Category: Allgemein

The world is beautiful. The sea is magical. The land is teeming with myriads of plants and animals. But, it is the people we meet who make our travels so interesting.

We were anchored off Fraser Island close to another boat and each time we passed, we checked if there was anyone sat in the cockpit but found it empty. On day two or maybe three the neighbors waved and then came across in their dinghy. We agreed to meet at sundown on their boat for drinks. We took a home made pizza bread with us and the sundowner turned in to a late-nighter.

They were getting ready to leave their boat for six months and so needed help emptying their freezer. The next night we gave our best and it was once again very late when we took the dinghy home under the stars. The third night they moved down the island and anchored in another bay. We followed, anchored next to them and continued to be “helpful”. I still have no idea where the six hours went each evening but none of us were bored.

Thank you Sally and Neville from the sailing yacht Hau Korahi for three wonderful evenings.

We left the company of Hau Korahi to sail in to Moreton Bay and tie up to friends private jetty at the “bottom of their garden”. Sue and Chris are sailors and understand the priorities. Attach Artemis safely to land, have a shower, put everything in the washing machine and then make a drink and enjoy great company.

We spent three nights with these fantastic friends. They took us to all the shops we needed for those “hard to find little bits”. Without their help we would never have even known where to start looking. They also lent us their car to do a major shop and fill the lockers. It was amazing knowing that we had a vehicle from supermarket to boat. Normally we agonize over how many items we can fit in our rucksacks and bags, on this occasion we just bought a few extra of everything. The luxury of it all.

We asked if we could stay an extra day so that we could repair our bimini (cockpit sun cover) on their shady, flat, clean terrace. Not only did they agree, Sue spent the entire day assisting, explaining how we could improve things and suggesting two perfect design modifications.

In the evenings, they taught us two new games and Neill continuously lost both badly. And we should also mention the stream of fantastically cooked meals and refreshing drinks.

Thank you Sue, thank you Chris. Our break with you was such fun.

In the Canary Islands we cycled the 2100 meters uphill to the rim of Teide. Off Africa we cycled 1100 meters uphill through a desert to the crater of Santa Antao. In South America we cycled in to the Andes and across a 3500 meter pass. We then cycled down Cotopaxi from 4600 meters. In Polynesia we cycled across the middle of Tahiti. And now we are in Bundaberg, Australia so we needed to get out and cycle the highest mountain.

Bundaberg’s highest point is “the Sloping Hummock” which was named by Lieutenant Flinders. He was obviously very imaginative as, seen from the sea, the hill is a sloping hummock. It is a very impressive 96 meters above sea level.

We left Artemis anchored in the river in the middle of Bundaberg and cycled through the Baldwin Swamp and then out of the town heading East. The Hummock is easily seen across the table flat landscape and the views from the top were extensive.

We then continued out to the Pacific coast where we ate a snack and enjoyed the view back across the ocean where we had come from. We both felt that it was time we sailed Artemis back down the river and out in to the ocean where she belongs.

On the beachfront, Heidi was attacked by a “swooping bird”. These are magpies that attack you as you cycle past and the reason most cyclists have cable ties sticking out of the top of their helmets. We do not yet have this modification so when the bird attacked Heidi, it took a peck at her cheek which surprised her. In Australia it appears everything attacks you.

Back in Bundaberg, we visited the Rum Distillery. We decided not to buy a bottle of rum for $450, nor a “Bundaberg Rum” hat for $60. We also passed on the tour of the distillery so enjoyed a very inexpensive visit.

As we had the bikes put together, we also visited the swamps again, the ginger beer brewery, the zoo and the vegetable store. An enjoyable exploration of Bundaberg.

and in Australia the weather was … SUNNY! Except over Bundaberg, where the mother of all rain storms was hovering like a huge ink blot on the weather radar.

The screenshot shows clear skies all over the surrounding country but a 300 kilometer wide torrential rain storm sat right over us. And it sat there for 24 hours. The boat is shiny clean, the water cans are full to brimming with fresh rain water scooped out of the dinghy and we decided against cycling.

The rain leaked through the window above the sleeping Heidi so, as soon as the rain finished, there was a change of plan and that window was ripped out and the new polycarbonate “none leaky” window installed. If we are anything, we are flexible.

This week we also managed to remove our “holding tank” (the polite name for where the s%&t from the toilet goes) from under the bed and take it to some one who found the leak and repaired it. We then reinstalled it and things look no different to before we started. I am so glad we have photos to prove that we actually do something.

We also installed new service batteries. The third set since we started. To paraphrase something we recently heard from a sailor
– Solar power is the most expensive way to get electricity for free –
But, at the same time renewable energy is absolute freedom and we wouldn’t ever want to be without it.

So we got rained on, had a leaky, s%&t tank and spent more money on more batteries but then the sun sets across the river and you realize, there are much worse ways to live.

We spent four weeks working on the boat, two on the hard stand and two in the marina. Various people commented on our hard work and how beautiful Artemis looks but we were both itching to “get going again”.

Yesterday we put all the sails back on to Artemis and she looked like a sailing boat. In the evening we attended our last “cruisers BBQ” at the marina and this morning we backed out of the berth and entered the Burnett River. There was hardly any wind but we still shook out the mainsail to re-stack it and left it up “just for fun”.

We headed upriver being pushed by the rising tide. The motor ran nicely, the tide added a knot and even the wind occasionally filled the sails. Life was as it should be.

At one point the charts showed a depth of zero centimeters so we were relying on the tide adding two meter to that so that we could sneak across the sand bar. Heidi was navigating, Neill was watching the depth meter, the situation was tense but everything worked out. We had 40 centimeters between us and the bottom. Easy!

We passed farms, houses and the famous Bundaberg Rum distillery – where all the local sugar cane gets converted to Rum – and finally anchored in the middle of town. The trip was under ten miles but it was our return to freedom.

Over four years ago, when we first left from the yard in Scotland, we achieved only five miles, so we are getting better.

Before we left Artemis in March, we cleaned everything and were really happy when we opened the hatch and found all that clean woodwork waiting for us. Over the next week and a half we ground all the old anti-fouling and epoxy off the hull in a dusty boat yard. We then applied new epoxy to the hull and covered that with four coats of Coppercoat during a non-stop six hour painting marathon.

After all that, the boat was no longer so clean.

We launched on a Friday morning. Nothing leaked and it was beautiful to finally be a boat with the gentle rocking we know after four years at sea. In the marina we had unlimited water so could seriously clean the deck, cockpit and all the fittings. We then spent three days masking everything up and repainting the deck with anti-slip. Hard work but worth it.

We have also started to change all the internal lights to new LED systems and begun the major “change all eight windows” project that has been planned since Polynesia. We are definitely back in boating life and dreaming of “heading off up the river” at the end of this week.

There are a number of other cruisers in the marina. Many coastal sailors and a few ocean sailors. We all meet up on a Friday night for a marina sponsored barbecue, swap stories and receive invitations to “pop in” for a visit when you pass. Australians are so friendly.

Stop press: During all the painting, my very best, most favorite, work trousers ripped again and looked like they were finally dead. But Heidi saved them and I now have a really fashionable yellow rip. Impressive or what?

Time to write a blog. What was the address to log in to Buruwang? What is my password? Where do I click to write a new blog post? I can tell that it is a long time since I last posted an entry here.

But I have a good excuse. OK! It is the excuse I always use. Life happens too quickly to find time to write about it. But the six months in Germany were so packed that we didn’t even have time for living all the life we needed to live.

Heidi was immediately back in to paid life with a job in her bosses new practice and another as a waitress at the Hotel Krone in Mittelberg. She loved both jobs but some days she was hardly at home.

Luckily the German government decided to reform the property tax. The execution of this project was completely incompetent which resulted in loads of unwanted extra work for the tax advisors. While some just panicked, Barbara employed me to deal with the project. A fantastically enjoyable job with great colleagues. I also worked a fair few overtime hours.

Our sailor friends from the sailing yacht Sybo visited us and managed to experience a day of winter, a day of spring and a day of summer all in the same weekend. We enjoyed showing them Allgäu and reminiscing.

We visited my sister and her family in the UK. While there, I proposed to Heidi and she accepted so we had to fit in getting married before we left Germany. Heidi also had a “little bit” of work helping her daughter, Julia prepare for her wedding.

A few years ago we bought an apartment that was being built. It was finished this spring so we bought the furnishings and kitchen, installed curtains and fittings and completed everything so that our friends Caro and Stefano can now rent it as a holiday flat.

We cycled with Wera and Gremmel in Allgäu and, during a long weekend, in the Bavarian Forest. We also cycled to work and back each day but that is commuting and therefore not officially fun.

We visited friends, friends visited us and we went out with friends. All the children were four years older and some new houses had appeared, but it was still sometimes hard to believe we had been away four years. Real friends are those who you can visit after years and it seems like yesterday.

And then last week Julia and Michael drove us to the airport and it felt like we had only been picked up by Daniel a week before but had lived a year in the last six months.