We were ready for an early start north to Mooloolaba, hopefully some sailing in light southerly winds and fair weather. It was all shaping up perfectly until Peter pulled/snapped a tendon in his left calf jumping a puddle. Obviously 66 year olds should not jump puddles!! He arrived back at Olivia hobbling and as grey as the colour of the marina deck he was crawling on. After some discussion we thought we had better stay for another night and he should visit the doctor a short stroll up the street. Diagnosis - a snapped Monkey Tendon, painful and likely to take some time to heal. Anti inflammatories have taken some of the pain away, but he has to rest it up as much as possible and we are going short distances each day at present.
 |
| One bruised foot. I thought it was the calf!! From knee down is a lovely colour!! |
Mooloolaba
 |
| Mooloolaba Anchorage |
After fuelling up we left Manly and motor sailed, mostly motored, our way in delightful weather up to Mooloolaba arriving at the entrance to the Mooloolah River at dead low tide. This was not normal low tide, but one short of the lowest astronomical tide, which was the day before. (Cautious, silly me did wonder if it was a good idea to enter the river just yet??!!) With 20 mins to low tide, 0.10m, we slowly motored up the river. Just around the first corner the tell tale shudder of keel scraping the bottom could be felt, then more serious bumps and finally we were pulled up, stuck fast to the bottom.
How embarrassing! Everyone who could went past. A cruise ship was in and there was a constant flow of passenger ship ferries passing by. Luckily we were slightly to one side of the channel. The Coast Guard seemed to be executing some exercise near us at one stage and numerous private boats slid past offering advice on the best place to avoid our situation. Thanks guys, but we already know we are in the wrong spot. Even the paragliders cruised overhead for a viewing. An hour later Olivia began to relinquish her grip on the bottom and we motored off and outside to view the cruise ship for a couple of hours and then successfully re-entered the river and anchored in our usual spot up river amongst all the other visitors. We stayed an extra day here to change the engine oil and give Peter's leg a break.
Double Island Point and the Wide Bay Bar
 |
| Wide Bay, Double Island Point |
Again we motored all day and arrived at Double Island Point at about 4pm. We decided to stay there as it was not a good time to take on the Wide Bay Bar as the ebb tide was in full swing. Three other yachts were anchored in the bay and we anchored nearby as Lucas advises. He is right. It is the most uncomfortable anchorage as the swell surges into the bay even though we had had several days of calm weather and little wind. We rocked and rolled all night and a couple of times came close to being pitched out of bed. Bring on the morning! When it arrived we had a beautiful view of the sand cliffs that lined the long sandy beach ashore. As soon as daylight arrived 4 wheel drive tour buses began to make their appearance ashore and drive the length of the beach.
 |
| Departing Double Island Point, Wide Bay |
We left at 7.15am to arrive at the bar 2 hours after low tide. One of the other boats accompanied us and the bar was perfectly tame. We entered without incident. As we still had several hours of incoming tide we decided to keep going and with perfect timing negotiated the shallows at Sheridan Flats at high tide. The anchorage at White Cliffs beckoned so we stopped there as Peter's leg was beginning to throb. Before nightfall 8 other boats had joined us in this delightfully calm, scenic place. The thing that strikes you in Aus is the birdsong. New Caledonia has almost none.
Hooray For River Heads
Our usual morning peruse of the weather forecast showed that northerly winds were on the way, so we decided to motor 10nm to River Heads to wait out two days of northerly winds under the lee of North Head in the Susan River. Others have the same idea.
 |
| Olivia 111 at anchor, Susan River at River Heads. View from the café. |
This morning we launched Lily and motored down river to the boat ramp on the point. From memory it seemed to be the only place to get ashore here. What a pleasant surprise! A floating pontoon has been erected beside the boat ramp for the use of small boats. As the shore here is very rocky, tide affected and slimy we were thrilled to be able to tie up behind the pontoon and go ashore without and dramas. Congratulations whichever authority was responsible for this service. We love it! There are very few places where dingy docks are offered and it is often hard to find a suitable place to leave the dinghy and go ashore to spend some money. Dinghies are heavy and I can no longer lift ours onto the beach to tether it while we explore. At times we find her being ground across sharp rocks, or awash with surf when we come back from a sojourn ashore. (The tide often changes the demeanour of shore breaks as it ebbs and flows.)
 |
| River Heads, Great Sandy Strait. Welcome boaties. (Other locations should take notice) |
Peter and I were very impressed with River Heads altogether. The SACAS (Self Appointed Café Appreciation Society), us, decided to award the local café here 10/10. (The only other place that has gained that score from us has been the café at Rosslyn Bay Marina.) The view from the outside deck this morning was superb, the birdsong incredible and the service excellent. We were even given a small squirty bottle of water to discourage birds who became over ambitious in their scrounging of our cake. The café is located in a little shopping village a kilometre or so up the hill from the ferry terminal. While sitting there we spotted Butcher Birds, Minors, several species of Parrot, including
Rosellas, Magpies and others we can't name. On the way back to Olivia, in Lily, we were privileged to see a Sea Eagle fly overhead into the trees nearby.
A Community Garden is located not far from the shopping village and we detoured to walk around it. A sign informed us that it was run by the Progress Association. There is a hall and gazebo area that is available to hire for events, an edible vege garden that supplies vegetables to the local café, playground for kids, toilets and a forest garden to explore. All this is located on the side of a steep hill with tall natural trees sheltering the site. We were very impressed with this delightful location. Well done River Heads community. Your town is a credit to you.
 |
| Just an idea for your septic tank lid. River Heads Community Garden. Ooops! Didn't realise the feet were there. |
 |
| River Heads Community Garden |
No comments:
Post a Comment