Australia is a big country and we had 1200 miles of it to sail from Mackay to Darwin. We finally left Mackay after doing more boat repairs and maintenance and the always necessary provisioning. Mackay was so pleasant it was hard not to stay. We bid a sad farewell to our friends on Mistral. They were trying to get their boat shipshape and ready to continue with the rest of the fleet. Unfortunately, we have just learned that the repairs are too extensive and will take too much time for them to be able to continue on with us. This is a quite a blow as they are our good buddies. They will stay in Australia and join next year’s ARC fleet. 

Our first stop was the Whitsunday Islands a sailing Mecca. Beautiful islands and resorts, snorkeling, diving and hiking. We enjoyed every minute and included a a visit to famous Airlie Beach for a brand new whisker pole (a pole that holds the headsail out for downwind sailing) to be installed before continuing the march north. 

Matilda and Mistral

Our next stop was Magnetic Island off the coast from Townsville, where we were able to hike to the forts built in WWII. The real highlight of these forts were the wild koalas living in the vicinity.

The other real treat was welcoming a family member on board for three days. Andrew flew from freezing cold Melbourne to join us for the 120 mile segment from Townsville to Cairns. It was such an honor to have an Australian Champion crew on board. We were able to get some sleep on the passage as he bravely volunteered for the 3:00am to 6:00am shift.

Andrew at the helm

Cairns is the “gateway” to the Great Barrier Reef and therefore some scuba diving was beckoning. This is scuba diving at its most luxurious level. The ride out to the reef was in a beautiful boat with naturalists and chefs and diving instructors on board. We were kitted out in the best and latest gear and led by our instructors on 3 stunning dives. The coral did not disappoint and the whales showing off on the ride back was the “cherry on top”.

Stunning coral

It was a quick turn around because we needed to get to Darwin by August 25th and we still had 1000 miles left top go.

Matilda approaching Cape York

These were very tricky miles navigating through the Great Barrier Reef all the way up to the northern tip of Australia in the shipping channel dodging reefs and ships. After reaching the tip we needed to turn west through the Endeavor Strait  and head for Darwin across the Gulf of Carpentaria. The final stretch into Darwin was a challenge to follow the navigation channel through the Dundas Strait.

A very special sunset over Cape York

We made it after a grueling 8 days and nights at sea. Matilda had to be treated for possible contamination by invasive mussels which required a chemical treatment and then sitting at the dock for 10 hours. We are so excited to be here because Lizzy is on her way. We get to do an early birthday celebration by visiting Katherine Gorge and Kakadu by airplane and helicopter.

Stay tuned………..