All Good Things Come To An End.

It is Monday 1st October 2012. We started organising this trip in March 2012 and cant believe that 7 months later we have travelled the following distances in boat and car.  Its been the most amazing experience for us both, we have learnt many a thing, met some lovely people, seen some of the most brilliant sceneries, sunsets, wildlife and really lived a dream we are sure so many people wish for.

Mingo rearing to go.

There have been ups and downs during the trip and a few scary moments but they make the good times that bit more special and definatley make you a stronger person.   How do you explain in words the things that we have seen, the experiences that we have been through together?  Only we really know how great and tough it has been.  There have been a few tears shed, a few drops of blood along the way, a few bruises had, too many bites to scratch and even a doubt or too at times on what the hell we are doing.    We together will share these memories for a lifetime and are glad to be able to share it along the way through Mingosoasis with you.  There are no words and no emotions or feelings that I can write that can show what an adventurous time we have had from the early days of selling the house to the day we arrived in Townsville. 

Loving life and each other

So many people said to us before we started this trip and all along the way, how will you guys survive together just the two of you on a boat that is only 30 foot long with a space of 30 square meters. We knew we could do it because we believe we have an exceptional relationship.  Yes we wont deny there were trying times and there were words spoken but not many, when you live in a space this size and you only have each other to rely on you actually begin to appreciate each other so much more and learn to tolerate the things that would probably annoy you in normal life.  I say normal life because this life we have been living for the past 7 months is not the norm.   It’s a very different life living on the water than it is on land.  Things are harder.  You have to ration everything more, you have to keep watch all the time on the things on land that you would take for granted such as weather, water, food, fuel, battery life and even the motor problems.  If there is a problem with the motor at sea, its not like you can call a mechanic to come get you out of trouble in an hour or so.    When you live in such close proximity to another person you share everything, every good, bad and ugly moment there may be.  There is nothing that is sacred anymore and we believe after this and the trials and tribulations that were there at the start back in March we can now handle just about anything together.

Andrew jumping with joy at being free

Chris jumping with joy at being free

The weather rules your life at sea, it dictates where and when you go, where you can stay and how much fuel you will get through.  If the winds blow up the swell is bigger meaning your boat eats more fuel.  If the winds are blowing in certain directions it dictates the bay or inlet you are able to stay in.  If you get it wrong the night will be very rocky and the chance of loosing anchor a lot greater.  When you look out at sea next and see a yacht or motorboat cruising around, just think of all the things that they have to think about before going to bed that night and what the weather is doing to them. 

Having fun 

We had hoped to start this trip in April 2012, but because of the motor problems we delayed it until July.  The reasons we chose April is because when you are heading north, the winds between April and September are Trade winds, meaning south south easterlies, which means the winds are blowing behind you.  The other times of year the winds are mainly northerlies, which are fine if you are heading south but not heading north.  Like I said, there are reasons for everything whilst on the water.

The books we used for our navigation were so useful and told us so much about where and where not to go.  We bought charts but did not use them, all the areas we covered we followed by the four books we had and also the gps navigation system, they were our bibles on the water.

A few things we have learnt and mistakes made – which cause a few laughs now…

·      Make sure you tie the anchor down so it does not let go and anchor you unexpectedly in 20 meters of water with 3 meters of swell.

·      Make sure the hatch is closed and locked at all times so that you don’t have to sleep on a wet bed.

·      Make sure you are always aware of your surroundings and don’t come into a marina or bar the wrong way and nearly end up on the rocks in a capsized boat.

·      Listen to the weatherman, even though they can be wrong, really they DO KNOW BEST.

·      Take lots of toilet paper.

·      Make sure you have lots of beer and wine for after those white knuckle rides.

·      When venturing up mangroves, make sure you have plenty of bug spray on.

·      Make sure the batteries are on ALL before going to bed, or you end up with a flat battery in the morning and cant start the motor.

·      Always bring your fishing rods in at night; otherwise unknown fish steal them after dark.

·      Know the route you are going in case the swell picks up unexpectedly and you are lost at sea.

·      Always take snorkeling and fishing gear in tinny when venturing in new areas, so you don’t miss out.

·      If you cant tie a knot properly, ties lots of improper knots just to be on the safe side.

·      Make sure you anchor or tie the tinny up so it does not end up as someone else’s salvage rights.

·      Make sure your batteries and solar panels can keep up with your electricity usage.

·      Make sure you have enough fuel in your tinny so you don’t have to paddle back to Mingo.

A really burning sunset

·      When calling into ports and shopping, discard all packaging’s before heading to sea, as there are no rubbish bins out at sea. – And rubbish smells.

·      Last but not least – LESS is MORE!!!!!!!

·      Oh and there is no need for high heels at sea…………

Leaving Scarborough by boat on July 2012 and heading to Townsville in September 2012.  The route we took and fuel we used and hours we clocked up and kilometres we travelled by boat are as follows.

25.07.12 – Scarborough – Mooloolaba - 51km – 4hrs

27.07.12 – Mooloolaba – Inskip Point (Pelican Bay) – 121.7km – 8hrs

28.07.12 – Inskip Point – Tin Can Bay – 22km – 1.5 hours

28.07.12 – Tin Can Bay – Fraser  - Dream Island – 48.3km  - 3 hrs.

29.07.12 – Dream Island - King Fisher Bay – 31.3km – 3hrs

31.07.12 – King Fisher Bay – Hervey Bay – 27.9km – 3hrs

01.08.12 – Hervey Bay – Bundaberg –Burnett River – 85.3km – 5.5hrs

02.08.12 – Bundaberg –Town of Seventeen Seventy – 110km – 7hrs

03.08.12 – Town of 1770 –Pancake Creek – 38.1 km – 2hrs

04.08.12 – Pancake Creek – Gladstone – 55km – 3hrs

04.08.12 – Gladstone – Start of Narrows – 21.2km – 2hrs

05.08.12 - Start of Narrows to The Keppel south Island – 64.8km – 3.5hrs

06.08.12 – South Keppel Island – Keppel Bay – 10km – 3hrs

07.08.12 – Keppel Bay – Pumpkin Island (XXXX Island)- 10km – 1hr

07.08.12 – Pumpkin Island – North Keppel – 4.1km – 30 mins

08.08.12 – North Keppel – Rosslyn Bay (Yeppoon) – 16.2km – 1.5hrs

09.08.12 – Rosslyn Bay – return to Rosslyn Bay – 74km – 4hrs

12.08.12 – Rosslyn Bay – Port Clinton – 91.7km – 4hrs

14.08.12 – Port Clinton – Pearl Bay – 27.5km – 3hrs

15.08.12 – Pearl Bay – Island Head Creek – 19.8km – 1hr

16.08.12 – Island Head Creek – Thirsty Sound (Plum Tree) – 82km – 3hrs

17.08.12 –Thirsty Sound – The Dukes – 24.5km – 1.5hrs

17.08.12 – The Dukes –Middle Percy Island (Whites Bay) – 50km – 3.5hrs

19.08.12 – Whites Bay – Curlew Island – 61km – 2.5 hours

21.08.12 – Curlew Island –Mackay – 85 km – 3hrs

23.08.12 – Mackay – Brampton Islands (Start Whitsundays) – 41.8km – 3hrs

24.08.12 – Brampton Island – Goldsmith Island - 25.4km – 2hrs

25.08.12 – Goldsmith Island – Thomas Island – 17.3km – 1.5hrs

25.08.12 – Thomas Island –Lindeman Island - 23km – 40mins

26.08.12 – Lindeman Island – Whitehaven Beach – 20.5km – 2hr 20 mins

27.08.12 – Whitehaven Beach – Gulnare Inlet – 26.2km – 1hr 30 mins

30.08.12 – Gulnare Inlet – South Molle Island – 26.9km – 2 hours

31.08.12 – South Molle Island – Funnel Bay - 18km – 1.5hrs

01.09.12 – Funnel Bay – Airlie Beach (Abell Point)- 3km – 30 mins

02.09.12 –Airlie Beach – Hook Island (Nara Inlet) – 31.7km – 2hrs

04.09.12 – Nara Inlet – Macona Inlet – 9.3km – 1hr

06.09.12 – Macona Inlet – Butterfly Bay – 27km – 2hrs

07.09.12 – Butterfly Bay – Tongue Point – 3.5km – 2hrs

08.09.12 – Tongue Point –Cid Harbour (Dugong Inlet) – 27.9km – 1.5hrs

09.09.12 – Cid Harbour back to Cid Harbour -10km – 2.5hrs

10.09.12 – Cid Harbour – Airlie Beach – 31.2km – 2hrs

11.09.12 – Airlie Beach – Gloucester Passage – 51km – 3 hrs.

13.09.12 – Gloucester Passage – Bowen – 22km – 2 hrs.

13.09.12 – Bowen – Cape Upstart – 96.5km – 2 hrs.

14.09.12 – Cape Upstart – Cape Bowling Green – 72.6km – 2.5 hrs.

14.09.12 – Cape Bowling Green –Townsville – 66.1km – 2hrs

Fuel Stops

25.07.12 – Scarbourgh - $840

28.07.12 – Tin Can Bay - $594

31.07.12 – Hervey Bay - $200

01.08.12 – Bundaberg - $250

04.08.12 – Gladstone - $650

08.08.12 – Rosslyn Bay – $550

09.08.12 – Rosslyn Bay - $250

16.08.12 – Thirsty Sound - $735

21.08.12 – Mackay - $750

01.09.12 – Airlie Beach - $709

10.09.12 – Airlie Beach - $279

13.09.12 – Bowen - $524

Total Kilometres – 1883.3 kilometres

Total Hours – 115.4

Cost of Fuel - $6331

Cost of running boat is $3.36 per kilometre

Leaving Mooloolaba by car on September 23rd and arriving in Townsville on 28th September 2012.  The route we took and fuel we used and hours we clocked up and kilometres we travelled by car are as follows.

23.09.12 – Mooloobala – Tin Can Bay – 133 kms  - 1hr 40mins

23.09.12 – Tin Can Bay – Rainbow Beach – 39.4km -  35 mins

23.09.12 – Rainbow Beach –Maryborough (Mary River) – 125.8km – 2hrs

24.09.12 – Maryborough – Childers – 59.7km – 45mins

24.09.12 – Childers –Woodgate – 30km – 45 mins

24.09.12 –Woodgate –Bundaberg (Moore Park Beach) – 145km – 2hrs

25.09.12 – Bundaberg – Miriam Vale – 157km – 2 hrs. 45mins

25.09.12 – Miriam Vale – Rockhampton – 166.1km – 3hrs

25.09.12 – Rockhampton – The Caves – 34km – 30mins

26.09.12 – The Caves – Claireview – 178km – 2hrs

26.09.12 – Claireview –Mackay -122km – 1hr 40 mins

26.09.12 – Mackay – One Mile Creek – 98km – 1hr 30 mins

27.09.12 – One Mile Creek  - Airlie Beach – 100km – 1hr 15 mins

27.09.12 – Airlie Beach – Cedar Creek Falls – 28km – 45 mins

27.09.12 – Cedar Creek Falls – Dingo beach  - Cape Gloucester – 65km – 1hr 30

28.09.12 – Cape Gloucester – Bowen – 95km – 1hr 20 mins

28.09.12 –Bowen  - Townsville – 215km – 2hrs 30 min

Total Kilometres – 1791 kilometres

Total Hours – 23hrs 30 mins

Cost of Fuel - $422.37

Cost of running the car is 23c per km

Cost of running boat is $3.36 per kilometre against 23c per kilometre to run the car.

We are now based in Townsville to see some of the sights that Far North Queensland has to offer before we start our next chapter of adventures.

October 2012.

A favourite spot at Hill End