May day

Another emergency meant an unscheduled stop at Urangan, on the mainland side of Hervey Bay. One of Captain’s molars with a tenuous grip on life finally snapped off beyond redemption at the root, so an extraction was required. Luckily a local dentist was able to fit him in and extract the contents of his wallet too. Poor old Captain!

So, restocking, cleaning the boat, washing and all those other exciting things that happen in port occurred earlier than expected. Our first stay at a marina (apart from the dry docking) made this relatively easy. It also enabled fine-tuning of the Vegetable Preservation Plan (a challenge given the crew’s fondness for fresh veggies, the humidity, and the size of the bar fridge, which includes mini-freezer – great to have of course but adding a loaf of bread and an essential chocolate éclair or two leaves little room for the required quantity of fruit & veg. Aiming for a two-week stint therefore involved some cogitation. Vegetable Preservation Plan Phase 2 has been actioned and will be closely monitored.)

Second(-hand) bike

Urangan, though touristy, is pretty with a tastefully landscaped foreshore including an extensive bicycle track. Captain realised he could no longer avoid getting his own bike (essential for exploring in built-up locations) so fortunately a search at Urangan resulted in the purchase of an almost new cheap bike (sadly, though, with a very hard seat).

Coongul Creek

We are now back on Fraser Island, at Coongul Creek at low tide. Finally we are in the northern part of the island and it seems we’ve moved beyond mangroves and mud and have graduated to fine sand. Apart from being nicer beaches Matey hopes this will mean fewer sandflies.