Just in case any one was worried, we have arrived in Oz
Catacaos
Graham Shaw
Wed 30 Nov 2011 03:17
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After hopping through most of the small Pacific
island nations, we arrived on the large island of Australia. Sorry, we arrived a
while ago, just very slack in updating the blog. The trip from New
Caledonia was beautiful, the wind was perfect with a smooth sea - all
good for our final big sail. We managed the trip in 5 1/2 days arriving
just in the dark at Bundeburg, with a nice welcome from the local dophins.
We managed to keep up with the other two larger catamarans, which made us very
happy with our small 38ft up against a 44ft newer model Fountaine Pajot and a
46ft Prout. She is such a fast little boat. Appoaching
Bundeburg we had to dodge lots of large ships, and in fact one was just a little
too close:
.
  (Note from Graham: before anyone asks, I had had
VHF contact with the OOW long before it got to this stage)
On arrival we had the usual officials came to
visit, but this was a little different as Australia is known to be very strict
and fierce. Well, we lost all the usual fresh stuff and the frozen stuff
which we had thankfully used all but a few items, but the most important was my
carvings which I have been stressing for weeks about. The whole process
was a breeze, all the guys were very friendly, not threatening at all, and my
carvings were given the all clear. Also, more importantly, the Port2Port
Rally paid for our customs / immigration / quarantine clearance
(330 Australian dollars) and gave us lots of goody bags. The
Port2Port Rally is there to entice you to Bundeburg to help the local community,
because as you all know the boat lot need food, booze and lots of repairs as you
go along, so this works out well for all. They also put on a free BBQ with
kangaroo steaks during our stay, with some kangaroo in the background, to see
the before and after stages.
 One of the Port2Port Rally parcipating yachts, who
were a spanish couple on a British flagged boat called "Friday Freedom",
won the best dressed pirate competion that was held by the rally
organisers. Little did anyone know they were in fact real pirates.
On "Friday", just after we arrived, the customs officers stormed the boat
which had been in the harbour for over three weeks, arresting the young couple,
and found over 300 kg of cocaine on boat plus a few millon dollars in
cash. The boat was hauled out and some more was found hidden in the
keel. This was all on the news and even shown in the UK on the a big haul
which include some people in Sydney as well. I think they will not have
any "freedom" for a long while!!
Well, we have been cleaning the boat up making her
look lovely, with Gray spending many days polishing the hull which has not been
done since the day we bought her. Fixing all those little jobs you never
get around to doing. Of course every evening we managed a get together
with many of the cruisers we have not seen in a while, which of course entailed
food and alcohol in large quantities.
 Beautiful sunset over Bundeburg: the red sun comes
from all the burning of the sugar cane and the smoke in the air from
this. Bundeberg is famous for the rum produced here, not that I
had heard of it before I arrived, but this is rum country, where sugar cane is
grown everywhere.
We decided to head down the coast to Mooloolaba,
stoping on the way at some very beautiful anchorages, with some very interesting
warnings on the beach side.
  There were also ones for dingoes and
snakes!!
We managed a nice walk in the bush without being
eaten, stung or bitten. We did not tempt fate by wandering in the long
grass.
  This was the dodgy bridge?
On one of our stops we came across the ferry, which
delivers cars to and from the beaches.
  Also a different kind of canoe in Oz, with a
sail.
We have managed to pack the boat up, and move all
our stuff to our friends' house in Tin Can Bay, where they have the most
beautiful bird in their garden.
   We also went to see the dolphin feeding in the bay,
which I have to say was a very poor affair.
 We also managed a tour of the local forest which is
quite close to us and see the waterfalls.
 And also the local water world which is next to the
marina.
     Finally looks like our last party on Catacaos, with
the guys from Whatcha Gonna Do, Ceilydh and Connect 4, also being Diane's
birthday - party games - and new haircuts for the boys who are all going for
interviews - scary stuff - but a good time was had by all.
   Especially Lucas, who has picked up a older
woman!
 Doesn't the boat look empty?!!!
Now all that remains to do is the small matter of
finding someone to buy her. We have begun the paperchase of the
importation process, and once we have paid the import duty and sales tax, the
broker can list her for sale. In between time we may head down to Sydney
to visit friends, and we intend to go to New Zealand at some stage to see family
and friends.
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