I can’t believe it is almost the end of April. Since sailing to Australia from Panama and arriving in Bundaberg in November, life on land has been very busy.

We placed OOROO on the market and being the exceptional well decked out boat that she is OOROO landed in the hands of new owners very quickly. We are sure that Bruce and Carol will have as much fun and create as many wonderful memories on her as we did over the last five years.

We sailed OOROO about 10,000 nm across the Pacific in 2017 and we visited lots of great islands and made many wonderful friends.

For Mike and I, it’s now onto the next chapter in our lives which involves new land adventures. Yes we will definitely miss OOROO and those beautiful sunsets and all the wonderful things that make the cruising life so special but there is lots more out there to do and the future is very exciting.

What a fantastic 2017 on OOROO, we started the year at Shelter Bay, Panama and finished Safely 12 months and 10,000 nautical miles later at Horizon Shores Marina, Gold Coast Queensland.

This year we transited the Panama Canal, visited French Polynesia, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and finally made landfall in Bundaberg Australia.

What a fantastic adventure it was, and once again it proved what an awesome Catamaran OOROO is for navigating the world from her flybridge.

After much deliberation we have decided to put OOROO on the market during the East Coast cyclone season. We have had OOROO antifouled and detailed with the best products available, fully serviced and ready for her lucky new owners to start a cruising adventure of a lifetime.

It's been a hard decision but after five awesome years sailing it's time to catch up with family and do some of the many land things we have on our list.

Mike and I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Safe, happy new year.

When the Mums had left us it was time for us to head to The Boat Works for OOROOs annual haulout, antifoul and polish.

We thoroughly recommend The Boat Works and Affordable Antifoul Solutions, sponsors of the Down Under Rally.

The Boat Works is a world class facility, very professional, clean and has practically every service you require located in the one massive facility. The amenities are awesome and include a great restaurant, cruisers lounge, live aboard ensuite showers and free laundry facilities.

This was certainly the most stress free and pleasurable haulout experience we've had in the five years we have been cruising on OOROO.

It was the third time we have been to The Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast and we enjoyed it just as much as the first time when we went many years ago.

If in Queensland I highly recommend to go and see the show, such great talent, brilliant horsemanship, beautiful horses and dogs, a great portrail of Australia.

We made our way to Scarborough Marina and enjoyed a warm friendly welcome from Richard and staff.

While we were at Scarborough Marina we took the opportunity of having lots of services around and we replaced all our house and starter batteries ready for a trouble free start next season.

It was nice to catch up with Jeff, Peta and kids on Be and Be and a couple other Down Under rally participants who were also enjoying the great facilities and location of Scarborough Marina.

Before we knew it, it was time for us to hire a car and pick our Mums up who were flying in from Perth. Wow, after not driving for a few months the Brisbane traffic seemed really busy and probably even busier for Mike as he hadn't driven since being in Perth a year ago.

Mikes Mum is 83 and my Mum 76 so it was important we waited to get them on the boat when we knew they had an easy flight and we had a good Safe easily accessible marina berth. The Safe inland water ways of Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast made their first stay on OOROO very comfortable and enjoyable.

In the following ten days we had a lot of fun with the oldies on board, got a bit of fishing in, played lots of scrabble, ate lots of seafood, drank lots of wine and went to The Outback Spectacular.

Pumping yabbies and fresh sweet whiting for dinner

We got to rescue a turtle that was tangled up in a crab pot rope at Sand Hills.

We departed White Cliffs early and navigated South through the sandy straits and anchored the night at Pelican Bay.

Next morning at high tide we crossed Wide Bay Bar and due to having South East winds we motor sailed all the way. We arrived at the Sand Hills at Moreton Island twelve hours later.

We spent a fun few days at the Sand Hills, John and Leanne took us pumping yabbies which we had never done and then we used the yabbies for whiting bait. The four of us enjoyed a feast of whiting and many drinks and laughs.