Australia Day in Paradise

Happy Australia Day to everyone out there!

What perfect weather to celebrate our National Day. We started off with brekky on the back deck, shared by a baby kookaburra.

He's very sweet and gentle, despite that sharp beak. Still has all his fluffy baby feathers.

I save leftover bbq sausages as a treat for him but he has to fight for his meat, as the baby magpies also enjoy them.

Our first pineapple was also a treat for the day. Tiny but delicious, this golden gem came from our vegie garden, the first of many, we hope.

Unfortunately, our Tamarillo tree is no more. We had a week of very heavy rain and came out one morning to find it had fallen over. The root ball seemed to have rotted. I don't know much about fruit trees - this was in the garden when we came to the island - but I can only assume it wasn't planted correctly and the roots were not teased out properly when it was planted. What a shame!

Before the rain, we had a long dry spell and our mango tree seems to have died. Either that or it was poisoned. The big mango tree in the next block is also dead. Our new neighbour on the other side of that block, Warwick, had to have his septic cleaned out because the roots of that tree had invaded the system. We suspect he might have poisoned the tree in order that it didn't happen again. And the poison probably spread to our tree. A great pity. We shall cut it back and see if it recovers.

But back to Australia Day!! With five other members of the Boat Club on board, we boarded "Bonnington" and sailed to Blakesleys Beach on North Stradbroke. It was a perfect day for sailing, just enough wind to fill the sails but not too choppy for the people on board who were not used to the heeling of a yacht (power boaties).

Blakesleys was almost deserted. On the horizon we could see wall to wall sails at Horseshoe Bay so obviously the nor'easter had discouraged the mainlanders from trying for Straddie. Yay! We had the place to ourselves.

We soon set up a bbq and enjoyed a glass of sav blanc or a XXXX whilst the snaggers sizzled.

(Why does Queensland beer have four Xs and Mexican Beer only have 2?)

A fantastic day and a great trip home with no problems. A bit of lubrication on our furler seems to have almost solved the problem with the jib. We just need an extra pulley to alter the angle that the sheet comes out of the furler. I think that will solve the problem.

Happy Australia Day everyone!!

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Aaaah, succumbed and bought a boat

Finally lived up to the Halfwit name and bought a boat. Yup, no income at all but decided it was a good idea to sell some of our shares at half price and invest in a money pit called "Bonnington". Who knows when the world economy will pick up and we're not getting any younger.

We actually went to the mainland with Mike to view a 30' Diamond he was thinking of buying. Great boat, very fast and at a good price. So there we were outside the yacht broker's office while Mike signed the papers. What did we do? We looked in the window! Aaaah, look at that one!!

Well, why not? We went and had a look and no, it wasn't a good boat. Very tired and had seen better days. But the yacht broker got our details and next day emailed us photos of "Bonnington" which is a delightful boat and just what we would have wanted ... had we been truly thinking of buying a boat.

Went over ... just to have a look ... and yup, we bought it!

So here we are, Guy Onassis and Alene O ... sorta!

"Bonnington" (odd name, isn't it?) is a 30' sloop, with a wooden hull overlaid with fibreglass. She is 10 years old and has had one owner since new.

He is selling her because at 83, he is finding it a little hard to leap around pulling sails up and down.

She has a retractable keel, which is extremely useful in Moreton Bay. There are a lot of sand bars and mud banks around and it's all too easy to get stuck at low tide ... "That wasn't there last time we were here ..." So all we have to do is pull up the keel a little, stick the engine in reverse and pull ourselves off and sail away. Magic!!

Plenty of room in the cockpit for friends to sit and sip a GnT or a Mango Daiquiri. Inside there is a very roomy cabin which sleeps four comfortably and six if you are desperate.

There is a shower and a head (ooh, I'm so nautical!!!) and a gas cooker in the galley (more nautical terms!!)

We weren't totally halfwitted! We did sign up subject to a trial sail and a survey, so last Friday saw us on the mainland at Raby Bay, motoring up to Manly (no wind) and getting the boat up on the hard for the surveyor to check it all out.

He was very impressed with it and gave it his full recommendation. After lunch we sailed it back to Raby Bay with a fresh south-easterly giving us a wonderful opportunity to try out the boat. It sails beautifully and the tiller is very responsive.

So all we had to do then was pay for it. That has now been done and we hope to be able to pick it up this Friday and sail it back to Macleay.

In the meantime, we have to spend more money on boat insurance, a tender, a motor for the tender, etc, etc. Luckily, we don't have to organise a mooring yet. A friend, Mike Stephens, whose boat is currently out of the water, has allowed us to use his mooring for a month or so until "Sirius" is back in the deep blue.

The funniest thing is that when we were telling Mike about the boat, he actually knew the owner and the boat itself. It had raced at the Tingira Boat Club often and had actually won the Brian Calvert Memorial Trophy (the big one here on the island) in 2006. So we have a winning boat! (Shame about the crew!!)

First Post

Hi all,

I've decided to try out this version of blogging, rather than my customery travel blog. After all, we've been here for 9 months now - you can't call it travelling!!

And why do I call it "Living in the Halfwit Sundays"? Well, you all know the famous Whitsundays off the northern coast of Queensland. Famous for their beauty, aren't they? The mainlanders here call the Southern Moreton Bay Islands the Halfwit Sundays in mockery. Back in the 70s, the islands apparently were full of hippies with dreadlocks and tatts, growing dope and living the alternative life style.

Things have changed here but the name sticks ... and I kinda like it. I've never been exactly mainstream, as my friends know, so Living in the Halfwit Sundays appeals. (No, I don't have dreadlocks or a tattoo ... yet!!)

And what's so good about SMBI? The four islands, Russell, Macleay, Lamb and Karragarra, are home to about 7000 people from all walks of life. That's one of the things I love about it. There are teachers, architects, musicians, artists (a lot of artists!), anthropologists, gardeners, sailors, fishermen ....

Funnily, enough, we're not so halfwit, either!! The property values of the SMBI (Southern Moreton Bay Islands) are low... waterfront properties from A$500,000 compared with double or treble that price on the mainland. Yet here we are, 40 km from Brisbane and an international airport. We have a school, police station, medical facilities, supermarkets, a golf club, bowls club, boat club ... we even have a pub, Pub Paradise ... and we are only 15 mins offshore. There is a regular water taxi service and a regular barge service for vehicles.

Welcome to my first post. I'll add items of interest and pix as they occur.