos were cute, especially the little joeys.
We went for a walkabout in the rainforest.
What lives in here?
Probably something lethal, so we didn’t go in to find out.
Brisbane seemed strangely familiar.
Is it just me or does that look like a mini Southbank? They’ve even called it Southbank.
We – well, Lyn – decorated the good ship Domini for Christmas,
…before it was time to get her taken out of the water,
…and put on the hardstand, somewhere between Superyacht Marina and Multihull Central.
She’ll be right.
And now it was time for us to fly across the Outback and home for Christmas.
It makes you realise how massive Australia really is.
Catch you later cobbers.
Ju & Lyn
Oh, before we go – here’s a picture of a cool looking tree, for no other reason than…er.. it’s a cool looking tree.
Domini 