Mooloolaba Beach

We flew into Brisbane to be met by Gerhard and we boarded Sunny Spells (our home for the foreseeable future) at Mooloolaba.

We spent a great few days there: lots of playing on the beaches, body-boarding (think squeals of delight and exhausted boys from playing in the waves for hours), meeting up with another sailing family we’d met 3 years ago, who just happened to be there at the same time, and walking everywhere.

Thanks to lots of exercise, sunshine and fresh air there was no chance of jet lag – we just blasted our way through.
Gerhard had wondered at some point in time (when I was on the phone from the UK) whether we should stay in Mooloolaba for six weeks.

Mooloolaba to Wide Bay

I was quietly disappointed at the thought but predicted he would change his mind long before six weeks was up. He did! Six days after we arrived in Mooloolaba his feet were itchy and we were sailing out of the marina at 6am! It was a stunning day’s sailing up into the Great Sandy Strait – a bit of an exhilarating entrance into the Strait (all on board in the cockpit with life jackets on as a precautionary measure) as Gerhard surfed 12 tonnes of boat across the breaking waves: thank goodness for Gerhard! He said it was the easiest crossing of the bar he’d ever had. Quite frankly, I looked at those waves rolling in behind us and feeling the surge and power of the boat underneath us, with my arms wrapped around the boys, talking in that ridiculous ‘sing song’ voice I adopt as a mother when a bit apprehensive, and …. felt a bit sick!

We dropped the anchor as the sun went down in an inlet called Garry’s Anchorage, in the south of Fraser Island. Stunningly beautiful and quiet – about 7 boats in total.