Tuesday 20th October to Wednesday 4th November
Darwin to Gove
Tuesday 20th - Darwin to Cobham Bay - 70 miles approx
   After a goodbye BBQ with friends Russ and Deb from Lady Anne and Ron and Barb from Opal Shell we were ready to go. Russ and Deb had just done this same trip as far as Cairns and were able to give us a few tips. Early Tuesday morning we went through the lock gates for the last time and headed for Cullen Bay to fill up with fuel.
   Our first anchorage was about 70 miles away tucked into Camp Point on the east coast of Melville Island. As a foretaste of the trip we had to beat all the way in about 15 - 20 knots of wind. We arrived at Camp Point just after midnight having motored the last 20 miles dead into the wind to save some time. We were both pretty tired.
Anchor position - 11° 36.5' S 131° 24.9' E - mud

Wednesday 21st - Cobham Bay to Alcaro Bay (Cape Don) - 30 miles approx
   The next morning we left about 8:00 a.m. to take the tide between the islands to an anchorage just east of Cape Don. Again we were beating into the wind but with the tide under us were making about 6 -7 knots over the ground. We hadn't quite reached the anchorage when the tide turned and we found ourselves tacking backwards and forwards always ending up in the same spot. Time to turn on the engine - we were motoring at about 6 knots through the water and making only 1 knot over the ground.
   Eventually we made it into the anchorage and dropped anchor, then found we couldn't stop the engine - the repair we'd made in the Kimberley had broken so we had to spend the next day redoing it. The problem is getting a split pin into the end of the pin from the governor when you can only just about reach it with the tips of the fingers of one hand. We'll see how long this repair lasts.
Anchor position - 11° 17.3' S 131° 47.9' E - mud

Friday 23rd - Alcaro Bay to Port Essington - 35 miles approx
     Had the same weather conditions as Wednesday. 5 - 10 knots from the E for most of the morning building to 15 to 20 knots from the NE by early afternoon. We had a good sail in the morning then as the wind built and the tide turned it became slower and wetter but this time we managed to sail all the way into Port Essington. This is a 30km long bay with shelter from everywhere but the NW. We anchored under a cliff on the east side of the bay and had the first restful nights sleep since we'd left Darwin.
   In 1838 a garrison town named Victoria Settlement was established about 22km into the bay at Port Essington. It was set up to prevent Dutch and French expansion into the area and intended to become a major trading base. However, in 1849, after surviving a cyclone and outbreaks of malaria, it was abandoned and all that remains today are the ruins.
   Port Essington is an attractive area with many sandy beaches and is heavily wooded, unlike the Kimberley which has quite sparse vegetation. We anchored Carillon off the beach at the ruins of Victoria Settlement and went to have a look at what was left. We found some stone ruins of homes, hospital, kiln and bases of other buildings. Given the climate and the isolation it must have been a pretty tough existence.
Anchor position - Reef Point 11° 12.0' S 132° 10.6' E - sandy mud
Anchor position - Victoria Settlement 11° 22.2' S 132° 09.4' E - sandy mud
Anchor position - Black Point 11° 09.8' S 132° 08.8' E - sandy mud 

Monday 26th - Port Essington to Valentia Island - 55 miles approx
   We had intended to go as far as Croker Island about 20 miles away but we had calm seas and light winds so it seemed sensible to motor as far as we could before the stronger winds and heavy seas started again. We eventually made about 50 miles or so sailing and motorsailing before reaching Valencia Island about 5 p.m. The anchorage on the south side of the island was completely sheltered from the prevailing NE swell. On our way down the coast we had seen smoke from some enormous bush fires. We'd been told the aboriginal communities in the area burnt the scrub at this time of year so we were rather glad the wind was blowing the smoke inland and not towards us.
Anchor position - 11° 23.6' S 132° 47.2' E - sandy mud 

Tuesday 27th - Valentia Island to Goulburn Islands - 44 miles approx
   The winds were similar to yesterday so we motored in the morning and sailed in the afternoon sea breeze. As we approached the anchorage we turned on the engine ready to motor in only to find it making the most horrendous banging noise. We managed to anchor the boat then Steve snorkelled down to have a look. After a bit of investigation he came to the conclusion that the rope cutter had come loose and was vibrating against the propeller shaft. The only solution was to remove it so on with the diving gear and fingers crossed there were no crocs or sharks around. It took about an hour to remove the whole assembly. The plastic sleeve that part of the rope cutter fitted into had broken allowing it to vibrate. We'll have to get it checked when we reach civilisation and refit it next time the boat is lifted.
Anchor position - 11° 39.0' S 133° 21.6' E - sand, rocks

Wednesday 28th - Goulburn Islands to Entrance Island - 63 miles approx
   Another long tedious day motoring, we left at first light and motored until about 3 p.m. when the shore breeze came in. The seas were covered in a brown pollution. We couldn't decide whether it was a degrading oil slick or an algal bloom but whatever it was it looked and smelled quite unpleasant. We arrived at Entrance Island in the mouth of the Liverpool River about sunset. We had caught two small tuna around midday - just the right size to put on the BBQ for dinner.
Anchor position - 11° 57.9' S 134° 12.7' E - sandy mud 

Thursday 29th - Entrance Island to Hutchison River - 70 miles approx
   We left soon after 5 a.m. because we had such a long way to go. There didn't seem to be any good anchorages between Entrance Island and Hutchison River, just one or two very mediocre looking ones. The conditions were the same as the previous few days so we were able to motor at 5 - 6 knots until the afternoon sea breeze came in then sail for the last few hours. With a NE sea breeze on the beam we can sail at 6 - 7 knots, more in the gusts. Arrived off Howard Island in the Hutchison River about 6 p.m.
Anchor position - 11° 53.6' S 135° 14.5' E - mud

Friday 30th - Hutchison River to Alger Island - 55 miles approx
   Our passage today takes us through the Cadell Strait. This is a tortuous channel, narrow in places, running between sandbanks between Elcho Island to the N and the Napier Peninsula on the N coast of Arnhem Land to the S. Our Navionics charts in the chart plotter seem to be very accurate in this area otherwise we would probably not have attempted the passage.  The first part of the channel is fairly wide but then it winds over shallows between sandbanks. We saw lots of bush fires along each side of the channel. At the narrowest part of the channel the chart says 'many whirlpools'. We were there at slack tide so we didn't see any. Beyond that point the estuary opens out but is strewn with drying banks and shallows. The wind had also picked up by this time and was blowing 20 knots from the east. The tides were running both southwards and westwards and we were in about 4 metres of water so the seas were short steep, very confused and most uncomfortable. We were making only 1 or 2 knots over the ground so by the time we reached the closest anchorage under Alger Island it was about 5:30 p.m. and we were both pretty tired.
Anchor position - 11° 53.6' S 135° 56.4' E - mud 

Saturday 31st - Alger Island to southern bay of Raragala Island - 21 miles approx
   We had intended to make for a very sheltered bay in the centre of Raragala Island but the wind was directly against us blowing at 20 - 25 knots, the tide was with us so we had wind over tide conditions. The seas were very unpleasant so we ducked into the next anchorage we could get to which was on the south side of Raragala Island. It wasn't too bad until the tide turned then the swell started to work in so we were rolling quite a lot.
Anchor position - 11° 40.1' S 136° 10.0' E - mud 

Sunday 1st Nov - Southern Bay of Raragala Island to Central Bay of Raragala Island - 15 miles approx
    We left at first light to get to the next anchorage before the winds came in again and motored up the coast. This anchorage is very sheltered so we shouldn't get rolled around in here. We'll probably spend a couple of days here waiting for the strong winds to abate. Just as we were anchoring we saw what we thought was a dolphin or possibly a dugong. We watched carefully as it came closer and suddenly realised it was a manta ray. It was feeding on the surface and swam close to the boat before disappearing down the bay.
   We stayed here the following day to give the wind a chance to ease off and went for a walk across the island. The vegetation was pretty sparse with lots of rocky patches on the west side of the island and slightly more greenery on the east side. It's not quite the palm-fringed white sandy beaches we'd been used to in Thailand.
Anchor position - 11° 35.9' S 136° 18.4' E - mud  

Tuesday 3rd Nov - Raragala Island to Elizabeth Bay (English Company Islands) - 31 miles approx
   Our passage today takes us through the notorious 'Hole in the Wall', a narrow 2 mile passage from the W side of the Wessel Islands to the E side. The currents can run at up to 12 knots so we will try to time our passage for slack tide. We arrived at the entrance at slack tide but found the tide had already turned and was running at 5 knots against us. We revved the engine up to make progress over the tide and to our horror it died. We were being spun on the tide and were rapidly being pushed back the way we had come. Steve managed to get the engine started again and we ran it so that we were just about making progress over the tide. It took a while but we eventually reached the other end. After that it was literally plain sailing to the next anchorage. We unrolled the headsail and just sailed gently downwind to Elizabeth Bay on the W side of the English Company Islands.
Anchor position - 11° 54.3' S 136° 34.0' E - mud  

Wednesday 4th Nov - Elizabeth Bay to Gove - 26 miles approx
    After a bouncy passage through the channel to the E side of the English Company Islands we had a glorious sail into Gove arriving early in the afternoon. The first thing you see as you approach the harbour is the mining company's processing plant. About the only industry in Gove is the mine and it tends to dominate the whole harbour. The town itself is about 12 km to the E of the harbour. There is a small Yacht Club in the harbour with a secure anchorage. It has basic facilities but seems to be little used by the local yachts. The winds are predicted to strengthen again over the weekend so we will probably not leave until Tuesday.
Anchor position - 12° 11.9' S 136° 42.1' E - mud   

Thursday 5th to Saturday 14th November
Gove to Seisia 
Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th November - Gove
   Soon after we'd anchored the guy from a nearby boat came by to say hallo and offered to drive us into town the following day to fetch fuel. It was an offer not to be turned down so we readily accepted and the following morning Huon and Steve drove to the garage in town to fill up the jerry cans. Huon was renovating his boat and was quite keen to have a look at Carillon maybe to get a few ideas. While Steve and Huon were in town Lyn took advantage of the Yacht Club facilities to deal with two weeks worth of laundry.
   On Saturday we rented a ute to drive ourselves to town to provision the boat ready for the next stage. The harbour is 12 kilometres from the town and there are no buses so the only alternative to hiring a car is to hitch hike.
   Gove is very much a company town, the only big employer is Rio Tinto who own the mine and the processing plant and employees live in company housing. The land surrounding it is all aboriginal land so you have to have a permit to go anywhere other than the harbour or the town. We found it quite restricting and were not sorry to leave.

Sunday 8th to Wednesday 11th November - Gove to Cullen Point - 315 miles approx
   We motored out of Gove on Sunday morning, the boat was covered in red dust blown on to it from the mine. To cross the Gulf of Carpentaria we have to go in the direction from which the wind is coming which means tacking against the wind for however long it takes. The winds were blowing 15 - 20 knots in the mornings and slightly less in the afternoons but the seas were very uncomfortable. We had 2 metre swells from different directions causing a very broken sea and the motion of the boat was most unpleasant. We both felt seasick and couldn't eat the first night out. To cap it all the solenoid controlling the gas for the cooker failed so we had no cooking facilities. Despite the movement of the boat Steve managed to cannibalise the hose from the BBQ to bypass the solenoid so that we could cook.     By Wednesday we'd had enough so instead of going directly to Seisia we headed for the nearest bit of land just for a break. We ended up in Port Musgrave just north of Cullen Point about 90 miles S of Seisia on the E coast of the Gulf. It was so nice to have the boat in a nice quiet anchorage after being rolled and tossed for 4 days. We stayed put the next day to sort out the boat and for Steve to fit the spare solenoid for the gas cooker.
Anchor position - 11° 56.3' S 141° 56.1' E - mud 

Friday 13th November - Cullen Point to Vrilya Point - 49 miles approx
   The seas were fairly calm and the wind was 15 - 20 knots on the beam so we just put the headsail up to make 50 miles up the coast and anchor off a long beach just S of Vrilya Point. There were 2 or 3 4WD vehicles on the beach so there must have been a camping area there.
Anchor position - 11° 15.9' S 142° 07.2' E - mud

Saturday 14th November - Vrilya Point to Seisia - 42 miles approx
    The last leg into Seisia involved going through the Endeavour Strait. This is a large area of sandbanks with some narrow channels through it so we had to watch our course fairly carefully. We managed to sail as far as the start of the strait but the wind was directly against us to go through it. The channel was too narrow for us to tack through so we motored. The wind was right on the nose all the way to Seisia so we gave up the idea of sailing and motored in.
   Seisia is a tiny town about 20 miles SW of Cape York. It's tucked inside an island and the approach is quite shallow but once inside there is plenty of water to anchor in and good shelter from the swell. It's quite an attractive place with a few coconut palms on the beach and lots of locals fishing off the end of the pier. The petrol station and supermarket are only a few minutes walk from the pier so fuelling and provisioning are pretty straightforward.
Anchor position - 10° 50.9' S 142° 21.8' E - sandy mud

Sunday 15th November to Thursday 3rd December
Seisia to Cooktown 
Sunday 15th to Monday 16th November - Seisia and Thursday Island
   Sunday we went ashore to have a look round. There was a campsite on the beach with laundry facilities which we made use of. The guy running the local garage offered to drive us and our filled fuel containers back to the beach if we brought them in just before closing time. Even 5 minutes walk seems a long way if you have to carry six 20 litre containers of fuel so we appreciated his offer. While we were in the area we thought we should really go and see Thursday Island. Quite a few yachts stop there rather than Seisia but it's an extra 20 miles N so we did it the easy way taking a ferry from Seisia and leaving Carillon at anchor. It's the administrative centre of the Torres Islands. There are one or two places of interest such as the Gab Titui Cultural Centre and Old Fort so we spent a pleasant couple of hours just poking around before taking the afternoon ferry back to Seisia.

Tuesday 17th November - Seisia to Bushy Island - 67 miles approx
   This leg takes us around Cape York so it's a significant day. We left at 5:30 a.m. because we had quite a long way to go to the first anchorage. There was no wind so we motored for the first few hours passing Possession Island where there is a memorial to Captain Cook and rounding Cape York at about 8:30 a.m. having encountered significant currents and overfalls close to Possession Island. The next section took us through the Albany Passage, a narrow channel between Albany Island and the Cape York Peninsula where we encountered about 2 - 3 knots of tide against us. Once through the Albany Passage we sailed to our anchorage at Bushy Island arriving just after dark.
Anchor position - 11° 14.8' S 142° 51.9' E - sandy mud

Wednesday 18th November - Bushy Island to Margaret Bay - 57 miles approx
   The forecast for today and the next few days is 10 - 15 knots and 15 - 20 knots at times from the SE. The sailing is good although we're hard on the wind all the time and tacking in and out of reefs. The water is flat because now that we're inside the Great Barrier Reef there is no swell. The sun's shining and it's just a case doing the miles to get down the coast. Arrived at the anchorage just after dark again.
Anchor position - 11° 57.6' S 143° 12.3' E - sandy mud

Thursday 19th November - Margaret Bay to Portland Road - 53 miles approx
   Sailing much the same as yesterday and arrived just before dark this time. There were three other boats in the anchorage and just after we anchored we had a call on the radio from Pure Spirit to ask us to join them for drinks. We met the crews from Another Angel and Chantilly and spent a pleasant hour getting to know each other. Portland Road is a small community on the coast which has road access and basic accommodation.
Anchor position - 12° 35.6' S 143° 24.5' E - sandy mud

Friday 20th November - Portland Road to Night Island - 51 miles approx
   This morning as we prepared to leave we discovered that one of the solenoids in the windlass had failed which meant that we couldn't use it to lift the anchor. We had replaced the windlass last year but hadn't needed to replace the control box so still had the new one as a spare. It took a couple of hours to sort out what the problem was then fit the new control box so we didn't leave until 8:00 a.m. so once again we would be arriving at the next anchorage in the dark. The charting in this area is very reliable so going into an anchorage in the dark wasn't too much of a problem. We could see Chantilly's lights as we came in so we knew where the anchorage was.
   The sailing was much the same as the previous few days although the wind seemed to be getting lighter.
Anchor position - 13° 10.5' S 143° 34.3' E - sandy mud

Saturday 21st November - Night Island to Morris Island - 21 miles approx
   Today we don't have very far to go so we should be anchored by lunchtime and have a relaxing afternoon. The winds were kind and we didn't have to make too many tacks. The anchorage is off a tiny island at the edge of a large reef so we're well protected from the seas but not so much from the wind. We went ashore for a walk on the island and found hundreds of birds including a pelican. There were turtles swimming in the waters on the reef side of the island and a crocodile at the southern tip. Steve tried fishing but there were too many sharks around to make it worthwhile.
 Anchor position - 13° 29.4' S 143° 43.4' E - sandy mud

Sunday 22nd November - Morris Island to Flinders Island - 50 miles approx
   Our original aim today was to sail to Princess Charlotte Bay and anchor under Bathurst Point. We had a good sail with the wind from the E and hardly had to tack at all but it meant that the anchorage under Bathurst Point wasn't very sheltered and there would probably be a swell rolling in to it. We had to decide whether to sail another 10 miles S to check it out or whether to motor 10 miles directly into the wind to the E to get to the Flinders Islands which we knew would be sheltered. We decided to go to the Flinders Islands. By now we were getting 20 knots over the deck so it was a slow wet motor but when we got there the anchorage was tucked behind a sand spit with flat water and shelter from most of the wind.
 Anchor position - 14° 10.8' S 144° 13.8' E - sandy mud

Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th November - Flinders Islands
   We'd intended to stop for a day or two here but the weather forecast was for strong winds from the SE until the end of the week so it ended up as 4 days. The islands are a National Park and the two main islands (Flinders and Stanley) have some sites of interest. Stanley Island has aboriginal art. There's a small beach at the N end of a patch of mangroves in the channel between the two islands with information and a signed walking track (but you can't see the parks notice from the water). The track leads to an impressive overhang which was occupied by aboriginals up to about 60 years ago. An elder from one of the local communities was born in the cave. There is some art on the cave walls and the usual midden in front of it. Flinders Island has a rangers shelter with a couple of water tanks and some information notices. We were told there were some aboriginal burial caves although the location is not obvious.
   We trailed a fishing line while we were exploring and caught a good sized barracuda. We took the opportunity to try out the fish smoker we'd bought in Darwin and were pleased to find it worked very well.
   Our various weather sources indicated that the wind would be lighter by the weekend so we planned to leave on Friday.

Friday 27th November - Flinders Islands to Cape Melville - 20 miles approx
   The forecast was still for fairly strong winds on Friday but we decided to make a dash for Cape Melville to knock 20 miles or so off the trip the next day. The winds were pretty light to start with but by the time we anchored at Cape Melville were gusting up to 25 knots. By the afternoon we had 25 to 30 knots in the anchorage. We thought it might be a local effect, there are high hills on the coast and inland and Pure Spirit who had also been at the Flinders Islands, had the same strong winds last time he was there.
Anchor position - 14° 10.7' S 144° 29' E - weed and mud

Saturday 28th November - Cape Melville to Howick Island - 33 miles approx
    Today was a good sail. We were still beating of course but with 10 - 15 knots and flat water it was really quite enjoyable. We have to cross the shipping lanes here and at one point a Panama registered vessel on the wrong side of the channel forced us to sail closer to the reef than we would have liked but it was ok. The anchorage at Howick Island was calm and peaceful.
Anchor position - 14° 29.8' S 144° 57.5' E - sandy mud 

Sunday 29th November - Howick Island to Lizard Island - 32 miles approx
   The wind had died away to almost nothing so we motored all the way to Lizard Island and anchored in Watson's Bay on the W side of the island.
 Anchor position - 14° 39.6' S 145° 27.1' E - sand

Monday 30th November to Wednesday 2nd December - Lizard Island
   Lizard Island is the first place we had come to where the water was clear enough to see the sea bed. There is a very expensive resort at the southern end of Watson's Bay and a government camp site with basic facilities at the northern end.
   Captain James Cook came ashore here and climbed to the top of the hill to try to see a way through the reefs but was apparently dismayed to find white water breaking over the reefs in every direction. We climbed the same hill to what is now called Cook's Lookout which gives an excellent view of the seas around Lizard Island although when we were there the wind was calm so we didn't get quite the same impression of unbroken reefs as Cook did.
   The day we arrived the winds swung round to the N so the swell started working into the bay. The next day we followed all the other boats that had been anchored there to the S of the island where there is a large lagoon surrounded by reef protected from northerly winds. Also on the S side of the island is a Marine Research Station. We went ashore to talk to them to find out what they were doing. They were able to show us a video which explained their purpose which was to study the reef and the creatures that lived within it.
   We did some snorkelling there and saw giant clams up to a metre and a half across and some of the larger reef fish. The reef itself was not particularly spectacular but we were in fairly shallow water so it may have been better elsewhere.
   Our weather forecasts indicated that by Friday the winds would be 20 - 25 knots from the SE but Thursday would be 10 - 15 knots from the E to SE. We decided to leave on Thursday.

Thursday 3rd December - Lizard Island to Cooktown - 52 miles approx
   At about 6 a.m. we left Lizard Island, put the sails up and sailed to Cooktown arriving about mid-afternoon. The anchorage is in the Endeavour River and is very shallow. We arrived just before low tide and crept over the bar with 0.1metres under the keel. We anchored in about 4 metres of water which should just about leave us afloat at low tide each day. The winds had already increased to 20 knots or so but the anchorage felt quite secure if not a little draughty.
Anchor position - 15° 27.8' S 145° 14.6' E - sand  

Friday 4th to Thursday 10th December
Cooktown to Cairns
Friday 4th to Monday 7th December - Cooktown
    The forecast for the next few days was for 20 - 25 knots of wind from the SE so we won't move on just yet. The anchorage area is fairly narrow and with 25 to 30 knots of wind blowing through we dragged the anchor a few feet and found ourselves almost aground. We moved out a bit further into the anchorage and let out a few more metres of chain and seemed to be secure.
   Cooktown is a very pleasant rather sleepy town set below the hillsides along the South bank of the Endeavour River. It's claim to fame is that Captain James Cook landed here in June 1770 after going aground on a reef (now called Endeavour Reef) and seriously damaging the hull. They manage to limp the 25 miles or so to the Endeavour River and careened the boat in order to repair the damage. It was about 6 weeks before they were able to leave to continue their exploration northwards.
    About a century later Cooktown was also the starting point for gold prospecting in the Palmer River region and was at one time a busy port. The demise of the goldfields and Cooktown's inaccessibility eventually caused the port facilities to be moved further south to Cairns. There is now a paved road all the way from Cooktown to Cairns as well as the 4WD Bloomfield Track.
    Cooktown is now a tourist centre and a lot of effort has been made to make it attractive. There are gardens along the water's edge and information boards dotted around town. The pavement on the road alongside the river has interesting plaques set into it every few metres and the town is clean and well kept. 

Tuesday 8th December - Cooktown to Hope Islands - 22 miles approx
   It was still blowing 15-20 knots with rain showers but we wanted to get to Cairns by Thursday to meet up with Russ and Deb on Lady Anne before they flew to Perth so we left anyway. The wind was right on the nose of course and the route took us through a narrow channel between the reefs so we left the sails neatly tied up and motored. We arrived early enough to just about spot the bommies (coral heads) as we made our way into the anchorage.
Anchor position - 14° 53.8' S 145° 27.3' E - sand  

Wednesday 9th December - Hope Islands to Low Islands - 50 miles approx
    The winds and currents were good today and we had an enjoyable sail all the way to the Low Islands. This is a good protected anchorage between the two islands and behind the reef. It's a favourite destination for snorkelling day trips from Cairns so there was a snorkelling platform and a few little tourist boats moored there.
   This was the first time we'd found a visitors mooring buoy to tie up to instead of putting the anchor down but we're expecting to see a lot more as we go further south.
Mooring position - 16° 22.9' S 145° 33.8' E 

Thursday 10th December - Low Islands to Cairns - 20 miles approx
   No wind today so we motored to Half Moon Bay Marina at Yorkeys Knob about 15 km north of Cairns. We expect to stay here a couple of weeks to get a few jobs done and explore the area around Cairns.

Friday 11th to Monday 4th January - Cairns
   After settling in to the marina the first thing to do was hire a car. We found quite a good deal at East Coast Car Rentals and duly hired a small car for the duration of our stay.
   We drove up to the Daintree and Cape Tribulation and spent a couple of days exploring. Cape Tribulation was so named by Captain Cook because it was just north of here that he ran aground and all his troubles started. At Cape Tribulation we stayed on a fruit farm in a small cottage set in the middle of the orchards. The farm grew mainly mangosteens and rambutans but also had mangos, durien, jackfruit, passion fruit, bananas and a few other things we couldn't identify. A bowl of fresh tropical fruit for breakfast each day was my idea of heaven.
   The Daintree and Cape Tribulation area is tropical rainforest which comes right down to the long golden beaches. We enjoyed walks through the rainforest then continuing along the beaches. The only downside is that this is the stinger season and there are likely to be box jellyfish and/or irukanji in the sea (not to mention crocodiles) so swimming is out.

    We then spent a few days in the Atherton Tablelands. This is the hilly area inland from Cairns and is a mix of woodlands, lakes and waterfalls. Between the lakes and woodlands are patches of pasture with cows and horses dotting the hillsides. Tropical fruit and coffee are grown here and dairies produce their own cheeses and yogurt.
    We stayed in the village of Yungaburra which has some historical buildings and a very pleasant walk along a small creek which had been cleaned and cleared by a group of local people to turn it from a dumping ground to a very positive asset. We took a drive through the rainforest around the drowned valley of Lake Tinaroo and a 7.5 km loop walk through the Wooroonooran National Park to see the spectacular Nandroya Falls.

    We then took Carillon out to the reefs just off the coast for a few days. About 15 miles east of Yorkeys Knob are a group of reefs with one or two small sand cays. Our first stop was Vlasof Reef where we anchored off the edge of the reef in between the bommies in about 5 metres of water. The sand cay was some distance away and almost completely covered at high tide so it felt and looked as though we were anchored in the middle of the ocean. After a day or so we moved to Michaelmas Reef where we could moor fairly close to the sandy islet. This islet is a bird sanctuary and access is limited to a small area below the high water mark between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day. There are many types of terns as well as frigate birds, brown boobies and red-footed boobies and what we think may have been shearwaters nesting on the island and in the evening when they all return to roost the noise is cacophonous. This reef is also a favourite for the tourist boats so between about 9:30 and 3 the waters are full of snorkellors and the small patch of sand below the high water mark is full of people.

From Michaelmas Cay we motored to Green Island. Green Island is about 15 miles from Cairns and is a popular spot for day trippers. There is an upmarket resort on the island and facilities for parasailing, snorkelling, diving and glass bottom boat trips. When we arrived the only visitors mooring was occupied so we had to look for a place to anchor. The bottom was sand and coral and we were motoring around gently looking for a suitable spot when we had an argument with a bommie and the bommie won pulling the prop shaft off it's mountings which was a bit of a disaster. We managed to pull Carillon into deeper water with the dinghy when a couple of guys on a nearby charter boat spotted our problem and came racing over with a much bigger dinghy and towed us to one of the resort mooring buoys. Our problem now was to reattach the propeller shaft to the engine but we didn't have the right tool so Steve had to jump on a ferry to Cairns the next morning to go and buy a threaded rod to pull the shaft back into place. By late afternoon the prop shaft was reattached but we still had to get a new part to replace the damaged one so sailed into Cairns intending to anchor in the river just off the town. Unfortunately we couldn't get the anchor to hold, it just kept dragging through the soft mud so we ended up going into the marina. Next morning we contacted the local agent for Yanmar and hopefully the new part should arrive tomorrow.