Frequent heavy rain for more than a week confined us to the boat in Brisbane River on a few occasions – cabin fever threatened to visit. With time to spare, Matey devoted some time to brushing up on her French (with podcasts, French neighbours at the moorings and their books all helping out). If we ever do venture out into the Pacific it will be useful, Matey tells herself …
High and not so dry
We are now back at beautiful Moreton Island, at the Big Sandhills anchorage towards the southern end of the island. The water was brown-green, teeming with jellyfish and not so inviting when we first arrived – the run-off from the recent deluge still lurking in the bay. But two days later the water was once again clear and apparently free of jelly.
The relatively strong winds of the last few days (good for testing the wind generator) have eased off, and the bay is now lake-like – calm and flat with just a few ripples on the surface. Rays, fish and seagulls pay their respects, and even pelicans were fishing nearby earlier today. (Matey is impressed by the good manners of the seagulls here, in contrast to their southern counterparts. Matey could even begin to like them if they all behaved so respectfully). Turtles seem to be checking us out when we go ashore. At low tide the soft clacking of soldier crabs announces their presence in the thousands. There are only a couple of other boats to be seen in the distance, and apart from a few 4WDs a day travelling along the beach, not a human to be seen.
Atop the ‘Big Sandhills’ – aptly named as it’s quite a climb up – there is a series of freshwater lakes and ponds due to the recent rains. The water filters through the sand to form pristine pools. Captain was reminded of an oasis in the (as yet unvisited by him) Sahara and expected to see at any moment a Beduoin tribe with harem in tow. (Sadly, he was disappointed.) At the very top of these sandhills is an eerie landscape (sandscape?) with pottery-like rock scattered through, along with vegetation.
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| One-tree sandhill |
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| Views from Big Sandhills |
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| Captain admires the oasis |
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| Captain has a religious experience in the oasis |
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| Matey walks in water |
The bottom at this anchorage is wide and flat so bringing the boat in at high tide means it is beached at low tide. This meant we could lavish some attention on the hull. Captain is delighted to have a catamaran as monohulls have to park much further out.
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| Beached |
