We anchored North of Bowen in a bay called by Cape Upstart so called because it pokes up dramatically at the point. About 3.30 pm there was a loud grumbling sound. Rather like the sound of our generator starting. We couldn't work out what the sound was. A motor boat had just passed but that didn't seem right. An earthquake? In Queensland? yes it was at 5.4 it was the strongest quake they had had for 40 years. Apparently there were some aftershocks as well. There was no significant damage on land but lots of comments in the local press. Whether it was the earthquake or what we were surprised to find a dead gecko in the cockpit that evening. How it got there we don't know

From Upstart Bay we set out on a long trip to Magnetic Island, arriving there about 5.30 pm. The spinnaker did us proud again, but still the winds were a bit too light to get a real speed from it.

Magnetic Island is an attractive island with lots of small sandy bays and interesting rock formations. We went ashore here and walked up to one of the nearby beaches, followed by a meal in a local restaurant. The small settlement is focused on tourism with a few restaurants and watersports. On the subject of unwanted arrivals we were amazed to find two tiny birds had got inside the saloon. Although we had locked up we had left the hatch above the shower open for ventilation. So they must have got in that way. It was quite a battle to get them out again.

From Magnetic Island we headed on past Palm Island to an island called Orpheus, where friends of ours Storyteller and Harmonie stayed last year.