- Date: April 19, 1987
- Location: Cairns, Australia to Fitzroy Island
- Subject: Easter weekend Fun at Fitzroy Island
Dear WaterFiary:
Three Cheers for Easter Weekend at Fitzroy Island! Hip-Hip- Hooray, Hip-Hip- Hooray, Hip-Hip- Hooray! We certainly had a grand old time these past few days.
Saturday:
Started out normal, Capt’s Kookaburra call at “O’dawn thiry”, as Mom would say. But this is one situation where we didn’t mind being woken up early, but I am not sure how the neighbors felt. The sun was just coming up over the island, and a really pretty color of pinks and purples. Sunrise does not last long, and the next thing you know it’s daylight.
We had pancakes, bacon and fruit for breakfast, and I made pancakes. Got most of them perfect except for the first one, which almost always comes out lousy. Mom says it is the tester pancake, and we need to offer it up to the food Gods. Mom also said the best secret to good pancakes is to sift the flour into the mix, and once the batter is made, let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes. While I was waiting for the batter to sit, I broiled the bacon nice and crispy and brown. We had our tucker (food) overlooking the coral reef, anchored boats – about 20 in all, white beach and green rainforest of Fitzroy Island. It was so quiet we could hear the clanking and tinkling of the coral being washed ashore by the breaking waves. It was only a matter of time before Capt said, “I wonder what the poor people are doing today?”
After brekky (breakfast) we got into our snorkeling masks and fins, and jumped over the side of “Sacha-B” and headed for the coral reefs. Mom said, early morning is a great time to snorkel, because there will not be many people out yet and we can have the place all to ourselves, for a while anyway. We saw tons of colorful fish, clown fish, parrot fish, lots of colorful coral. There were even some small reef sharks. I was not scared when I saw the reef sharks, even though they were about 5 feet long, because they are not dangerous and do not eat or attack people, or so Mom’s nature book says. There were also sea anemones and other cool stuff stuck on the coral, but the coolest is the giant clams. The giant clams are about 3 feet long, can weigh up to 400 pounds and are white shelled with a beautiful bright blue/green mantle. They sort of look like chinese dumplings to me with their fluted edges. You do not want to make the mistake of putting your hand anywhere near the mantle, because if it closes shut, you will probably never get your hand out! At least that is what Capt says, so you never know if he is just kidding, but I will not try to find out.
After goofing around for almost 2 hours, we were swimming back to the boat and FINALLY got to see a few green sea turtles. So big, and graceful and not at all bothered by us swimming nearby. We did not get too close, but close enough to see their cute little faces and eyes. They swim mostly using their front fins to paddle and their back, flatter fins are used to help them steer, like a rudder. Capt said the biggest one must have be very old because he/she had barnacles growing on its shell.
In the afternoon, we all headed over to the resort again to meet up with the other yachties. Grandpa Pete decided he was going to take all the kids for a tire ride around the island. So anyone under 30 was allowed to join. It was Hannah, Melinda, BG and me. We all got into our life vests and headed down to “The Mover.” There was a long tow rope off the back of “The Mover” and a HUGE inflated tire, probably from one of Grandpa Pete’s big earth moving machines. Us kids grabbed onto the tire and off Grandpa Pete went, giving us a fun ride. Grandpa Pete was a good driver and did not go too fast or too curvy, but gave us enough excitement to keep us happy. Sometimes the water splashed in our faces, and sometimes someone could not hold on and fell into the water, but Grandpa Pete was always watching and always rescued us. It was fun, fun, fun. I think the grown-ups were a bit upset that they did not get their turn.
For dinner, most of the yachties met on the resort beach, which has bbq grills on the beach. We brought our picnic basket, food, drinks, chairs and mozzie spray (which we did not need) over and enjoyed a great cook-out. Grandpa Pete brough the fresh tuna that they caught on yesterday’s sail, and shared it with everyone. It was delicious, cooked in tinfoil with some salt, pepper, onions, garlic and lemon wheels. The fish was placed on a bed of sliced potatoes. Grandpa Pete made it very clear that it was BG who caught the fish, and says that BG is a fish whisperer, and can catch any fish, any time. I think BG was a little embarrassed by his grandpa’s bragging, but seemed pleased as punch with the praise. Someone bought some firewood from the resort and we had a big old bonfire on the beach. I brought my book, “Mary Poppins Opens the Door” and Hannah read out loud to Melinda and me while we were laying on a blanket near the fire. It was perfect. Hannah is a great reader and can do the voices of the characters, and can even imitate an British accent. My only complaint would be the grown ups were, once again are so noisy! They have so many stories to tell, most of which involves shouting and laughing. Then one story reminds someone of another story, and off they go.
Sunday:
Capt in the galley for Sunday Brekky, of course. I woke up to a bright pink and green Easter Basket in the cockpit, filled with jelly beans, chocolate eggs and some hair ties and embroidery thread. I got to have 2 chocolate eggs with my breakfast. I asked Mom and Capt if they wanted an egg, which I would be happy to share. But I did not mind when they both said no thank you.
After cleaning up the galley, we hightailed it to the island so we could do the bush walk up to the lighthouse before it got too hot and too crowded. So, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen and tons of water and we were ready for our adventure. Mom, of course, brought her nature book and small binoculars. The trekk was about 4 km round trip, but seemed much longer because it was such a steep climb but mostly through the shade and all paved. We stopped often and just spent some time admiring the view of the Coral Sea and the plants and animals of the rainforest. Mom was trying to spot a humpback whale but she said it was a bit too early in the season to see them migrating. Capt, of course, was interested in the old buildings and other things that are related to WWII, and the lighthouse. He was describing to me in great detail how the lighthouse worked, but I was more interested in the big, gorgeous Green Triangle butterfly and the Ulysses butterfly.
We got back to the resort pool, and enjoyed the picnic lunch that Mom packed, and left in the lockers, so she did not have to carry it up and down the hill, poolside. Mom also packed our “afternoon gear” meaning bathers, towels and snorkeling gear. We only had until one o’clock to pool, which is fresh water.
Capt said we have to have the anchor up and be under way by 1:30 so we could make it back to Cairns in daylight. Capt headed back early taking all of our gear and getting Sacha-B ready to sail. I think he enjoys being on the boat by himself for a little while. Mom and I stayed behind, and when it was time to leave, we headed down to the beach and snorkled back to the boat.
Mom told me to grab a fresh shower and settle in for a sail home. We had another beautiful sail, under blue skies and the occasional huge white fluffy clouds. It was smooth enough for me to finish my journal.
So that was our Easter weekend. Capt says, the hard work starts up again tomorrow because we have to pull Sacha-B out of the water for a few days and finish getting ready for the trip. Meanwhile, I will continue to read “Mary Poppins”. I must say, the Mary Poppins in the book is not really very nice and sweet like the movie. Sometimes she is downright mean. But she is magical.
