Magnetic Island to Townsville

Gaviota
Thu 19 May 2016 07:11

19:15.232S 146:49.340E

We spent the weekend on Magnetic Island then headed into Breakwater Marina, Townsville on Monday, 16th May.  Syd had i.pad charging issues (yes he has gone into the age of technology at last and invested in an i.pad!!!!) – which once loaded with the necessary Charts is pretty amazing and means he can ‘armchair’ helm in tricky areas.   We planned a 1-2 night stay at the Marina as he needed a 12 volt charger for the i.pad.  Off we cycled and success we found a charger.  I did the laundry and cleaned the boat and we re-provisioned.  Townsville is a nice though rather spread out City, it has some lovely parks and a wonderful running/cycling path called the Strand which runs along by the sea and up to Kissing Point (another WW2 lookout) from there it turns into a boardwalk which goes round the headland to the next bay Rowse Bay.  It also boasts a super 50 metre pool which was right next to the Marina. 
 
Syd had been thinking of replacing the house batteries and having found out a Company could deliver the next day, decided to go ahead.   The batteries live under the front cabin bed which is also the dumping ground for a lot of stuff (including the bikes!), so once again everything had to be moved and he removed all 8 batteries (32 kilos each!), 8 new ones arrived and the long slog to haul them into the boat began, followed by wiring them up.  But we now have a brand new set of house batteries (the old ones lasted over 4 years so hopefully a good investment.)
 
Next issue was the mobile packed up so a cycle trip to the nearest Shopping Mall had to be done.   Australians do not understand distance or that you would attempt a journey to a Shopping Mall without a car, so it was a good 30 minute cycle along pretty major roads, but we found it and then discovered that ‘unlocked’ phones are pretty non-existent here and kept in locked cabinets as they are expensive!  So we opted for the cheapest Telstra (local network) phone and I am pretty sure there won’t be a problem getting it ‘unlocked’ when we reach Indonesia.  We have discovered Australia is pretty behind the times in a lot of ways but they are so isolated that they don’t realise it!
 
So we were all ready to leave and the gas bottle ran out – this was a simple fix, a nice man from the Marina picked it up, re-filled it and returned it 10 minutes later – I wish everything was that simple!
 
Thursday, 19th May we at long last left after 3 nights in the Marina and headed back to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island.  Planning an early start for Orpheus Island in the Palm Island group.