Saturday 31st March

We have had a few adventures and a night away from 2XS.  We are now (4.30) back on board, on a big strong mooring in Mill Bay, courtesy of Ron Morrison.  We didn’t want to leave 2XS on the wharf, in case a legitimate boat came in and wanted us to move.  It would have been a bit fraught, with us in Queenstown, kicking up our heels.

On Thursday night we rode our bikes around the waterfront, along a beautiful little path overhung with trees, and had dinner at the Railway Hotel.  Our neighbour, Younger Rodney from Petuna, had told us, in his economical way (Younger Rodney doesn’t use three words where one will do) that we should avoid Hamers, the pub across the road from the wharf, because the servings are too small, and that the Railway Hotel was the place to go.  The barmaid was very cheery and she said that they served much better beer than “the less cooler pub across the bay.”  We are our big helpings of very pubby pubfood and then rode home in almost total darkness… The beautiful little path overhung with trees was slightly less enchanting when we were negotiating it, slowly, more or less by braille.

Yesterday we pootled about Strahan and had chats with our BFFs Rodney the Older, and Ron, who showed us around his beautiful yacht, Maatsuyker.  Rodney the Younger found out we were staying overnight in Queenstown, and he became slightly more loquacious – “Jeez, mate,” he said to Pete.  “If you are staying in the center of town you had better take an axe handle to defend yourself.  They are a pack of wild mad bastards, over there.”  Oh goody…we had booked, and paid in advance, to stay at the Empire Hotel, which couldn’t be more central if it tried…

At 4.00 we were the only passengers on a big gleaming white bus to Queenstown.  Weehee Queenstown!  I just love Queenstown…it feels like a different country, FrontierLand!  And it is so very beautiful and wild, with all of the crazy little tin houses perched on the hilltops, the mountains crowding in on the town, the mines, the gravel football field.  The forest has grown riotously in the past twenty or so years.  There are still scars on the mountains from indiscriminate mining practices of the past, but basically there is lush green forest growing up and down the steep slopes.

We were only in Queenstown for a short period, but we had the best time.  We walked around a bit, after we had checked into our room.  Rooms!  Jonesy, the riotously cheerful bar attendant/ receptionist, had upgraded us to what passes for a suite at the Empire Hotel.  Not only a room with a weirdly placed double bed (weird because it was very hard to open and shut the door…) but also another adjoining room, with a tight little single bed and its own washbasin, just in case we should come to blows in the night and need to change sleeping arrangements.  The Empire is very shabby and run down.  Our suite was only $75 for the night and I am not going to complain at all about any shabbiness.  The water in the bathroom was hot, there was a kettle, cups, teabags, and the (weirdly placed…) bed was very comfortable.  The new manager, Craig, joined us for a while after dinner, full of enthusiasm for upgrading and promoting this very beautiful pub.  It really is glorious, with its majestic staircase, high ceilings, ceiling roses, lobbies.  We were very happy to have stayed there.

We were the only people in the dining room… Our very sweet waitress anxiously followed Pete back to the table to place a large Number 8 at his side.  “I don’t think you are going to have any trouble finding us, are you?” said Pete, beaming at her fondly.

The rest of our evening’s entertainment in Queeny was, basically, a pub crawl.  We had a drink at the Empire, then one at the RSL Club, the Queenstown Club, the Mt Lyell Hotel, then back to the Empire.  And in case this sounds like a totally alcoholic sojourn, we were, in fact on A Mission.

Pete had a friend at boarding school, St Virgils in Hobart, who came from Queenstown, and he was interesting in tracking him down after very many years without any contact.  So everywhere we went, we made enquiries about Tony Sherrin.  I found a reference to him on a genealogical site – Anthony Patrick Sherrin, born 7^th July 1945.  (If anyone reading this has an inkling where Tony might be now – please let us know!) 

So…we had A Mission, and we were unsuccessful.  But in the process of making enquiries at five different watering holes in Queenstown on a Friday night, we actually had a most wonderful time.  Each place we went to, we were greeted by friendly people, more than happy to chat, reminisce, tell a joke or two.  We did not feel the need for an axe handle, not even once…

This morning we got up not-too-early and sauntered up the street to have breakfast.  We had noticed people eating delicious-looking food in a small café up the main street, and decided to try our luck.  Our luck was in!  Café Serenade – go there!  We had to wait a very VERY long time for our food to arrive, but when it did, it was just fantastic.  We had ordered bacon and eggs with hollandaise sauce, and the cook decided that we would also like potato rostis and steamed spinach, all beautifully cooked, for no extra charge.  When we left, Pete gave them some extra money; it really was a most wonderful breakfast.

We were just in time (10.45) at the station for our trip on the Abt Railway.  It is a wonderful trip, through the thickest rainforest imaginable.  Hard to imagine how difficult it must have been building it, in the 1800s.  Apparently it took only two and a half years to chop and hew and dig and lay the track the 35 kilometres from Queenstown to Strahan.  And then when it came time to set it all up again in 1999, it took FOUR and a half years, although the track was already dug and they had state of the art  digging and lifting equipment.  And a budget of $35 million.

It was a great way to spend the day, peaceful, beautiful, interesting. 

At lunchtime we met a man who told us he has been to 109 different countries… So at this very moment Pete is googling Countries of The World so he can count how many he has been to…and maybe he has been to MORE than 109!!

It is quite a long walk from the railway terminus to Mill Bay.  We had used our bus tickets going up to Queenstown the previous day (the train fare includes the bus) but the kindly bus driver allowed us to go back into Strahan in his big gleaming white bus.  And then, after just a brief bit of chatting-up from Pete, he took us as far as the roundabout along the way.  But when he realised we still had, oh, maybe a kilometer left to walk, well, that wouldn’t do, would it??  So he took us all the way to where the tender was lying in its little sheltered spot between two of Ron Morrison’s big fishing boats.  A few minutes ago Pete said, “I am so enjoying this Tasmanian leg of our journey, aren’t you?”  Yes indeed!  It has been great fun, with so much kindness and generosity coming our way, not to mention the overwhelming physical beauty of this part of the world.

Thursday 29^th March

Snapshot: 4.30pm - it is still warm and sunny, a gorgeous West Coast day.  Our wharf-front neighbour Rodney, from the big blue fishing boat, Petuna, is on board for a tour of inspection and a beer.  We are expecting to catch up with our other neighbour, Ron, from the fabulous big dark blue yacht, Maatsuyker, adjacent to us.  It is all very sociable, in Strahan.

Last night we went to see The Ship That Never Was, which is the longest running play in Australia – 25 years.  They are having their 5,000th performance in December this year.  It was great fun, just two actors and LOTS of enforced audience participation.  We had a bonus performance from the Ardlethan Choir.  Once again, great fun… This choir was a miscellany of oldcodgers from Ardlethan, which is a small town near Wagga Wagga, recently flooded, they told us, during interval.  They meet and sing together every Tuesday, and are travelling around Tasmanian on a tour at the moment.  The stop and sing wherever there is an opportunity.  And what an opportunity!  They had about seventy people in a captive audience.  We enjoyed it very much.  Some of them could sing, some very obviously couldn’t but they knew the words and warbled robustly along with the rest.  The choir director was a delightful, cheerful woman, who wrestled with the electronic keyboard, unfamiliar to her.  Their official pianist was missing in action and she had to accompany her unruly singers for some of the songs.  Too funny!  She would start to play and suddenly a whole series of rhythm and blues chords would boom forth, startling everyone very much – loud R&B chords are not really appropriate, in a Verdi aria…

After the choir and the play, we wandered back to 2XS to eat leftovers and play chess.  (Another slaughter…not my favourite way of playing…)  But before dinner and chat, we invited Ron, from Maatsukyker next door, over for a drink.  He is a local bloke and has recently sold his fish farm to Huon Aquaculture.  We had a nice chat in the course of which he offered us the use of his big solid mooring in Mill Bay while we are away for Nicole’s birthday party.  And – how wonderful – he also offered us the use of his ute, to get to the party in Launceston, and back.  Ain’t life grand?

This morning we woke to a fabulous warm, sunny day.  Strahan is so very picturesque, and we are moored at the wharf right in the thick of things.  We had a sustaining breakfast of potatoes, eggs, bacon, and set off on our bikes for Ocean Beach.  It is about ten kilometers, and the most lovely ride, if a teensy bit bumpy and skiddy on the unsealed 4k stretch.  When we got back we went to the Huon pine wood centre and listened to a lively presentation by Kiah, one of the Ship that Never Was cast.  We talked to her afterwards, and found that she is Richard Davey’s daughter – Richard is the very enthusiastic writer of this, and many other, plays.  (Incidentally, she told us that Richard is very ill and can’t come to his beloved Strahan any more, has to stay in Hobart for treatment.  This is very sad…)

(By the way…Rodney is still on board and he says we could take his ute to Launceston but maybe it wouldn’t make it…)

Wednesday 28^th March

We are in Strahan, beautiful Strahan, on the rugged West Coast.  The sun is shining and we have removed our coats!  Coming through fabled and fearsome Hell’s Gates was like traversing a gentle millpond – how lucky were we!  Well, not really lucky; Pete, as usual, has been assiduous in his attention to weather forecast, long and short term.  We left our lovely anchorage in Kenneth Bay, off Sandy Cape, at 5am so as to get to Hell’s Gates by midday, the best time for tide and current, in the normally turbulent conditions which prevail here.  So how lovely to cruise in, with barely a ripple on the tannin-brown water.  And…we got to the entrance of the harbour at 12.10, just ten minutes later than Pete had planned – he really is extremely punctual, with this boat

Our trip down the coast has been just glorious, with the reefs and mountains of the South West on our left, and flocks of albatross on our right.  I would have said until now that albatross are solitary birds, but they have been gathering in small flocks and behaving like seagulls around the fishing boats.

Yesterday we passed a large rock, or small island, take your pick.  Pete pointed out that the lumps on top of the island were seals, lots of them, sitting happily on their vantage point.  Every now and then a large series of waves would splash over the rock, in most spectacular fashion, no doubt drenching the seals, who just lay there, placidly, enjoying their spa.

Last night we played a most peculiar game of chess, in which we both lost our queens very early on and then had a fairly indiscriminate slaughter.  I’m not sure who played the worst game… More practice is in order, I think.

When we got into Strahan, we pulled up at a solid wharf, which is festooned with signs saying PRIVATE BERTHS.  Oh those old signs, said the locals on the wharf, disparagingly.  Don’t pay any attention, just tied up here, nobody will care.  So here we are, snugly tied up, feeling warm and comfortable.  Our only issue right now is to decide whether to eat leftovers from last night (some sort of mince mixture created by Pete,) fish and chips takeaways, or a pub meal.

(We are also exercising our minds over our itinerary… We have to get to Launceston on Good Friday for Pete’s daughter Nicole’s 40^th birthday party, and there seems to be no easy exit from Strahan.  There is a bus, but it only goes Mondays and Wednesdays, and there are no car hire possibilities on the Wild West Coast.  Never mind, we will find an elegant solution I am sure.)

Tuesday 27^th March

We are just leaving our peaceful, gently rolling anchorage at Marrawah.

The seagulls will be v sad to see us go; so will the giant mosquitoes.

We are heading for Kenneth Bay, or Temma, depending on the conditions we find.  It is sunny and a bit warmer and…all is well!

Monday 26^th March

We didn’t manage to anchor off Three Hummock Island – there seemed to be no shelter for 2XS at all.  We went in close to shore, and saw the three pretty white houses, which are now, I think, abandoned.  It is a gorgeous island, with many inviting beaches, orange-lichened rocks, rolling green hills covered with bush.  It was getting dark by the time we realised there was no anchorage so we scarpered very swiftly across to beautiful Shepherd’s Bay on Hunter Island, where we had spent some time on the way from King Island.  It is a good anchorage, marred only by a particularly ghastly and annoying swarm of mosquitoes which swirled around our heads just after dark.  It was the worst lot of mosquitoes we have encountered on this whole eleven month journey and we were mightily annoyed with them as they dive-bombed our ears.  We soon put paid to their antics with a mosquito coil, fetchingly balanced on a half-crushed XXX beer can.  It meant sleeping with poisonous fumes but, hey, who wouldn’t rather have poisonous fumes than a swarm of whining mosquitoes?

We managed to cook up a very good dinner – mashed potatoes, steamed broccolini and carrots, mushrooms, and a very sensational piece of steak from the King Island supermarket.  It doesn’t sound very flash but it did look gorgeous on the plate and it felt gorgeous in the tummy as well.

Speaking of food, we had a wonderful dinner with David and Felicity on Saturday night.  David had rushed home a bit after four to defrost a leg of lamb.  Angela had told us that David Kay is famous for his roasts (Boss Man Roasts, as they are known on the NW Coast) but I didn’t think this one would be too flash, coming straight from the freezer.  I didn’t know David’s culinary skills… He managed to defrost and partly cook it in the microwave, then finished it off to perfection in the oven over a tray of boiling water, with perfect roast potatoes etc etc.  It was absolutely delicious; we were mightily impressed.  We had a lovely evening, with a few interruptions for me to trot off and hang out loads of washing. 

Sunday morning we rode our bikes back to their house to put all the clean dry washing (bliss!) in our packs.  (Felicity’s house, by the way, is for sale, if you want an idyllic Stanley life.  It is called Laughton House and it has four big bedrooms, each with a bathroom because it had been a B & B.  So if you want to live in beautiful Stanley and run a B & B…look it up on the internet!)

Before going back to 2XS, we rode up the hill (well, pushed our bikes up the hill…) to Highfield House.  It is run by Parks and Wildlife now, and it was all very pleasant and very interesting.  They have made a big effort to make it informative but not overwhelming.  I was particularly taken by the diary entries from various ladies who had lived on or visited this remote and windy farm in the early 1800s.  Mrs Rosalie Hare had walked up The Nut and had found it all very bracing, but coming back down had been quite an ordeal.  As well it might be, in her tiny little slippery silk sandals!  (I find it hard enough scrambling down in my solid German walking shoes!)  She also found the convict labourers to be coarse, ugly and full of annoying complaints about their lot in life.  “They only need to work from 6am till 6pm, and they are well housed and fed!” she fumed.

We are about to leave for Marrawah, and I hope to find internet connection somewhere out on the sea.  Anything is possible!  These islands, in the Fleurieu Group, are such a surprise.  So many of them, so expansive, isolated, beautiful, uninhabited. 

It is very cold but there seems to be no wind at the moment and the sea is calm.  There were some other people here in this bay in a catamaran, Gemini Lady, when we arrived.  They had just come up the West Coast and had very wild weather.  Their screecher blew out (no I didn’t know what that meant either… Pete says it means their big sail got shredded, not a good thing.)

Conditions seem great right now so - no screechershredding for us!

Sunday 25^th March

3.00 – we have left Stanley and are heading for Three Hummock Island.  Tomorrow – Marrawah, then Strahan.

Not sure when next we will be within internet range so I am v quickly posting this.  All is well – not too windy, not too cold, not too wave-y.  So far so good!

(We are just passing a small island totally covered wth seals.  So cute, so STINKY!!)

Saturday 24^th March

And no Stanley isn’t very warm.  But is it so very beautiful!  We are snugly tucked away in the fisherman’s wharf, tied up alongside a big fishing boat, Climax, from Hobart.  The Nut is just above us, with sea birds wheeling about in the sharp, icy wind.

Our last morning in Smithton was spent provisioning at the supermarket, just for a change.  More groceries, more toilet paper, more ginger beer – our Boys had discovered my stash of ginger beer and had drunk it very happily, one of them, in particular, under the fond delusion that it contained rum.  (It doesn’t, Michael.)

Before we went back to the boat, we called in to the Rabobank office.  Pete had a dim distant acquaintance, David Kay, who he was sure would be thrilled to see us.  David, once he had dredged up Pete from his own dim distant memory, was indeed thrilled to see us, and he made us a cup of coffee in his cosy warm WARM office.  We were very happy to sit there, chatting, basking in the warmth, with David’s elderly border collie panting at our knees.

But then we got back to 2XS and – oh dear – we were still stuck in the mud.  Pete thought we had missed the critical high tide moment, but in fact, as one of the locals laconically informed us, the tide book was wrong.  Eventually, with some heaving, some ho-ing, some tugging on a long rope by a helpful oldcodger with a ute, we were off and away.  Our laconic local had told us that Stanley wouldn’t be safe, in a southerly, and that we would be mad to go there.  It was a short trip, only two hours or so, and very beautiful, if freezing.  The wind was gale force but the sea wasn’t too horrifically big – we were sheltered by the land for most of the way.  The sea was a gorgeous colour – arctic blue/green, with fierce little eddies of spray blowing off the short, sharp waves.  Albatross and gannets wheeled overhead, in amongst the great flocks of shearwaters.

We were actually a bit worried…what if the old geezer was right, and that we wouldn’t be safe in Stanley?  Where else could we go?  We rounded The Nut in some trepidation, and found a narrow opening to the fisherman’s wharf.  We squeezed in and sighed with relief – it was so sheltered and cosy in there.  We tied up to our big solid fishing boat friend, and here we sit, very confidently.  We very much hope that the skipper of Climax doesn’t take it into his head to go out fishing… Some of the other boats in the fleet have already left for the stormy sea, but there is no sign of life, yet on Climax.  It’s not the end of the world, if they do leave; we can just move over, and tie up on the wharf, but it seems very safe and comfortable, having a big floating companion right alongside.

I told Pete I would take him to dinner at Hursey’s seafood restaurant, and that he would enjoy it very much.  He was a bit sceptical and thought it would be a long walk.  I assured him it would be five minutes at the most, and indeed within five minutes of clambering across 2XS and Climax (yes, I know…) we were at a lovely window seat upstairs in Hursey’s, ready for a feast.  We had taster plates of oysters – Kilpatrick, wasabi, hollandaise, natural, chilli, mornay - and shared a basket of scallops and a plate of salt and pepper squid.  And a bottle of red wine.  It was just great, big generous portions, cheery service from a very nice waitress who went off to check on the whereabouts of the Climax skipper and the probability of us being woken at 4am to move over.

This morning we slept in till very late – it was so cold outside and so warm in bed I think our bodies just shrieked in alarm at the very thought of waking up and getting out and about.  After a cup of tea, breakfast, and a cup of coffee, we set off on our bikes.  Pete had been to Stanley, but hadn’t remembered how absolutely lovely it is, with its graceful crescents of beautiful old fishing cottages, with The Nut soaring majestically in the background. 

A bit of shopping was in order (new winter boots for me, and paté for the 2XS fridge, from a new Providore shop in the main street, and then coffee in a beautiful café overlooking the lower part of town.

We brought home-made chunky beef pies for lunch And we are now sitting at the table with a bit of clear sunlight and a brisk cold breeze blowing through the cabin.  I am wearing Katy’s puffer jacket and a scarf over my warmest winter clothes so only my fingers are cold.  More Stanley adventures to come!

(A short sharp shock yesterday… I idly sent an email to Allan, our kindly Registrar, back in my World Of Work.  I idly asked him if he was expecting me on April 22^nd, which is of course a Sunday – surely it had to be the 23^rd.  He wrote back immediately saying that actually I am due back at work on the 12^th.  Gulp!  Panic stations… I told Pete who looked quite stunned.  “How could you make such a mistake?”  Oh Pete…how long have you known me??  This is EXACTLY the sort of mistake I make… I always had in mind the 21^st, had the letters in a slightly irresponsible and dyslexic way.  I picked up my phone to ring Allan, hoping that I could beg a few extra days and come back on Monday 16^th instead of Thursday.  Allan answered immediately and said he was just sending me an email offering to delay my return until the 16^th… So kind and considerate!  He laughed a lot because he, apparently, knows me and my failings better than Pete does…)

While I was writing the last paragraph, we heard movement on Climax - no not fishermen about to fish on the ocean, visitors for us!  It was the aforementioned David Kay, with his wife Felicity and her very pleasant Grade 9 son, Evan.  They came on board and had a G & T (Felicity and me) XXXX Gold beer (David and Pete) coke (Evan) and a game of backgammon (Felicity and Evan).  A very pleasant visit.  They have just left, bearing with them – oh we are so generous – a big backpack full of dirty sheets and towels from all of the beds on 2XS.  We are going there this evening for a lamb roast… People are so kind and generous.  As well as this random hospitality we had another small experience of Stanley helpfulness.  We had ridden down to the supermarket to check out where we could refill the gas cylinders for the boat.  While I was buying the weekend newspaper Pete talked to a young bloke outside.  A young bloke with a shiny blue ute… His name was Ben and he was more than happy to drive up to the boat, pick up the gas cylinder and Pete, take them both to the shop, take them both back to the wharf.  “Too easy!” he said, chirpily, as he drove off into the…well into the blue…

More Stanley adventures to come…

Friday 23^rd March

It is just after 10am and Pete and I are sitting in the cabin, typing away on our computers with numb fingers, drinking hot coffee.   I am wearing Katy’s big purple puffer jacket over my thermals, plus a big woolen scarf and ugg-boots. BRRR!!  A blizzard is raging outside.  We are on a slanty slope again.  The tide came in overnight and, as tides do, went out again leaving us yet again high and dry.  Or high and muddy.  James, Jabba and Michael have gone.  Eric from the green house across the road was waiting for them with his twin-cab ute to take them to Wynyard and I am sure they will have a lovely cosy time chatting on the way.

We will miss our cheery2XS-ers.  They were great company and there was never a cross word.  Well not quite true… Pete did get cross with Jabba for leaving his cabin light on, and the last time, yesterday afternoon, he said, “Jabba do you LEAVE YOUR LIGHT ON ALL THE TIME??”  Poor Jabba muttered an apology and said, quietly, that he didn’t think he had been anywhere near his cabin.  Well no; it was me – I had gone in there to look for my skirt, hanging in the wardrobe space, so he was entirely blameless.  And there were a few tense words from our skipper when it was revealed that a bit of fishing line had got twisted around the propeller.  (Fishing line incidents always make Pete deeply unhappy.)  Other than that all was sunshine on board for the whole week we have had Jabba, James and Michael with us. 

Our dinner last night at Tall Timbers (thank you J, J, M,) was fun but…not particularly yummy.  Michael had a great big steak which he enjoyed very much, and James had a pork fillet which was indeed delicious, but the rest of us weren’t too impressed.  Pete had a very small helping of duck in what I can only describe as a pool of fruit salad… My flathead had died in vain, poor things… I love flathead but the chef had not done these fish justice.  Jabba had something which made his eyes pop, and not with pleasure.  But…we had fun.  Our taxi driver came and took us back to the Bridge Hotel.  Pete and I stayed for a few minutes then trotted back to the boat in the icy drizzle, which soon turned into a blizzard.  We sat up and played backgammon but were defeated by the cold and tucked up in our slanty slopey bed.

Michael, James and Jabba stayed happily enough in the bar, although James nearly got belted by a Very Angry Customer who hurled a stool outside where James was standing in the shelter of the eaves talking to Bron on his phone.  The Very Angry Customer then slammed the door resoundingly, missing poor James by a whisker.  Another local lad walked out, looked at James, shaking his head and saying, “So angry!”  They decided it was time to leave and came back to play a very excited game of Oh Hell.  I found the score sheet this morning, with THE WINNER in large print next to James’s name. 

Yesterday we got a lovely long email from Steve, who had played a big round of backgammon games with Pete all the way from Sydney to Melbourne.  He had looked up the actual rules and was lodging a protest, from Flinders Island.  He says:

After exhaustive research I believe the rules were changed on 2XS to suit the Captain….Had we been playing the proper rules, I believe I would have thrashed the pants off you, Pete and the score would be 5/4 and quite possibly at least 6/3.  But maybe it’s the Captain’s prerogative to play whatever rules he wishes on his boat.

Once again…oh dear…it was me… I am the one who taught Pete to play by the dodgy rules Steve alludes to and I accept full responsibility for his unnecessary defeat.  And yes Steve we now declare you The Winner, maybe…Or maybe we need a re-match, between Captain and Crew?? 

We are hoping to get off our slopey slanty mud and to make our way to Stanley today.  Pete is unearthing our gas heater so we can get just a bit warmer.  Stanley is more beautiful than Smithton but not, we assume, warmer…

Thursday 22^nd March

Yesterday we were out of phone range, out of internet range.  It was all very peaceful, if cold, rocking around in Shepherd’s Bay, on Hunter Island, within sight of Three Hummock Island.  Lots of sea birds nesting on the rocks, lots of fish in the water (if not on hopeful Michael’s fishing line.)   Jabba dived for some shellfish, which we ate very enthusiastically for dinner.

We left at two am… Our 2XS-ers had decided that I should stay in bed; I think the general consensus is that I’m, not all that much use, when we are at sea.  Well not when there are strong fit enthusiastic young blokes on board.  Pete started up the engines and got us out of the bay, then he too came back to bed and left James, Michael and Jabba to their own devices, out in the cold and the dark.  They were very happy; we were very happy.

We would have liked to go on shore to explore beautiful Hunter Island, but really, it was not very inviting, with an icy wind, choppy sea.  Michael and James pottered around in the dinghy, trying to catch fish, while Jabba dived off the rocks, but Pete and I were quite happy to stay on board, doing not very much at all.

After our shellfish feast, we settled in to a serious game of Oh Hell.  Jabba is so far the outright winner.  I played, I thought, very brilliantly but…I came last, with quite a big minus score, in both games we have played so far.

This morning we left Shepherd’s Bay at a civilised hour – 9.30.  I made myself briefly useful by cooking up a batch of pancakes.  Sally’s beautiful prizewinning (King Island Show) crab apple jelly looked splendid spread in a glowing layer over the pancakes.

It was a beautiful, if chilly, trip in to Smithton.  Jabba, James and Michael were thrilled to be able to crank the boat up to a great rate of knots, with both sails up.  A few big dolphins joined us, for part of the trip, racing us with panache and the occasional belly-roll.

We arrived here a bit after midday and tied up to a small cheery yellow and grey floating jetty, where we are creating quite a stir.  I imagine that most of the population of Smithton has driven past to gaze in wonder; the tide has gone out and we are sitting at a jaunty lean on a bed of rocks.  This is not a problem; catamarans don’t actually tip over, and when the tide comes back in, we will be able to depart with dignity intact.  Our first visitors were Eric and Doreen – “If you need anything, we live in the green house, just over there!”  Such nice people.  Doreen hopped out of the car to walk home so that Eric could drive Michel, Jabba and James round to try to find a hire car, or a bus depot – they are leaving tomorrow.  Pete and I went for a bracing little bike ride.  By the time we got back, Eric had offered to drive the boys to Wynyard, where they can hire a car to take them home.

We are going to Tall Timbers for dinner tonight, by taxi, not bike...

Tuesday 20^th March

A great King Island day.  We didn’t get off to a very early start.  All inhabitants of 2XS seemed to have been hit by Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – none of us woke up until about 9.00… All that rockrockrock of the waves, all that sea air.

When we finally got to shore, we whizzed round the island in Sally’s big 7-seater Toyota.  Cheese factory first off – oh the joy of the Tasting Chamber!  And yes we bought up very happily.  Not sure how we have managed to fit all our big chunks of cheddar etc etc into the small 2XS fridge spaces.  Some of the beer had to move over.  Actually, before the cheese factory we went to a beautiful gallery/tea room just near the wharf.  All very schmick and stylish.  The gallery owner, Marilyn Chapman, has done many of the paintings on display, and they were just gorgeous.  We were very tempted to buy a great big one, only $450, but maybe Jabba doesn’t need to sleep with two bikes, a solar panel AND a big canvas… I did buy one very small baby doll in lovely hand-crocheted clothes, for our new baby Rose.  (Jabba doesn’t have to sleep with the doll; it fits in my clothes cupboard.)

Next stop Cape Wickham – the tallest lighthouse in the southern hemisphere.  I took a photo immediately and texted it to Pauline – we had gone to this beautiful spot in, I think, 2005, on a work trip.  Those were the days… Work trips are very much a thing of the past.

We drove across to Narracoopa, and then made our way to Richard and Sally’s farm on Red Hut Road, with a bit of a detour to a fabulous bit of coastline with some amazing new architect-designed houses in splendid isolation.  Sally and Richard’s house is a hive of cheerful activity.  Their two remaining children, Maddie and Peter, – Jessie has gone to boarding school in Adelaide – are a delight.  Richard and Sally are extremely hospitable.  We had brought some King Island cheese, and some wine, but it was very much coals-to-Newcastle because Sally, with Maddie’s help, had prepared a veritable feast – BBQ steak and sausages, salads, potato casserole, salmon, slow-roasted tomatoes, the lot.  And her beautiful orange syrup cake for dessert.  Her friend Tegan, who has her own hair-dressing salon in Currie and who is a most beautiful and charming girl, had brought a big fruit salad.  I feel as if I never need to eat again.  As well as this…Sally led us to her store cupboard and decanted many jars of beautiful home-made produce into our grateful hands – zucchini pickle, tomato relish, crab-apple jelly, plum jam, quince paste… Weehee!!

Pete got anxious about the wind direction and the effect of aforementioned wind direction on 2XS at anchor, so we had to rush off without lifting a hand to the piles of dirty dishes… Oh poor Tegan and Sally, who just wanted to watch Packed to the Rafters!!

Snapshot: Richard has brought us back and he is now cosily ensconced at the 2XS table with a beer.  Jabba has made me a cup of tea and I am going to sip it and then trot off to bed.  We are planning to leave at 2am to get to Hunter Island, near Three Hummock Island, by daylight, before the bad weather front comes along.

Monday 19^th March

We are in the harbour near Grassy on King Island.  We got here by about 4.30, in splendid time.  Our Bass Strait adventure was perfect – the wind was fine, the sea big but not too big, and we were able to have both sails up for most of the way.  Huge flocks of muttonbirds, with the odd albatross, gannet, tern to keep us company.

I have no idea why we are all so very tired and wobbly.  We all had log daytime naps.  Well all except Pete, who somehow missed out on this treat.  I spent a long time on deck constructing very beautiful salad rolls with many carefully thought-out ingredients.  And just as I was about to put on the final touches…a large wave came crashing over me and the rolls.  My kind 2XSBoys swore that the rolls were perfectly delicious.  But…they were soggy and loathsome; I know because I tried to eat one.  (This wave, mind you, was the only one all day which actually came swooping over the deck.  Malevolently!!)

We were met on the wharf by kind Sally Cole in her large, comfortable 7-seater 4WD Toyota, which she has left with us for tomorrow.  (Sally and her husband Richard are farm managers here; they are part of the Parham family, now resident in South Australia but once denizens of Oatlands and great friends of the Headlam family.)

She took us to the Grassy Club where we had a few drinks at the bar and a meal in the dimly lit restaurant.  The food was nice enough (and yes Katy we did have a bit of gorgeous King Island cheese on our taste plate) but the service…oh my goodness we hit on GrumpyLand!!  The barman was old and obviously in much pain with a draggy leg.  He should have been at home tucked up in a recliner chair with a nice big packet of panadol forte… I had a glass of wine, while the men all had jugs of beer, and then I went up to the bar to ask for a glass of water.  Please, and with no ice, please, thank you.  You would have thought I had asked him to dig a well and plunge down into the icy water for me as he huffed off very crossly.  The chef was a thin, nervy man, not given to smiling, and our waitress, while pleasant enough, was singularly charm-free.  Maybe they don’t like strangers in their town.

Tomorrow we get to do some sightseeing on this beautiful island, thanks to dear kind Sally and Richard, and then at 3.00 Richard is going to show us the farm.  We are having a BBQ at their house in the evening – no GrumpyLand in this sector of King Island!

Sunday 18^th March

Snapshot: We are moored at the jetty in Apollo Bay.  Pete and I are playing backgammon – a brief interruption from a council official who wants $20.  Fair enough.  We have left James, Michael and Jabba at the corner pub, where we had a very nice dinner (panko crumbed calamari for me, a giant hamburger for Pete, big plates of this and that for TheBoys.)  Oh dear they are back…full of chat…James wants to watch how fast I can type…)

Our trip from Lorne to Apollo Bay was very pleasant.  We had our Attenborough moments – albatross, and seals, napping happily and flapping their flippers idly in the sea.  Later yet another seal was having a wonderful time tormenting a fish, throwing it in  the air, letting it go, catching it again.  Fun on the waves!

The weather was benign, we all felt well – a big improvement on yesterday.  Pete and Crew put up both sails and took them down again, with maximum involvement.  I sat back and…listened to my audiobook…They also pumped out the bilges and formed a bucket brigade.  Yes I did try to help but I was really very supernumerary so… I sat back and…listened to my audiobook…

We got to Apollo Bay about 3pm and were able to go for a nice little bike ride along the beach front.  Two bikes for two people… James, Michael and Jabba had to walk.  They found a comfy pub, and then another one.  The Grand Prix was on the TV.  Pete and I found ourselves, ofcourse, in the comfy corner pub, with two men who were very enthusiastic about the Grand Prix, and also very keen to chat during ad breaks.

One of our new friends, Seamus, was a cheery young bloke from Melbourne, in love with an extremely beautiful Italian countess many years younger (he showed me photos on his iPhone.)  He was possibly just a teensy bit tipsy… I was very amused by his email address.  His surname is Cale and his email address is – seamuscle@whatevermail.  (No there isn’t a whatevermail; I am protecting his privacy!)

Out other new BFF, Linton, was more in our age group.  He is a freelance photographer and sets up cameras at amusement parks – he is responsible for those terrifying photos you see of people screaming on the big dipper etc.  He is also in partnership in a very lucrative and interesting business – retrieving, cleaning and re-selling golf balls!  They employ divers to remove the balls from golf course lakes and ponds in the USA.  They (the balls not the divers!) are then cleaned, packaged and sent off in big container loads.  They sold one million rejuvenated balls last year…

It is getting late… Pete is now involved in a slightly acrimonious game with Jabba.  He beat me most convincingly and this game is becoming more a battle of words than a battle of backgammon.  Some debate is in progress about which direction Jabba might be needing to move his pieces…I think I might go to bed.  We have to leave at 5am to get to King Island before dark.  All things being equal…

Saturday 17^th March

We are in range after all, because we are anchored off Lorne, which looks like a nice little place.  The sea is too choppy to get into the tender so we are just admiring the town from the deck.  Our plan to get to Apollo Bay didn’t come to fruition; we were bashing into the wind and it really wasn’t very comfortable. 

Tomorrow we might get all the way to King Island in one fell swoop, but once again it depends on that pesky old wind.

It has been quite cold out on the sea, but the compensation was – albatross!  And a few speedy dolphins, which didn’t hang around 2XS at all.  They just dived underneath and vanished, but we were very happy to see them.

Michael, James and Jabba got up briefly at 5.00, did a few useful things and then disappeared back into their cabins until much later in the morning – very sensible!  I sat outside with Pete until he insisted that I go back into the cabin.  It was very dark and chilly so I lay on the couch with my audiobook and…fell asleep…

We had a lovely time at Minh Minh in Victoria Street last night.  It was Jabba’s suggestion to go there and it was indeed a delicious meal and a lively, chaotic evening.  Jabba’s sisters, Emma and Maddie, and Maddie’s boyfriend Liam, joined us so we added to the noise and the chaos.  It ended up being a late night and an early start today so I imagine everyone is going to bed early tonight.

Pete invited a bloke of a catamaran near us at YE Marina for a drink.  Darren and his wife operate their cat as an adventure sailing boat.  I gather they are very successful; they have been doing it for five years.  But they want to sell their business.  It all sounds very exhausting.  They take 30 people out at a time, and give them lunch, or a light dinner, and drinks.  Darren is a bit disillusioned - he thought people would come on their lovely boat because they want to go for a sail but no, they want to DRINK.  So they only go down to Williamstown, which is about 45 minutes away, and people are perfectly satisfied that they have really seen Port Philip Bay.

Snapshot:  Pete is pouring gin for him and me.  Michael is fishing for flathead and expressing some disappointment that the reel doesn’t work on the rod he unearthed from the aft locker.  “That would be right,” said Pete, cheerily.  “Probably the only reason anyone left it on the boat is because it doesn’t work.”  James and Jabba are pumping some nasty oily substances from the front hold. 

And all is well!

Friday 16^th March

Just in case I’m not in internet range tomorrow…happy 4^th birthday darling Jemima, swing-girl extraordinaire!

We were, of course, in range yesterday, but so busybusybusy I didn’t get a chance even to look at my computer.  Such is inner-city Melbourne life!  Well not just inner-city…

In the morning I tootled along to the supermarket on my trusty bike to retrieve my missing groceries (steak, coffee, potatoes.)  With all of these items, plus a few new ones just-in-case of hunger amongst the 2Xs Boys, I made my way through the rain with bags slung on the handlebars and backpack bulging and finally got back to the YE Marina area.  I had planned to make a quiet cup of coffee, play WWF for a bit, and eat the kitkat I had secreted in a hidden (SECRET!!) place.  But…Pete, James and Michael were waiting impatiently for me; they hadn’t gone to the Grand Prix after all, and could I please get into the ute right now because we were off to Robert Trethewy’s farm, south of Geelong.  Oh OK, change of plan, no problems, so long as I can have my cup of coffee before embarking on this trek.

I always love a farm tour, and Robert’s farm, Leighburn, in Shelton, is very beautiful, a typical Western District (Vic) farm. (Or so I imagine…)  Sheep, cattle, crops, and some lovely chooks which provided us with a dozen beautiful fresh eggs.  Robert drove us around the farm.  I oohed and aahed and said, how lovely, how interesting, well done, what gorgeous calves! etc etc while James and Michael asked intelligent questions about farm machinery, crop rotation, fertilisers and Pete benignly opened and shut gates.

We drove back to town and had half an hour back on 2XS before it was time to go to Mike and Helen Smith’s for dinner.  James took a photo of me leaning over the parapet at their 19^th floor apartment; I look very gleeful but I’m not sure the full effect of the HEIGHT is visible…

This morning, eventually, Pete, James and Mike did go off to the Grand Prix, in variable weather conditions – a bit of heat, a bit of sun, a bit of wind, and quite a lot of rain.

I had my own Melbourne adventures.  First I walked into town from Docklands.  Melbourne is so beautiful, so majestic, with its stately Victorian buildings. I was very impressed with the immense Supreme Court and hope never to cross its hallowed portals… Once in town I (how surprising!!) bought some postcards and had a cup of coffee at Ca de Vin. 

After a teensy bit of shopping for clothes to inspire me to return to work happily I caught the tram out to the Richmond Ikea store.  Simple – find the bathroom cabinet Katy has her eye on, buy it, get out, go back to 2XS, then ride my bike along to look a the galleries.  But…no.  Nothing so simple!  I made my way through the maze which is Ikea, found the cabinet, and attempted to buy it.  There is only one available in the Southern Hemisphere, and fortunately it is here in Melbourne, two minutes from here.  Go to the checkout desk, pay for it, then pop along to the warehouse to pick it up.  (All of this from an extremely bored young Ikea Chick.)  Two minutes, yes... IN A RACING CAR!!  A good 15 minute trudge along the hot (yes temporarily it was hot) street, a long wait in a queue, and the very heavy flatpack was mine mine MINE.  Now just pop in a taxi and back to 2XS with the unwieldy load.  Forty minutes later my taxi turned up… I kept getting calls from the taxi depot – Where are you??  The driver is looking for you outside Ikea!  I did explain each time I was a block or so away, at the WAREHOUSE but the message only got through after lengthy consultations.  I was faintly hysterical by the time my driver arrived, although not from hunger - I had chosen to have an Ikea lunch of Swedish meatballs.  $4.25 and…not all that yummy but now I can say I have eaten Ikea meatballs, in case anyone ever asks.

Pete rang from the Grand Prix – could I ride along to Docklands and pick up the parcel which had finally arrived at the marina over there.  It is small, he said, cajolingly, and light.  Well it was light but not at all small.  The two Janes (lovely young women, yes both Jane,) at the marina office were thrilled to bits with my predicament.  They helped my tie the (yes again) unwieldy package onto my bike rack, and took a photo as I set off with it firmly MacGuyvered in place.  It only fell off once or twice, well not completely off, just dragging unattractively along the ground behind me in the puddles.  (James has just looked at the photo; he said, You look like a Vietnamese.)

So what I did I do next?  Other than cook a chicken curry for – ummm - maybe for tomorrow tonight, maybe for our 2XS-ers yet to return.  Yes you guessed it, I got my hair cut, at Papillion Salon, right next to the marina office.  The trouble with having a shorter hair style is…you have to get it cut all the time, every six weeks, otherwise it looks just frightful.  I hate having it too short… Just right lasts for about two weeks, and my two weeks is just about over.  A lovely young stylist with pink hair, Samantha, came to do my bidding, and I said I REALLY only wanted a very slight bit of a trim.  She cut my hair brutally short, with a sweet smile, and we had a lovely chat about. life, love, the universe, everything.  My brutally short hair has passed the test – so far, Pete, James and Jabba have seen me, have smiled kindly, and have …not noticed. 

The crowds are massing on 2XS.  My chicken curry is not needed tonight; tomorrow, at sea, no doubt it will be A HIT.  We are off to Victoria Street, to a Vietnamese restaurant – maybe I should ride my bike, with a big load on the back…

Wednesday 14^th March

Still warm and balmy in Melbourne, with just a hint of lightning on the horizon.  We have increased the population of 2XS, by more than double:

Michael Agnew

James Headlam

Jason Bayley-Stark (aka Jabba)

are now with us.  Jabba is a late starter – he will come on board on Friday, freshly back from N. and S. America and the fleshpots of Copacabana and Ipanema.  James and Michael arrived from Tasmania this evening.  Pete and I went to the supermarket while we waited to pick them up from the bus-stop and we managed to leave behind one bag of groceries…and no not the one with Doritos in it, the one with Scotch fillet steak and a four-pack of freshly ground coffee in it.  Oh woe… Other than that all is well and we are very happy to see our new 2XS-ers.  We have just had a delicious dinner (late!) at a beautiful restaurant on the river – Bistro Vite and now the men are all going through safety procedures on deck – much raucous laughter in amongst serious discussions of how long they would last overboard at night.  (Not long…)

Today Pete had lunch with an ex-Tasmanian lawyer friend, and I had lunch with ex-Tasmanian nieces – beautiful Jo and beautiful Isabelle.  Pete had gourmet fare at a gorgeous restaurant near the Supreme Court; we had small savoury treats in a little café, Journal, in the Melbourne Library.

And in the morning – oh dear – Pete and I had a failed and slightly (ahem) stressful attempt to get to Ikea, to buy a bathroom cabinet for Katy in Hobart… I will take all of the blame for the failure… I had looked up the address – 630 Victoria Street –and programmed it into the NavMan, which faithfully took us there.  Pete was sure the NavMan was WRONG WRONG WRONG and indeed it was… There was only a small terrace house at 630 Victoria Street; we had gone in entirely the wrong direction, against Pete’s natural instincts.  I had omitted to program in RICHMOND, which is where this Ikea megastore is to be found.  By the time we got there I had 15 minutes to get to the city center to meet Jo and Isabelle… Pete drove off to meet Fabian; I didn’t even try to “pop” into Ikea to find the cabinet.  Ikea is a bit of a hellmouth, a labyrinth of majestic proportions.  I would never have got through it in time to be in the city in 15 minutes.  As it turned out I was 30 minutes late even whizzing there straight away in a taxi from the jaws/doors of the hellmouth.  Puff pant stress!!  Maybe tomorrow I can go there in a tram… Pete, Mike and James, with Pete’s cousin Robert from Geelong, are going to the Grand Prix…

And…of course….James is thrilled to bits to find the 44 gallon drum tied onto the rear deck with the large and rusty ex-anchor chain in it, just for him.

Tuesday 13^th March

Happy birthday Nicky, happy birthday Monique – daughter and sister!

Our Melbourne 2XS days are rushing past.  Lots of fun, lots of friends.

Yesterday we rode down to Mornington to spend some time with Cam and Del who are on their way from the Gold Coast to Western Australia with their caravan.  We went to the local yacht club which was heaving with people - a hot, sunny public holiday Monday.  Perfect for trade, perfect for hoicking the prices way up.  We had delicious bruschettas which cost about as much as eye fillet steak on a normal day but never mind – the ambiance was great, the view sensational.

It is 60 miles from the caravan park Cam and Del were staying at to Melbourne.  We were due at St Kilda, for dinner with our ex-(briefly)Tasmanian friends Liz and Robbie at seven.  I said it was a good thing we had the bikes in the back of the ute – we could go for an invigorating bike ride along the foreshore at St Kilda, maybe.  But…no.  We drove bumper-to-bumper nearly all the way to St Kilda and got there in just under three hours.  Just in time for dinner with the ever-hospitable Burns family.

Today Pete built a big wooden slat construction for the bunk in the other big cabin.  Poor Steve had suffered greatly from cold damp wetness in his ten days on 2XS.  This will never happen again which is small consolation to poor shivering Steve!

I didn’t stay to hand nails through the doorway; I went to town with Del, who had persuaded Cam to drive up from Mornington - - it took them two, not three hours to travel the 60 kilometres.  (Melbourne traffic is hell!)  Del said she hadn’t been to the city center for 40 years so she really enjoyed our few hours strolling through the Big and Little streets, the arcades, David Jones.  Cam was certain that she would spend up a storm and his face was wreathed with smiles and delight when we turned up with no shopping bags at all.  He doesn’t approve of SHOPPING.  I had bought a pair of silk knickers, in a pleasing pale shade of pink, vastly reduced to $10.  Other than that we had bought a cup of coffee and then a bowl of soup – we were not good for the economy of the CBD.  We had a good time, gasping and stretching our eyes at the price of this and of that, admiring beautiful things, raising our eyebrows at strange and unusual fashions.

Tonight we went to dinner in Docklands with Pete’s friends Jo and Malcolm Cleland, who have lent him their farm ute.  It was Pete’s idea to bestow a big treat on them as a thank you for the ute – steamboat for four, in a new Chinese restaurant.  It was a very warm night so I wore one of my Vanuatu dresses, the one like a tropical cocktail.  Quite fetching when I am all warm and pink with heat but…not so good with goosebumps… It was icy cold in the restaurant - oh that cursed air-conditioning!  I managed not to whinge too much, and the steamy hot steamboat did warm me up.  But…poor Pete, he hadn’t realised that not only was this restaurant not licensed to provide alcohol, it was also not licensed for BYO… We each had a nice big refreshing glass of…water!!  Now Pete never drinks water, not unless it has Aspro Clear in it, so he had a completely dry dinner.  We did of course have fun, dropping bits of fish, bits of spinach, bits of goodness knows-what into the steaming broth and fishing it out later.  Some of our bits of lovely fresh green vegetable stayed in too long and turned a not-so-appetising shade of khaki.  These were discarded in our bowls, next to the poor rejected tofu which nobody seemed to like at all.  (And in case I hear a cry of outrage – I have tried to love tofu…but, please tell me, what is there to love??)

Tomorrow is another day…James Headlam is arriving, and his cousin, Michael Agnew.  They are coming with us to King island and maybe beyond.  And at lunchtime I am talking my very own nieces, Jo and Isabelle out for lunch in Flinders Lane.  Good times…