QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

After negotiating the Hydrographer`s Passage through the Great Barrier reef our first sighting of Australia was the island of Scawfell off Mackay. To prove this was really Oz note the XXXX bitter sign and the typical residents, Wallabies and Koalas. Stargazer was lifted into the boatyard at Mackay where the hull was cleaned and antifouled, always a nerve racking time when you see your boat lifted out of the water. The new generator and fridge were also fitted here. Queensland is the sugar producing area. Harvesting the sugar cane here is carried out mechanically unlike inFiji where it is cut by hand. We visited a sugar mill and sampled `Billy` tea in the rainforest. Our friends, the Wilsons, came from New Zealand to meet us in Mackay. We were registrars together in Winchester in the 1980`s. After Mackay we visited the Whitsunday Islands and found lovely anchorages where cockatoos sat in our rigging. We are now in Yorkeys Knob, just north of Cairns, where we have to be aware of salt water crocodiles so no more swimming from the boat.