So, here we are, back in the Big City, anchored once more in the Brisbane River just upstream of the Gateway Bridges. After five months away, with the last two weeks in remote anchorages, it is interesting to be back in a crowded urban landscape with the roar of traffic on the Bridges and planes coming in to land at the nearby airport.

We were a bit surprised to find that masks are required unless outside and able to socially distance. This is the first time that we have had to wear them since the 3-day lockdown in, Cairns but we are relieved that Queensland still has very few cases of Covid-19 (33 active mostly arriving from overseas and in hotel quarantine), with none that were community-spread for the last week. They are trying to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible before the disease spreads from NSW or Victoria. Unfortunately, if Covid-19 arrives in Queensland, it is most likely to creep across the currently closed border from NSW, spread along the Gold Coast, and permeate through the southeastern part of the state where we are. So, we had better get used to the masks.

Actually, the numbers of new case in NSW are on the decline but they are still increasing in Victoria. We sympathize with Josie and Sarah (both in or near Melbourne) over the extended lockdowns and increasingly militant protest related to them. There are also stories of anti-vaxers in Australia booking multiple vaccination appointments and not showing-up causing precious time and vaccine to be wasted. It is one thing to not want to get yourself vaccinated (I cannot agree but possibly understand such a position) but to deny that opportunity to others seems to me to be criminal.

Australia’s race to vaccinate ahead of the spread of the delta variant may be repeated in many other nations in South America (excluding Brazil), Africa, and mainland Asia, although few are likely to have such good access to the vaccines. With the prolific number of cases in vaccinated people in the US, UK, and much of Europe, there is a worry that although there are lower rates of death and hospitalization, this could provide ideal conditions for the development of new variants. So far, a new Delta strain recently found in Sydney has not appeared to be much different in its impact or rate of transmission. The most susceptible populations in the US and UK are being encouraged to get third, or booster, vaccinations. While this seems sound advice for such individuals, it raises the ethical and epidemiological question of whether using vaccines as boosters is sensible when people in many parts of the world have yet to have access to their first dose. Almost two-years into this pandemic and the challenges keep coming...



A hawkmoth (about 6 cm or 2.4 inches long) hitching a ride as we left Lady Musgrave Reef

On a more straightforward topic, our passage to Moreton Bay after leaving Lady Musgrave Reef on Sunday (3rd October), was a very pleasant, fast downwind sail for about 30 hours. We had to gybe a few times to miss headlands, initially using a reefed jib and then with just a full mainsail. Soon after leaving Lady Musgrave, we found a hitchhiker in the cockpit, a species of hawkmoth. I assume that it must have come from the Island and wondered how far it would ride with us. Soon after nightfall, it had disappeared.

On Monday afternoon, about 20 short-beak common dolphins appeared. None of them seemed interested in riding in our bow wave but I could clearly see them surfing the waves behind us. Quite a few leapt out of the water but it was hard to capture on film as they moved around Tregoning so quickly. Finally, on Monday evening with a wind shift and reduction, we started the engine to motor-sail down the shoreline of Bribie Island, with large ships passing in the adjacent channel. By 2 am, we had rounded the south end of Bribie Island and were slogging into a westerly headwind. After an hour, we made the turn to go south and went flying past Castlereagh Point and Redcliffe. We arrived in Bramble Bay to anchor just as the sun was rising over Moreton Island.



A pair of short-beak common dolphins surfing the waves behind Tregoning

We spend the rest of the day and night at Bramble Bay, expecting to be well-protected from any wind waves coming from the south to northwest, as was forecast. Instead, the daytime winds were from the north or northeast, causing Tregoning to pitch a little in the waves being blown across Moreton Bay. Fortunately, it was not enough to stop us from napping, and by the evening things were much calmer as the wind finally shifted back to the southwest.

On Wednesday morning, after dodging around five shrimping vessels that were convening in Bramble Bay, we motored into the Brisbane River via the Old Bar Cutting. As we started to pass ships at the container port, we noticed a small boat from the Australian Border Force coming towards us. Once they had passed, they turned around to follow us. We assumed that they would come over to talk to us or call on the VHF radio but with a wave they eventually took-off upriver. Whether they were just curious about an American-flagged vessel or were confirming for the Bundaberg ABF Office that we had actually arrived, as we told them by email, we will never know.

We exchanged several emails with the Bundaberg ABF Office, as they issued us with a digital copy of our “Restriction to Port” document (the result of having had Tregoning in Australia for three years and not wishing to pay the import tax). The wording of the first two conditions was a little confusing:
1. The vessel remains within the Brisbane port limits.
2. Any change in location is only to occur with prior approval of the Australian Border Force, Bundaberg.

It was not clear to us whether this meant that we could move Tregoning anywhere within the Port of Brisbane (which includes all of Moreton Bay roughly from Mooloolaba to Southport) and would only need to notify them if we changed ports. Or did we have to notify them every time the boat changed location, even within the Port of Brisbane? The clue was that we did not have to specify on the document exactly where we were in Brisbane. So, thankfully, the former option was the correct answer.

We were reminded in the email, however, that the intention was not for us to continue cruising, but for us to prepare for departure from Australia. “Some vessels are already departing Australia and as soon as you are able to depart Australia for your homeward journey, you will be required to depart.” Given that the pandemic is the reason for our delay in leaving Australia, this leaves open the question of under what conditions we will be “required to depart”. We posted our information on the “Foreign Cruisers currently in Australia during the Covid-19 Pandemic” Facebook Group to see if anyone knew which boats had already left. A few people could identify one, or maybe two, cruising vessels that had gone to Indonesia this year, but none of the rest of us seemed to feel that was the right decision for us.



A pied butcherbird (to 35 cm or 14 inches) hitching a ride on Tregoning’s self-steering windvane

As we motored up the Brisbane River, a pied butcherbird hitched a ride at Tregoning’s stern. It was quite a bold bird and only left once we arrived at the Rivergate Marina’s fuel dock. As we refueled, a magpie landed on the top of the mast and sang to us. To make sure that we felt fully greeted, once we headed upstream again to find an anchoring site near the Hamilton North Shore ferry dock, we were buzzed by several welcome swallows. Once anchored, we noticed that these birds along with some tree martins, were taking a little too much interest in the nice cavity at the end of the hollow boom. Being springtime, we stuffed a cloth in the hole to deter any attempts to build nests in it.



A pair of tree martins (with rusty foreheads that are very faded – to 13 cm or 5 inches) taking a rest on Tregoning’s boom

Once we had gone through a couple of tidal cycles and decided that Tregoning was well-placed in relation to the surrounding boats (rivers are not my favorite anchorages), we launched the dinghy, grabbed our masks, and went ashore. Grocery shopping, a walk/run to Bunnings hardware store, and an evening trip to the nearby Eat Street were among our first activities on returning to Brisbane. We ate our “street food” at the latter venue accompanied by a country band that played “Wagon Wheel” much to our delight, as this is one of Lynne’s favorite songs that we play with Andrew. This was followed by an amazing hip-hop dance team “Swagamama” which consists of 6 young men who perform impressive and humorous acrobatics, robotic moves, and break-dancing. They started the performance in jacketless suits with white shirts and black ties, each wearing a different colored “stocking” over their heads and faces.

Saturday was the October Big Day on eBird, so Randall was keen to complete several eBird surveys. We caught an early ferry to go upriver to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. However, having seen a Parkrun along the riverside and after talking to another passenger, we got off at New Farm Park. I had decided to skip Parkrun for the birding Big Day but I was glad to see where this course was for future reference. The Park was surprisingly extensive with a large rose garden, so we enjoyed doing a bird survey there. We also visited the adjacent Farmer’s Market which was quite large, very popular, and had a good variety of high-quality stalls.



Back in the big city – downtown buildings tower over the rose garden and purple jacaranda trees of New Farm Park

Continuing by ferry to the Botanic Gardens, we completed three surveys there which were not particularly diverse but included a common koel, a long-tailed cuckoo with a very loud distinctive call of repeated, rising “koo-ee”. There were many urban species such as Australian white ibis and noisy miners, and several bush stone-curlews (a.k.a bush thick-knees).



“Who’re you lookin’ at?” A bush stone-curlew (to 55 cm or 22 inches) in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens

We also walked past the Parliament House, the construction of various sections of which was completed between 1867 and 1889. A Parliamentary Annex was opened behind the main building in 1979. The older building was designed in the elegant French Renaissance Revival style whereas the Annex design was in the, aptly named, Brutalist architecture, which has “minimalist construction showcasing bare building materials and structural elements”. The complex is where the Parliament of Queensland meets. This Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia (Queen Elizabeth II) and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral state legislature in the country since the upper chamber, the Legislative Council, was abolished in 1922.



Parliament House Brisbane with the Parliamentary Annex appearing behind the central dome

We continued our downtown visit by catching a bus to Fortitude Valley to get me a new crepe pan as a birthday present (hard, black bits of the ceramic surface were chipping off of my old pan). And the expedition was concluded with lunch at our favorite pizza restaurant, Corbett and Claude’s.

We will be spending just a week in the River before going north in Moreton Bay to Scarborough for a week. We look forward to seeing Al on SV Irie II who has been in Scarborough Marina since the pandemic started. However, we expect to be back in the River at some point, when I hope to participate in the New Farm and South Bank Parkruns. But first, we need go in the marina to give Tregoning, and our clothes, a thorough wash.