Bums Bay, Gold Coast, QLD

10 months and 3000 nautical miles and we're finally in Queensland! Phew. Surely there's an easier way...!

I love the name of this anchorage. Its officially "Marine Stadium" but locals call it "Bums Bay" because mooring here is free and all the ritzy yachts (i.e. not us lot!) pay big bucks to moor down south in front of the expensive marinas, casinos and five star resorts. Apparently there are proposals to develop the bay into a private marina, but most locals want it retained for the bums who love it just the way it is. All power to them.

So anyway, we're here! Its been an amazing, fun, incredibly challenging journey so far, and its a bit overwhelming to think about how far we've come in such a very ... very long time! ;o)

We have a few social engagements over the next week or so - lots of friends to catch up with plus my gorgeous sister and her fiance are flying in for a friend's wedding - perfect timing! So we'll be around here for the next little while, before deciding where to go next.

Motoring into the Gold Coast this morning over silky-calm seas... 

Last week Michael bottled his first precious home brew (Coopers of course)

Can anyone tell me what kind of bird this is? 

Hawk? Eagle? Very pretty bird - he moved on to BV while we were in Port Macquarie but really overstayed his welcome by dropping gory bits of fish he'd caught on the deck and crapping all over the place! Plus after three weeks I was seriously over his intensely piercing squark... damn nature is annoying sometimes!

Update: ian.eco tells me this is probably a young White-bellied Sea Eagle - thanks Ian!