Sunday 14 September
Possum arrived with Terry on, I met Terry in Yeppoon. He is travelling north in a little trailer sailor had a yarn with him and headed on to Curlew Island which is about 20 nautical miles away. Unfortunately, I was hit with the water flooding out of the Southern Broadsound, at times I was under 3 knots, a long day. On the way I got a call from Double Bass, who was at Curlew Island . Trevor, s ex Jan lives beside Marilyn at Mooloolaba and I had met him at Gladstone he was travelling with Ted an old mate from Mackay. I joined them at a little bay at the eastern side of the island. They invited me aboard the boat for a lovely chicken salad for dinner, heaven. The wine and good conversation flowed until midnight.

Saturday 13 September
I found out at the homestead that if you can get high enough you can get a reception so ashore I went and climbed up a headland on the southern end of the beach. Managed to get through although it kept dropping out all the time. went down to the hut and as I had brought no water found a coconut and opening it on a stake driven in the ground for that purpose ended up having a cool drink. I think I must be going native. Went back to the boat, had a rest and went off to have a go at the fish again. As I was heading down to were the fish were 3 large whales and a baby came through the passage , they were quite close to me so I stopped and watched them . They passed me and then they turned around, came back, and checked me out. How amazing that was, they were very close to the front of the boat. Eventually they moved on and a bit shaken I continued. Had more success this time and landed 2. Dropped them off to three guys who were on the catamaran Inspiration 10 they in turn invited me to dinner, had a good night managed to get back to Holly safely.

Friday 12 September
Another beautiful day so I contacted the homestead by radio and invited myself to morning tea . Went ashore and headed up the track that is called the long track. The first 11/2 klms is through scrub mostly going uphill, then a clearing is reached with lovely views to the south. The country then changes to rainforest with some big trees with fantastic root systems, another 11/2 klms and you arrive at the homestead. John, Cath, and Ernst, warmly welcomed me and my gifts of some ripe avocados and chocolate biscuits were appreciated particularly the biscuits .I was immediately put to work helping make bee hive boxes, not that I was much help. Cath is a cousin of Andrew Martin who lived there for many years . She and her husband John have only been on the island for about 5 weeks after winning the island back from a bloke who swindled the island from Andrew. He left it in a shocking mess on what it had once been, however they have the energy end vision to restore it to its formers glory. Life is so different living on an isolated island. Ernst was also making bread for tomorrow, sugar in the brew was a bowl of bees wax with the honey spooned out of the bottom. I left after lunch with John who took me down the short track, which is very steep; on the way, he showed me the little cove where the boatshed is their little motor boat sits. John and I went out and had a bash at the fish but didn’t hook any up.

Thursday 11 September
Another beautiful day in paradise went for a quick fish caught 3 nice reef fish in quick time. Continued around the island for a quick look, it’s a lot bigger than I thought. On the eastern side the hills drop straight to the sea, with the most spectacular cliffs. Had lunch a freshly caught reef fish, what else, on Whites Beach which is named after the famous family that used to have the lease. Went for a walk, not only was I the only person there but I made the only set of footprints on the whole beach. The sand is white and small rocky outcrops covered in pine trees and a fringing reef guard the entrance. Found two large fishing floats that I claimed, as I was the only beachcomber in sight. Continued around the Island, engine stopped and so I bleed the fuel system, continued with no problem. Saw a trevally leap out of the water and worked out the it must have been up a group of bait fish that i could see as a dark shadow moving over the sand .Wrong , it was a school of large trevally , grabbed my lure rod and flicked out . Got a hit straight away, a long fight ensured with it finally getting away but it bent the hook on the lure. Continued on and picked up a half of a bucket of oysters and then on to the mooring in West Bay. Dinner, steamed oysters followed by reef fish and avocado. A few cold beers and then off to bed.

Wednesday 10 September
Up early and away to the Percy’s. Had a group of whales go through, one of them did some spectacular leaps in the air. Had a fish and caught dinner, getting to be a habit. The trip was a bit rolly as I was heading north and a bit of a slop was coming in from the east. Arrived at Middle Percy Island and how beautiful is it. Anchored in west bay opposite the famous A frame building .Went ashore for a look, another of my ambitions achieved. Went back at sunset with a few beers and soaked up the atmosphere, fish for dinner.

Tuesday 9 September
Slept in, lazy morning, winds picked up a bit. The hills have a grass on them and in the wind it was if it was fur, rippling in the light , never seen anything like it before. Went for a fish, caught dinner .Read a book and early to bed .

Monday 8 September
Left Stanage Bay early in the morning for the run across the Marble Island. On the way, I saw the most amount of sea life for quite a while. The first was a group of whales heading south, they were a distance away but they were leaping just about completely out of the water. Then I noticed something close to me in the water so I motored over to investigate. It was a large whale with its tail stuck up out of the water and then a smaller one started to surface around it. The big one kept its tail up for a long time, 10 minutes or longer. Just when I thought, it was dead it rolled horizontal and had a number of big blows, and then it went to the strange position of its tail stuck up in the air. I wonder if it was a mother feeding her baby, who knows, I left them in piece. Saw tuna and other fish leaping out of the water. Marble Island along with several nearby islands is a cattle station, moored near the house and cattle yards. The wind came up so I shifted the a more protected spot on Hunter Island .I was going to head to the Percy Islands tomorrow but with winds increasing tomorrow i might spend the day around here. Finally had my red jew fish for dinner.

Sunday 7 September
Engine Hours 1093
Total Fuel 377 Litres
Total Hours 313 hours
Up early, greasy breakfast , always good for a hangover. Wished good morning to the neighbours, as I headed out to Collins Island . Stopped at Mumford Island for a brew. The likely lads finally arrived and started fishing near me. They started catching red jewfish on the drift, so as I went past I had a drift and picked up one for dinner. Changed plans, decided to head for Stanage Bay, as the day was just perfect. Arrived at 1400 hrs and went ashore to Plume Tree Bay post office, hotel, store, service station and takeaway all in one shop. Hoping for a draft beer but like Adavale, only stubbies. The problem is that they only have tank water. The towns twice as big as Adavale population of 45. Rang my four sons for father’s day and couldn’t raise any of them. I just hope that they keep my presents for me! Ferried out a jerry can of fuel for Holly and then settled in for a couple of beers with the locals. Went to leave and the tide had gone out and left Polly stranded, so back to the pub to enlist the help of locals to pull her out to the water. Back to Holly, managed to get onboard without falling in, retired happy as another achievement of the trip achieved, have a beer in the Crab Bar at Stanage Bay Hotel.

Saturday 6 September
Engine Hours 1076 Total Fuel 337 Litres Total Hours 286 hours
Did some maintaince first thing and noticed that my friends at Gladstone Marina Repairs had neglected to tighten up a hose clamp. Good one boys!!The battery that I spoke so wonderful ally about yesterday wasn’t maintaining the fridge in the morning. I’ll give it a good run today and see how it goes. Put the spare 20 litres in, small leak from the water filter, cleaned and put back, topped up the oil and water. Still a bit windy but I might run up to Cape Townshend. Just before I left the mating turtles popped up beside me still hard at it. Another glorious run , the seas quieted right down , the sun shone , the turtles popped their heads up to say hallo and the view was stunning . I just can’t believe how beautiful this coastline is, towering rocky headlands with huge clefts cut into them, large pine trees similar to our bunya pines and then through in little sandy beaches. Then there’s the islands, at one stage I counted 14 of them on the horizon. What a backdrop when the sun sets .Moored in Supply Bay, went ashore, big signs pointing out that it is a bombing range. For once, I was glad Pip wasnt6 with me as there was so many pretty shells and pebbles on the beach she would have collected enough to sink Holly. My solitude was broken with the arrival of a little yacht called Cleopatra ,and then a fishing boat with a couple of likely lads onboard .Teddy is a concreter from Emerald , a wild ten guitars kiwi from Wellington, a copy of Joe from the Sports Bar . His offsider Josh is a young fella, who comes from a professional fishing family at Stanage Bay. An invitation was issued to join them for drinks aboard their 30-foot fishing boat. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination, I managed to make it safely back to Holly with aching cheeks from laughing and a sore throat from singing.

Friday 5 September
Woke up to rain but it cleared quickly. Weather report looks like i should be able to move on Saturday. Moved up to the front of the inlet, to a little beach and emptied Polly out of water. We had a bit of rain over the last couple of days. On the way, checked out a couple of big turtles either fighting or making love! Think it was the latter, ah the romantic that I am. Saw three kayakers pass the front of the inlet heading north. Must be keen!
Replacement battery seems to be going well, I’m glad Nick put those meters in for me, it really gives you good control over the batteries. Had a walk on the beach and saw a monster flathead , spent the next hour fling lures every which way to try and tempt him but no luck . Fished with some yabbies and picked up a nice bream and a whiting as keepers. Shifted up the first inlet for the night . Moored beside a little island .Fish and salad for dinner.

Thursday 4 September
Cleaned up the boat in the morning, where’s a good woman when you need her. Went for a run up the inlet in the afternoon, had a fish not even a bite, sometimes the fish must be on strike. Went back to where I moor and fished some rocks nearby. Caught some pike bream enough for dinner tomorrow night. Wind easing.

Wednesday 3 September
Had a bit of a fish for whiting, no luck. Went up to the mangrove again as the wind is getting quite strong.

Tuesday 2 September
Woke up in the morning to find the fridge freezer not working. Fault light on it signified that it wasn’t getting enough power. Checked the new meter that Nick had put in and sure enough, the deep cycle battery was down to 11 volts. Coffee and double happy tablets and a good hard think and I started to put the spare battery in to replace it. Started the job at 0730 and had it installed by 1100 hrs, not bad for me. Now I’ll watch and see if this one has any problems, I guess that would mean the it not being charged. After that good effort, I though GOD would reward me with a big buck mud crab .It was a buck but 4 inches across. Moved out of the mangroves to the front of the inlet and had a walk along the beach, pumped some yabbies and put on kidneys a-la –holly for dinner. Still getting phone reception but it very dicey and drops out quickly. There is 7 other boats in the inlet and the nearest one in price to mine is about 300,000.00 more, but they’re not doing anything different to me. Strong wind warning just been issued, I might be here for a few days. Anchored in the first in for the night.

Monday 1 September
Left early before the incoming tide got too strong. Lots of fish life as I motored out. I had something cross in front of Holly that threw up a bow wave that rocked the boat. Didn’t know what it was and properly better off not knowing. Had a god run up to Island Head Creek. On the way passed through Pearl Bay, what a top spot, reminded me of the bay of Islands in N.Z., all little rocky islands covered in pine trees with a secluded beaches with white sand. Arrived Island Head Creek another magic place, put the crab pot out. Bacon, eggs, and salad for dinner.

Sunday 31 August
Had a bit of a rolly night with a small swell coming around the headland. I just packed a pillow either side of me and went with the roll. Continued towards Port Clinton, passed Quoin Island and some spectacular headlands. Arrived in Port Clinton and what a pretty place. Anchored up in a little bay before Bullock Point, went ashore for a walk and a swim. This was just what i had dreamed the trip would deliver. Walked around to the eastern headland towing Polly through the water and picked a swag of oysters off the rocks. Had a feed and then had to move as the tide started to run out and the water was getting shallow. Moved up the eastern arm to a army ramp and anchored for night. On the way saw my first crocodile, couldn’t get a good photo as I nearly ran up a dead end channel with excitement, when I saw him. More oysters as an entree for dinner. What a top day.

Saturday 30 August
Woke up to a foggy morning .Prepared the boat for sea and was a bit late getting away .Was punished by a short chop on the start of the ebb tide at the entrance. had a smooth run up the coast past a place called five rocks, yes its five rocks coming in a straight line out to sea . Quite spectacular .Was going to Port Clinton but on the way passed a little bay called Freshwater, so I decided to anchor there overnight. When I arrived there were all these blokes with matching shorts having a swim, I knew that I had arrived at Shoalwater Bay Military Zone. They left on dark and I had the bay to myself.