Team TC

Much of July and part of August were spent getting TC and ourselves organised for venturing further north. Numerous new boat issues competed for attention, e.g. the plywood reinforcing the anchor winch was found to be rotting away nastily. This discovery turned out to be a blessing though as the poor old Captain was compelled to scratch his shining noggin and take the entire winch system apart. To the Matey’s great satisfaction the end result was a new anchoring solution in which the chain is chuted down a pipe though the deck rather than piling chaotically over the deck into the anchor ‘locker’, jamming up the winch and inspiring the frequent and colourful use of expletives. It’s probably safer too when the weather suddenly turns and a swift exit is required.

We were delighted by a visit from Barry and Bernadette, and together with Sherryn we had a gorgeous trip inland to the tablelands, where we visited the Undarra Lava Tubes, Millstream Falls, and the Mt Hypipamee crater and waterfall. The last night we spent at Chillagoe for a special dinner and slept in super comfortable beds: such luxury after so long on the boat was a treat indeed! At the relatively high altitude it was amazingly cold and the frigid temperatures, parkers and beautiful mountain ash reminded the Matey of her favourite mountains in Victoria.

We’ve since thawed out at Green Island and the amazing GBR, where the water is around 24 degrees. After several delays Team TC finally exited Cairns and we were on our way. Last night we pulled in to Port Douglas, the first stop in our voyage north. It’s great to be in aquamarine waters again!

The Captain of Team TC is so inspired he is making noises again about the possibility of changing TC’s name back to her former glorious, and much more mentionable name, Ebb Tide. Watch this space …

Millstream Falls

Four of the fab five

Looking into a 'lava tube'

Looking out

Natural rock art

No rainforest at Undara

At Chillagoe

Dinner Falls

Spot the epiphytes

Mt Hypipamee crater

Supermoon over Trinity Inlet 

Captain contemplating the many urgent and pressing problems he is required to solve on a daily basis

The beautiful GBR, parts of which are still exquisite. We can only hope it is not destroyed by more dredging, new coal mines and related shipping traffic. Maybe the illustrious Captain of Team Australia and his worthy brethren should create a fear campaign about this ...

Upolu Cay

More friends in Cairns