... try and find us

  My sister Susan has a stunning holiday house in Port Douglas in Far North Queensland so putting it to good use, my mum and sisters popped up for a holiday.  Its tropical lushness and hot, humid weather was great change from the chilliness of Flinders.  With the Great Barrier Reef within sight off the coast and the UNESCO listed Daintree Rainforest to the north, Port Douglas is a wonderful place to spend some time. There are so many activities to keep you busy, delicious restaurants to feed you and some gorgeous shops in which to spend all your money.    Floating on a lilo in the pool - not quite a high-octane activity but a favourite nontheless! Anyone for tennis?  Also a handy place to do a pump class! Running on the beach is a favourite early morning activity, plucking mangos from the tree for breakfast on the way home But swim only in the netted swimming areas.  Being Australia, there are stingy things that can kill you at this time of year! Great...

  Haven't driven one of these in years! I headed to Flinders while Sean stayed in Canada - both of us to spend some time with mothers specifically and family in general.  So tucked up in my childhood bedroom, the fun begins! The Bunnings Sausage Sizzle The Bunnings Sausage Sizzle is iconic.  Bunnings is a hardware store similar to Home Depot and community groups run the sizzle to raise money.  Bunnings has strict guidelines so no matter who is running the show, the product and pricing is always the same.  Oddly, we always seem to 'need' something from Bunnings around lunchtime! Hmm, that's a lot of mulch that needs spreading Weedy Sea-Dragon mural on the Flinders Motel Hello Cockie! It was with great excitement we welcomed a new family member, Madison May East, the first great granddaughter for Mum and my third great-niece! Congratulations to Sam and Emily. The newest member of our family.  Welcome Madison May! One thing I have been struck with are the bird...

Canmore is still beautiful ...and back in Canada we land, and promptly both get sick!  A BIG thank you to Ruth and Terry for allowing us to hole up at your place while we recuperated.  Nothing like the joy of house guests coughing and snivelling. It's hard to stop snapping pictures ...  ... particularly when the weather is so glorious. Upon recovery, it was a whirlwind of life administration - renewing passports, drivers' licence, doctor, dentist, optometrist, accountant, bank.... everything to keep the plates spinning.  We voted in the municipal election and caught up with friends and family, slipping in a 65th birthday party and a high school reunion. Engadine Lodge, a five-star backcountry lodge, the perfect place for a school reunion We may be a few years older, but we can still winter hike! Mountain Sheep on Highwood Pass Packed lunch (Thanks Engadine Lodge staff!) at the Peter Lougheed Discovery Centre Looking through school...

Chinook's travels to date - 5000nm, 10 countries and we are yet to leave Europe! All too soon the days are getting shorter, the leaves are starting to change and there is a chilly nip in the air.  Time to head south - waaaay south, so far to the south that we're going by plane!  But what of Chinook ? She needs to be lifted for some routine maintenance such as bottom paint and anode replacement.  So, since we need to lift her anyway, we have decided to go to Australia for Christmas and leave her on the hard.  And since she is on the hard and it's summer in Australia, we have decided to leave her until the Spring so we can laze on the beach rather than shiver through another European winter. At the suggestion of friends, we decided to leave her in The Netherlands, in a little town called Elburg.  Elburg is a ridiculously quaint town dating from neolithic times and its current grid pattern dates from the 14th century.  It was a coastal port and part o...

  Are you sure we will fit through there?? Scurrying in front of the storm, we wiggled our way through the sand bars of the Waddensee and through the Lorentzsluis into the IJsselmeer.  We had a glorious sail across the IJsselmeer - it is very shallow but thanks to our awesome lifting centreboard, there were no problems with zipping across the 2m deep water. Well protected from Storm Amy in the old harbour, particularly after they closed the lock Here is the old lock entrance. We navigated this BEFORE we got to the drawbridge.  Whew! Chinook safely alongside in the Old Harbour As the storm was approaching, the harbourmaster came 'round and warned us that the lock doors at the harbour entrance would be closed for the next three days in case of a storm surge.  Unless we left in the next two hours, Chinook was staying for the duration. Not a problem - we will just have a good reconnoiter of this lovely little town. Just in from the harbour is w...