Where are we now?

On return from New Caledonia we spent time reacquainting ourselves with the Queensland coast travelling north to Cairns spending time at Fitzroy island,Dunk, Orpheus, Hinchinbrook and of course one of our favourites; Magnetic Island. Our southern ventures were predominantly around the Whitsundays, the Keppels and to the waters of Fraser Island. 

We returned home every now and then (between sailing trips) only to ponder the Pacific. Could we/should we? So, after much deliberation, we planned for a two and half years pacific adventure. We joined the rally to New Caledonia again and planned to go onwards to Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon’s, Louisiades and back into Oz (Townsville) and then home to Airlie.

In preparation for this great blue water adventure we installed new motors, new sails, new navigation systems, new toilet, new this and new that. We signed up for the rally and started our voyage south, initially to Brisbane for more boat works (new solars, new clears, fuel polish, etc) and whilst there caught up with others that had also signed up for the 2021 rally. Our next stop was the Gold Coast, our rallies departure destination.

And then it hit……..COVID!!!………….We were stuck with no where to go. The rally had a question mark on it and there were no guarantees of it going ahead……it didn’t, it was cancelled!

We left the Covid lockdowns of Brisbane and sailed up the Queensland coast, joined by friends and other rally boats we met until we realised that we had seen a lot of Queensland and with no COVID relief in sight, i.e. being able to sail overseas we made the decision to sell Priscalina and try something different.

Priscalina, being the quality boat she was, sold within a week leaving us little time to move into our new life chapter. With our home rented we couldn’t return for 18 months. So with that in mind we bought a caravan, bought a land cruiser and hit the Aussie roads. COVID was still a thing so crossing borders was like travelling through Europe albeit instead of passports we had to produce evidence of our COVID vaccination status. Anyway we shouldered on and managed to see some great country in Qld, NT, SA and WA. The rest can wait till another day. 

We then joined a four week 4WD tag along tour through central Australia with Travel West (highly recommended) and tour guides Graham and Deb. The places they took us to and the knowledge they had was second to none.

The van has now been sold, the 4WD is on the market and we are now in the final phases of repairing/renovating our house after the two years of rentals.

Our thoughts are now turning back to the water…….blue water. We missed the opportunity for two years in the pacific but our mind is now back on east coast Australia and perhaps one more rally to New Caledonia in 2024. Can we/should we/ will we????

Stay posted.