BYE-BYE Brisbane!! Yesterday we left Brisbane's beautiful Botanical Gardens mooring field and headed down the river for the next chapter of cruising under sail aboard TIGER LILLY. This last week was a tough one; saying good bye to all the wonderful friends we made in this world-class city. We shall miss you all: the congregation of the Brisbane City Temple of the Salvation Army - thank you for adopting us; the knowledgable and helpful staff at the Apple Store - and the best free WI-FI in the world; our friends at the Queensland University of Technology swimming pool; the staff and clients at the Salvation Army Moonyah Recovery Center - you are bringing HOPE into so many shattered lives; the residents and fellow cruisers at the Botanical Gardens Boat Harbour; and of course all the denizens of the waterfront to whom Lilly tried to bring Christianity and sobriety - thanks for not mugging her...

We are headed for an anchorage on the western shore of Morton Island to clean the bottom of the boat after spending Cyclone Season on the Brisbane River. After a brief stop at Mooloolaba (we LOVE that name - will they have cows there?), we will begin cruising up the Queensland Coast and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. Then we will sail west across the top of Australia, exploring the Gulf of Carpentaria and the remote coast of the Northern Territory - Crocodile Dundee land. We will depart Australia at Darwin, sail up to Indonesia, and across to Bali. We hope to explore one of the rivers on the south coast of Borneo and take TIGER LILLY right into the jungle to see the orangutang. After Borneo we plan to sail west to Singapore and Malaysia; spending the 2016-2017 Cyclone Season at the island of Langkawi on the Thailand-Malaysia border. Well, that's the plan Stan - we shall see how it plays out...

BRISBANE - you will ALWAYS have a special place in our hearts. We have had a wonderful time in your brilliant town - thank you for your warm Aussie hospitality. Now we are off to see more of this grand and glorious place called the Land Downunder!
Warm regards,
Tom & Lilly
S/V Tiger Lilly