Fitzroy Island is a popular destination for tourists, it's easy to get to from Cairns, and the turtles are abundant. We didn't see much live coral unless we weren't looking in the right spot? Sailing into Cairns was a breeze with the high winds. We are lucky to be escaping the winds for a week. It was a good opportunity to catch up with our pals from Cat-O-Gery and Reeflection and to get home for a few days to see our family.

Continuing on our Lap of Australia - Havannah Island is one of the islands in the Great Palm Island group. I saw an advertisement that you can hire a helicopter at $780pp to land here and have your own private beach. John collected some rubbish that had landed on the beach, but there was more that we couldn't take. There are piles of dead coral on the beach, which makes for an exciting walk. We anchored for the night off Orpheus Island Res...

Continuing the lap of Australia on Paradise – We berthed at Townsville Marina for three nights. With a population of nearly 200,000, Townsville is a vibrant town and it's much larger and nicer than I imagined. It's another Far North Queensland Town that is impeccably maintained, no wonder so many choose to live here. The weather was perfect for our stay, which made it even better. 

Continuing the lap of Australia on Paradise – Our friends Peter and Vicki Junk joined us to Magnetic Island. They are locals, living in Townsville and Magnetic Island – what a life!Peter and I met when were on The Board of the Royal Australia Chemical Institute (RACI), he was El Presidente of Australia, and I was the NSW Branch President.It's great that our friendship continues beyond the association. There is so much to see and do on Magn...

Continuing on our Lap of Australia – this video is all about John and the hilarious noises he makes. Is it a tuna, a queen fish or a mackerel…..