February 2004

links
travels
reflections
articles

10 February - Bundaberg & Noosa

“Volunteer Marine News Reporter 007 Commencing Report” Ghkkk I haven't written in a while because we have been extremely busy sailing south. In two weeks we have gone from Hamilton Island to Pelican Bay. We have gone from Hamilton Island toThomas Island to Digby Island to Island head Creek to Yeppon to Bundaburg to Urangan to Kingfisher Bay to Pelican Bay. Some of these stops had something worth mentioning.

In Yeppoon we saw a lightning storm that continuously discharged lighting for hours. I think Zeus must have been really mad. Nikki and I also rolled up in the hammocks and waited out a bit of rain while still reading our books. At one point I succeeded in flipping the hammock upside down, so absolutely no rain could come though. This came at a price though, as the ridge created by the two sides of the hammock pressed right into my private parts, so I didn't stay like that for long.

In Bundaberg, we drove for three hours to get down to Noosa for 4 days. We stayed in Diana and Geoff's house. I had a lot of fun there, especially when we went to the closest skatepark. This skate park got a really good rating in my skate park book. There is a five foot bowl that tapers slowly up to ground level at one side, a 2 foot mini ramp, and a really good street area that uses banks extensively. Geoff and Diana also have a pool in their backyard. Nikki and I must have spent at least an hour in that pool each day. I slept much better now that the bed didn't move all the time. I got four books there, and read three of them during my stay there. The books are X-wing Rouge Squadron, X-wing The Bacta War, Planet of Twilight, and From the Two Rivers. The last book is part of a fantasy series by Australia's best fantasy author: Robert Jordan. I am really happy that momma met these people.

We also met Megan and Dwight, the people we met in Turtle bay on the way to PNG. The have the cutest little puppy called Indy. The morning before we met him, he had gotten his face into an ant nest, so his face was a bit swollen. He looked cute nonetheless.

While we were in Kingfisher Bay, we went onto land and checked out the resort there. We all decided it was really nice so we have made plans to come back there on a one week tourist stint with a jeep. If you're wondering where Kingfisher Bay is, it is the same spot where I went on the Batan death march. The Mysterious ball-making-crabs were present again too.

“VMNR 007 out” Ghkkk

12 February - Pelican Bay

While we were in Pelican bay, we decided to go ashore. This was really hard to do because there was this fabulous mud. The water would be maybe a quarter of a foot deep, but the waterline would be around your knees. The best way to move across was to run really quickly, while making your steps as light as possible. I had only had partial success with this, but I never fell into the mud face-first. I wish I had. When we had walked across Inskip Point, after trying many different places to land the dinghy, we went swimming in Wide Bay Bar. Nothing extremely remarkable happened in the water, but before we left we took mangrove seeds pods and arranged them so they would cause severe tire damage if any car drove on them. Mangrove seeds look live long pods with a spiky tip at one end. They are supposed to be dropped by the plant and float until low tide dumps them on a beach. Then, only if they are dumped right side up, will they grow into mangroves. The beach was one of many beaches where you could drive on the sand, so we wrote DANGER: SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE in the sand and left it as a prank. When we got back to the boat later on, Nikki and I went swimming and I found out that I could almost touch the bottom just by straightening my legs. I think this is the second shallowest we have ever anchored in. The next morning we left for MOOLOOLABA!

Some Differences between living on a boat and living in a House

1. A house doesn't move.
2. There is no reason not to flush the toilet in a house because you don't have to spend five minutes pumping.
3. Your mom isn't your teacher.
4. There are more places to read.
5. You have to walk at least 20 meters to get from kitchen to living room
6. Rooms aren't the size of a king-size bed.
7. Your backyard isn't the ocean.
8. You don't have to worry about battery power.
9. You don't have to dock a house.
10. I have more freedom with homework
11. Friends are always there when you live in a house
12. Boats are a monkeys paradise
13. Houses are less constricted in space
14. You can always hear your annoying sister on a boats

    13 February - Tangalooma Wrecks

    On the way to Manly Harbor by Brisy, we stopped of at Tangalooma Wrecks. This is where we stopped before and ran down the sand hills. This stop was almost the same as the other ones except that we only stayed there for lunch and that we never dinghied around. There were no wipe-outs on the way down, but Nikki and I both fell when we hit flat ground. This was a Tubular stop.

    16 February - Manly Boat Harbor

    For the last 2 days we have been in Manly Boat Harbor, near Brisbane. The coolest thing we have found is the local swimming pool, which, believe it or not, has a slide and a diving platform, which is about 15 feet high. Actually, you can't really dive because it is too shallow: my butt to touches the bottom even if I do a cannonball. Watching people jump, it looked like the primary objective was to make the biggest splash possible, and the secondary objective was to do some thing cool, like a back flip. If you tried the secondary objective, but failed and did the primary objective, you usually came up and heard ooooo's. The second time we went there, there were two sumo wrestlers in training that jumped of the tower. The splash went higher than the tower and created half foot waves.

    My Ideal RTS Computer Game

    Title: Marina Tycoon

    Objective: Operate and create a successful Marina

    Features: Choose from over 40 different locations around the world. Set up charter companies and transit ferries to nearby Islands. Create restaurants for your guests. Build a Chandlery to provide your guests with their boating needs. Build your breakwater, then choose from many different types of piers, pontoons and fingers. Choose if you want to provide your guests with boat building and repair yards. Answer radio calls from incoming vessels, the choose a spot for them. Choose from many different size berths and facilities. Offer boat sales services. Choose your berth prices wisely so you can get the most profit. Hire mechanics and janitors to care for you marina.

    16 February - South Bank

    A day ago, we all went into Brisbane, where we had to renew our visas. You know, that boring stuff which involves sitting around and doing nothing while looking at a guy who types stuff into computers and asks you questions. I mean, how boring can you get? The good thing about this trip was that I got to get a book on a loan where I don't get allowance for 4 weeks. Actually its three weeks, 'cause I gave some of my books to a secondhand bookstore, and I got ten dollars for them. The book is the last in the New Jedi Order series. It's called “The Unifying Force”. It is the only hardback book I have.

    The South Bank is a section in Brissy where there are a lot of restaurants and a big artificial lagoon. The lagoon is fed by a small creek that you can walk up. The lagoon gets about two meters deep, and one side slopes up to an artificial beach. We saw a whole bunch of Urban Ibis. There were some in a palm tree that were having a squabble, and even one that used the pool as a bathtub. I think the South Bank is a cool place.

    23 February - Alcatraz of Australia

    On the way to Southport from Manly, we stopped at St. Helena Island. St. Helena Island was a prison in the 1850's, and it was shut down in 1938. There were very few escapes there, and it was known as one of the best prisons in Australia. the slope of the ground underwater is very shallow, so it is 2 meters deep 50 meters away from the beach. Before we left, momma took pictures of Nikki and I Doing flips of the bow. I did back flips (which I landed perfectly), and Nikki did Front flips. Look for the pictures on the web. Later on in the day, we move to Dunich, the same place we anchored for the first time. It was less bouncy than before. Before we went to bed, we saw a huge lightening storm. I saw 10 lightening stikes, and I got some of them on tape! Brisbane was a hot spot, and also some places south of had a lot of strikes too. It never got over us, but we copped some rain.

    27 February - Pacific Regal in Burleigh Heads

    For the next two weeks Burleigh Heads is our new home. Endless Summer was hauled out of the water for a two week stretch. She should emerge as a nicer looking boat, and the dagger-board problem should also fixed. Before we left, we had to haul the dagger-boards out using a halyard. It was so grueling that none of us wanted to do any other work! I wish. We did, however, still have to pack up: clothes, food, books, homework, cd's ...

    Right now, we are in a place that rents holiday apartments, called Pacific Regis. The complex has two pools, two hot tubs, and a sauna, and the building is 15 stories tall. this doesn't matter to us, cause we are on the second floor. It might as well be only two floors tall. We are doing homework almost everyday, but we are going to do something fun once we are done. Some of the things I want to do and places I want to go are: Zorb Balling, Go-Kart racing, The wax museum, and Ripley's believe-it-or-not. Believe-it-or-not, it is open till 11 o'clock at night! That is extremely late on Australian standards, but hey, this is Surfers Paradise! We have a TV in the room! It has been soooooooooooo long since I have been able to see Discovery Channel. You can rent VCR's at the main desk. We are right on the beachfront, which is good because there is a surfing contest starting on March first. Quicksilver pro and Roxy pro are some of the sponsors.