October 27-28, 2011

Thursday: After we arrived at the quarantine dock at Rivergate Marina, Brisbane, the official was at our boat 45 minutes later. He was very friendly and simply asked for any fresh meats and fresh produce. We had 2 apples, some garlic and ginger root, and a bit of cabbage to put into his quarantine bag. We had no fresh beef or chicken as we had cooked them up for the crossing and just about consumed all of it on the way. He did not take the leftover meatloaf because he said anything cooked was okay. He didn't take our two boiled eggs. It was an easy process; however, he collected $330 (AUS) as the quarantine fee, by far the most expensive quarantine fee thus far. In Fiji, we paid $90. Next came the Immigration and Customs people. They took our purse size pepper spray that we have never used in 8 years because pepper spray is not allowed in Australia. They said they would keep it and give it back to us when we check out of the country with the boat. After 45 minutes of paperwork and answering questions, we were cleared and free to go on shore. We chatted with the officials for 15 minutes until SV Beach House arrived at the dock and then helped take their docklines. We went to the Rivergate Marina office to see if berths were available for us and SV Beach House as we wanted to secure the boats and go to dinner. As we were checking out the berths, we saw SV Dalwinnie, the boat that had done a hit-and-run on Dream Caper while she was unmanned at anchor in the Marquesas in June 2010, which destroyed our satellite phone antenna and damaged our davit at a cost of over $5,000. Australia has numerous marinas. It was a fluke seeing SV Dalwinnie tucked away in a obscure berth. SV Tyee arrived some 4 hours after us so the three of us had successfully made the crossing from New Caledonia. Along with Scott and his temporary crew, Kay, from Australia, we took a taxi to nearby Bulimba for an early dinner. We enjoyed Mexican food which was a way from being authentic, but was definitely tasty. We celebrated our arrival in Australia!

Friday: We bought time on the wireless service at the marina and caught up on messages and banking. We wrote a letter to SV Dalwinnie to which we attached a copy of Rule 18, International Rules of Boating, which states that it is the responsibility of the boat under power to avoid an unmanned boat. In our case, we were on shore when SV Dalwinnie crashed into our stern destroying our dome satellite antenna. They admitted to that when we contacted them via radio, but claimed it was our fault because our boat went up on a wave as they were pulling their anchor and hit their boat. We left this correspondence for them at the marina office with little expectation of a response, but felt we should do something. We left the berth at noon and motored 15 miles down the river, into the bay, and to our berth at Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club (MBTBC) Marina. There are 4 marinas in Moreton Bay with a total of 1500 berths. Our berth is a short walk to the marina office and from there only a block to the center of the town of Manly where there are lots of restaurants and a good grocery store. Using the internet and Skype, we called Steve's brother Brian and his wife Cheryl who have been in Australia on business for the past two weeks. They flew up to Brisbane tonight from Sydney. We walked the half mile to the Manley Train Station, caught the train and met them in Brisbane 30 minutes later. The train was on time, clean, modern, well maintained and easy to understand. We walked Brisbane's beautiful waterfront (river) walkway which has delightful water art displays, benches, table areas, a public swimming pool, trees and landscaping. We found a lovely Japanese restaurant where we enjoyed good food and great conversation. After indulging at an nearby ice cream shop, we strolled the walkway back to the train. So far we have found Australia to be modern, clean, well maintained and friendly. The USA definitely looks shabby by comparison.