Eastern Shores

Despite my reluctance to sail to the Great Barrier Reef, I couldn’t imagine a stay in Australia without a visit to the reef. I booked a room at Lizard Island, the farthest North spot. We were greeted by a friendly lizard, although our co-guests didn’t seem as enthralled with it as we were. Anything that eats bugs is okay by me. We looked at the sailboats bobbing at anchor from the comfort of our room. The only other ship that passes by is the bi-weekly supply ship, bringing food and heavy items.

Cook’s presence was strongly felt. The HMS Endeavor stopped here in August 1770 to find a passage through the reef; this was just a few months after the Endeavor ran aground on a shoal.  The crew were eager to get into open ocean but the path was difficult to find.  The Great Barrier Reef is far from the mainland and has infrequent gaps for safe passage.  The crew anchored on the west side of Lizard Island and sent a party to the highest point on the island to chart a safe exit.  The hike to the summit took Cook a day; now we were following in their footsteps, but aided by a path. We arrived at Cook’s Look and tried to imagine how he had made his navigational determinations. There is a guest book at the top, and, after adding our name, we spent some time paging through to find the names of boat friends that had recently visited.

Back at sea level, we went on a few dive boat trips. I snorkeled with a pack of manta rays while Jason communed with the Potato Cods. Jason went on his first night dive and was greeted by a guitar shark (really a ray).

Eager to see more of the coastline, we visited our friends in Coolangatta. Coolangatta is the southernmost coastal town in Queensland. After marveling at the panoramic view from their apartment, we went to New South Wales(NSW). The airstrip at the Coolangatta airport crosses over the border. During daylight savings time in NSW, you can gain or lose an hour repeatedly while taxiing. That wonderful feature of your iPhone automatically detecting the time zone doesn’t seem so great anymore.

Although Two Fish was cleared into Australia for one year, our tourist visas were only valid for ninety days. We needed to leave the country and re-enter for a reset. Emirates happens to fly its A380 from Dubai to Brisbane and then Brisbane to Auckland. The second leg is not a very popular stand alone flight as evidenced by the relatively cheap seats for such a luxurious aircraft. The great in-flight service made the trip worth it. I am not looking forward to being back in the USA where great service and flight are not words that are heard together.

It was just a short visit but we made the most of it, visiting the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and the Louis Vuitton Cup, complete with its custom valise. Other highlights were visits to the houses of a few work friends, who have returned to their native land. I was struck by how far away from the world Auckland feels; for a brief moment I could forget about the problems of the broader world. A few more long walks and we were back on the A380 and eager to see Two Fish again.