Port Vila in Efate is where we left from to go to Mackay, Australia. It’s a far cry from the very basic and beautiful islands of Tanna and Erramanga, with very cheap tatty shops and the trappings of Chinese imports everywhere. Penny and Alan left us and Pietro and Ivan came on board for the trip to Oz.

 

It was a light winded start but eventually the wind filled in and we made good time with the asymmetric up towards Mackay, a big shipping port just inside the Great Barrier reef. The finish line was outside the reef, leaving us to navigate the Hydrographers Pass without the pressures of ‘racing’. We were fortunate to hit the pass at the right tide and were whisked through at 11 knots for a while. The pass is just over 100 miles from mainland Australia so although we had finished we still had a way to go.

 

At 0700 the next day we called the marina and were told to stay outside the harbour as the customs dock was full. The customs here are extremely strict and all of our meat, fruit and vegetables had to be eaten or taken from us when we arrived. This lead to panic from Pietro and Ivan (our new crewmember) who, when they weren’t sleeping were trying to eat everything on board! In fact they sat at the back of the boat trying to eat, or take bites from everything that we were ditching before we arrived. Very funny!

 

We then had everything from an electronic dog, a real one and what seemed like an endless stream of customs and immigration going through everything from the fridge to under our floorboards. The result is a sealed bonded locker with some of our wine and spirits, but all in all a very pleasant experience. They are a great  bunch, the Aussies.

 

The work that we needed done has been mostly a success, only the generator seems to have stumped people. Apparently it needs a software update! We are having it done in Darwin when we get there.

 

Since arriving in Mackay we’ve been invited to all sorts of things including a cane burning evening, followed by a trip to a genuine Ozzie pub. You could have heard a pin drop when the foreigners walked in!

 

Next stop The Whitsundays.

 

I am attaching a couple of photos from the trip with Penny and Alan from Fiji to Vanuatu as well.