Sunday 20^th November

Snapshot: We are bobbing around at anchored in Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island (aka Maggie.)  I have just been for a refreshing if brief swim in the chartreuse green sea, visibility almost nil.  This was very brave; I have been told by more people than, as Pete would say, you could jump over, NOT to swim in this area.  Box jellyfish. Irukanji stingers, sharks, crocodiles await me.  Apparently.  The Townsville region is very beautiful but I would never live here – for six months of the year the warm, inviting sea is out of bounds to humans.  And for the other six months there is still a great likelihood of a close encounter with a very large saltwater croc.  They are everywhere; recently they found a three metre bigboy swimming around happily in a small lagoon on the army base, just behind the officers’ mess.  A similar sized one was removed from Magnetic Island just last week.  It had been spied, by some fascinated and startled tourists, cruising alongside the ferry into the dear little bay where people disembark for a nice relaxing tropical time.

On deck, and occasionally plunging into the bay, are Michael and his friends Luke and Adam.  Adam’s wife Jean is relaxing on the bench – she is a very hard-working chef and I think she is very much enjoying just sitting on the boat, not needing to do anything at all.  Pete is sitting at the helm, looking very happy with a beer in his hand.  He and Jean are dry; they haven’t felt the need to challenge the crocs and jellyfish.  In a while – no hurry – we are going to go in to shore and have lunch, but for the moment everyone is very happy and very mellow.

Our guests all stayed overnight – Luke slept on the couch, the others had cabins.  They were all up until 3.00am, eating chips and dips and drinking beer.  And occasionally thundering across the deck with big noisy feet.  Pete and I lost our powers and crept off to our cabin around midnight…

After a relaxing hour or so on deck, we went in to shore – two trips in the tender.  Jean, Luke and I went first, and sat happily in the shade waiting for the others.  They arrived looking very pleased with themselves – they had seen a dugong!  This was a very good moment for Pete; until this very moment, he hadn’t fully believed in dugongs.  To him they were akin to the bunyip and the Loch Ness Monster.