Back at Manly Marina 2021

21st November to 4th January 2022

John and I were keen to get back to the Manly marina and have some “land time.” The weather has been just too unpredictable and cyclone season is to be avoided. We also had a lot to do regarding our new purchase.

Expecting a smooth trip from Adams Bay on North Stradbroke Island to the Manly Marina we were quite surprised to find ourselves passing through the middle of a Seawind race and then a dinghy race. Then at the entrance to the marina we jostled through racing yachts, jet skis, motor boats and tiny little kids learning to sail, tacking from one side of the channel to the other – not a good look to mow them down. Must remember not to return on the weekend next time.

Over the next week we caught up with Georgie, the Brisbane relatives and friends, new boatie friends Wendy and Mark, Annie and Jeff and found our place back on the trivia team – looks like the Pengelly clan

have taken over. We saw the latest Bond movie with Clare and Don.

John and I had decided that our new apartment would be an investment property however we would use the large downstairs storage space for our own possessions, thus reducing the need for a storage unit in Brisbane. Thus started a two-month process: move the 30+ boxes and miscellaneous dumped gear from storage unit to Georgie’s one-bedroom unit and rationalise, repack and record everything we own. Then take to Bargara once the keys were handed over. AGAIN!!

I think it is an excellent idea to do this type of work in the middle of December and January in a humid and stormy environment on the balcony of a small apartment. Frankly we have been moving our possessions around from place to place since 2019!! At least we got to spend lots of time with Georgie before and after she was at work.

We also got to see Tallis every day. He just wasn’t handling life on the boat anymore so Georgie agreed to keep him at her place. At 18 years he was much slower and sleeping most of the time. He was just happy to be around us. Leaving him was much more heart-breaking for us than for him, I think.

Meanwhile we completed all the financial and legal work for the Bargara apartment then finally it was ours. With the car loaded

with organised and labelled boxes of low use items and enough gear for a few days stay we headed north. A little weary from the noise of the late-night karaoke from a nearby pub we got on the road picking up the keys from our real estate guy. Funny being in a small town again – our real estate guy dropped over with a mate and a few drinks the following day. We had a great afternoon on the balcony.

Apart from organising keys, insurance and all that boring sort of stuff we enjoyed checking out the long forgotten places and Bundaberg and eating fish and chips on the beach. John and I returned to Brisbane after a few days. It was a long journey - we’d forgotten about Queensland road-works.

John and I managed to entertain ourselves. Our trivia team “I Like Wine and Gin” was going strong even winning once. The team came onto Summer Breeze for Christmas nibbles before the final trivia game of the year.

We picnicked in Colmslie Park on the river with mum and Tallis; went to Little Istanbul Place, a Turkish restaurant at Cleveland with Paul and Ness (very yummy food) and checked out the Manly Markets.

Georgie came with us to the QPAC Playhouse to see A Christmas Carol – very impressed with the set changes and really enjoyed it.

Clinton and Denise were visiting Brisbane so had a sleepover on our boat. We went to our “regular” Irish bar and had dinner at The Deck which is known locally for late night live music. The evening was bizarre – lots of Christmas parties, togas and a raffle put on by one of the patrons because the owner was doing it hard. We caught up with Ian, Chris and Tanya at the Blue Tongue Café at Thornside.

One day we went to the Van Gogh Alive Exhibition with Wendy and Mark, our marina neighbours. It was amazing and we all took far too many photos. Initially I thought this is not how art should be displayed but I quickly changed my mind as this mode certainly exposes so many more people to art.

We drove to Bundaberg to the second time in December. The car was full of our possessions packed in neat, labelled boxes and we unloaded these into the storage with the first load. This trip we started to set up the property management for the apartment however most of the trip was RnR. We caught up with Fiona and her son. Great to see her working at my old training hospital.

John and I tried trivia at the Bargara pub (walking distance) and managed last place– fortunately we won a garlic bread voucher which will be a great Christmas present for my brother Paul – he’s a bit of a carb monster. We continued to check out our new neighbourhood. One night John was delighted by the Christmas events in the street below. Santa and his “elves” rode their bikes decorated with flashing lights, decorations and Christmas music. Another evening my sister Jenny came over for dinner on the balcony.

Back in Brisbane we continued working on the boat – maintenance, repairs and new improvements – we put in a helm seat for John – his Christmas present. We set up all our preventative health appointments – how dreary it is getting old! John and I thought retirement was supposed to be a relaxing time. What happened!!

Paul and Ness hadn’t been quick enough with excuses so we moved back to their place for a family Christmas. It’s always an exhausting time with all the mothers and children and boyfriends and girlfriends and other miscellaneous ring-ins like us.

The third trip to Bargara was just for fun although we did manage to fill the car with packing boxes again. Paul and Ness would stay a few days then Louise would stay for a week or so over New Years. We walked the Mon Repos walk from Bargara, took scenic drives, visited the Hinkler Museum (very good), ate out at the RSL and Bargara golf club, played pub trivia and visited Jenny at her new house.

After Paul and Ness left, we both came to the same conclusion – let’s

keep the apartment for ourselves and not rent it out. How could we not take the opportunity to unpack all the boxes we had just repacked.

Louise arrived the next day and we continued the tourist activities. It was quite strange as Paul, Louise and I grew up in Bundy but really only knew it as teenagers. We were discovering so much now as adults.

With Louise we also did the Mon Repos walk, took scenic drives and had lunch at Grunskies – a no frills local seafood restaurant – very fresh food, just off the trawler, plastic chairs, plain drinks and quick service. The seafood platters are wonderful. We had a very boring, just stayed awake until midnight New Year’s Eve.

We were careful to avoid the beaches as Louise was in the early stages of Stand-Up Paddle board addiction and was bemoaning the fact, she hadn’t bought her inflatable SUP with her. Fortunately, the waves were too big for a beginner.

Just before we returned to Brisbane, we saw how high the summer king tide was – all the creeks and drains in the park across the road from us filled up. It will be interesting to see what happens when there is a rain depression at the same time.

We drove back to the marina in Manly and the effects of the king tide and swell from offshore ex-tropical cyclone Seth was evident. The water was lapping the top of the walkway and there wasn’t much space between the water and the tops of the jetty pylons.

Meanwhile, outside our retirement bubble, Omicron had arrived in the rest of the world.

Next: Summer 2022