From Shaka Zulu to Cairns

Unfortunately our time on the Shaka Zulu was not all plain sailing. I generally enjoyed the sailing and visiting the Islands and the BBQ on the beaches and yacht, but our skipper liked his drink. During the normal course of a day he could handle the 10-15 cans of beer. 2 female crew members had already left and our Skipper Warwick took on 2 male crew members whom he knew. The new crew seemed to encourage Warwick in his drinking and it was now rum and beer, a whole bottle of rum being consumed during the day which started mid morning. As we were anchored off shore from Dunk Island I had no alternative but to stay on board until the next morning. I then approached Warwick and said I was not happy about the previous evening and would be leaving the boat and would make my own way back to Cairns. I managed to get a ferry to the mainland at Mission Beach and then a bus to Cairns. Picture shows Sarah cooking BBQ on the yacht.

On my way to Cairns I passed through Tully – Australia's wettest town, with the average rainfall of 4,200 millimeters. For this dubious honour Tully receives the nations 'Golden Gumboot' award. The seemingly incessant rain and the fertile soil nourishes the regions thriving sugar cane, tea and banana crops.

Mission Beach – 14 km stretch of coastline with sandy beaches. Named after an Aboriginal mission was established there in 1914. Mission Beach area contains almost half of Australia's total number of beautiful fan palms, which are a necessary habitat for the endangered Southern Cassowary, a magnificent flightless bird.

Now in Cairns – gateway to Tropical North Queensland. A thriving and dynamic city, once an isolated port for shipping gold, tin and timber. Surrounded by forested hills and tropical vegetation. I visited the Farmers market and tasted all the local delicacies. Went to the library housed in a splendid colonial type building, very modern inside with air-conditioning and lovely comfortable seats. Then I went to find a church so that I could worship with fellow Christians on Sunday. I am now staying at the Nomads Backpackers where I had been told I had an air-conditioned room with 2 male and 2 female as room mates. However when I got to my room there was no air-con and my room mates were all male. So I went back and asked to change my room and I now have 2 females and 1 male, who are from the UK traveling together

Sailing Rally

During the rally we visited Great Palm Island – inhabited by an Aboriginal community, regretably crime has been rampant, there are 18 police officers and approximately 3500 people.

Another one of the Islands we visited was Dunk Island which is shown on the left – it is the largest and most famous of the Family Islands due mainly to the writings of its first white settler Edmund Banfield whose lyrical excerps describing island life have become symbolic of tropical island paradise. Edmund lived here with his wife Bertha from 1897, drawn by the possibility of a Robinson Crusoe existance he quit his job to search for his own tropical isle. With the help of a few Aboriginal inhabitants and the proceeds of his writings, managed to survive and build a slab hut. During his life on the island he kept a daily journal in which he described island life and Dunk's astounding wildlife. It was these beautiful and finely descriptive essays that were the basis of 4 books which were to establish Dunk's reputation in the world as an idyllic island paradise.


Hinchinbrook – Australia's largest Island National Park and it is as wild as it is beautiful and remote, the rock cliff faces and the headlands of it's seaward coastline broken only here and there by long curving beaches of unmarked white sand. Awesome too, is the diversity of plant and animal life until now only revealed to the walker negotiating the steep and sudden rise from the sea's edge to mountain peak. Swimming can be dangerous in certain places due to crocodiles, sharks or stinging jelly fish.

Warwick, the skipper and his daughter live permanently on the yacht, they have no home on land. It is very cramped on board with a total of 6 people. 2 of the crew share a double bed which they have to curl up on as it is not very long, pictured below. I have a long enough bed but less than half the width of the size of my single bed at home. During some rough seas it was not easy to stay in bed. We did one night sail and took it in 4 hour watches to steer the yacht. Bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast, picture on right.

6 months in Australia

Future Plans while in Australia

!st June - 30^th June Working as a crew member on a yacht on the East Coast of Australia.

1^st July – approx 12^th July visiting friends in Brisbane. Friends whom I knew in the UK, people that I worked with at Mvumi Hospital in Tanzania and friends I made on my previous visit to Australia.

12^th July - middle of August working in a restaurant which is part of a farm with cattle, sheep, chickens, geese and growing grapes. Apparently people go there for the cold weather and log fires. The farmstead is in Stanthorpe 3 hours inland from Brisbane. The region is known for wine, vegetables and fruit growing.

Middle of August – beginning of September traveling to Perth.

12^th September starting a 9 week school of Christian healing and discipleship.

14^th November return to Christchurch arriving on 15^th November.

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Whitsunday Islands

8th June arrived Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Islands on the tropical Queensland coast of Australia. Our first job was to wash the decks and generally clean up after a week at sea. The next priority was to dive for the showers - a nice hot shower was so greatly appreciated.
The Whitsunday Islands consist of 74 islands, coral reef, waterways, beaches of white silica sand backed by bushland where bird life fills the air. In the sea are dolphins, turtles, tropical fish and coral. The Great Barrier Reef is 2000 km long, the worlds longest living structure, made by tiny marine animal skeletons pilling on top of their ancestors, a collection of 3000 individual reefs housing thousands of species of fish and six of the worlds seven species of sea turtles, an extremely fragile eco system. We had an amazing opportunity today to go snorkeling and see some of the tropical fish around the shores of Hook Island. The picture below on the left is coral taken with one of the crew members underwater camera, wow!
After snorkeling we had a BBQ on the beach, see picture above showing 2 other members of the crew and myself.
On Saturday 13th - 21st June we join in a sailing rally to some of the Island in the Great Barrier Reef. In preparation for this we have a full day working on Friday to get the yacht in ship shape, cleaning, refueling, shopping etc.

Hitchinbrook - Magnetic Island

Arrived at the Shaka Zulu yacht moored at the marina in Cardwell on 2^nd June. The crew consists of Warwick the skipper, Sarah his 21yr old daughter who has an intellectual handicap, another Sarah from Northern Ireland, Yammi from Hong Kong, Jodie from England, myself and Buffie the siamese cat. The living conditions are very cramped and one of the crew sleeps up on deck. Picture shows Warwick and his daughter and Hitchinbrook Channel.

An early start at 6am the next day we set off and sailed through Hitchinbrook Channel to Magnetic Island. The beaches here are distinguished by their outstanding natural beauty and laid back atmosphere. Population of 3000 on the Island, of people who have chosen to fully immerse themselves in the unique tropical lifestyle. Half of the island is National Park and is a haven to wallabies, bats and bush tail

possums. It has the largest natural koala sanctuary in Queensland, so spotting furry grey bums in the foliage is a mandatory pursuit. A good network of trails makes for some spectacular bush walking. The surrounding waters are part of the precious Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Local buses swerve from one cosy cove to another.

The 4 crew members are all part of HelpX and we help with preparing & cooking the meals, cleaning and sailing the boat. We have had a mixture of weather from drizzle on the 1^st two days to warm and sunny with temperatures up to 27 degrees. Two of the crew have already suffered from sea sickness, so far I am doing OK, Praise the Lord. Internet and mobile phone access has not been good so if you send me a message it may take a few days for me to reply.