Last week my daughter Sara, her husband Marcus and their three-year-old Matilda joined Mike and I for a week aboard Meander--and what a fantastic week it was. It did however get off to a somewhat shaky start when an hour before our visitors were due to arrive Mike discovered a bilge full of radiator coolant! It appeared one of the heat exchanger hoses had sprung a leak. Mike managed to replace it - which wasn’t an easy task on a Saturday afternoon in a small coastal town, but replace it he did, and albeit a few hours later than planned, we were on our way to anchor off Great Keppel Island to enjoy some swimming, snorkelling and general relaxing. The relaxing side of things was made much easier due to the fact that Mike had enclosed the rails around the boat with safety netting which turned it into a giant play pen for young Matilda!!
Matilda and
Grandpa Mike
Matilda and
Grandma
Note the
netting!
Sara Marcus and Matilda slipped into life aboard Meander very easily. Even when the weather changed and the gentle breeze turned to 30knt winds they weren’t perturbed. As the forecast was for three days of strong winds, we sailed the boat back to the safety of the marina, hopped aboard the ferry, and returned to the Island and rented a lovely rustic A-frame house until the winds subsided. As soon as things began to calm down, Mike and I returned to the marina and sailed the boat back to Great Keppel to retrieve Sara Marcus and Matilda.
We hiked through the bush around the Island one day, stopping off at some fabulous secluded beaches where Sara managed to gather (and eat!) some lovely fresh oysters. Other days Sara and Marcus did some snorkelling and fishing. Marcus and I also snorkelled and managed to see some beautiful fish, giant clams and a sting ray hiding on the bottom in the sand. Matilda thoroughly enjoyed the beaches and was quite content to play in the water and build sandcastles.
Matilda and
an octapus
All together
Putney beach
Hiding form
the sun
Marcus, Sara
and Matilda
Off on a
fishing trip
Off snorkelling
The week seemed to go quite slowly which we were all pleased about, but all too soon it was time to say goodbye: our intrepid travellers boarded a light aircraft to take them to Rockhampton in time for their flight to Brisbane then onto Darwin and home to Jabiru next day.
A friend of
Sara's on
Keppel Isalnd
