This is what I wrote yesterday…we had no internet connection so I just wrote what came into my head on Swan Island.

You may or may not be surprised to hear that we aren’t at Cape Barren island… Once again, the best laid plans… No nothing terrible has happened, we just didn’t go as fast as we had expected. So we are anchored off Swan Island, which seems very beautiful, with a lovely beach and its very own lighthouse. I don’t think anyone lives here. It is about twelve nautical miles from Musselroe Bay so yes we have left the Tasmanian mainland…but only just.

It was a long trip - we left at 6.30 and arrived at Swan Island at 5.00. I have realised (yes, already…) that I need more entertainment than just ipod music to keep me from flinging myself overboard. (I have very few inner resources…) Pete is very busy; he pops in and out of the engine hatches, humming gaily to himself as he inspects the bilges, and he also spends ages doing things on his computer, or looking at marine charts. I can’t do anything of this ilk; I am of no assistance in the bilges, and I can’t read or look at my computer for more than five minutes. In fact I really have to stay out of the cabin for the majority of the time we are under way. I did try to do some of my word puzzles (thank you Dennis and Robbie for my book; I will have to reserve it for sitting-around time, not moving-along time…) No I am not seasick, I am feeling very chipper, in fact. But…I can’t read more than a few words while we are moving and I don’t want to push my luck. So while I sat listening, quite happily, to Sting as we motored along, I remembered yet another of my useful sons-in-law’s words (Jeff, this time,) – download some books on your ipod…So why didn’t I? Because I thought I would be all serene and cruise-y on this trip; in fact I am not all that serene (yet) and I am very keen for…words… Pete and I are good at chatting but…it is noisy when the motors are running. And the radio makes a hideous beeping sound, it doesn’t like the motors, so I am cut off from my beloved ABC programs. (Whinge WHINGE!) So…what to do?? Well – download some books on my ipod… I fiddled around for a while and managed to download a Mark Twain short story on my iphone. Wonderful! I love Mark Twain, he is so witty and wise, and this was a tale about a dog. What not to like?? I plugged in my earphones and sat back at the helm feeling very contented. But…it was SUCH a sad story… About man’s inhumanity to animals… Tomorrow I will try for something more cheery! Maybe a vampire tale, or a murder mystery!!

The other day, when we were out of range (as we are again today) I spent quite a lot of time writing cheery little anecdotes about Triabunna, Wineglass bay, etc. Then I very speedily and efficiently put this entire document, fully deleted, onto the recycle bin. Why??

So I didn’t manage to tell you about my second happy bike ride around Triabunna, where I ended up on the Tasman Highway – oh the terror! Don’t ask how I got off track, when Triabunna is so small… But no logtrucks came and whizzed me off the road, and I was soon back on safe territory, nodding at the local policeman in a very law-abiding way because I was wearing my helmet – Pete had caught me trying to sneak off without it… I was just putting on my brakes at the wharf when I heard toot TOOT – oh how lovely, there was Pete’s sister Lynne, on her way to a meeting in Swansea! Once again I was overwhelmed and overjoyed to see someone from our real life… She only stayed with us a few minutes, and she didn’t risk her life leaping across from land to Osprey to 2XS – a wise woman…
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id I say how very beautiful Wineglass Bay was, and the Hazards, as we cruised past in the early morning light? I also remember a story about my Katy, when she was only five. Her father, Thad, took her camping, with some other people, and in the evening, as they settled in the campground, he said, “Look at those mountains, Katy. They are called The Hazards. Aren’t they beautiful? She gazed at them thoughtfully. Then she said, “Yes they are. But I think they would look even better if they had red, and blue, and purple fireworks coming out of them.”

The trip from Freycinet to Long Point, just north of Bicheno, was, as Leo Thomas, when he was 4, would have said, majerous. The sea was perfectly calm, like an undulating mirror. If we had been relying on sail for travel we would have been becalmed, like the Ancient Mariner, but with the two strong 2XS motors we powered along majestically. I would like to tell you that this magical silver sea abounded with life – dolphins, whales, the odd dugong-gone-astray leaping for our delight, but there was barely a whisper of life- hardly even a gull… We arrived in late afternoon sunshine at Long Point, another beautiful East Coast bay with crystal clear water.

And today we are moored at Trousers Point on Flinders – So beautiful, this area of magical islands…will write more tomorrow…