The wet (sweat) far enough north

Recent months have been more like a ‘normal’ wet season, we’re told, with heat, humidity and even some actual rain. Sadly, though, not enough to cool the desperate, torched corals and their many inhabitants and friends. To refrain from blubbering, or worse, ranting about corrupt  politicians who fail to act on climate, preferring to party with coal mining magnates instead, the Matey shall hereby change the subject. (Poor ole Captain cops the odd rant — so much so that he had to escape to a rant-free, cyclone-free zone for a break!) NB if you also are upset by reef destruction and want to do something about it you can start here or here or here or here or here.

So, to non-ranty subjects … exciting purchases.

A storage locker recently became available at the yacht club, which Captain and Matey were very pleased to rent. Our little home has therefore experienced considerable de-cluttering of late. Even frequently used items like Matey’s new rollerblades can be stored ashore — sadly, one of her old pair was crushed some time ago by a heavier item being ‘stowed’ on top.

(NB rollerblading is now so uncool that Matey had to search far and wide to obtain a replacement pair. Apparently only children and a few men rollerblade these days: it’s a rare store that stocks them — even rarer is one that keeps women’s sizes. Acquiring a replacement pair required some effort, even on a visit to Melbourne, as Matey wasn’t keen to purchase these online.)

So, uncool as it may be, Matey, the only rollerblader in Port Douglas, still enjoys it as much as ever and has rediscovered hibernating, if well-upholstered muscles. Having pondered the wisdom of buying new blades ‘at her age’ Matey is so far pleased to have done so. She’s hoping her still reasonable sense of co-ordination and balance stays with her and osteoporosis stays away for some years yet.

The exciting purchase of a tiny car has improved our quality of life considerably and made possible many things that weren’t previously, such as regular escapes into the rainforest to soak in cool streams, and joining a bushwalking club. Though we briefly considered:

a) a motorbike, which was rejected on the grounds of having no storage space and more gear being required), and

b) an all-wheel drive for more adventurous trips, 
we knew once we had the option we would use a car more than we were used to when borrowing or hiring, which was only when necessary. Our new petite friend the Getz runs on very little fuel (not much more than a motorbike?) and we can hire a 4WD if required so we are happy with this purchase, both from an environmental and a quality of life perspective.

Dodging a bullet

As Debbie did the east coast we felt fortunate to be once again on a cyclone’s northern side copping only heat and humidity. Neither a puff of wind nor a drop of rain descended upon us until what Deb had morphed into was on its way to New South Wales. The wilting temperatures here required us to flee to one of our favourite cooling creeks in the rainforest.

To date the cyclone gods have been kind to us, directing their wrath further south. We did experience some of Oswald’s anger at his northern edge in Bowen, too close to escape strong wind and rain. He was much milder than Debbie however and the experience wasn’t too traumatic. Poor Airlie copped a direct hit then too. Though we knew we would be most likely far enough to Debbie’s north to escape her fury Matey was mildly wondering if we might receive a few blasts of wind or something more unpleasant as we’d never been anywhere near a Category 4 cyclone before, but what we got was no different from the milder cyclones we’ve been in range of, thankfully. Here’s hoping the weather gods remain our friends. Hearts go out to all the people and other creatures who weren’t so lucky. Matey again weeps for the smashed coral and their communities, already so bleached and with so much dead, and now more trashed by the cyclone. But Matey promised not to rant … deep yoga breath.

An Apple fail away?

In the buildup to the storm Matey experienced the great and painful disappointment of misplaced faith. After many years of frustrated groaning while forced to use PCs at work, and having had this experience bookended by the joy of reliability and smooth operations of Apple, Matey was quite distressed to discover a fairly new iPhone (thankfully still under warranty) is capable of unexplained failure. After ten days without a phone while the autopsy was conducted, and then after a week with the replacement, it failed too. Another week without a phone while the replacement is being autopsied and a cyclone is brewing. (!!) No phone means none of the weather apps used to monitor cyclones (quite important when one resides on a boat in north Queensland), and internet only when wifi, i.e. Captain mostly, was available. This was manageable, though extremely frustrating, while Capt was around and fortunately occurred before his trip south, so Matey was not dealing with brewing cyclone sans Captain and sans phone and wifi, but it might have been. (!!)

Not happy, Apple, considering how much iPhones cost. Matey is earnestly hoping her second replacement iPhone proves worth the dosh …

A word of advice if any reader experiences similar failure: start with a phonecall to Applecare.

Hmmm. Did any of that read like a rant? Apologies if so.

The joy of new discoveries

Ok, now for the good stuff. Wheels and an engine obviously mean the capacity to go further afield on land. So after Capt received a tip-off, we recently found a new watercourse and waterfall that even a lot of locals don’t seem to be aware of: Hartley’s Creek. One of the smaller waterfalls along the watercourse long before you reach the larger waterfall drops into a small pool with rocks that are positioned perfectly for one to perch oneself so that one’s entire back receives a pummeling as good as any massage the Matey has ever been blissed by. At this point photos will probably say more than words …

Our first glimpse of Hartley's Creek. This hints at what's to come.

The King of Masseurs

A little geyser bubbling fresh water out of the rock

Hartley's Creek Waterfall and swimming pool

A favourite cooling station

Looking towards Silky Oaks resort

Golden orb spider from underneath. Cute, non?

Spring Creek waterfall, visited with our new bushwalking club friends

This one really is a cutie!

The normally dainty Trevethan Falls after rain

At beautiful Mt Amos: our friends' water source

Friends' almost private little gorge at Mt Amos. 

Almost high tide in Port Douglas on the day of the cyclone. 
Luckily it didn't come here or a storm surge could have lifted the pontoons higher than the pylon.