Safely arrived in Bundaberg, Australia

Just a quick update to say that we arrived at 10.30 this morning after a lovely 'magic carpet' ride overnight with the Parasailor pulling us along at 6 to 6.5 knots in a steady 15 knot breeze. At 04.00 the wind started to fade away so we decided to drop the sail before it wrapped itself around the rig and just after Dianne had navigated us through the crossing traffic of merchant ships using the inshore coastal shipping lanes; three hours later we re-hoisted it when the wind returned and we had a really sporty arrival in 20 knots.

 

So far we have completed our clearance process with Border Force (Customs and Immigration) which was painless and friendly. The quarantine biosecurity inspection comes next and that will involve lots of opening lockers and checking for plants and insects. Only once that's done can we go ashore to explore the immediate vicinity of the marina which lies a few miles out from the town – the full Bundaberg experience will have to wait till tomorrow but that's fine, we'll need an early night.

 

Once we have sorted out internet access we'll upload some photos from the past week. In the meantime, it's just nice to be stationary again.