Moving On

The Percy Islands are very, very nice, they have the most beautiful swimming beaches in all of the south Pacific. Too bad we can't stay longer, but the weather is going to blow and there really isn't much protection in the Percy anchorages. Besides, Eric and Anne are on a deadline, they have to be to Hamilton Island for Apr 30 to meet some friends who are flying in.

 

Another day, another short trip, this time further up the coast to Mackay (pronounced "McI"). Both boats are tied up at the dock by 3:30, we've checked in and rented a car for the next few days. Anne and I have to rush out to get groceries as everything is closed tomorrow for their Anzac Day celebration - like our Remembrance Day. Dinner out is always a good way to end a stint on anchor and the food at the Thai restaurant at the marina was delicious.

 

In all, we spend 5 nights at dock in MacKay and the winds "do" blow, so it is good to be in port. Boat work and exploring inland fill our time. One of our inland days, Glen and I drove to the Eungella National Park and did a 14 km hike through a very lovely sub-tropical forest. We came across a young park ranger who was cutting overgrowth from the path and he filled us in on some of the things we could see. His parting remarks were "Watch out for the leaches, they'll eat you alive."  Up until that exact moment, we hadn't encountered any, there after, we had to stop regularly and check ourselves over as they truly were out to get us.

 

Platypus (es,i) live in this area, but we traveled to the viewing area two days in a row and didn't see them, so we are unconvinced that they still exist.

 

 

Middle Percy Island

Next stop...... Middle Percy Island, only and hour north of South Percy Island. Another brilliant afternoon is in progress as the two Nordhavns set their anchors in West Bay. We swing out our flopper stopper just in case it is needed. Immediately, two rubber dingys are racing toward the shore, another tantalizing expanse of golden sand, this time with palm trees swaying.  The swell is breaking on the beach, so it is a trick to get landed without filling the dingy with water or taking a bath ourselves. This island is inhabited as well as being a National Park. There is an "A" framed shelter on the beach that is full of yachting "we were here" items, like flags, t-shirts, placards and basically whatever passing boats can print their names on, dating back to the 1950's, draped from the walls and rafters. Oso Blanco installs one of their t-shirts in the melee. We (Glen and I) are ghosts, traveling a "mystery path", we leave "no trace"!

 

 Our evening rendezvous is graced with the most dazzling sunset.

 

Day two at Middle Percy is discovery day, actually a super exercise day too. We start with a hike (3.5 km) up to the homestead (where the people live) and are greeted firstly by a flock of Mother goats with brand new babies (kids) - I mean Brand New! Kate, the lady of the house invites us all in for coffee and treats us to a new variety of fruits that she grows on the island. Custard apples, fruit salad fruit, passion fruit, all are exotic, unique and very tastey. She fills us in on the history of the island and we pepper her with queries. Ernst, one of fellows who also lives on the island, takes us all on a truck tour to see some of the vantage points of the island and the "airstrip".  We are delighted to see some wild kangaroos and wild goats (left by early mariners as meat supply for ship wrecked sailors) and we stop at a wild lemon bush to pick a bag full of ripe lemons (yum). Guess what? All of the butterflies are congregating on these islands. They are Blue dragon butterflies and driving through the forest with thousands of them everywhere makes you feel like you are in "Avator" or some such movie. We finish the adventure off by hiking back down the hill on the short track (1.5 km) to the beach for a splash in the water.  Because Kate is stuck out here for months on her own while her husband works on the mainland, I asked if there was anything that we might have on board that she would like. At first she said "No", then she cocked her head and said "Do you have any chocolate?"  Lucky her, I carry a great stack of chocolate bars, so we dingy'ed one back in to shore for her and left it safely in the "honesty box".

 

Dinner and a movie on our own tonight was just what we needed to re-build our strength.