Position 21:06S 149:13E

We arrived in Mackay early hours of 17^th of August.  We were rather pleased to get here as it was a bit rough at times.

Wind and confused seas first half of the passage followed by no wind and calmer seas so we had to motor – it seems one or the other..

A few boats had problems..  Fai Tira had to be towed by Blue Magic through the Hydrographers passage as the engine would not start.

Aspen suffered a total power failure – Generator packed up and then the engine did not charge the batteries.

It ended up with Enchantress coming aside and tying up and passing two of their batteries over in mid ocean..

We had a bit of a scare.. Our bilge alarm went off within seconds of the engine starting half way and we had water spraying over the electrics.

We found the cause, another rusty jubilee clip and fixed that but then our batteries would not charge and the fridge stopped working but eventually we managed to get this sorted.

This really demonstrates why we are a part of a rally.

Since we have been here, we have had the new generator installed. The old one came out and it was very rusty and obviously leaking all over the place.

We sort of knew that as the bilge alarm kept coming on when we used it (as the automatic bilge pump switch was not working) and we kept having to pump the bilge when the generator was running.

The new one is wonderful and now the boat smells much better as well.

We went on a daytrip to Eungella park where we saw a Platypus, and lovely scenery including a waterfall.  We also went to Sydney where we stayed with Geoff and Anna (Surrey Hash) and we saw Raelea. We had a wonderful time, went round the city, went to the opera house to watch Pirots of Penzang, had a meal up in the revolving tower and went sailing in the harbour under the famous Sydney bridge.  To top it all we had a day out in the Blue Mountins also. We only stayed 4.5 days, but it felt much longer and was a very welcome break from the boat.  This is the first time we have stayed in a house since we set off and first introduction to European way of life for a while..

Island Kea is now out of the water and we are working hard on painting her bottom and various maintenance jobs.  The only drawback is that it is a long ladder down and a fair way to use toilets etc..

We are now half way round the world more or less and we have now completed our Pacific crossing.

It is with some relief and regret as we have really enjoyed our time and have seen some lovely places and met some wonderful people and seen a very different way of life and cultures.

Pictures to follow in a separate post..