s/y Nine of Cups Arrival in Bundaberg & Queensland, Australia November - December 2011 |
We arrived in Bundaberg on 8 November 2011 as part of the annual Port to Port Rally (P2P), having stopped at Chesterfield Reef en route. The rally was not a "travel in company" type rally, but rather boats leaving primarily from points in Vanuatu and New Caledonia and meeting up in Bundaberg for several weeks of festivities and events. The P2P folks also ran a daily SSB net each morning and when we could, we checked in with our daily position and conditions. The 1000nm passage was fun and fast with a one-week stop at Chesterfield Reef along the way. |
Bundaberg is located on the Burnett River about 20kms inland from the coast and is a thriving city dominated by the sugarcane industry which surrounds it, but also supported by the growth of beef and dairy cattle and tropical fruit. The area provides nearly 20 per cent of Australia's sugar and is the country's largest producer of brown rum (known as Bundy Rum) and traditional ginger beer. The city was named in 1867 after an aborigine elder "Bunda" and the Saxon word for town "berg". It became a town in 1902 and a city in 1913. |
Queensland occupies all of Australia's northeast corner and most of it is protected by the Great Barrier Reef. It's considered to be Australia's "sunshine state" and supposedly they have 300+ days of sunshine per year. That said, they've also experienced substantial flooding in recent past years due to cyclones. Bundaberg, our port of entry, is at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef and we're not quite sure what our itinerary will be. We plan to go to Sydney for its world famous New Year's Eve celebration and then ???? Perhaps we'll go north at some point to explore the reef or continue south and around up the west coast. Both routes have their pros and cons and going south to Tasmania is a big draw for us. |
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Local nicknames for Queenslanders: Cane Toads and Banana Benders |
Cane toads were introduced into Australia in 1935 in an attempt to control pest beetles in the sugar cane industry. They were unsuccessful in their control efforts, but very successful at invading the ecosystems of Australia’s north. Watch a very funny video here. Cane Toad Video Clip |
Entry to Bundaberg is up the Burnett River past the Southhead Lighthouse. The historic Burnett Heads Lighthouse (right) was moved to its present site in a park when it was replaced by the boring one above. |
The Burnett River is 270 miles long (435km) and was named after James Burnett, the explorer who discovered it in 1847. It's home to the Queensland lungfish, sole surviving member of the family Ceratodontidae and order Ceratodontiformes. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world |
Downtown Bundaberg is neat and tidy. The Australian Anglican Church takes up a good bit of real estate. |
The historic clock tower has been restored and the now building houses the Australian post as well as other government offices. |
The marina is located about 20km from the city in the bush which is to our advantage when looking for local wildlife! |
The iconic kangaroo was our first wildlife sighting beyond birds. Left, a dingo (wild dog) and in the background a huge hare. All of this in our backyard in the field behind the marina. |
The variety and sheer number of birds here is amazing. Above a rainbow lorikeet. See Australian Birds for more. |
The boat berthed next to us in the marina was seized by the Australian Federal Police and the young Spanish couple aboard arrested on drug smuggling charges. Friday Freedom was swarming with Customs agents and Federal Police all through the night and the following morning and certainly got our attention. Needless to say, it was THE topic of discussion in town and at the marina for days.See the story in the NewsMail |
Berthed Bundaberg Port Marina - 24S45.62 / 152E23.30 |
As the sugarcane center of Australia, Bundaberg's landscape is flat. The soil is red and field upon field is planted with sugarcane. Narrow gauge rail trains transport the cane from the fields to collection and processing centers. Above, a dormant cane train waits at ready for harvest time. |
The Queenslander architectural style is quite charming. The houses are built on stilts to accommodate high waters as well as minimize critters, snakes, etc. A veranda wraps around the entire house and many are adorned with gingerbreading. |
Instead of deer signs as we're used to seeing in Colorado or New England, there are "Watch out for kangaroo" signs. |
On a daytrip south of Bundaberg, we spotted a goanna, the generic Australian name for some 20 species of monitor lizards that call Australia home. Learn more about goannas. Go on! |
Yikes! While walking on a trail in Burrum NP, we came across this very large (8') python... out for his morning stroll...I mean, slither. |
‘Two nations separated by a common language.’ (Churchill, Shaw or Wilde?) Though the reference was to America and England, the same applies to Australian English and American English. Here's a comical idea of how misunderstandings take place though we're speaking the same language... David was asking someone about fishing rules and regulations. What David heard: "If you're fishing Monday, you gotta throw 'em back. What Tom said: "If you're fishing mundi, you gotta throw them back. David: If you're fishing Monday, you've gotta throw back what you caught? Tom: Yup David: That's a strange rule. Why do you have to do that? Tom: Ever since the flood, there haven't been as many of them. David: Mondays??? Tom: Yup Translation of what Tom said: If you're fishing for mundi (that's slang for barrimundi, a type of local fish), you have to catch and release. |
There are 140 species of land snakes in Australia, and a further 32 sea snake species. Of the 140 land snakes, 100 are venomous! |
Of the 10 most venomous snakes in the world, 5 are native to Australia. |
Couldn't resist...a postal cat! |
We walked every morning and this is the view of the Burnett River from our favorite park. |
The poinciana trees (aka flambuoyant or flame trees) are all in bloom. |
Masking the decks in preparation for painting was a long, tedious job. Midst the excitement of arriving in a new country, boat work always continues. |
We took a day tour organized by the Port2Port rally folks. One stop was "The Hummock", a low-lying volcanic remnant (elevation ~300'/96m)which, offers great ocean views to the east and the endless sugar cane fields to the west. |
Dan Murphy's, an Australian discount wine/ liquor chain offers some great wines for tasting and good prices for purchasing. Needless to say, setting a bunch of cruisers loose in a liquor/wine store and plying them with lots of wine samples in mid-afternoon caused quite the buying frenzy. |
The highlight of the afternoon was a visit to a boomerang factory. This mom and pop operation was pretty slick. We saw how boomerangs were fabricated and the aerodynamics involved in creating a boomerang that does indeed return to you if you throw it correctly. |
Learn more about boomerangs here. Watch a funny video set to the tune of "My Boomerang Won't Come Back". |
We'd seen colorful boomerangs in local souvenir stores that were great for show, but didn't actually "come back". These do! In fact, each one is marked "flight tested". |
We took several out into a cane field and everyone took a turn at throwing them. The men seemed to do much better than the women, the trick being a strong flick of the wrist to get it airborne. |
Speaking about cane fields...Australia is one of the world's largest raw sugar exporters. Nearly 80 percent of Queensland's raw sugar is exported, earning valuable income for Australia. Queensland Sugar Limited markets most of the raw sugar produced in the state. Raw sugar exports contribute in excess of $1 billion to Australia's economy. Queensland's major overseas markets for raw sugar include Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, USA and Russia. |
The "sugar ship" African Puma chugs up the Burnett River to the port for a load of sugar. |
Thanksgiving 2011 |
Thanksgiving was celebrated in style. Gail and David on the catamaran "Fifth Season" hosted five boats for an outstanding feast. After dinner and dessert, Gail mesmerized us with her harp and lovely voice. The boats Kestrel (Germany/Canada), Papillon (South Africa/New Zealand), Shuang Yu (USA/UK), Fifth Season (USA) and Nine of Cups (USA) represented a United Nations of nationalities intent on feasting and sharing a great American tradition. |
Gail does a final check on the dinner table laden with food. |
Fifth Season's captain carves up the roast turkey. |
US President Barack Obama arrived in Oz just after we arrived. Above, pictured with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, neither attended our Thanksgiving dinner. |
A green tree frog was in our path on the way back from the showers one night. |
Our last morning in Bundaberg was wonderful. We went for an early morning walk and spotted a mob of kangaroos grazing in the cane field behind the marina. We spotted the "mama" and her joey and got some good shots of the photogenic family. Song & lyrics: Tie Me Kangaroo Down |
A Christmas scarab beetle named for their annual appearance in December. |
When we were ready to leave Bundy and head south to Sydney, the winds and weather did not cooperate, leaving us with little time to get to Sydney by the time our friends, Fay & Doug Grimm arrived. Only 700 miles, we thought it would be an easy sail....WRONG!When a weather window finally appeared, we began the trek south, but much slower than anticipated because of the short windows of opportunity. We ended up doing mostly day sails, anchorage hopping to gain a few miles each day while awaiting each day's weather surprises. Our first two days we had good current, but it was offset by fighting SE winds on the nose. To avoid big seas, we ducked behind Fraser Island and through the Great Sandy Strait and waited for the tide to head out over the Wide Bay bar and back into the Coral Sea/Pacific Ocean. The area appears to be lovely, but we whizzed through. It's on "the list" for our trip back up this coast. |
From a distance we couldn't figure out what was happening at this marker. It appears two fishermen were using it as a mooring and the fishing was good! |
Off the Ship Channel near marker S9 - 25S17.04 / 153E00.66 - 40' Wide Bay Anchorage/ Elbow Point - 25S45.93 / 153E00.57 - 37' |
Mooloolaba/Mooloolah River - 26S41.31 / 153E07.24 - 12' |
The Double Island Point Lighthouse has been operating since its completion in 1884. It is constructed of metal cladding on a timber frame as is typical of many Queensland lighthouses. We passed it on our way from Wide Bay to Mooloolaba. |
A panoramic view of the Mooloolaba coastline with Point Cartwright Light to the left. The name Mooloolaba was derived from the Aboriginal word 'mulu', which means snapper fish. Some say that the name Mooloolaba could have also been derived from the Aboriginal word 'mulla', referring to a red- bellied black snake. Mooloolaba was originally known as Moloolah Heads until a land owner changed the name to Mooloolaba in 1919. |
Erected in 1978, Point Cartwight Light stands on the headland at the entrance to the Mooloolah River at Mooloolaba. |
The Mooloolah River is shallow and muddy. We had a hard time finding a good anchorage as those areas deep enough for us were very tight and crowded, but we managed. |
The Sunshine Coast refers to the coastline north of Brisbane which appears to be lots of beaches,low key resorts and tourists. |
Dubbed "Gypsy Camp" by the locals because of derelict boats that anchor here, many are unattended and bang into each other when the tide changes...like above, for instance. |
Down the coast from Mooloolaba, we sailed past the city of Caloundra stretching across the white beach shoreline with a backdrop of very distinctive mountains. |
Bongaree, Bribie Island - 27S04.96 / 153E09.38 - 37' |
Continuing down the coast, these distinctive peaks remained highly visible and got us wondering about them. They are part of the Glass House Mountains. Named by Captain James Cook in 1770 as he sailed north up the coast of what is now Queensland as part of his epic voyage aboard the HM Bark Endeavour. He named them because the shape of the mountains reminded Cook of the huge glass furnaces (glasshouses) back in his native Yorkshire. The twelve peaks are the cores of extinct volcanoes that formed ~27 million. These mountains are located in the traditional lands of the Gubbi Gubbi people. In the Aboriginal legend, the mountains are members of a family with the father being Mount Tibrogargan and the mother Mount Beerwah (conical shaped mountain to the left). All of the other mountains are sons and daughters with the eldest being Mount Coonowrin (the crooked peaked one in the photo to the left). Tibrogargan, the father, observes that the sea is rising and asks that Coonowrin the eldest son help their pregnant mother to safety. Terrified, Coonowrin instead flees. Infuriated by his son's cowardice Tibrogargan pursues him and strikes him so hard that he dislocates Coonowrin's neck. Once the danger passes, Coonowrin feels tremendous guilt for his actions and asks his father, brothers and sisters for forgiveness, but all wept with shame. This is said to explain the many small streams that flow through the area. Tibrogargan turned his back on Coonowrin and gazes out to sea refusing to look at his son who continues to hang his head in shame and weeps. The area has been part of the Australian national park system since 1994. |
Bribie Island, 34km x 8km at its widest, is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland. Bribie Island hugs the coastline and tapers to a long spit at its most northern point near Caloundra. It's separated from the mainland by the narrow Pumicestone Passage. Most of the island is uninhabited national park and forestry plantations. The southern end of the island is intensively urbanised as the photo of Bongaree Jetty shows above. Buckley's Hole, at the southern tip of the island, is an important bird habitat and refuge. Bribie Island fortifications were constructed from 1939 to 1943 as part of the defence of southeast Queensland during WWII and to provide artillery training for Australian soldiers. The remnants of the fortifications are still found on the island. Pumicestone Passage, which is located between the island and the mainland is a protected marine park that provides habitat for dugongs, turtles and dolphins.There are also extensive mangroves forests in this area. Eucalypt forests, banksias and heathlands are the predominant vegetation elsewhere. Bribie Island is home to around 350 species of birds, including a range of honeyeater species, lorikeets, waterbirds and birds of prey. Again, in our haste to move south, we only spent the night at anchor and left early the next morning. We could see and hear trees filled with white cockatoos and it only reinforced our plans to come back up the east coast at a leisurely pace. |
From Bribie Island, we clung to the coast near Brisbane port and then cut across the ship's channel and headed across Moreton Bay along the inside passage and wended our way south. Distance as the crow flies is not very long, but the meandering through shallow channels is time-consuming and required motoring. The scenery was pleasant and not unlike wandering down the US's Intra-coastal Waterway. We passed through tiny port towns and threaded our way through moored and anchored boats. At last, we came to Southport to wait for northerly winds that would take us along the New South Wales coast to Sydney. |
Karragarra Island - 27S38.14 / 153E22.92 - 17' |
We anchored off Karragarra Island one night. The wind against strong current coupled with constant ferry traffic made for a less than tranquil anchorage (left). Right, a railroad crossing...oops, actually a special marker marking a pipe outfall. |
We passed by the busy Brisbane port. The cranes from the back side looked ever so much like giraffes from a distance. We were disappointed to pass by the entrance to the Brisbane River. Up the river 12nm is the state capital city of Brisbane and the third largest city in Australia. |
We got a kick out of the creative houseboats that we passed by. From airstream trailers, to ranch style to totally tarp. |
Southport - Marine Stadium (Bum's Bay) anchorage - 27S57.19 / 153S25.31 |
In the distance, the skyline profile of Southport looked like Gotham City. |
Entering the main channel was total bedlam. Tallships, jet skis, barges, and the usual boat traffic shared the water. |
Fast boats towing parasailers buzzed around us as well. |
The VMR (Volunteer Marine Rescue) shack stands sentry at the Gold Coast Seaway. The Gold Coast Seaway or Southport Seaway is the main navigation entrance from the Pacific Ocean into the Gold Coast Broadwater and southern Moreton Bay and is one of Australia’s most significant coastal engineering projects. The Seaway enjoys the world's first permanent sand bypassing system which currently delivers all sand that arrives at the Seaway across the entrance and into Moreton Bay Marine Park. Previously, the Southport Bar was a very dangerous entrance until 1986 when the Gold Coast Seaway was constructed. There are now two rock walls that stabilise the position of the entrance. |
We're certainly not used to the noise or the traffic of a city. There are evidently no speed limits for watercraft. Jet skis and small, fast boats dart around us at incredible speeds using anchored sailboats as turning buoys for their chases and races. The SuperDuck tour boat motors past each hour on its harbor tour.Water World is also just in front of the anchorage and the hoots, hollers and screams from the big water slide collide in the air with the seaplane that takes off hourly, using the two boat length space between us and our neighboring boat as his runway. |
After patiently waiting for a weather window, we headed back into the Pacific Ocean through the Gold Coast Seaway. We motored, we sailed and crossed the state border from Queensland into New South Wales. Join us for the trip, sights along the way and our arrival in Sydney. |
Passing the breakwater out of the Gold Coast Seaway into the Pacific Ocean was a bit bumpy. |