Photo shows a drone view of Port Newry, near Mackay, just one of 15 lovely island anchorages we stopped at on the way from Cairns to Mackay. Sundari is in the near foreground.

We have arrived back on the shores of Great Keppel Island, 5 months and many hundreds of sea miles since we were here last on the trip north. A decision to sail overnight from Mackay, our last stopping off point, was soon curtailed after passing a southbound whale, one of the very last of this year's stragglers. We passed another two this morning, a mum and a calf, the latter probably a late birther. The wind has been from the north to north east, but the only decent sailing day was today, close to the coast south of Port Clinton.



Had a lovely sail today (for a change!) from Port Clinton into the Keppel Group, with its fantastic beaches and harsh, dry hills.

Geoff's sister, Sue, accompanied us for nearly two months, as we sailed south in three steps from Cairns through to Mackay, a total distance logged of around 550 nautical miles. Sue's now back in France, plotting her next adventures.



The three of us splashing around in a pool at the 'Rock Slides', in the Paluma Range, near Townsville.

We last met up with Sue in Panama when we crossed over from the Caribbean to the Pacific through the Panama Canal. Sue's work, Covid and distance have been a deterrent to meeting up in the last 8 years. Sue has recently retired from a busy life in charge of a Sheffield not for profit company, and is making the transition to life without having to worry about her job.

Having both Matilda, the Merc. to waltz around in and the boat available proved to be a good combination as it meant that Sue got to see quite a lot of Australia in the time she was here, especially as it was the first time she had been to the country before.

We stayed based in Cairns for the first three weeks, mainly because the trades were still strong and would have made south bound sailing too tough. We still got around the hinterland, revisiting the Daintree rainforest, Atherton Tableland, Cassowary Coast and inland on the Savannah Way as far as the Undara lava tubes and Georgetown, in addition to a four day sprint out to the outer barrier reef.



Sundari perched just off the reef at Sudbury Cay on the outer barrier.




Underwater/Overwater at Sudbury Cay



Campsite at Undara lava tubes. Sue slept in the car and we opted for the tent.

The trip south, once the wind eased, was first down to Townsville, stopping at Fitzroy Island, the Franklands, Mourilyan Harbour, Orpheus in the Palms and Magnetic Island. The second leg took us past Cape Bowling Green, Cape Upstart, Gloucester Island to the Whitsundays, while the last leg to Mackay took us to Shaw Island, Thomas, the Newrys and St Bees and Keswick Islands.



Sundari at Normanby Island in the Frankland Group.




Shoal of friendly trevally at Normanby island.



Sundari at Saddleback Island,with Gloucester Island in the background.



Bauer Bay at South Molle in the Whitsundays.

Sue was able to spot some of Oz's iconic wildlife, including wallabies (on the first day out!), kangaroos, koalas (on Magnetic Island), crocodiles, goannas, turtles and 2 rather distant humpback whales. She unexpectedly eyeballed a cassowary in the Daintree and an emu in the outback. She saw more species of birds and fish than she will ever remember, plenty of both botanical and geological interest, swam, kayaked, snorkelled, beachcombed, walked and climbed, hopefully a holiday to remember!



Sleepy koala in a pine tree near the Forts, Magnetic Island.



Sue enjoying her time in Oz

We haven't made plans for the next few months yet and will take each week as it comes. We still have the Bunker Group's cays and reefs at the southern end of the Barrier Reef to get to in what is now warmer weather than when we sailed north, so hopefully we can now do some diving!

The cyclone season seems to have started unusually early with the formation of Cyclone Lola in the southern Solomons a couple of days ago. Like all cyclones, it's hard to know where they will wander. Lola is now rated at category 5, the strongest level, and is expected to move across Vanuatu towards New Caledonia before fizzling out. It's not going to affect us in any way, except remind us that it's not the time of year to hang around for too long in the tropics!