Girls catch up

George's friend Rose flew up to Hamilton Island for a few days 'catching up'. We showed her some of the sights around Whitsunday Island.

Hamilton Island Yacht Club

George and Rose in Chance Bay

Serious girl talk

Snorkelling off Border Island

Hill Inlet

Wonderful Whitsundays

Brian and Meredith have flown home to Port Macquarie, and we have a few days alone in Whitsundays. Monday was spent getting a new circuit board fitted to our charger/inverter. We have lithium batteries, which need a different algorithm to be charged efficiently. The new board and control panel hopefully will do that better.

We climbed Whitsunday Peak for some stunning views.

Looking south over Gulnare Inlet and Hamilton Island

Looking west over Cid Island towards Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach marina fuel dock at night

A catamaran reaching along in the brisk conditions

A sea eagle carrying a fish

Lady Island

Refuge Bay, Nara Inlet

Underwater camera

I haven't been very impressed with the clarity of the underwater shots I have got with a GoPro (which got lost at sea near Newcastle) or the Sony Action Cam I got to replace it. If you don't know what a GoPro is, check out this and this.

We have been following a sailing blog called S/V Totem, which we strongly recommend. It is a lovely story of a family with three kids who are sailing slowly around the world. The mother Behan takes beautiful photos, including underwater ones. She has set a standard which I aspire to emulate.

So I bought a little Olympus Tough TG-2 camera which can go down to 15 metres, and we used the opportunity of arriving at a good dive spot on Hayman Island to try it out.

Batfish

Three shrink cruise

We are back on the road again. After catching up with Mal and Lucy, we sorted out a problem which occurred when the charging system fused, which led to freezer contents having a smelly melt-down. Mal kindly cleaned a lot of it up before we arrived. We are now sailing south from Townsville to the Whitsundays with our friends Brian and Meredith, who are both psychiatrists. The crew manifest thus contains three psychiatrists and one GP. George is more than holding her own.

The weather is being kind; gentle north-easterlies.

Townsville is an attractive town.

We had a nice meal in the Pier restaurant 

Water fun playground

Turtles mating

Anyone in? Osprey's nest on Cape Bowling Green

Pelicans on Cape Bowling Green

Meredith and George

Walking on Cape Bowling Green

Brian

Meredith spotting for crocs in Gulnare Inlet

Gibson family reunion at Lake Macquarie

Lake Macquarie sunrise

High jinks in the Hinterland

During our time on land, we enjoy a fun community in the Austinville Valley in the Gold Coast Hinterland.

This is a short video of a Sixties dance in the local village hall.

To Anna and Sim, a baby girl!

Anna and her partner Simeon had a baby girl 'Aelwen' on Monday August 26th. All went well, and we were kept in touch by text. Very exciting.

This is my first grand-child.

Anna, Sim and Aelwen

Maggie Island and Townsville

A bumpy beat from Orpheus Island to Magnetic Island, the beautiful island just off Townsville.

We caught up with our friends Lucy and Mal in their Schionning catamaran 'Barbarella'. 

Barbarella

Horse-riding in Horseshoe Bay, Maggie Island

Magnetic Island from the beach in Townsville

In Townsville the Reef HQ Aquarium is not to be missed.

Surgeonfish

Green turtle

Clown fish

Hinchinbrook Island

Hinchinbrook Island, between Cairns and Townsville, is our favourite island on the east coast of Australia. It is big, beautiful and unspoilt.

A few years ago we came here with Anna, who is expecting a baby in the next week or two! 

Usually the east coast of the island faces the wind, so you can can only visit the bays on the outside for a lunch stop, and have to retreat inside for an overnight anchorage. We have struck lucky this visit, with the Pacific being more pacific than I have ever seen. So we could stay at Banksia Bay, next to the iconic Zoe Bay.

Nimrod in Banksia Bay, Hinchinbrook Island

Nina Peak

Cape Sandwich, Hinchinbrook Island

Catamaran sailing south at sunrise

Hinchinbrook Passage

Haycock Island in Hinchinbrook Passage - sunset

Reflections in the morning