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Exody - Days 192-198 : Waves, Wind, Wallabies and Winter Sales



The wind kept on building on Tuesday 21st and much of the day we were in 25 to 35 knots with gusts topping 40 knots accompanied by horizontal rain and very poor visibility - the waves and swell were large but not uncomfortable on the rear quarter. We were down to treble reefed main and genny.  Wednesday cleared progressively and we were able to see the one or two ships crossing our path north/south at five or six miles range.  By the middle of the day, our long missed friend the sun was out and the wind dropped  - we motored most of the last 40 miles in to the Hydrogapher's Passage - the well marked and lit shipping route through the Great Barrier Reef, crossing the World ARC finish line after dark at 20.10.  Although still 100 miles off the mainland coast, the combination of lights and the extensive solid green on the charts gave the psychological illusion of passing through a chain of islands as Exody doglegged her way through, passing one ship en route.  By the early hours we had a direct line toward Mackay and the wind had come up from the beam enough to hoist all sail.  After a slow start we had a splendid sail for 60 miles across the flat protected waters, averaging over 6 knots.= as we passed the offlying islands of Scawfell, Penrith etc. We lunched on a salad of the last of the Australia-forbidden fresh veg and ham, securing to the Q (for quarantine) dock at 13.30 on Thursday 23rd, just over a week after setting off - a fast passage overall and good to be in port.

No less than ten officers of the quarantine and then the Border force, including a sniffer dog, processed us promptly, thoroughly and courteously. Including a full search, it took about an hour. We were soon berthed with the rest of the fleet and exploring services ashore, though the marina was some distance from town. Friday 24th was spent on 'recovery', laundry, and rectifying a heavy steering/autopilot problem that had given us some serious concern at sea - finally joining other World ARC crews at Mackay Yacht Club for welcome drinks and food.

5am start Saturday for the 45 minute bus trip north to Hillsborough beach to see the wallabies feeding on seaweed - an amazing dawn sight combined with our first viewing of the strikingly diverse foliage and distinctive volcanic formations surrounding the beach. Nola, the bus driver provided a substantial breakfast for us before the drive back- now in daylight so we could appreciate the large tracts of sugar cane and the attractive backdrop of subtropical rain-forested mountains beyond. We learnt of Mackay's history and industry (70+ coal mines) and of the flooding that fairly regularly impacts the population of 120,000.

We took a drop to the Canelands Mall en route back and were quite taken aback by the comprehensive 'first world' offerings - finding it difficult to resist hoarding the newly available supermarket riches!  

Multiple minor boat jobs were tackled Saturday afternoon and Sunday with a local cruising briefing on the Sunday morning. Juno's farewell pontoon party took up Saturday evening and the  World ARC prizegiving and dinner Sunday night - for these and for all evening activities we have found ourselves in long pants, long sleeves and snugs - it is down to about 20 at nights and really quite cold. Sea fog and poor visibility have also been a feature.

Monday 27th and we are up again early to finalize packing - we are heading straight to the airport for a 90 minute flight south to Gold Coast after the World ARC day tour. Nola drove the bus again - this time 70km inland through the valley floor stopping off at a gorge and to see platypus and turtles in their natural freshwater habitat, before climbing up to the stunning vantage point on the ridge - all within the subtropical rainforest of the Eungella National Park. We left the bus at the Canelands Mall again and this time discovered the 50% winter sales where Marian finally found a lightweight waterproof and we were both able to replace some of the worn items in our wardrobes!  

We caught a taxi at five for the airport looking forward to our first few nights off the boat, bar one in Galapagos, since mid July 2014.

Peter (Skipper)

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