After quite a lot of planning and a fair amount of sailing we arrived in Darwin safely on the 4th May 2007 to complete this part of our adventure.

We left Kupang, Timor on the 30 April 2007, after filling up with diesel, water, food etc. Before entering Australian waters you must complete arduous and excessively detailed customs and immigration paperwork, all of which must be submitted 96 hours before your arrival in Australia. Thanks to Ian our visas were valid (applied for online from Canada!)

In Kupang we found a brilliant bar called Lavalon Café, which was run by a cool Indonesian guy Edwin. This place became our office, but it isn't much to look at - a concrete floor at the end of a small beach, tin roof, three plastic tables and crucially one computer connected to the internet (see photo of David with his ice tea) which Edwin lets us use for free - bless him! This allowed us to get all our documentation together - which led to the Aussie Customs saying we were the first boat to get it all right!

In Kupang we also met Napa Rachman. Well, he found us as we were heaving up Zodie (our faithful dinghy) up the beach. He acted as our agent to check out of Indonesia. Employing an agent to check out (or in) of Indonesia seem to be the way things are done in here, which is understandable as when we were in Bima we dealt with the Indonesian Harbourmaster ourselves and man they took forever.....! Napa saved us many many hours of hot struggle with officialdom, although even he had to wait for the Immigration Official to wake up on a Sunday! When we left Napa asked us to make him a little thank you poster for his visitor book, which I gladly did (see photo).

We set off three days before full moon for a five day journey. The timing of this passage had always been crucial to the whole trip- too early and we would be in Cyclone Season (not funny) - too late and we would have strong SE trade winds on our nose. Every 'expert' we met told us that we were either too early or too late, but we stuck to our guns and timed it just right. The weather forecast for the Timor Sea and Arafura Sea was settled. Off course we had some wind on our nose but managed occasionally good close haul tacks; more importantly didn't get caught in any cyclones!

On the third day out (having not seen a boat for days), right on the edge of Australian territorial waters, we passed an enormous Australian Naval ship; at least 100 meters long with loads of guns on it.

A few hours later a low flying plane flew right above us twice - it was the Australian Customs. We switched on the VHF and immediately got called by the plane for identification. The Customs checked if we made the appropriate legally required customs, immigration (thanks again Ian!) and harbour authority applications that we answered yes (phew) and received a 'Welcome to Australia' greeting! We were in the middle of nowhere and there really are not many boats out there for them to find. They visited us again 24 hours later to check on us when we still had >100 miles to go. That is where the Aussie taxes are going...

At dawn of the 4th May 07, we sighted Charles Point, Australia. Nearing the Darwin Harbour Limit, David had a few exchanges on the VHF with the Darwin Harbour Authority, Customs, Fisheries (for quarantine) and lockmaster. Darwin has up to 8 meter tidal range which makes anchoring for a little boat like Scot Free unattractive, so when they told us to tie up to a holding pontoon in Cullen Bay Wharf for quarantine, we were relieved.
Upon arrival we had swift dealings with the Customs, Immigration (who congratulated us on our efficiency with the emailed documents and visas), quarantine, etc. Then David and I stepped onto Aussie land. It felt good to accomplish our dream.

We will visit the outback for a few days before preparing the boat to be left, and our return home... but more of that in the next instalment. For now we are just really happy being in Australia (although we both miss sailing already!)

ps. If anyone needs to contact us, our Australian mobile is +61 44 8640211