Adjusting Our Sails

We are back to Airlie Beach Marina for a bit while we adjust our sails. We have decided there is much on our bucket list that doesn’t align with continuing to sail Nutmeg to Indonesia, Thailand, Africa and back to where we started (BVI). It would involve a lot of sailing to places we’ve already been or don’t really want to go. And, another precious 2 years without precious time with our friends and family. So, we have decided to spend more quality time exploring Australia and the amazing Great Barrier Reef - there's so much more to see here and the best is yet to come! We will then sail Nutmeg back south to a safe harbour for the cyclone season (Nov-April), put her up for sale and fly back home in time for the holidays and some cold, snowy weather. (BTW Love all the birds here - and our neighbor's cushy fishing chairs!)

Max and Whitey have bought a sailboat in Florida to continue living their sailing life. We are cleaning and organizing the boat to prepare her for sale and to continue our adventures here in OZ with Ed, our new captain, joining us later this month.

In the meantime, we are enjoying Airlie Beach and taking a few road trips to explore more of the real world of Australia! We visited our friends Daryl and Ruth (met them sailing in the Whitsundays) in Bowen – a charming beach town an hour north of Airlie. Famous for being the birthplace of the Kensington Pride and R2E2 Mango, we stopped by for a selfie at the iconic Big Mango & enjoyed some award-winning mango sorbet. Sticking out on a peninsula, Bowen is surrounded by water, secluded beaches and non-stop coastal views. A lunch stop at Bird’s Fish Bar proved they really DO have the Best Fish & Chips in town! We even saw some wallabies resting under a shade tree near the edge of town.

We left early one morning to drive south about 2 hours to Cape Hillsborough to watch the sunrise on the beach with some wallabies. Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Along the drives, we went thru the farming region (the heart of Australia’s fresh produce industry including sugarcane, mangoes, tomatoes, sweet corn plus cattle grazing), poked into several bays, beaches, marinas, and stopped at Cedar Creek Falls (so glad that’s not Eleanor up there!). We also visited “Gigi”, a green turtle that was saved by the Eco Barge Clean Seas & Turtle Rescue organization, who will be returned to sea once she is restored back to health. The fish are “cleaned up” flip flops, plastic bottles, etc.

You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust the sails.
XOXOXOXO
Gma & Gpa