It is the last day of our trip…Sunday the 15^th of April.  We have left Recherche Bay and are making good way up the Channel – should be in Lindisfarne around 3pm.  This time tomorrow I will be sitting at my desk… hard to believe.  Below are the blogposts I wrote on Thursday and Friday, when we were out of range.  Will do some more later.

Thursday 12^th April

Tonight we are anchored in a nice little bay just outside Bathurst Harbour.  The wind is howling in the trees and we could see, as we came toward our destination, that there were gusts of 35 knots or more.  But…here we sit, rocking gently, our tummies full of very nice food – nothing more comforting than a big plate of hot food on a cold autumn evening.

Last night we anchored in Clayton’s Corner, which is within the Harbour.  Right next to us was – a yacht!  Giebateau, from Holland.  I have put exclamation marks because this is such a remote part of the world, and this harbour is so very VERY big.

This morning we walked up to the bushwalkers hut, and found Paul and Caroline in there, having a bit of R & R away from Giebteau.  Very nice people, and full of information about sailing the oceans blue.  They have been sailing for six years – they worked hard, saved money, then sold everything so they could realise their dream and just sail way.  Not sure how old they are; quite a lot younger than Pete and me…(No children.)  They have had amazing adventures on their beautiful yacht – all the way up to the Arctic Circle, down to the Antarctic, around Cape Horn, around the Cape of Good Hope.

Caroline said, sadly, that they could no longer live in Holland.  It is all so very dangerous. Kids used to fight, when Paul and Caroline were schoolchildren, but in those days they would just punch each other a bit, maybe score a bleeding nose or two, then become friends again.  Now, she said, sighing deeply, the combatants have KNIVES.  And GUNS.  She said she really didn’t mind the huge influx of refugees from war-torn countries, and in fact was glad, at first, to welcome them.  What she, and Paul, find difficult is that a big majority of the newcomers don’t want to learn Dutch, don’t want to obey the law, want a separate education system.

All a bit too sad, too discouraging.

Our trip down from Pilot’s Bay yesterday was great.  It was very cold and those of us who weren’t wearing thermal underwear suffered more than…well, more than I did… We got out through Hells Gates in the dark, with no difficulty at all.  Thank goodness!  I can’t imagine how ghastly it would be in high wind and big ocean swell!

We were accompanied nearly all the way by four large albatross, wheeling gracefully around the boat.  At one stage Pete was having a snooze on the couch while I sat, a bit dopily (we got up at 4.30…) at the helm.  I suddenly saw, in between the 3 metre high waves,a black object – OH NO!  A rock!  Danger danger!  Then the rock stuck its head up again to look at me – a darling seal, not a dangerous rock!

The wind and the waves were with us all the way down to Port Davey, and we were able to continue up to Bathurst Harbour with a reasonable amount of daylight.  It is so very beautiful here.  Clayton’s Corner was a very nice, safe anchorage, and there was even a nice solid jetty where we could tie up the tender when we went for our walk up to the hut.  We ate our leftover chicken curry, then, with hardly any discussion, went off to our cosy bunk a bit before 8… Pete read about two and a half pages and then starting a session of gentle, rhythmic snoring.  I read a bit longer but soon was in Sleepyboboland as well.  It is so tiring, being at sea – not sure why…there is a lot of sitting and quite a lot of lying-on-the-couch… So did we wake up bright and early after such a long sleep time?  Well, no…

We took the tender up a bit further and went for a walks around Melaleuca at midday.  It was overcast and cold but I was very happy to see Deny King’s fabled house, and to experience the quietness, remoteness and sheer beauty of this part of the world.  We spent a bit of time in a birdwatching hide, all very comfy but…not a single bird flew by.  As we were walking back to the tender, we saw a beautiful little green parrot.  Pete thought it was a ground parrot; I thought it was an orange-bellied one.  My main reason was that I thought ground parrots couldn’t fly – why, after all, are they called GROUND parrots?  Well I looked in my bird book and Pete was right – ground parrots are terrestrial but they do flutter and fly when alarmed by large clomping human feet.  And, so wonderful, there have been a few sea eagles, flying overhead to welcome us.

Just a few more easy steps around the coastline until we arrive in Hobart…

Friday 13^th April

No Friday 13^th is not a sad or inauspicious day on 2XS.

We are safely anchored in New Harbour, right on schedule.  We left Schooners Cove at a civilised hour – two cups of tea at the beginning of the day improved me enormously.

And then the trip to Muttonbird Island was breathtaking.  Such a wild, rugged coastline.  And here we are, in the Southern Ocean, which is just as one would expect – a huge, rolling sea, silvery grey, rolling and tumbling towards the land.  On one side, great cliffs, clefts, caves, mountains rising straight from the sea.  And on the other side – the wide, wild expanse of the ocean.  Absolutely captivating. 

Pete left me guarding the boat at Muttonbird Island.  We were anchored in amongst a giant kelp forest and someone needed to keep a sharp watch for rugged rocks and anchor drifting.  As well as these reasons for me to stay aboard 2XS – my unspoken abhorrence for Pete’s trip ashore…(Well I might have said something negative – ahem – once…)  He was off to slaughter some muttonbirds.  I love these birds, and have reveled in being able to see huge rafts of them bobbing on the water, or flying off across the sea.  Pete loves them too, but he, nonetheless, wants to eat them.  (He has a licence, for putting out the net, and also for watching muttonbirds, so he is not breaking the law, in case you are wondering…)

So I sat on the deck, watching to see if we were about to crash into the steep, rocky cliffs, or the jagged reefs close by.  I made a cup of coffee and read my book but with minimal concentration – what would I need to do, if Pete didn’t return??  Other than weep and wail??  2XS is too large to drive into the narrow inlet where Pete had gone with the tender.  And the water is too wild for swimming on a rescue mission, towing a lifesaver buoy between my teeth.  Fortunately…he returned, with the little dinghy bobbing about, at times totally vanishing between the big waves.  I was VERY happy and relieved.

It took another hour or so to get to New Harbour, where we are presently anchored.  I enjoyed this bit of the coast.  Not just enjoyed, I LOVED it.  Maybe not so much fun for Pete, who had to steer 2XS through a wild, high sea, with winds up to 60 knots…We were surrounded by beautiful scenery and magical seabirds – gannets, gulls, albatross.  And some lovely little birds which Pete had christended CrazyBirds.  They would dive, swoop and then tumble across the waves.  TrickyBirds!  I found them in my bird book – storm petrels.  Along the top of the cliffs we saw about four sea eagles as well, all of them being pursued and harassed by smaller birds – forest ravens, and I’m not sure what else.  The poor eagles don’t get a moments peace from their tormentors.

Tomorrow – Recherche Bay; nearly home!!

Tuesday 10^th April

No time for a long blogpost today…we are under way, heading for Hell’s Gates.  It is just on 5.30pm and getting dark.  We hope to anchor in Pilot’s Bay, just near the entrance to the harbour, so we can make a speedy and efficient start early (4am….) tomorrow.

Sad to say goodbye to beautiful Strahan and the amazing people and scenery…but ready for the last leg of the trip.

All things being equal we will be comin’ round the mountain singing yi yi yippy yippy etc sometime on Sunday.  So look out for us somewhere on the Derwent.

By the way –it is calm and millpond-ish on Macquarie Harbour right now, so…all so well

(In case I am unable to make contact over the next few days…happy birthday Pauline, happy birthday Stuart!)

Monday 9^th April

We are back on 2Xs, in Strahan, tied up to Petuna, the big blue fishing boat, on the wharf at Strahan.  It is VERY cold.  There was snow on the mountains as we came down from Launceston, all very beautiful, but…brrrr…

By the way if you are ever driving in that area, go to the Round Hill Café, just near the turn-off to Lake Barrington.  It is wonderful!  Cosy and warm with fresh homemade food.  We had a cup of (strong, hot, flavoursome,) coffee and shared a raspberry/coconut slice which was so delicious I wish we hadn’t shared it and that I had had a whole one, and maybe even a second one, all for myself.  Round Hill Café – go there!

We arrived back in Strahan and I dropped off Pete at the dinghy to bring 2XS back to the harbor.  BRRRRR!!!  I took the ute up the hill and filled it lovingly with diesel, with the help of a fat young mechanic – I had no idea how to unscrew the fuel cap…FAIL!!  Then I spent a happy half hour going round and round and under and over with the car wash hose. BRRR BRRR!!!!   But worth it!  All the squashed insects down the gurgler…all the mud and dust – down the gurgler!  Very satisfying.

Pete with 2XS met up with me, the ute and a tray full of groceries in time to tie up to Rodney the Elder’s Petuna – all the fishing boats are in and there is no room on the wharf.  We got all stowed away and tied up and a big squall blew in – not thunderbolts and lightning, but very very frightening nonetheless!  The boat rocked and rolled and Phil, a brand new friend from a smaller yacht in the harbor, Sandpiper (a North Shore 33) scampered off back to his boat, to make sure it was safe.

Our plan had been to get back to Strahan in time to take Ron and his wife Laura out to dinner, to thank them for lending us the wonderful clean shiny ute.  Unfortunately they couldn’t come – family responsibilities.  We still had our booking, so Phil (from Sandpiper) came, with his wife Lesley.  They have been sailing around Tasmania for two months and are due back at work in Melbourne on Monday.  We had a delicious dinner at Risby Cove, not far from the wharf.  A kind local had lent Phil and Lesley a beautiful luxurious car – people in Strahan are AMAZING!! – so we went with them in case another strong squally blizzard blew up.  (It didn’t.)  The restaurant was warm and cosy and jam packed full of people – I told you Strahan is amazing!

We will stay here tomorrow, gazing anxiously at the weather maps and BOM warnings…With a bit of luck we can leave and zoom off on Wednesday…Till then, all is well, we are safe, the heater is on, the boat is safe, we are happy.

Allan M – if you are reading this, we went THROUGH Tullah, the place of your birth, then went INTO Tullah off the highway and spent a very happy half hour or so driving up and down and around the streets.  What a beautiful place, gorgeous lake, splendid mountains.  But…BRRRR…and the real estate prices made us stretch our eyes!  $220,000 for a house!!  $120,000 for a prefab cabin!

Sunday 8^th April

Happy Easter to one and all. 

We are in Launceston and it is, at the moment, a beautiful sunny blue sky day.  But…the black cockatoos have been warning us that there is likely to be a big rain and thunder storm very soon.  The sea has been very violent recently, with wild wind, many boating misadventures, deaths.  The Three Peaks Race has been halted, with some boats run aground.  2XS, we know, will be safe and sound in Mill Bay on its strong Morrison mooring.  We will be back in Strahan tomorrow, with the idea of leaving on Tuesday, all things being equal…Then down around the bottom of Tasmania, into Port Davey for a quick day or so, then HOME.  I should be firmly seated at my office desk at 8.45 on Monday 16^th.  (This is a bold statement…usually at 8.45 I am having my first cup of tea of the day…barely out of bed…)

Our Morrison ute is amazing.  Ron’s son Deke brought it down to us at the wharf.  It is not a particularly new vehicle but it is SO clean we could lend it to paramedics along the way to conduct emergency appendectomies.  If called upon so to do… All of the Morrison vehicles are neat, tidy and surgically clean.  You wouldn’t know they fished or even trod upon the decks.  We have only had the ute for a day and a half and already it is bespattered with dead insects, dust, rain drops.  We will have to get scrubbing before we return it!

Friday was a beautiful day.  We left Strahan reasonably early and got to Launceston a bit after two.  The road up through the mountains was breathtaking, awe-inspiring.  We only had one brief stop, in Sheffield, to avail ourselves of the facilities and to look at what Fleur’s mother would have called the “muriels.”  I was mildly desperate for a cup of coffee.  Sheffield was busybusy but…no coffee to be had!  The pub advertised food, wine, coffee, etc but…the cheery barmaid said, “Oh dear, we’ve run out of coffee.  Go to the bakery opposite.”  The bakery opposite was shrouded in newspaper…the cafe next door was mysterious and dark.  Someone suggested going to the IGA supermarket - they, surprisingly, sell espresso coffee.  Or so they say… I hopefully asked for a double shot long black- VERY VERY strong, hoping to get something with a tiny bit of coffee flavour and savour.  Oh dear…I got a pale weak concoction in a cardboard cup.  Win some lose some; in the meantime Pete bought about five books, $1 each – mostly spy thrillers from the 60s and 70s, so he was happy.

Our apartment in Launceston, the Lido, was just lovely.  All 1930s, big spacious rooms, all the comforts of home.  I took off all of my travel clothes and put them straight in the washer-dryer, then had a shower and pranced around in a fluffy white robe for a while.  It then occurred to me that we had an apartment – weehee, time to entertain family!  My sisters were (very inconsiderately) otherwise occupied – what’s the matter with them; I gave them ten minutes notice!!  But Mum and Marcel were able to drop everything and come, so we had a lovely visit in our elegant Art Deco apartment.

Nicole’s party began at five and we managed to get there more or less in time.  It was a beautiful party, very elegant, lots of fun.  All of the men were in black tie and they looked very splendid.  The women looked gorgeous and TALL TALL TALL!!  As the evening wore on, around midnight, they started to get shorter as they finally, regretfully, discarded their extreme high heels.

The food deserves a special mention.  It was just beautiful, both to eat and to gaze upon.  The canapés were all served in ingenious and attractive ways – on little wooden bowls, in nests of twigs and grass, on platters decorated with huge red chilli peppers.  Not only pretty but DELICIOUS.  The canapés kept on coming and I was very happy, nibbling on this one and that – it is one of my favourite ways of eating.  So maybe I ate too many…I wasn’t prepared for a main course to arrive, in elegant little bowls.  Angela Wood smiled at me encouragingly – “Come on, Marguerite, you can do it!”  So I did…and very yummy it all was.  Even if I did eat twice my own body weight…good thing it was such a long party, with lots of dancing and activity to burn off (some of) the food.

As for the party girl…well she looked absolutely gorgeous, like a film star, in her long black silk Colette Dinnigan dress.  Not only beautiful, but radiant as well.  She made an amazing speech, to the assembled 100 guests – “I love my life!” was the theme.  Nicole has been through some very hard times, and is very intelligent in her assessment of her current situation- beautiful children, good health, much-loved husband, wonderful house, friends, family.

There was live music for the first part of the party (Cam Tapp) and then a variety of DVD music.  Dancing until late in the night… Pete and I walked back to the Lido, with just a teensy gentle bit of argument over whether it would be better to walk on the footpath (my idea) or the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD (Pete’s suggestion – so much more exciting, he said.)  He was quite disappointed as he snugged up in the comfy bed.  “It’s not really all that late, is it?”  Well.2.45 is late for a Harmsen if not for a Headlam…

Saturday we went off to Beauty Point to meet up with Leanne and Peter from Plan Four, and to watch the 2pm start of the Three Peaks race.  Oh golly and gosh…we were 24 hours too late.  Not too late to see Pete and Leanne, fortunately.  Lovely to catch up on their news, all of us back in Tasmania.

Today, Easter Sunday, has been a R & R day at the Darcey’s, with a big lunch of Atlantic Salmon, all the way from Birch’s Bay…

PS Pete has just looked at the forecast and…it is not good.  We probably won’t be able to leave Strahan till Wednesday, but then it should be fair winds and calm sea and reasonably easy going, down and around the bottom of Tasmania.

Tuesday 3^rd April

Snapshot:  I am having my usual G & T; it is 5.30.  Pete is having one as well, and he is sitting at the opposite end of the table bent over, not his computer, but his Nature Study.  He bought two beautiful glossy field guides at the Visitors Centre in Strahan, one called EucaFlip, the other TreeFlip.  Today on our walk to Sir John Falls he picked a few little (tiny weensy teeny…) leaves from a selection for trees and now he is happily and busily identifying them.  It is all bringing back long distant memories of field trips galloping along behind Prof Jackson, who operated at a fast clip, with his students racing behind him trying to take notes and pick specimens. 

We are tied up alongside Stormbreaker, the lovely, hardy big yacht which operates out of Strahan up the Gordon River.  Outside the sun is sinking and it is so beautiful out there.  The river has turned a deep golden colour and the dense, steep rainforest is still casting glorious reflections.  Our friends from Stormbreaker have gone fishing and will soon return for a friendly beer or two.

We left Strahan yesterday morning at almost exactly the same time as Stormbreaker, heading in the same direction.  I don’t know if you remember, but when we were in Honiara (oh bummer I am sounding like a wenneye…not sure in which book I have read this, but there is a vivid description of the teenage protagonists laughing wickedly about their parents’ friends, the wenneyes… When I was in Zimbabwe last spring… etc etc…) last year, we just happened upon James Butler, who was known to John Miedecke, but not to us.  James works for the Hydro (well, for Endura, an offshoot of the Hydro,) and he and Bruce Taylor were there for a few weeks doing a feasibility project.  They took Pete and John out into the hinterland of Guadalcanal for the day, while I, well…I got my hair cut – there was no room in the helicopter for me.  We spent a bit for time with James and Bruce and enjoyed their company very much.  So imagine our delight when there came a knock on the roof of 2XS – James!  About to go up the Gordon on Stormbreaker, for an Endura project, with his colleague, Ray.

So lucky!  Not only do we get to spend a bit more time with this very nice young bloke, and his equally nice young colleague, but…we get to tie up alongside Stormbreaker!  We are getting all of the inside knowledge about this very splendid part of the world.  This afternoon Pete and I went further up the river in the tender, way past the junction for the Franklin and Gordon rivers.  It was quite awe-inspiring, very steep densely forested river banks, deep brown water dotted with bright yellow rainforest leaves, a few jagged rocks causing the water to ripple in a menacing manner.  There was hardly a sign of life, although we have been assured there are many playtypus on the river banks.  Our only sighting was a very large white-bellied sea eagle, sitting high above us on a branch and not the least interested in our (slow...puttputtputt…) progress up the river.

We talked to James about the lovely time we have had recently, with our Boys on board – Michael, Jabba, James.  I said it was really easy having them for ten days because they weren’t very intrusive – one, two, or three of them would be peacefully asleep in their cabins for large chunks of the day.  James is much the same age (35) and he said, “Yes, ofcourse!  When I go away on my boat with my mates, we all sleep for three hour stretches, all the time!”  Aha! 

I forgot to say we stopped off at Sarah Island, and joined one of the tours when one of the big cruise boats came in.  It was warm and sunny, and all very beautiful and very interesting.  It rains A LOT in this region and it gets very cold and bleak.  So it would not always have been quite as picturesque and balmy as it was for us… Over 500 people lived there, in its heyday, and there was a lot of activity – ship-building, mainly.  Not to mention baking, veggie growing, flogging, hanging and incarceration of convicts…

Trevor Norton, the owner/skipper of Stormbreaker, is a very nice man.  He is talking to Pete at this very moment, about bilge pumps, if you really want to know… He has lots of info about the glory days of the Franklin dam rallies.  The two ferries which run cruises up the Gordon were in opposite camps.  One would ferry the protesters up the river, very happily.  The other would take them back, under police custody…

Stormbreaker takes people up the river on dinner/overnight cruises.  The boat also picks up whitewater rafters, fresh off the Franklin River.  He told us about a dear little old lady who booked for one of these cruises, once she heard they were picking up rafters.  “So where are they?” she asked, expectantly, when they got to Sir John Falls landing.  Trevor pointed to the recumbent bodies on the pontoon.  “No, I mean the RAFTERS!”  Poor old dear had though she was on an illicit wood gathering cruise… (It is forbidden to take timber out of the World Heritage Area now…)

Thursday 5^th April

Not quite G & T time… We are back in Strahan, on Ron Morrison’s mooring in Mill Bay.  We had a wonderful time up the Gordon River.  Two nights in the midst of the wilderness, then a night in Birch’s Bay, closer to Strahan but still very isolated.

Ron has lent us his ute so we are all set to go to Launceston tomorrow.  We are hoping to arrive with our arms full of enormous Atlantic salmon…our little net is out in the bay right now.  Yesterday was its maiden plunge into the sea.  We left it in for a few hours and went to get it, expecting nothing very much, in spite of our local fishing friends’ tales of 600 in one net.  The salmon regularly have mass break-outs from their farm cages.  Their cage life isn’t much fun, I am sure, but neither, really is their life once they have escaped.  A bit like the convicts escaping from Sarah Island into the South West Wilderness…They don’t survive very long in Macquarie Harbour.  So…we might as well catch a few to delight our friends and relations.  Imagine our astonishment when we pulled up our net at dusk and found a fish.  Yes only one but what a whopper!  Pete estimated it was around 8 kilos.  We are hoping for just a few more of this ilk, to pop into the ute tray tomorrow.

A message from PNG…

You may remember our time in the Louisiades, our friendship with Moses, Gulo, Sanity, Lilah… I’m not sure if I wrote that we had lent Moses some money ($222 each) and that I had been sending parcels of clothes for Moses to sell.  He wanted to open a little shop on Bagaman Island, and needed some starting capital.  We were a bit sad that we hadn’t heard anything at all…communication is so difficult from such a far-flung isolated community…

Hi there, this is an email from Mr. Moses - Bagaman Isl. in the Lousiades.

We had the pleasure to visit their place during the few days of bad weather.

We found a very nice and warm people, a very good last memory of our last stop in PNG.

Here is the text I got from them:

Hi Peter and Marguerite,

Friends, I want to let you know that the Bank workers dont want to send Kina out from the Bank so I have an idea to change Kina in to Australian Dollars with the rally yachts.

Then I will deposit two hundred dollars in to my account to transfer in to your account.

Anyway thank you for the two parcels bag of clothes, the people like them they bought them all but they want the clothes for man and women if you can send them some more.

P.S. Lilah would like Marguerite to buy her a leg machine (sawing machine?) with material and few machine cotton if possible.

And…I will send some adult clothing but…not a treadle sewing machine… It costs  fortune just to send a few t-shirts…

Sunday 1^st April

And no I’m not going to do an April Fool’s Day joke… Mainly because I can’t think of one clever enough, or witty enough.  So you are spared!

We have had a beautiful peaceful Strahan day.  We stayed on our solid mooring in Mill Bay until the rain had eased, around lunchtime, when we came and tied up to the wharf again – our position is still available, no fishing boats have come in.  So we have been involved with domestic tasks – washing and drying at the handy nearby laundromat, pootling up and down to the shop to buy a few necessities – Rodney the Elder gave us a lovely big fillet of flake, and it needed breadcrumbs.

Tomorrow we are thinking of going out to Sarah Island, and then up the Gordon on Tuesday, when the weather is supposed to be better.  A total tourist experience!