Heute haben wir mal etwas für unsere Bildung getan 🤣🤔 und haben die Insel St. Helena besucht. Ich sagte zu Neill, dass ich St. Helena nur mit dem Exil von Napoleon in Verbindung bringe und nicht in Australien gesucht hätte 😏. Aber witziger weise hat die Insel genau daher ihren Namen und wurde als Gefängnis genutzt. Jetzt ist sie ein Nationalpark, wo man Vögel beobachten und Ruinen vom Gefängnis besichtigen kann, außerdem haben wir hier den best erhaltenen Kalkofen auf unserer Reise gefunden 👍.
Zu Weihnachten wollten wir raus aus der Stadt, wir hatten Sehnsucht nach klarem, sauberen Wasser, wo wir endlich mal wieder schwimmen konnten 😁.
Neill fand den richtigen Platz, Tangalooma eine Bucht in der Morton Bay, wo vor ca. 40 Jahren Schiffe versenkt wurden um dort einen geschützten Hafen zu bilden 👍. Die Schiffe sind mittlerweile nur noch Wracks, die von Korallen überwuchert sind und einer Vielfalt von Fischen einen neuen Lebensraum geschenkt haben 🐠🐟.
Außer uns hatten auch super viele Australier die gleiche Idee, zu Weihnachten mit dem Boot zu den Tangalooma Wracks zu fahren 🙈. Der Ankerplatz war ziemlich voll, doch wir fanden einen Platz neben einem Katamaran, mit dem wir auch gleich ins Gespräch kamen. Kurz nach uns ankerte ein weiterer Katamaran ziemlich nahe bei uns beiden und Neill meinte nur, dass wir 35 Meter Ankerkette draus haben, was den Kapitän wenig beeindruckte. Gespannt warteten wir was passiert, die Tide drehte und die Boote fingen an, sich zu drehen und zu schwingen 🙃😜. Der zuletzt angekommene Katamaran schwang bedrohlich nahe an den bereits zuerst dagewesenen Katamaran, worauf dieser seine Ankerkette einzog und dann sehr nahe in unsere Richtung kam. Wir haben dann unseren Anker gehoben und etwas weiter weg geankert. Der zuletzt angekommene Katamaran von uns kurz “Crazykat” getauft, zog seine Kreise und verdrängte auch den ersten Katamaran 🤔🤔. Wir saßen bei uns im Cockpit und verfolgten was Crazykat noch alles anstellte, er kollidierte fast mit dem Nachbar auf der anderen Seite, der dann auch den Anker hob und flüchtete. Nach ca. zwei Stunden kam das Dinghy von Crazykat zu uns, um uns mitzuteilen, dass sie jetzt einen Heckanker gesetzt haben, da wir uns die ganze Zeit drehen 😲😲??
Das war eine ganz neue Erfahrung für uns, denn normalerweise, bzw. überall auf der Welt, ankert das Boot, das zuletzt ankommt und zu nahe an den anderen dran ist wo anders. Doch andere Länder andere Sitten🙃🙃, doch verschiedene Australier pflichteten uns bei, dass es normal auch hier so gehandhabt wird 👍.
Am Heilig Abend haben wir unsere Neoprenanzüge angezogen und sind zu den Wracks geschnorchelt. Ich kann euch sagen WAHNSINN, ich hatte manchmal das Gefühl durch Fische und nicht durch Wasser zu schwimmen 🐠🐟😲😲. Gestreifte und gepunktete Fische in allen verschiedenen Farben und Größen. Wir haben ja schon viele verschiedene Schnorchelgebiete gesehen, doch die Masse an Fischen war wirklich beeindruckend und selbst für uns neu 👍. Da wir beim ersten Schnorchelgang nicht alles aufnehmen konnten, mussten wir natürlich gleich am nächsten Tag nochmal ins “grüne” Nass, denn das Wasser ist hier nämlich nicht blau🤣🤣.
Beim Spaziergang über die ganz aus Sand bestehende Insel waren wir uns absolut einig, dass unsere Fahrräder auf dem Boot bleiben, denn im weichen Sand macht uns Radeln einfach keinen Spaß 😏😩.
Unsere Bootsnachbarn von “Moonwind” hatten ein geniales Foto von unserer Artemis gemacht und wir haben sie am 1. Weihnachtsfeiertag zum Kaffee bzw. zum Tee eingeladen 😁. Bei selbstgebackenen Schokoladenkuchen haben wir mit Jenny, Denise, Graham, Dan und Shane einen wunderschönen Nachmittag verbracht.
Ja wir feiern anders Weihnachten, ohne Schnee ⛄, ohne Christbaum 🎄 in der Wärme☀️☀️ anders aber auch wunderschön 👍😊.
Another Christmas, another continent. After Europe (2017), Africa (2018), South America (2019) and Oceania (2020) it was time for our Christmas in Australia.
We needed a beach, clean sea water, a gentle breeze and Christmas carols so we sailed to Tangalooma. Here there is a sheltered anchorage between the beach and a row of wrecked boats. The beach was full of four wheel drive vehicles all with their awnings and barbecues. The bay was full of boats – jet-skis, tiny fishing boats, sailing boats, catamarans, tourist carriers and a few yachts. The current was strong but we have a good anchor.
The wrecked boats were stranded here thirty to forty years ago to offer protection from westerly winds. Over the years they have rusted away and become partly covered with coral. They are now home to more fish than you can ever imagine. Twice we went snorkeling and we weren’t swimming through water, we were swimming through multicolored fish.
On the day we arrived it appeared that the whole of Brisbane had the same idea. We anchored near a catamaran and shortly after another catamaran appeared and anchored between us. All three of us were swinging in the current and the wind and it got a little dangerous. The idiots who had arrived last – “crazy cat” – weren’t bothered so the first cat went elsewhere and we re-anchored further from them. They were still swinging around and later threw out a stern anchor which caused them to hit another boat. At least they were now far from us and we could relax.
On Christmas Eve, Shane from the neighboring boat brought us a beautiful photo of Artemis at anchor in front of a storm front. Later we enjoyed the Christmas carols on the local radio station, home made lasagna and local wine. A perfect Christmas!
On Christmas Day we walked barefoot along the beach and then in to the forest to enjoy the scent of eucalyptus and the deafening Cicadas concert. In the afternoon “the neighbors” from the vessel “Moonwind” came over for coffee and Heidi’s chocolate cake.
And finally – here is a great Christmas carol that was played on the radio. Fantastic when you can turn the music up without annoying the neighbors.
Als wir von der Quarantäne rausgekommen sind, hatten wir uns riesig auf Bewegung, Radeln usw. gefreut, doch als erstes mussten wir unsere Artemis wieder auf Vordermann bringen 🙈. Also erst die Arbeit und dann das Vergnügen 🤣🤣.
Also hatten wir mit dem Projektmanager der Marina ein Meeting und bekamen wichtige Informationen und Adressen, an wen wir uns wenden können. 👍
Für nur zwei Wochen war unsere Liste riesig 😳 und wie es überall auf der Welt ist, ist kurz vor Weihnachten alles fast unmöglich 🙈. Doch wir haben wieder einmal riesiges Glück gehabt und alle unsere Reparaturen sind durchgeführt und fertig geworden, bevor wir die Marina verlassen haben 😃.
Unseren ersten Spaziergang haben wir fast übertrieben, denn nach fast sechs Wochen nichts tun, haben wir einen riesigen Muskelkater bekommen 😩🙈. So weit war es doch gar nicht, vielleicht drei Kilometer, also das muss wieder besser werden 😏😁.
Am Sonntag haben wir doch eine Radtour gemacht, wir sind einem Bachlauf gefolgt und sind durch Eukalyptuswälder geradelt, was für ein intensiver Geruch, leider haben wir noch keine Koalas entdeckt – und die Betonung liegt auf NOCH!! Wir haben Flametrees und Jacaranda Bäume mit ihren intensiven Farben entdeckt und Zikaden gehört. Für mich ist es immer noch eine Herausforderung auf der “richtigen” Straßenseite zu radeln und sogar auf den Fahrradwegen fahren alle auf der falschen Seite 😜. Aber auch dass werde ich üben.
Unser Steg Nachbar Geoff, hat uns eingeladen mit ihm und seinen Freunden den Fluß bis in die Stadt hinauf zu segeln und wir haben natürlich Ja gesagt ⛵. Später eröffnete er uns, dass von den anderen Mitseglern keiner eine Ahnung vom Segeln hat und er sehr froh ist, dass wir mitkommen. Es war eine interessanter Segeltörn mit vielen neuen Menschen und wir müssen uns an den etwas anderen Alkoholgenuss der Australier erst gewöhnen 🤔. Doch für uns war es genial, denn unser erstes Ankergebiet wird genau die City von Brisbane am Botanischen Garten sein 👍👍.
Als wir am Samstag hier ankamen genossen wir die Skiline mit den Wolkenkratzern hinter uns, gegenüber bei den Kangaroo Kliffs fand eine Hochzeit statt und so gegen 21 Uhr wurde ein Feuerwerk entzündet 🎇🎇 und wir waren auf unserer Artemis in erster Reihe. Den Botanischen Garten haben wir auch schon erkundet, mit seinen verschiedenen Pinien, riesigen Blumenbeeten, Springbrunnen, Kinderspielplätzen und vielem mehr🎄 Wir sind einfach wiedermal total geflasht, dass wir unser Haus an die unterschiedlichsten Plätze schleppen und hier sogar kostenlos ankern können. 🤣🤣
Passend zum neuen Kontinent gibt es ein neues Fotoalbum – “Australien“.
New continent and a new photo album – “Australia“
Noonsite has published an article about the current situation in French Polynesia. It just shows how different two people can experience the same situation. We were in Polynesia for 17 months and, with five exceptions, only met friendly people who made us feel welcome. I summarized our fantastic experiences in a recent blog.
In the Noonsite article it says
I can’t speak to the situation in the Australes, other than to mention second hand reports of overcrowding at the most often-visited island. Last season there were up to 15 boats in the lagoon, compared to a previous average of 5 or so and some in the community were reported to be unhappy about this number of boats.
Noonsite.com
We were one of the 15 boats mentioned in this article. We were in the lagoon of Raivavae over Christmas 2020 and New Year 20/21. If anyone believes that the lagoon was overcrowded they should try anchoring in the British Solent at the weekend or off an Australian beach around Christmas.
The first person we met in Raivavae was the deputy mayor who welcomed us with a present of fruit and opened the craft center specially for us. The duty Gendarme cleared us in to his island and provided advice on sailing routes, anchoring spots and biking routes.
The owners of the reef where we were anchored welcomed us, let us use their “swimming pool”, allowed us to party on their beach, gave us fruit and let us use their va’a (outrigger canoe). Before we left they also prepared a beautiful traditional meal for us.
On the island we were invited to play boules on a Sunday afternoon and given beer (to improve our playing) faster than we could drink it. One gentleman gave us bananas, papaya and a root vegetable called manuk. When we asked at a farm if we could buy vegetables they apologized that they had none but gave us so many lychees that we could supply the neighboring boats as well. We received so much produce while on the island that we had to make chutney again.
On the summit of the islands highest mountain we were given bananas by locals who had “carried too many” to the top.
When a bracket on the engine broke we found a welder working on a gate. He stopped what he was doing to weld and paint our bracket and then refused payment because “you are sailors!”.
And yes, one day three local men went from boat to boat saying we should leave but unable to explain why or what we had done wrong. The French boats explained that we would be gone once the wind turned from the south and they left less unhappy. Later we were told that this small group had heard horror stories of abandoned boats in Tahiti via Facebook.
Factually it is true “some in the community were reported to be unhappy” but when three people are unhappy and over 800 are so friendly, it would be better to write about the 99%.
While Heidi and I were in quarantine, Artemis stayed at a marina on the Brisbane River. After we “escaped”, we spent another two weeks in the marina working our way through a list of repairs. But, after a month, it was time to get moving again.
We waited for the incoming tide so that we would get a bit of a “free ride”. Luckily, just as the tide turned the wind also came up so, with wind and tide going our way, we made good progress.
The river meanders wildly and is a major highway for commercial boats and ferries so we had to continuously tack the sails and concentrate – both things that are not so necessary when we are out crossing oceans. The plus side was the constantly changing scenery with evidence of abandoned coastal industry and a lot of new developments. The river is an interesting place.
The City Cats are the local river ferries and they zip from pier to pier apparently at random. We just held our course and let them go round us as the law of the sea says they should – they being motorized and we under sail.
In the heart of Brisbane we anchored off the botanical gardens and enjoyed our sun down drinks with the skyscrapers just off our stern.
A few days later we moved on to a pier right in the middle of the city, put our mountain bikes together and cycled in to the Mount Coot-Tha Forest. By chance we chose a route that included the steepest climb anywhere in the eucalyptus forest. At least the long run back down in to town made up for it. We left at 05:45 and were back five hours later. The amount of early morning bicycle traffic on the riverside bike path had to be seen to be believed. A counting station claimed that over a quarter of a million bikes had passed this year.
The following day we cycled along the bike paths heading downriver and enjoyed the bike lanes, bike paths, parks and side streets. Brisbane is a bikers paradise.
In the afternoon we cycled over to the outdoor swimming pool and enjoyed the refreshingly cool water.
In the botanical Garden we saw our first dragons – Eastern Water Dragons. In the evening the flying foxes flew above our heads – bats with a one meter wing span. There is a lot of new things to see here in Australia; and people to meet. Our neighbours on the sailing vessel Mahili invited us over for sundown drinks that became a late night affair which was great fun! A tour boat pulled in to take on new guests and Heidi knew the skipper from a barbecue a week before. (A month in Australia and she knows everyone 🙂
After a week of city life we let the outgoing tide carry us back down river leaving the skyscrapers astern.
After our two weeks of quarantine, we were released on to the streets of Brisbane. Finally, about thirty years after I first dreamed of visiting Australia, we could start to explore.
The bikes were assembled and we set off to look at the surrounding countryside. We discovered perfumed Eucalyptus forests, bright red flame trees, flowery Jacaranda trees, orchestras of cicadas and winding creeks.
The cycle paths along the creeks were wide and the Australian pedestrians disciplined. It was fun to ride everywhere. We rode to the supermarket, to the chain supplier and to the telephone company.
On the first day a marina neighbor took Heidi shopping. Another neighbor asked us to join him on an evening sailing trip. It turned out that our presence was fortuitous. At the end of the trip there were 16 people on board and we were the only ones not drunk. An interesting experience. Other marina neighbors invited us round for drinks with great pizza and gave us lots of tips. The skipper of a government boat also gave us good advice. Australians appear to be extremely friendly and willing to help with anything.
A doctors practice converted our French vaccination certificates to Australian digital versions and last week we received our covid booster injections so are now ready for the harsh measures being introduced for the un-vaccinated next week.
Wine only costs four dollars a bottle and cheese is affordable again. Every day we are being introduced to something new in this exciting new country. Life is fun!
After two days recovering from the Pacific crossing, while locked away in our quarantine hotel, we began our fitness program. The first two days we did ski gymnastics following this video.
After spending seven weeks sailing, we thought we were fit but after these 20 minutes the leg muscles were burning.
For the third and fourth day Heidi chose something with a little less leg exercise.
I still sweated non stop and the lady in the video just smiled all the time. I am not sure if she is human.
Days five and six. Same lady. She is still smiling. My muscles feel better but her exercises are getting more demanding. I was so happy to see the young lady wipe a drop of sweat off her nose towards the end of the session. She is human!
After we were finished I read what the lady had written and she wrote “Dieses No Repeat Workout ist das Härteste aus der gesamten Reihe!!!” which is German for “this is going to hurt!”
Day seven.
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work. – Exodus 20:8-11
Well you can’t argue with Exodus can you? And my muscles needed a rest anyway.
Far off on the horizon we could just make out some hills that we knew to be part of Australia. Land Ho!
The first boat we met was “Texas T” and they were kind enough to photograph us with fully reefed sails as we headed for Brisbane harbour. The coastguard were warning of an approaching storm every hour and we were caught by it just before we reached the safety of Moreton Bay. Another sailing boat, maybe two hours behind us, was not so lucky and was blown south – hopefully to take refuge at Southport, further down the coast.
We passed the fairway buoy that marks the beginning of the ships lane just before dusk and spent the night sailing south with the strong winds and swell following us. We had to ensure that we remained in the marked channel but at the same time avoid the monster ships leaving the commercial port of Brisbane. Each meeting was preceded with a quick radio conversation
“Monster ship, Monster ship, this is Artemis! Over.”
“Artemis this is Monster Ship on Channel 12! Over”
“Monster Ship, we are the tiny sailing boat heading your way with a dim light in the mast. We should meet in about 10 minutes and will keep well to starboard. Over”
“Roger that Artemis! We have you on visual and radar and will pass you red to red. Thank you for the info. Out!”
At least the port pilots spoke English English. A tug pulling a barge passed us to starboard and his Australian accent was so broad on the radio, I was not sure of everything he said. But he avoided us as agreed.
Once we reached the river mouth we turned upwind and drifted backwards and forwards for four hours to wait for daylight, wait for the incoming tide and, most importantly, finally sleep a bit. Until now we had both been catnapping while the other one held course.
At dawn we sailed up the Brisbane River. We passed the container terminal, the cement works and huge factory complexes. Just one tiny sailing boat being pushed by the wind between this landscape of industrial giants.
After about eight miles we reached the marina, turned in to shore and Heidi passed our bowline to a waiting dock-master. After 45 days at sea, we finally made it. We had done it. We had crossed the Pacific, the worlds largest ocean. We held each other tight, kissed and laughed.
The Australian Border Force had three officers waiting on the pontoon. They told us they had been following our progress via satellite and were a little confused and worried about out four hour “drifting around” in the night. They checked our papers and then said “welcome to Australia!”
Next was a gentleman from the Ministry of Agriculture. He should have checked our boat for animals and plants but couldn’t as we may have Covid so told us to ring him when we get out of quarantine.
The Border Force passed us on to the the Queensland Police who scanned a few documents and then discussed cricket with us while we waited for a taxi. The taxi ferried us to a quarantine hotel while being followed by the police (to ensure we didn’t make a break for it during the journey). At the hotel there were more police and medical personnel to process us safely in to our hotel room for 14 days quarantine. Twelve government employees for two sailors. Not many countries are that welcoming.
