Back on Austalia's Sunshine Coast ... In Winter

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July 8-13 -- Visiting Australia's Sunshine Coast...in Winter

The two captains landed in Brisbane, Australia before dawn on July 8th, 2011 after a 14 1/2 hour flight from Dallas that was shortened (thankfully) by lighter than normal headwinds. Unfortunately, we ended up seated in the centermost two seats of a row of four in the center of the 747's economy section. This meant we were packed in like sardines without the freedom to get up when we wanted or access overhead lockers when we wanted. Plus, Quantas doles out all sorts of goodies like pillow, blanket, sleep mask kit, bottled water, snack packages, headphones, etc. after you are seated, and all that has to get squeezed in somewhere, or else, it disappears into the nether regions beneath your legs, not to be found, in some cases, until after you land! It is amusing that, given that you can barely budge, there is a big promotion of exercising throughout the flight. Fortunately, we had nice seat mates, and we simply got up every time they did.

The morning of our arrival in Brisbane was gorgeous. Bright and clear and...damn chilly. We picked up our rental car -- a Skoda made by a former Soviet country! --, distributed ourselves to the correct sides of the vehicle, and picked our way gingerly out into the left lane traffic. After that it was a snap to whiz along northbound on the Bruce Highway with the rising sun, listening to the radio and following our directions to Tricky and Jane's (formerly of sv Lionheart) new house in Buderim.

Buderim is a charming town built on top of the first big hill that sticks up from the flat land that extends between it and Brisbane, only interrupted by the well worn jags of the famous Glass House Mountains -- "mountains" are little more than well eroded volcanic plugs. Buderim is where many of our friends who landed in Mooloolaba have ended up buying homes. It is suburban bordering on country. Out behind Tricky and Jane's house (which actually is very reminiscent of our own in atmosphere) is a tract of thick "bush" -- a jungle of various gum trees and lots of intriguing birds, as well as Tricky and Jane's organic hydroponic gardening efforts and their flock of chickens. BUT the lot next door is being built upon (the owner with a rental dozer worked at grading his various levels from dawn until dusk every day we were there!) and across the street is a development of open hillside that seeks to attract 16 homes!

We arrived as Tricky -- nowadays known more professionally as Richard -- was heading off to work. Don went with him, while Jane and I pushed three-month old Millie (Amelia) about a mile and a half up the hill by way of forest trail and gorgeous neighborhoods to the village center for lunch and a coffee.

Whether there would ever be a Millie was by no means certain when we first met T&J in Savu Savu fresh out of New Zealand on their first voyage. About the same age as our daughter and son-in-law, they had both led adventurous lives, mixing professional careers in various countries with high-energy hobbies like mountain biking, sailing and kite boarding. Cruising was an exciting new world and also included opportunities to party hearty, but Jane and I both remember serious conversations about biological clocks and the ramifications of both having and not having kids. I would not have put money in those days that these two would be where they are now.

Which is partners in what has shaped up to be a very successful multihull brokerage based in Mooloolaba. Already in the works when we left two years ago, Multihull Solutions is now doing big business! Big enough that Tricky and his partners have decided they need a rep in the US that they can ask to check out boats for sale there.

There is a big appeal for Aussies, whose dollar is (painfully) strong right now, to fly to America and pick up a boat at relatively bargain prices, and many Aussies do just that. However, as you might guess there are multiple pitfalls in the process that lie in wait for neophytes. So, Tricky and his partners hope to offer a facilitating service. Guess who has been persuaded to be that US rep. At least one, (if not both) of the two captains. As presented, it's a fairly easy job; just followup likely leads that Richard and his partner locate, with a personal visit to determine if the boat is as presented before the client flies across the Pacific. And then, when he/she does, be a friendly face (than can speak a little Aussie) to meet and greet and guide them around.

Don and I are hardly catamaran experts -- our upcoming cruise on Quantum Leap being our virtual debut. But experienced cruiser eyes and a healthy dose of skepticism is actually what is called for. So Richard's plan led to Don's and my spending some time crawling around some of the several catamarans they have for sale on their docks. I'm not sure what it means that after having done so, we were still pretty skeptical that all the money these boats cost would be be worth it...to us. But the Aussies have some $$$$ to spend these days, what with the booming mining economy, and they sure do seem to have a taste for cats.

In between catamarans and visiting with Richard and Jane, Don and I spent our time trying to track down other friends. Our broker who sold Tackless II in Scarborough was in Germany for her daughter's wedding, Jim and Paula of Avior were (like many Aussie sailors at this time of year) enjoying the delights of cruising the Whitsundays, and our Harley friends Graeme and Di left the morning of our arrival on a motorcycle trip.

However our good friends Peter and Sandy of sv Otama Song, not only were able to join us at Tricky and Jane's for a proper Aussie Barbecue, but we managed to find our way out to their latest real estate acquisition, a rural fixer-upper in the lovely countryside west of Buderim. We also were able to catch up with Rod and Sue of Idlewise, who took us on a most memorable 4WD beach trip two years ago. Idlewise is a big motoryacht parked across the dock from T2's old slip, and Rod and Sue have a family business not altogether unlike ours. After a few hours comparing notes about businesses and kids. Sue exclaimed that we seem to be living parallel lives

In between all this visiting, we spent our time trying to keep/get warm. We knew before coming, of course, that it was winter in south Queensland, and we brought a few jeans and long sleeves, but we didn't fully realize that Queenslanders don't have insulation or central heat. Tricky and Jane did give us a portable radiator, which, I'm embarrassed to admit we left on in our bedroom the whole time we were there. Only baby Amelia had it as good, and she didn't whine as much as we did when forced to emerge. The first few days we lived in all our warm clothes layered on top of one another, including our foul weather jackets...even at the dinner table! But I must confess things warmed up quite a bit after the weekend, and we even took some sun on the Mooloolaba beach...after sipping flat white coffees on the Esplanade.

Our time passed quickly and before we knew it we were back in the Skoda on the Bruce Highway, southbound this time, back to the Brisbane airport to catch our flight to Darwin....where, we were excited about getting back on the water, seeing more old friends...and, yes...warmer temps!