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Free & BrEasy - Anna of Salads



We are now four on board Free & BrEasy. Roger's wife, Annabelle, has joined us for the leg around Australia to Darwin. Why is Roger looking so happy? Annabelle has brought an immediate improvement in our cuisine. We now have healthy salads for lunch every day, and curry's to die for. Woolworths still exists in Australia and we went to a huge Woolworths supermarket in the giant shopping Mall to purchase a colossal amount of provisions. We are now set up for the 1500 mile trip to Darwin over the next month.

World ARC gave us a very helpful briefing on the next leg to Darwin. Exploration of the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef is uppermost in our minds but there is a profusion of Marinas and anchorages tempting us on the way. We were also told to look out for whales as they have become common at this time of year. On the last Pacific passage we caught a glimpse of whales in the far distance so fingers crossed we will get a better sighting over the next few weeks. One thing we don't want to see is crocodiles! The salt water crocs are called Salties and become increasingly common as we journey north and several people are taken by crocs each year. Will this stop Alejandro's early morning dip?

World ARC arranged an excellent visit to the Mackay Queensland hinterland. The coastal region is very fertile and sugar cane is grown as far as the eye can see. The road is criss-crossed with the narrow gauge rails of the Cane Train which transports the cane to the sugar factories. These factories are surprisingly industrial with chimneys bellowing black smoke and massive dusty conveyors leading from shed to shed. Who would have thought that making nice white sugar could be such a dirty business? After the miles of cane we started to rise up the hills that surround the River Pioneer that flows through Mackay. Cane gave away to more trees and then we stopped at a Mackay version of a Billabong. Tea was made from water boiled in Billys over a camp fire and we scoffed wood-fire-pan-toasted sweet bread and molasses while listening to a ranger telling us about Platycats. The next stop was on a river where we hoped to spot one of Australia's rarest mammals, the egg laying duck billed Platypus, or to its friends, the Platycat! After an hour of patient viewing a rather small female Platycat swam for 30 seconds in front of us and made it all worthwhile. Would be David Attenborough's were disappointed with their photographs and reduced to snapping an image on a nearby information board and hoping no one would notice! Back in the bus we wound our way up to a view point over the Mackay plain for a lunch stop. Lying in the sun we imagined being the first settlers looking down at all the virgin forest and contemplating conversion to our very own farm land. The last stop was to the original Mackay cattle ranch at Green Mount which was being preserved for posterity.

Mackay proved to be a friendly place full of friendly locals. Of course there was still the boat to maintain and we had a fun afternoon replacing the mainsail track. The weather included a morning of rain and Scotch mist! There are miles of sandy beach for long walks and runs with the added frissance of guessing whether that log or rock is really a Saltie! One evening the Marina staff layed on a BBQ and we met Dave, originally a Kiwi farmer, but now in charge of the Marina Grounds. Dave was as charming and convivial a person as you could meet anywhere in the world. The next day Dave came down to the boat and over a meal accompanied by beers and wine that he brought with him, he continued to entertain us with his fascinating stories.

By now many of the World ARC fleet were leaving and we could feel the tug of the ocean currents. We sadly decided to decline Dave's generous offer of a tour around the Mackay region and head up to Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Island group. There we hoped to have a base to explore the marine world and beaches. Worryingly the weather forecasts were predicting strong winds which might prevent anchoring at some beach locations. The day sail to Hamilton Island was perfect with a nice wind over our shoulders and of course, one of Anna's salads. We docked at the Marina and looked forward to one of Anna's curries! The boys on Free & BrEasy are looking forward to the next month of Anna's cooking!


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