Monday 12 May 2008

Brissie and Tangalooma

We reluctantly dragged ourselves away from Peel Island and travelled the 30 nautical miles to Brisbane with no visible signs of leprosy. The entrance to Brisbane River was a surprise after Moreton Bay - really hazy with so much commercial activity in the brown waters. We dropped anchor in the heart of the city, next to the Botanical Gardens.







It was strange being in a city again and seeing all the suits walking about. Our shorts and thongs must have looked a little out of place. We caught up with friends, going to a great bar with live music - The Beach Bar with our friend Lara. We visited James at his new house near Redcliffe. It's a huge home and he is making the most of no longer being on a boat - a big, beautiful chocolate Labrador 'Rick', dishwasher, huge flat screen TV, big leather reclining lounges, xbox etc etc... Chart swapping in Brisbane was another favourite past time.











My fear of big ships resulted in me having what could only be described as a panic attack in the Brisbane River while at anchor near the shipping lanes, resulting in a midnight move back upstream. Not sure if I could ever cope with the Malacca Straights?!?!?! They are soo big and travel so fast - one ship the 'Volcox Asia' was travelling so fast in Moreton Bay it created a dangerously steep wake covering the deck and filling the open hatches with salt water. I'm not sure how a smaller boat would have fared.





Keen to keep moving now we had good weather, we headed over to Tangalooma with a 3 day forecast of 5-10kt winds and blue skies. Tangalooma is exactly like the pictures - beautiful clear water you can see the bottom in depths of 10 meters. There were heaps of fish around the wrecks, turtles and dolphins and gorgeous sunsets. The only draw back was the wake from the shipping lanes that carried on right across Moreton Bay and rolled the boat around all night.















The rolling at night eventually got the better of us and with a good southerly forecast we decided to head north, still not decided on our destination.
Thyme Out.

2 comments:

theotherbear said...

Great photos, guys.
Sounds like you're still having fun (with the exception of minor traffic related panic attacks). xo

Secret Squirrel said...

Yeah, I agree with Theo The Bear...
Great photos.

xox eve xox