Update from Bluewater - Tiare Taporo III

We are finding our stay here at Bluewater Marina to be absolutely pleasant and hassle free and a total change for the better from Yorkeys Knob. The only possible downside is the necessity for us to leave or arrive at near high tide and on a rising tide. The idea of going aground in a tidal river with the odd crocodile swimming around isn't an attractive one. We've been told that there is a 4 metre croc in the river, although we haven't made his acquaintance just yet!
We've met some very interesting people here and everyone is very friendly. Not least are Chris and Gillie on "Westwind" which was built in Tasmania of Huon Pine - a timber similar to NZ Kauri. She is another double ender about the same size as us but a foot wider. Chris, who is a boat builder, rebuilt her at Botany Bay over a period of nine years and in the process replaced at least 40% of her timber fabric. They are leaving soon for Tasmania to go to the wooden boat festival.
Made us feel we should be doing something like that as well but it's about 2,000 miles down there which would add 4,000 miles to our already long itinerary for next year which is already over 4,000 miles from Cairns to Singapore. We're wondering about whether we could visit the Kimberleys in WA (about 300 miles west of Darwin) after we leave Darwin next year for Kupang in Indonesia. Would all depend on whether Australian Customs would clear us out of Darwin and then allow us to remain in Australia for a few more days while we did that.
An invaluable (for us) aspect of our stay here is the provision of a courtesy car which is owned by a local boat broker. It's an old Corolla with signwriting all over it but it gets us around very reliably. We need to book it in advance and we can have it for up to 3 hours at a stretch. If we go to Smithfield the cost is $5 and Cairns CBD is $10. Way cheaper than the bus and so much more convenient. Especially when buzzing around the Portsmith area looking for boat things. Bit different from Jim's ancient Mercedes-Benzes but this is a different life now!!
We are well advanced with our deck re-caulking and now only have one left to do. Would have done it over the last weekend but there was the possibility of rain and we didn't want to take the risk. Instead we repaired some splits in the deck planking in the cockpit area, some of which MAY have been leaking or at least COULD have leaked in the future. By the time we get up into the monsoon rains of SE Asia we'll be as watertight as possible. The two maxims of cruising on a yacht are not to hit anything and to keep water out. So far, apart from scraping over some shoal bits once here and once in New Caledonia, we've been doing a pretty good job in those areas! We've also been doing fun things like renewing the hinges on the toilet seat and attempting to remove mould from our port water tank breather pipe!
Jim hasn't had a haircut since Airlie Beach in early June(and that was only a trim!) so is starting to look like a great mop of white hair floating about the marina. Noel and Litara, take note. Definitely not up to Noel's standard we're sure. We're thinking of starting a wig business!
Today (Mon.) was Queens Birthday in Queensland and we decided to walk up to the shops to get another Telstra voucher for our internet access. There was a bus stop right there so on a whim we decided to go a bit further north to Trinity Beach where Jim had stayed in a previous life 15 years ago! We had a very good Italian lunch along with a bottle of Australian Pinot Gris which was from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, and surprisingly good. We had a walk along the beach which was all brown with stirred up sand from the usual strong SE wind blowing. Then eventually arrived back at Bluewater in a mellow mood!
We've been absolutely astounded at the unfolding Dotcom saga which we've been reading in the NZ Herald. We believe that law enforcement in NZ is corrupt as evidenced in all the nonsense that's been unfolding with the usual lack of accountability. Arthur Alan Thomas is a good example of Police corruption. We despair of NZ and it's future with the secret agenda of this Government. We voted for them in 2008 but by last year were already becoming very disillusioned so were pleased we had the opportunity to vote for an alternative while we were still in Noumea. Regardless of one's opinion of Dotcom, there seems little doubt that he will have to sue either the US or NZ Govts. or both in order to recover, not only damages for losses to his business, but also his legal costs. The total would be well over $2 billion and once again the NZ taxpayer will pick up the tab. Then the power generators will be sold at firesale prices because of the Maori water ownership caveat! On top of that the Kiwi dollar (and the Aussie) stay at ridiculously high levels which is ruining our export trade. In Australia's case the iron ore prices have fallen below the cost of extraction for most of the mines and this combined with the high Aussie dollar is creating an untenable situation long term. The high Australasian dollar values are a result of comparatively high interest rates available to foreign investors and also the rorts being perpetrated by the counterfeit creation of paper money by the U.S., Britain, the Eurozone and now Switzerland as well. In the meantime China is building up its reserves of gold to hitherto unprecedented levels.
Where will it all end? If you ever read the NZ Herald on-line you will see from time to time a blog on some of these subjects under the by-line of "Tiare Taporo III". It provides some mental stimulus and an outlet for the frustrations we feel.
But ultimately the best is to stay sailing and we are doing that as far as possible for now. On or about the 10th. Oct. weather permitting we will leave here for Lizard Is. (150 miles north) and then back here 3 weeks later to snug up for the cyclone season in the marina - the only cyclone rated marina in Cairns. At least while we're away from here we'll be away from internet access and thus will have an enforced absence from political commentating!!
As always watch this space and lots of love from us..........
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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