Beyond the Rally

Or… What should we do now?

It was a strange feeling, a sense of emptiness, knowing that the Rally was over.  It was way back in January when we had first said ‘What the heck, sounds like fun’, and committed to going. From then on, we dedicated all our spare time to preparing for the Rally.  If you go back to the first blog for this trip, you’ll see a list of some of the things we did as part of the preparation, and there were myriad things that didn’t make it on that list that had to be done nonetheless.  So, from January until the of June, our energies were directed to one purpose… and then it was over.

There were lots of discussions going on amongst the Rally participants who didn’t have to rush home – about where to go next.  Some were keen, with a new sense of confidence, to head back out to the Coral Sea Marine Park and continue exploring wild, remote places.  Others were going to head south to the Whitsunday’s playground, and others had their eyes on Cairns and beyond.  We were keen to explore the nearer reefs of the Barrier Reef, and found there were others of like mind. 

First stop after Magnetic Island was Townsville, where we planned to do a full restock, refuel and deep clean.  We were warmly welcomed by the Breakwater Marina – who had been prewarned a bunch of Rally boats might be coming in.  I’ve said before that some places can be ‘sticky’ – you become attached to them for their beauty, their isolation, their access to life’s little luxuries, and they’re hard to leave…  Well, Breakwater Marina proved to be more like super glue…

To begin with, it was great to be able to continue spending time with many of our new friends from the Rally (and some old friends).  Breakwater Marina has a fabulous, grassed BBQ area where cruisers regularly gather, so we appropriated that on our first night.  The next day, a bunch of us walked up to the Flinders Street Markets to buy fresh produce, and enjoyed refreshments at the Rambutan Bar on the way back. The evening saw us on Goolara for drinks and State of Origin.

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The next day, it was announced that a young woman with COVID (Delta variant) had travelled up from Brisbane and gone all over Magnetic Island and Townsville, including the Flinders Street Markets.  Those of us who had gone up to the markets discovered we were considered ‘close contacts’, and ordered to get tested and quarantine for 14 days.  Some of our friends were also considered close contacts due to their movements on Magnetic Island.  So, we raced off for COVID tests – us and half of Townsville.  That was fun, as I’m sure most of you know.  All our tests came back negative.  Graeme and Jamie managed to avoid quarantine as they had come to the market later than me. Townsville went into a 3-day lockdown.  Of course, there was the panic buying right before we went into lockdown…

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Quarantine would not have been half so bad if my neck hadn’t also decided it was time to develop a herniated disk (or impingement at the very least), causing significant nerve pain in my left arm and making it painful to be in any position other than standing up with my left hand positioned comically on my head.  The kind of medical assistance I needed was impossible to get under quarantine.  After several days of trying to deal with it, Qld Health sent an ambulance for me, with the paramedics dressed head to toe in PPE, to take me to hospital.  In the hospital, I was made to stand in a marked-out square, then moved to an isolation room.   Part of the process was another COVID test.  The doctor finally decided I needed an MRI, but they wouldn’t give me one because it wasn’t an ‘emergency’.  The best thing I could get for my trouble was a script for good painkillers, but I was told I couldn’t fill the script as I couldn’t go to a chemist!  When I was discharged, I asked the doctor how I was supposed to get back to the boat.  She told me to catch a taxi, and if I didn’t have a phone I was welcome to use the payphone in the Emergency waiting room.  So much for policies and procedures…

Two weeks dragged by… Graeme and Jamie kept busy with visits to museums, amusement arcades, water parks and places that sold pizza and ice-cream.  Graeme knocked over a few boat jobs and used the Marina car to get parts and fishing gear.  He got the TV working and we watched Australia’s Ash Barty win Wimbleton. 

Quarantine finally ended, and we had a ‘coming out’ party at the BBQ area with about 20 attendees.  Here’s the rub.  Turns out the COVID-infected girl who visited from Brisbane had simply crossed the road in the vicinity of the markets, to catch a bus to the airport.  We were barely even casual contacts.  By some stroke of luck, NOT ONE case of COVID came about from her naughty little holiday. I was finally allowed to get some physio for my neck, and discovered on the 2km walk to the physio that the best pain relief was walking.

David and Al (Graeme’s brother and his wife), who had been ‘land cruising’ (and had managed to get into Queensland before the borders clanged shut) moved aboard on the weekend of Graeme’s birthday.  We enjoyed Graeme’s birthday at Longboards, followed by birthday cake. 

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We finally unglued ourselves from Townsville, first stop, Horseshoe Bay.  Sally and Forfar from Sarisha joined us one orange-sunset evening for drinks.

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Our next stop was John Brewer Reef, which is only 30nm from Horseshoe Bay.  It was here that we found one of the best snorkelling areas of our trip.  The coral bommies at John Brewer are thick with table coral, stacked on top of each other in various shades of pink, salmon and yellow. And there’s a fabulous underwater art installation… Here’s a little teaser, with more to come in the next blog:

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