Corinne (s/v Brizo) quickly informed me upon arrival to Mackay that she had found a mall. She was going the day after we arrived and I begged Mark to go. I did get up at 6:00 a.m. that morning to help Mark take down the main sail that needed repair and pack it up before I left for the mall. Yes, I wanted to go that badly that I was willing to get up at 6:00 am. I renamed the mall Candyland given that we had not seen a mall since Panama. I also quickly found out that the mall had a Target. I was in heaven. We had also quickly discovered on our arrival in Mackay that it was quite a bit colder than we were used to. I had only brought one sweater with me while Mark seemed to pack a whole slew of warmer clothes. I was not the only one who hadn't thought through the fact that we would be in Australia during their winter time. Many of the women were quickly sharing information on where to get the best deals on some warmer clothes.

I think Corinne and I were completely overwhelmed by the mall. We spent about a half an hour in a store which had just pajamas. I am not sure why. We got a pedicure, ate lunch and kept wondering around in amazement. I ended up buying a purse and a very cute pair of open toe boots. I needed neither of these items and neither was very practical for the boating life. I also quickly ruined my new pedicure trying on the cute boots. Regardless, we had a fantastic time at the mall and vowed to return to purchase some things we actually needed.

One word on the malls in Australia - now that I have visited two. They have absolutely everything from doctor's offices, pharmacies, spas, banks, small police stations, grocery stores, butchers, and your typical mall stores. Very convenient.

Much of the rest of the time in Mackay was spent fixing things on the boat and spending time with the fleet. The boat services in Mackay were exceptional. The workers were very skilled and punctual. We found workers able to fix things that we had been unable to fix over the past six months. Mark was thrilled to get so much done and I was thrilled to make several more trips back to the mall. I was much more focused on things we actually needed for the boat and could not find since leaving Panama. It was odd to be thrilled by buying new pillowcases for the boat at Target. It was also odd when I discovered that shopping wasn't as much fun as at home because you really can only purchase things you need. We went into a great home goods store where I found a gorgeous set of stone foo dogs (I have quite a collection at home). I really, really liked them but quickly figured out that Mark would kill me if I bought them and I would never find a place on the boat to store them until we returned home. They were really cute though.

We also did have a brush with fame when we were interviewed and photographed for the local paper in Mackay. They were very interested in our travels and extremely welcoming. Here is the link to the article on the World Cruising Club web site: http://www.worldcruising.com/WORLDARC2012/newsarticle.aspx?page=S634791563913219219&ArchiveID=1&CategoryID=123&ItemID=220429&src=

We are off to Hamilton Island in the Whit Sunday Islands to pick up Eileen, Tony and their son Jake who is six. They will be staying with us for the next week and an half to sail the Whit Sundays. We are thrilled.