Scarborough
Our first stop in Moreton Bay was the Scarborough Marina, where we provisioned, washed and cleaned. The Marina was great (although no gas bottle refills available) and staff were very helpful. We were able to catchup with some great friends who live at Redcliffe (Christiana and Jake Burrell) and my parents joined us for a couple of days staying at the nearby caravan park. Redcliffe has always been a favourite spot of ours in Brisbane, so getting to spend a week here was lovely. Great playgrounds along the shore walk meant we could run our 9 year old like crazy to help him burn off a bit of energy!
Our first stop in Moreton Bay was the Scarborough Marina, where we provisioned, washed and cleaned. The Marina was great (although no gas bottle refills available) and staff were very helpful. We were able to catchup with some great friends who live at Redcliffe (Christiana and Jake Burrell) and my parents joined us for a couple of days staying at the nearby caravan park. Redcliffe has always been a favourite spot of ours in Brisbane, so getting to spend a week here was lovely. Great playgrounds along the shore walk meant we could run our 9 year old like crazy to help him burn off a bit of energy!
Peel and St Helena Island’s
After months cruising north of Fraser Island it came as a shock to find what looked to be over 100 boats on anchor off Peel Island on a Sunday with a northerly wind blowing! Equally disconcerting though was to wake up on the Monday morning with almost everybody else gone! We took the hint and moved off to St Helena Island in time for the South-Easterly change to come in. A beautiful beach though and a great spot for swimming.
St Helena island was a real find. We only stopped off there because of a chance conversation with a fellow sailor at Scarborough Marina who had strongly suggested we pay the island a visit if we got the opportunity.
With the SE set to hit it was the perfect easy day sail from Peel, allowing us to catch the right tide to head up the Brisbane river the following day. St Helena Island is now a QLD national park, but in the late 19th Century was prison complete with lime kiln and sugar mill. It operated as a prison until the 1930’s and the grave yard and lime kiln can be visited without an organised tour. It was lonely, beautiful, windswept and hinted at many sad stories.
After months cruising north of Fraser Island it came as a shock to find what looked to be over 100 boats on anchor off Peel Island on a Sunday with a northerly wind blowing! Equally disconcerting though was to wake up on the Monday morning with almost everybody else gone! We took the hint and moved off to St Helena Island in time for the South-Easterly change to come in. A beautiful beach though and a great spot for swimming.
St Helena island was a real find. We only stopped off there because of a chance conversation with a fellow sailor at Scarborough Marina who had strongly suggested we pay the island a visit if we got the opportunity.
With the SE set to hit it was the perfect easy day sail from Peel, allowing us to catch the right tide to head up the Brisbane river the following day. St Helena Island is now a QLD national park, but in the late 19th Century was prison complete with lime kiln and sugar mill. It operated as a prison until the 1930’s and the grave yard and lime kiln can be visited without an organised tour. It was lonely, beautiful, windswept and hinted at many sad stories.
Brisbane River
What a find. We spent over a month up anchored just upriver of the pile moorings in the city. At the time we visited the pile moorings were not open to new tenants, being prepared for some significant maintenance. Disappointingly no provisions for visiting yachts to make use of the toilet and shower facilities had been made by the Brisbane city council whilst the moorings were unavailable. Without sewage discharge facilities and a long motor our to sea this was a huge oversight by the council in our eyes.
Brisbane was full of so many things to do, as you would expect with any capital city, and Brisbane did not disappoint. Our family favourite was undoubtably SouthBank, an easy stroll over the footbridge just upstream from the botanic gardens. There are also two public pontoons that are suitable for dinghies and allow 4 hour stays, and we chanced a dinghy ride up river on a couple of occasions.
The Brisbane museum, just up from Southbank, has free entry and allowed us to do a few science and history lessons. There is a lot to see there and our 9 yr old spent a few afternoons there avoiding the rain - its a quick run from Southbank if you get caught.
We also enjoyed some intense yoga classes up stairs in the Mall at Atama Yoga. Shay even joined in the fun. It was great to work on building some strength in arms and lower back muscles, which are often used when sailing - at least for us when we are constantly struggling with the tiller but perhaps that says more about our inability to manage our sail configuration!!
Finally my favourite spot has to be the Apple store! If you have any Apple products then check out the free tutorials they offer on a range of different programs and products. All three of us did tutorials ranging from how to take the best picture on our iphones, to how to use Keynote to make fantastic presentations. The tutorials are free and the trainers were patient and encouraging. I went to a few topics more than once, and all three trainers were fantastic with our 9 yr old who has pretty a average concentration span! Also, just outside the Apple store and upstairs next to BigW are comfy chairs and tables where free wifi can be accessed until the centre closes in the evening.
What a find. We spent over a month up anchored just upriver of the pile moorings in the city. At the time we visited the pile moorings were not open to new tenants, being prepared for some significant maintenance. Disappointingly no provisions for visiting yachts to make use of the toilet and shower facilities had been made by the Brisbane city council whilst the moorings were unavailable. Without sewage discharge facilities and a long motor our to sea this was a huge oversight by the council in our eyes.
Brisbane was full of so many things to do, as you would expect with any capital city, and Brisbane did not disappoint. Our family favourite was undoubtably SouthBank, an easy stroll over the footbridge just upstream from the botanic gardens. There are also two public pontoons that are suitable for dinghies and allow 4 hour stays, and we chanced a dinghy ride up river on a couple of occasions.
The Brisbane museum, just up from Southbank, has free entry and allowed us to do a few science and history lessons. There is a lot to see there and our 9 yr old spent a few afternoons there avoiding the rain - its a quick run from Southbank if you get caught.
We also enjoyed some intense yoga classes up stairs in the Mall at Atama Yoga. Shay even joined in the fun. It was great to work on building some strength in arms and lower back muscles, which are often used when sailing - at least for us when we are constantly struggling with the tiller but perhaps that says more about our inability to manage our sail configuration!!
Finally my favourite spot has to be the Apple store! If you have any Apple products then check out the free tutorials they offer on a range of different programs and products. All three of us did tutorials ranging from how to take the best picture on our iphones, to how to use Keynote to make fantastic presentations. The tutorials are free and the trainers were patient and encouraging. I went to a few topics more than once, and all three trainers were fantastic with our 9 yr old who has pretty a average concentration span! Also, just outside the Apple store and upstairs next to BigW are comfy chairs and tables where free wifi can be accessed until the centre closes in the evening.