LEAPIN’ LIZARDS!!! We’ve made it to Lizard Island!! Hurrah
Hi everyone,
22/6 we decided to stay put in Port Douglas for a few more days as the weather forecast was pretty lousy and that turned into a week. We were happy there with lots to do & great company. So on the 29/6 left Port Douglas in 20 knots S.E. bound for Hope Island. Had a lovely sail over & luckily managed to pick up one of two moorings. What a lovely island just teeming with all sorts of beautiful birds & once again wonderful tropical vegetation. Left next morning in light breezes & motor sailed to Cooktown. Dropped anchor in the river and IMMEDIATELY put our ‘croc’ gates across the back of the yacht. Went ashore to collect mail (thanks Sue) and explore. Another lovely quaint old Queensland country town. Beuatifully kept with an enormous amount of history all dedicated to Capt. James Cook of course. That night we went to the RSL club with friends off ‘Kinchega’ for dinner. Oh my God! What a fabulous place. It was chock full of the most amazing collection of war memorabilia, far better than many museums we’ve seen. Life sure is full of surprises.
On 1/7 we left Cooktown and had a fairly lumpy trip to Cape Bedford then altered course for Lizard Island so it was much more comfortable.
We arrived about 1500hrs & I had a special bottle of wine chilled & our lovely glasses Baz & Lorraine gave us, so we immediately cracked that to celebrate Kev achieving his ‘ultimate dream’ I was just so happy & proud for him.
COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!.
We where rudely awakened at 6am next morning by another yacht close by to tell us we were dragging our anchor (managed to anchor on a piece of coral). So flew up on deck me in a sunfrock I’d dragged on in a hurry (no knickers, no time). Just bringing up the anchor when the bloddy chain jammed in the anchore well (still blowing buckets). So head down to sort out the mess & up blew my dress over my head– lovely sight– bare bum up in the air, head down in anchor well. Then went to stand up– SHIT– trod on the hem of my dress which pulled it down to my waist!! So I’m now standing in the bow of the boat with all my dress around my waist only and everything else ‘blowing in the wind’. I reckon no one in Watsons Bay could eat breakfast that morning!! So much for our sleep-in.
Seeing as how it was State of Origin night we all got in our dinghys & went over to the Marlin Bar for pizzas & beer and watched the match. Great fun & another fun night.
Next day was 4th July so our yankie friend Chris & Erin from ‘Barefeet’ invited 10 of us to their yacht for a BBQ to celebrate Independence Day. Only been partying for about an hour when in came another yacht flying the American flag. Needless to say we gave them 5 minutes to drop anchor then went and fetched them over to the party. They couldn’t believe their luck. Pete fro ‘Kinchega’ bought his guitar along so once again another fabulous day.
Yesterday 7/7 was very busy. A group of us trekked over to Lizard Island Research Station for the 11am tour. What a wonderful place & sooo
interesting. We hope to go back again before we leave here.
We really are thoroughly enjoying this trip & Lizard Island is just gorgeous. I’ve even had two swims & fed the batfish off the back of the boat this morning. Kev has had heaps of wonderful snorkelling over coral ‘bommies’. I hope to do some next week. Winds are predicted to be in excess of 35 knots for the next 4 days so we’ll stay close to the boat. Everyone madly letting out more anchor chain!! Kev went over to anothe power boat this morning & helped take his ‘genny’ apart to send to Cairns for repairs. So that’s about it for now.
JUST ONE MORE THING — Could everyone please change our e-mail address to:- dreams13@bigpond.com.au if you haven’t already done so and please keep your replies coming in. It’s so good to hear from you all.
Hope this letter finds you well & happy–I really do miss everyone very much.
Lotsa love
