12.26.939S 130.51.041E  Monday 21^st September  06.30 hrs we upped anchor and motored into the tiny Tipperary Lock whilst we had a tide window – just room for one boat and Heidenskip had to be shoe horned in after us!

Sunrise coming into the lock

Tiny private lock going into Tipperary Marina

And the ducks swimming by! 

The marina is so pretty with ducks swimming by and all the facilities we need and only a short walk to Dinah Yacht Club, an excellent chandlers plus a host of other shops and amenities.  There are about ten of us in here at the moment – two new additions – Prew from Holland and Evelyn, now our only Aussie contingent.

We have hired a car, laundered all the bedding, polished our bright work, scrubbed the decks, re-stowed to make more room for our imminent new crew and checked out the local attractions…….there is a new crocodile pool where you swim with it in a Perspex bubble small enough for him to encircle in his jaws so you can take photos of his tonsils – can’t wait!

Last evening we went to the ethnic market near Fannie Bay where dozens of countries’ tasty dinners are served up while the sun sets and musicians playing quadruple didgeridoos vie with two stringed violinists –

Sun going down over Fannie Bay

Plenty to choose from in the ethnic market

And may I introduce to you…….the quadruple playing didgeridoo!

We were incredibly fortunate to find that the old timer on the next boat had the exact same engine as us – carries loads of spares, many of which he has now sold to us – and had organised for an engineer to check his over the very day we arrived!  So we soon inveigled Niefa from Eygpt over to check us out too and have been given a clean bill of health – however, the oil seal does leak, we know, so he is coming back next weekend to fix it – a tricky job we shall be very pleased to see done and dusted.  Our other piece of luck came in the shape of an impeller.  There are so many thousands of different shapes and sizes that it is nearly impossible to find the one you want unless you go to a specialist outlet (few and far between on our journey) but do the know, the chandlers here had one impeller – just one in the whole shop!.... and it is the right one for our holding tank machinate pump….. so that was another job done yesterday installing that. 

Today we have Wally coming over to fix the bimini, lee cloths and cushions, the spares should arrive for the oil seal, some food shopping is required and we must find a part for the dysfunctional fridge.  The heat here is phenomenal with high humidity – there has been no rain for months and any day now the monsoon rains will arrive…..