Another Day at the Gold Coast! Friday, December 7, 2018
07 December 2018 | Marine Stadium Anchorage, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Helen & Mark
Watched a few episodes of Justified before heading to bed at 10 pm. Slept well. Mark got up and checked the boat position only once. We were holding and far enough away from everyone. It's tight quarters, or at least it feels that way. No issues with anyone being too close. We woke up around 6. Had an early breakfast. Mark siphoned our three jerry jugs and our tank is almost full. He researched and found a marina around the harbor that had a fuel dock. He took two of the jugs and filled them. It cost $66.66 on pump 6. What are the odds. Why is fuel so expensive here? It didn't take long. I cleaned the inside of the boat. Washed the floors and shook our the rugs. Then I lost a button on my pants, so I was sewing when Mark returned. Helped him bring the jugs onboard and he secured them under our cockpit table. It was just after 9 and he found a shopping mall with grocery stores, called Australia Fair. They opened at 9:30 so we got ready to dinghy over. He wanted to leave the dinghy on the beach close to the mall, but I wore my shoes and didn't want to get off on the beach. So, we went a little further up the harbor and found a walk out with a floating dock which we could use for 20 minutes. I said no one is going to be checking. There were a few dinghies already tied up. Mark added our lock line as the others were chained up. Walked up the ramp and into a park. Very nice at the waterfront. It was about 1/2 block to the mall. Walked over and found a shop called Best & Less with the best prices I have seen so far in Australia on clothes. Mind you they had a limited supply and sizes. One thing I went back to buy was a pair of beach flip flops for $2. Can't beat that! Then Mark found a barber and got a haircut for $10. We walked around the food court and found a place with cooked veggies for me. They had free wifi, so that is what we used. I updated pictures to facebook, although I was not sure if our wifi ended before they loaded. Will check tomorrow. Made a few calls with their free wifi and Whatsapp. Stopped at Woolworths and bought a few groceries. I only took 3 bags and that is all we bought. Lots of fruits and veggies, mostly. Carried our purchases back to the dinghy. It started raining so we stopped under an umbrella in the kiddie Rock Pool. Not sure how the kids were in the water there when I was freezing and I wore a rain jacket. The wind was cold as was the drops of rain. By the time we walked to the dinghy, it had stopped raining. We had a nice ride across the harbor. We passed a ferry or tourist boat, plus a sailboat. Got back to the boat and unloaded the groceries. We were beat. Had a short nap, but I fell asleep. Must be the sea air! Decided to take the dinghy across the anchorage to a dock with a park and a boat ramp. Tied up and took a lovely walk across the park to the ocean on the other side of the island with a beach. They had a stony road until the end, where we had to climb another sand dune to the ocean. It was overcast and had been lightly raining. The sea looked ever so angry. The many waves were crashing on top of each other all the way to shore. The water was a darker green color. We walked the beach to the next exit point. Climbed the sand dune and found our way back to where the dinghy was tied. They had restrooms with showers as well as outdoor showers. We watched a large boat at the launch ramp, at the same time as the Duck boat was climbing the ramp. Mark got their attention and they stopped. DInghied around the anchorage. Checked out all the boats, and there are a lot of boats here. Then headed out beyond our boat to see if some rally boats were still anchored there. Yes, we know at least 4 boats that were with us in Bundaberg. Stopped and chatted with a few of the boats. Headed back to the boat, just before it started raining. Joined Mark in an sg&t tonight as we listened to Stan Rogers singing his nautical songs. It's raining and completely cloud covered so we won't be able to see the sunset tonight. Our plans were to leave tomorrow, but looks like we will wait another day. I wouldn't mind heading back to the shopping mall. Thanks so much for the emails and messages. Hope everyone is doing well. We are posting this thru the Single Sideband Radio, so we will add a picture next time we get coverage.