Gone With The Wind ... on safari

Monday, September 16, 2024

Down Time at Fraser Island.

22 October - 7th November 2022.

Now that all our Australian entry formalities were done and dusted we were free to do whatever took our fancy.

First up was a much needed trip to the Supermarket. We were pretty much out of everything. Just a short way down the road from the marina was the local IGA and, as an added bonus, they had a free courtesy bus that would pick you up and once the shopping was done, they’d drive us back to the marina. Wow, after all our years of sailing this was a much welcomed service.

Over the coming days we ventured further afield into the main township of Bundaberg. The local bus stopped right outside of the marina and took about 20 mins to get into town. Town was a pretty busy place. It had everything and more. Woolworths, Coles and Aldi had shelves overflowing with stuff, the likes of which we hadn’t seen for months. No more trying to work out what the labels said either. It was all in English !

Farmland along the Burnett River

Anchored off Fraser Island

Living in the marina was great for a week or so but soon we felt the need to be out on the hook. So in company with our friends on Eye Candy we headed across to Fraser Island, a 46 mile jaunt east of the marina. We dropped the anchor at 1700 hrs just south of Triangle Cliffs on the sheltered western side of the island. It was lovely seeing the clear blue water again rather than the muddy Burnett River that flows past the marina.

Spending four days there was worry free for a change. There was no more being students of the weather or changing sails in the dark on a rolling sea. Sleeping all through the night was sheer bliss with no thumping of the engine to spoil it.

But time moves on and soon we were lifting the anchor and heading back to Bundy. On the way back we caught a huge Wahoo, probably the biggest we’ve ever caught. It was a real beauty and sure to take up a lot of room in our freezer. And as Liam always says “you can never have too much fish!”