Cairns to Low Isles

We snuck out of Blue Water marina, disturbing the mirror finish on the water, and headed into the sunrise. The valley to the south of Cairns was hiding in rain, but the sky to the north was clear. There’s a certain tension to every departure. Will the forecast be accurate and our next anchorage welcoming? Continue reading


Up the hill to Hahndorf

Despite the lovely hotel concierge and the nice man in the information centre doing their best to dissuade us, Graham and I had an adventure on Adelaide’s public transport system today. Perhaps we look a little too old for changing buses three times in one journey or perhaps guests of the Stamford use more salubrious Continue reading


Off to Adelaide to celebrate 25 years of RWA

  Roobinesque’s moored safely in a marina and we’re off to Adelaide for six days to attend the Romance Writers of Australia conference and the Australian Romance Readers Association Booksigning. Really looking forward to catching up with everyone again, but we’ve had to dig out our winter woollies with the mercury forecast to dip below Continue reading


Why are ships so fascinating?

It seems I am my father’s daughter… I don’t know whether my fascination with ships started with Dad being an engineer on oil tankers or whether it’s a genetic thing, but the older I get the worse it gets! I was delighted to find a bulk sugar carrier in Mourilyan Harbour when we sailed through Continue reading


Farewell to Hinchinbrook Island

For eighteen years I looked down on Hinchinbrook Island from the cockpit of my Dash 8 as we flew between Cairns and Townsville and I marvelled at its moods. Quite often the skies would be clear accept for the thunderstorm brewing over the craggy island. Under the care of Captain Lyle Cook I joined a Continue reading


Exploring Orpheus Island

Our day started with a leisurely kayak ashore as the tide reached its high for the morning. In the shallows a black-tipped reef shark did its best to pretend we weren’t there.   The walking track to the ridge line starts from the picnic table. It’s loosely marked with varying colours of tape and string but easy Continue reading


Under the waves

What a day! We’re both exhausted from exploring, kayaking and snorkelling. If you get the chance to visit Orpheus Island then take it. The fringing coral reef is spectacular and my photos don’t do it justice. Even more special is the clam garden which is full of giant clams. They were bred here in the Continue reading


Orpheus Island

We had a delightful sail from Horseshoe Bay to Orpheus Island – although I lost count of the sail changes as the wind was up and down. When it reached 17 knots in a rush, and we still had our beautiful pink spinnaker up, I think we were both a little concerned we were headed Continue reading


Maggie Island

I love North Queensland! We hopped on the bus to go to Nellie Bay and the driver was busy checking up on the health of one of his elderly regulars who’d been taken ill yesterday. Same driver on the way back announced to the bus via the PA that ‘the couple that wanted to buy Continue reading


Time for a change

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog you may notice things have changed a little! I hope you like the new look. I’ve gone for something simple, something that allows me to share more of my photos – since we’re seeing so many wonderful out of the way places while we’re cruising it would Continue reading