Three years, one month and 4 days. That is the length of our visit to this incredible country.

As I write this. we are headed out the channel from Thursday Island, into the Torres Straits. We are bound for Indonesia and will make landfall at UF Mar, in the Kai Islands. The passage will take us through the straits, into the Arafura Sea, past the coast of Papua New Guinea and into the 17,000 or so islands of Indonesia.

We are looking forward to seeing that incredible part of the world. However, some words about our time in Australia are needed. When we arrived in June, 2019 our expectation was, we would head for Indonesia in June of 2020. Clearly that did not happen for the same reason the entire world was put on hold for nearly two years.

That two-year hiatus from out travel plans sometimes feels like time stolen. We really could not see much of the country, were limited for much of the time to our little enclave in the northern beaches of Sydney. It was a great place to be stuck during the pandemic. We made friends at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, which had welcomed us with open arms. We zoomed with family and friends in the US and around Australia. I had a personal trainer at the club and could work out six days a week.

So, I am reluctant to say it was time stolen, more to the point it was time spent in ways other than cruising the world. Would we have preferred a different situation; of course. We would have preferred to be able to visit much more of this vast and rugged country. We would have preferred to spend more time in person with our friends instead of Zooming. We would have preferred lots of different outcomes, yet we lived with the hand we were dealt. All in, it was very good.

One last point about Australia. We were lamenting the issue of the expiration of our Control Permit and what would happen. There were stories about boats and people being shown the door. Our experience was different. We were treated with courtesy and understanding. Ultimately, we had no issues with getting a Port to Port Clearance which got us to Thursday Island. When we did our outbound clearance yesterday it was easy and straightforward. Australian Border Force has an entire continent to protect and they have some pretty strict laws around border security. They do an amazing job and deserve a lot of credit and respect.

It has not really sunk in that we are leaving this country, though if I look up at the chart plotter, it is pretty clear. And, I don�'t really know what to expect in Indonesia. Some thoughts are in order. We understand most of the smaller islands are not well endowed with stores, shops and services, but they do have the essentials. Maybe we are in for a simpler life for the next few months. Not a bad thing.

We know that except in a couple of places we will not be able to pull up to a wharf and take on diesel from a hose. We will need to lug jerry cans of fuel from a local station back to the boat. We have been led to believe that there are lots of eager and willing young men that will help for a few Rupiahs. When you consider that 100,000 IRDs is equivalent to $6.65 USD I am guessing it won�'t be too bad. For the next several days all we can do is speculate, when we get there, we will have a better idea. By the time we leave, we should know what the country is actually like. What a grand adventure! More later�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�...�....