Back to Townsville 26th May to 5th June

Finally after the deluge of rain at Dunk, (it seemed like a week - but in reality was only two days and nights) we were able to get ashore and explore a bit. I reneged on the mountain walk as the mozzies honed in on my soft southern skin and drove me out of there. After a pleasant couple of days we decided to begin the trip south back to Townsville. Our fresh fruit and veges were running short and as the day was fine and the wind light we anchored off Cardwell in order to dinghy ashore for some more supplies. Lunch at the café with the big crab turned out to be a partial success. My egg and bacon burger was very tasty, but Audrie and Peter had fish and chips and the fish was terrible. One customer walked out with the comment that it was, 'the worst fish he'd ever eaten.' It looked tough and appeared to have been heated up half a dozen times. We can't recommend that café.

The big crab Cardwell

Motoring down the northern end of the Hinchinbrook Cannel took us past Scraggy Point and it looked so lovely that we anchored there for the night with three other boats. Mozzie coils were essential for a good nights sleep, but as it was absolutely still we had a very quiet night. Next morning we motored south down the channel, admiring the magnificent mountain scenery and out along the seemingly endless sugar jetty at Lucinda. A short trip  across to Orpheous Island in the Palm Island group saw us moored on one of the courtesy moorings in Little Pioneer Bay for the night.



Peter and Audrie at Scraggy Point

Day two in the Palms began with light winds, but before long a NW wind sprang up and became strong enough to cause uncomfortable choppy seas in the anchorages on the western side of the island. A quick peruse of Lucas's 'Cruising the Coral Coast' informed us that in these conditions good anchorage could be found in Juno Bay, between Orpheous Island and Fantome Island. Three other boats were already there so we found a spot and dropped the anchor and ate lunch. Our reading lead us to believe there was some interesting ruins of an old lepers hospital on the island, so we set out to explore. We did not realise just how shallow the water between us and the island was. It also didn't really dawn on us that there would be even less water when we came to dinghy back to Rene. Duhh!! The bottom was littered with mossy stones and muddyish areas and all I could think of was coming across a nasty little stone fish.

A long slow trip back to Rene. Next time we'll check the tide tables.

We spent a couple of hours wandering around the ruins checking out the foundations of the old buildings and guessing what they had been used for. Some like the power shed still had the old generator there and others like the laundry and bathrooms contained cement troughs and old iron baths. Hundreds of clam shells had been collected and used to outline the edges of paths and gardens. Frangipanis, oleanders an old mango tree and other imported trees and shrubs still grew at the site and are a testament to the toughness of these plants. The whole site is littered with asbestos waste from the smashed buildings - no warning signs here.



Peter takes a bath at the old leper hospital on Fantome Island

 

KOALAS

We have at last found our first koala in it's natural habitat. Audrie's holiday was coming to an end so we sailed back to Magnetic Island and spent a few days in Horseshoe Bay. During this time we walked to Arcadia, Picnic Bay (12kms) and the Forts. All these walks wind their way up and over the rocky hills  and bush of Magnetic Island and as we decended down the hill into Arcadia we found a koala high up in a tree. Hurrah!! Our first one!! The next day while walking around the forts area Audrie found two more. I suppose we will see them everywhere now.

A quick trip took us back to the Breakwater Marina where for $275 you can stay for seven days. They have  a special at the moment as this is usually the price for five days. Audrie had one day left so a decision was made to take a sight seeing trip to Mt Spec with Peter's dad Andrew. The drive is very scenic and Mt Spec is beautiful. We were disappointed to find that both of the cafes up there were only open on the weekend now so we had to drive back down the mountain and find lunch elsewhere. Audrie bought a stack of tropical jams at the Frosty Mango - a great spot for coffee, mango ice-cream, fruity treats, etc. She spent the next morning trying to pack her purchases into a very full bag for her trip back to Perth. We had a great time and it was good to spend time sailing with Audrie again after many years since our trips to the Abrolhos Islands together at Easter.

Crystal Creek Mt Spec