Australia, Inskip Point - 15/06/14

We've spent the last week lazing around. I could make up some exciting story, but to be honest the idea of relaxing is much more appealing to me. I've started doing picture a day challenges on Instagram, so we've just been chilling out and taking pictures of pretty things. I'm slowly trying to get better at photography - most of the nice pictures on here have been taken by Garth, but hopefully now some of them will be mine too.


It took me two days to recover from our trip to Pelican Bay. I felt stupidly delicate, so sleeping all day and lying around on the boat was a welcome change. We've had some stunning sunsets since we got back out on the open water, which I've been enjoying immensely. Garth keeps rolling his eyes and sighing at me, but I can't help taking a million pictures. It's so beautiful here!




There was a big sand flat next to our anchorage in Pelican Bay that uncovers at low tide, so we took the kites to shore on our second day there for some kiting. There was hardly any wind, but we managed to launch on the sand and drag around a bit. There wasn't anywhere near enough wind for us to get up in the water, but at least we had a chance to teach Sam the basics in nice conditions. There were pelicans absolutely everywhere, which was surprising - I didn't think the name of the bay had been chosen for a reason. They amuse me greatly, all big and clompy. 

I brought my poi to shore along with a mat to stretch on and entertained myself for most of the day after I got sick of kiting. That was a lot of fun! I don't get to poi very often, which is why I'm not very good - I get excited whenever I have enough space to practice. My muscles desperately needed a good stretch too, so it was a great way to spend the day.




Find the crabs! They're hiding everywhere...

I got up at 5am the next morning to watch the sun come up, much to Garth's dismay. He said I was like a possum on the roof, scurrying around and keeping him awake. The sunrise was amazing though - behind me the sky was painted pink and blue, with the full moon slowly sinking below the clouds. In front the horizon was a brilliant orange as the sun brought on a new day. It was magical! Albeit freezing cold. Next time I will put on a coat before I sit outside in the frosty morning air on a dew-laden deck in my pjs. Then I was tired so we went back to sleep until 10am...






There's been a brilliant full moon again - it never fails to astound me. I've spent hours staring up at the night sky. I woke up at 3:30am the other morning because I thought it was daytime... but it was just the moon shining in through our hatch.




We ducked into Rainbow Beach on the way past, but it was raining so I didn't take the camera. It was pretty. We walked along the beach and climbed yet another sand dune before walking home in the rain. The highlight for me was finding a delicious apple slice from a bakery, just as I remembered bakery apple slice to be. The ones in New Zealand are terrible, with thick crumbly pastry and a thin layer of apple. I've been pining over a real one for the past four years - they're one of my favourite treats!

There was a poor guy anchored next to us outside of Carlo Bay, although anchored is a loose term. His anchor was down, but his boat was tipped right over with the lifelines under water. His keel was becoming very good friends with the bottom. We went over to make sure he was okay, but he was just sitting around waiting for the tide to come up. It could easily have been us so we felt quite sorry for him. He told us his anchor dragged while he was sleeping and he was on top of the sand when he woke up. He eventually got unstuck and re anchored, but he was asking somebody for help again when we were leaving... And that is why we invested in a new anchor last year.


Sam looking out for sand banks

There's been cold nights and cloudy days. We're still waiting to sail into the tropical paradise that is North Queensland in winter.

Monique xxx