Posts In The “Australia” Category
From Cape York we ran 750 miles over 4 days direct to Darwin in the Northern Territory. The first day or so through the Gulf of Carpentaria was surprisingly rough with strong tidal currents opposing the southeasterly trade winds. The winds were a little bit stronger then normal running in the 20-30kt range. Conditions eventually…
Cape York is the northernmost point in mainland Australia. When we arrived there a few days after leaving Lizard Island, we crossed 10°40′ south, just ten degrees short of the equator. We haven’t been this far north since the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia two years ago. And we likely won’t be again until we…
From Cairns we made a 150-mile overnight run to Lizard Island. Everyone we knew who’d been there said it was a must-do stop. They were enthusiastic, but it might have been even better than described. We did several excellent dives while there, plus a hike up to the top of the island for 360-degree views….
The calm weather we’d been enjoying for the past few days on the outer reef was forecast to end, so it was a good time to go and visit Cairns. The city has a beautiful waterfront, with many restaurants, bars and coffee shops, and several nearby attractions. It also is a good place to provision…
A few days after our Karunda trip, we rented a car in Cairns and made another rainforest day trip, this time to the Daintree National Park. There we took in the rainforest at all levels–from the ground, midway up and all the way above the canopy–and flew through the trees via zipline. The Daintree is…
While in Cairns we made a day trip to Karunda village in the World Heritage Listed Barron Gorge National Park. We reached Karunda on Skyrail, a 4.7-mile (7.5 km) cableway over the rainforest, and returned on the 23-mile (37 km) Karunda Scenic Railway. Highlights from trip follow. Click any image for a larger view, or…
North of Townsville we stopped at Orpheus Island National Park and then passed though beautiful Hinchinbrook Channel. With winds forecast to blow less than 10 knots for the next few days, we then returned to the reefs–our first time since Circular Cay off the Whitsunday area last October. We had several excellent dives, particularly at…
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The SS Yongala is a world-renowned wreck dive about 48 miles south of Townsville. The 350 ft (107 m) luxury liner Yongala disappeared during a 1911 cyclone and the wreck was not discovered until 1958. The site now is protected under the Australian Historic Shipwrecks Act, and boats must have a permit to visit, so…
We weren’t intending to stop at either Magnetic Island or Townsville, but Horseshoe Bay on the north side of Magnetic Island made a convenient stopover after Upstart Bay. One night turned into two and was almost to three when Townsville resident Mick Malone called and encouraged us to visit there. Mick is a longtime friend…
Last week we were invited to ride along while the tug SL Herbert escorted the cement bulker Alcem Lugait into the Port of Townsville. The SL Herbert is modern Damen ASD Tug 2810 designed for towing, mooring and fire-fighting operations. The vessel is 94.22 ft (28.67m) long with a 34.22 ft (10.43m) beam and 15.94…
We ended our 1,532-mile run from Melbourne at Shaw Island in the Whitsundays. From there we slowed down and coastal-hopped north. We did this partly because we were covering new territory, and also because we weren’t eager to get much farther north with Cyclone Solo having formed near New Caledonia just four days after we…
We came to Australia with three must-see destinations in mind: the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Australia, Tasmania off the southern tip, and the Kimberley in the northwest corner of the continent. But visiting them all would be a challenge. The three regions span thousands of ocean miles: Tasmania and the Kimberley are at diagonally…
We arrived at the Gold Coast with a list of projects we wanted to complete, the first set of major boat projects since eight months ago in Brisbane. Here are highlights from our arrival and first week there. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a…
Highlights from our last couple of days in Melbourne and the run north to the Gold Coast. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. 3/16/2015 Kate Humphries Position: 144 56.71, -37 49.45 Syndey resident Kate Humphries had sent us pictures of Dirona as we…
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In 1899, the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company of Tasmania opened a 34.5 km steam railway to transport copper from their Queenstown mine to the Port of Strahan. The railway closed in 1963 due to high maintenance costs, and re-opened as a tourist attraction in 2002 as the West Coast Wilderness Railway. Two of…
Earlier this week, we took a Tassielink bus into Hobart for the day to tour the Australian icebreaker and supply ship Aurora Australis. The ship was in town briefly to take on cargo for a resupply run to Australia’s Antarctic stations Mawson and Davis. Mawson is 67° 36′ south, at the edge of the Antarctic…
Highlights from the week of January 19th in Hobart and D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. 1/20/2015 1/20/2015: Superbowl-bound Position: -43° 53.87′, 147° 20.08′ Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett bicycled around the stadium following the Seahawks 28-22 overtime win…
Highlights from the week of January 12th in Port Arthur and Hobart, Tasmania. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. 1/12/2015 1/12/2015: Raw water pump Position: -44° 9.47′, 147° 51.77′ Continuing to investigate a cycling raw-water pump, we found a second minor leak at…