17th May 2013
I spent the day travelling around Magnetic Island. This place is the bomb. Really pretty and not too crowded. You can buy a house here starting at 250k or
a block from 100. Just not in the same
league as our inflated prices. I suppose
you always will have the cyclone threat to think about. And apparently Schoolies can drive the locals
nuts for that time.
I paid $2.90 and rode the bus all day getting off at all the
bays, walks and shops. I purchased a real coffee, a loaf of bread and a pie
from the bakery. What I like to call a
$10 day. What an extravagant holiday
splurge.
Today has been dead calm and after sunset I even put out a
light over the back of the boat to attract in some squid for something
different. No luck with the squid but,
two blue swimmers in the net. According to “The Navigator” I have the wrong
type of squid jigs. I can see a “squid
off” happening when he jumps on the boat. (There’s not a competitive bone in my
body)
No photos here. It is just too nice to diminish with my
crappy camera. Goggle image something if
you must. According to some of the other
floating nomads it gets even better further north…
18th May 2013
Hazard Bay – Orpheus Island 18o 37.676S 146o
29.375E
It has been a glum overcast day.
The anchorage here is deep and there hasn’t been a breath of
wind since noon. I took Merv ashore to
fillet some fish and the water is clear with coral bomies. It is a shame there is no sun to do much
else. I can’t make up my mind whether or not to go around Hinchinbrook Island
or through the channel. The outside is
beaches and the channel is mangrove. If
I’m going into the channel I’ll have to have a sleep in and wait for the tide. If the sun was going to come out I would go
around the outside and maybe go a bit further and visit the reef. Pity it’s
glum, glum, glum…
19th May 2013
Haycock Island 18o 28.320S 146o 13.119E
Well I am camped up in Hinchenbrook Channel. Just managed to get the anchor down just
after sunset after a full day. After
reading Lucas’s book he said that “Zoe Bay on the Eastern side in Hinchenbrook
is probably the most spectacular bay on the East coast and it is a shame that
there is no anchorage.” There are a
couple of creeks on the north and south of the bay with some mud maps where I
could probably get in and anchor if the tide was big enough. Low tide was just after 11am so I thought I
would go in, anchor and then take Merv in to scope out the creeks.
Got to Zoe Bay (18o 23.653S 146o
19.764E) at just after low tide and anchored the boat in the pitching
waves. I must admit the bay is
spectacular. There’s a beach, waterfalls and surrounded by wilderness rising up
to 1000meters. I had fun getting Merv in
the water and waiting for the right wave to step up into him.
The Southern creek had only inches of water at its entrance
and led to a waterfall. It is quite
narrow and not wide enough for a boat of Charisma’s size to swing in. I spoke to two guys who were camped there who
had walked in. There’s a wilderness track
that takes four days to walk. Keen.
I then checked out the Northern creek. It had only a couple of feet of water at the
entrance but opened up to a wide area with deep water that I could anchor, or
sit on the keels in. However I was only
going to get 1.5 metres at the next high tide. Just not enough safety margin. I did consider taking the boat onto the beach
and wait for tomorrow’s tide which is a meter higher but by the time I got back
to the boat it was hobby horsing in the chop to the point where the nose was
burying. Great place but it would need
some careful planning to visit for a thorough explore.
Here’s a pretty crappy video I took at the northern creek
mouth. While I still making up my mind.
And here’s Merv hanging out at the northern creek mouth
waiting to go fishing…
After that taste of Hinchenbrook I decided to go back to the
channel where there are some easier anchorages.
The entrance to the channel is marked by a really long sugar loading
jetty.
Check the guiness book of records if you don't believe me...
As I was following the leads in The Coral Princess, a large
P&O passenger cat came up behind me. I
pulled over to some deeper water outside the channel and jogged while it went
past.
I followed it up past the jetty at Lucinda. You come within 20m of the jetty to stay in
the channel. I scared the crap out of a
fisherman on the jetty when I yelled out if he had caught anything. I had the sails up, in stealth mode, when I
snuck up on him. He yanked so hard on his rod he tangled his lure when it
flicked back at him. We both had a laugh…
Only problem with being in the channel is that I have lit a
sandlewood stick in case there are sandflies. It’s is a bit too still here and I am not that
far away from the shore. Thanks for the heads up Carmen Miranda!
20th May 2013
Gayundah Creek 18o
22.262S 146o 12.175E
Had a quiet day today exploring the creeks from here,
crabbing, fishing, reading and enjoying the view.
How’s
the serenity…
You’ll notice how the hills are clouded at their peaks all
the time. Apparently as they are so steep
next to the ocean they create their own weather pattern. This area is supposed
to have the highest rainfall in Australia because of it. It is quite pleasant in the channel though.
21th May 2013
Scraggy Bay 18o
17.174S 146o 6.116E
Despite it’s name this is probably the easiest spot to get a
feel for Hinchenbrook. There is a beach,
grassed area with bbq’s and a short loop walk trail around a fresh water creek. 
The short walk around the creek is well worth the effort and
the fresh water creek is nice for a cool off.
Sorry about that.
To give it context these are just a couple of the different mushrooms I found.
Is there
something Freudian I’m missing in this photo?
It’s not the shirt is it?
Don’t worry. I wont start painting faces on them and giving
them names.
As an aside, there are all these little lizards running
through the rocks. They are just like
the ones at home except they have orange heads.
Finally there are also some old aboriginal rock fish traps
here as well.
Did I bring the throw net?
You betcha…
