For his second week on board, we gave our guest Trevor a taste of our laid back cruising lifestyle and got him to experience some of the Moreton Bay hot spots.

We packed in as much as we could, given the so-so weather and our time constraints. Trevor had never sailed on Anui, so once past the Canaipa Passage, we did, slowly on the way up but fast on the way back to Cleveland a week later. He had never stayed afloat for more than five days, we have doubled that without a hint of the dreaded seasickness. And for us it was a gentle way to get back into the swing of things.

The Big Sandhills

We anchored at the Big Sandhills, on the southwestern side of Moreton Island and spent a few days there. It is a scenic, peaceful spot, and it was particularly nice outside the weekend when the crowds were gone and the sun was shining in between showers.

Below the Sandhills are sandy flats and sea grass meadows. At low tide the area comes alive with worms, molluscs and literally thousands of soldier crabs. We even spotted a weird looking fish we had not seen before: the Longhorn Cowfish!

We timed our dune climbs to coincide with near high tide, but still had to anchor the dinghy a fair way out and found it high and dry when we got back. We all ended up stepping on urchins with our bare feet… ouch!  We learnt our lesson: don’t walk on the sea grass without footwear! Wade was the worst victim and spent hours digging the spines out!

Kooringal and the Gutter Bar

From the Sandhill anchorage we dinghied to Kooringal for Sunday fish and chips at the Gutter Bar – copious and tasty fare! Kooringal is a sleepy village at the very southern end of Moreton Island, on the edge of the passage between Moreton and North Stradbroke Islands. We managed to time our foray so there was enough water to speed through the shallows an hour either side of high tide. We saw turtles, dolphins, dozens of rays, lots of cormorants perching on the oyster leases boundary sticks, but did not meet up with the hammerhead shark nor dugong who frequent the area.

Tangalooma

Trevor had not snorkeled for years, and never over wrecks, so Tangalooma was a must for our next stop along the northwestern side of Moreton Island. We were lucky to get a sunny break in the weather for two days outside of the busy weekends, and anchored Anui in the channel behind the wrecks, a first even for us. Not the most comfortable anchorage but the reward was the snorkeling!

We always find Tangalooma interesting with its fifteen purposely sunk wrecks which over time have rusted into the skeletons of ships protruding from the turquoise water. The unique formation makes for fascinating diving and fun underwater photography. There is an abundance of fish among the wrecks, with the standouts being a Wobbegong Shark and a Lionfish! We all enjoyed the experience so much that we stayed an extra couple of days for more snorkels. We felt a bit rusty and Chris could tell she has some more recovering to do before her energy and breath hold are up to scratch, but we were happy with what we saw and photographed.

All in all, it has been a great reunion – an easy, relaxed and fun time together, punctuated by tasty meals we took turn at preparing. We dropped Trevor off yesterday for his flight back home from Brisbane to Melbourne and are now in Raby Bay catching up with cousins and friends before we head north.