We got news a few days back of Cyclone “Yasi” fast approaching North Queensland. How lucky the people of Cairns and our boat AROONA have been to miss the full force of this massive Cyclone, it is incredible that at this stage there is no report of any loss of life.
The captain and his father did a great job of tucking Aroona well up a little creek in the inlet amongst the mangroves. We just got news that he is back on-board and everything is okay - no damage at all just covered in a fair bit of leaf litter from the mangroves. Whew!!
AROONA will soon be back at her new home at Half Moon Bay Marina, Yorkeys Knob, just north of Cairns. The trip north ended up taking a little longer than anticipated – we got news of a family illness when we were at Mooloolaba just after New Year’s. We headed off up the inside passage past Moreton and Stradbroke Islands to Mooloolaba. New Year's Eve and the next couple of days with all the family and friends were delightful. We were moored right amongst the fishing fleet which turned out to be a great spot with no noisy neighbors. Great time had by all!
After New Year’s, AROONA traveled on with the Captain and some family up through the Sandy Straits in between Fraser Island and the mainland and then on to Bundaberg. Water conditions were a little dirty with a lot of the rivers in flood after the big rains. They still managed to boat AROONA’s first Spanish Mackerel. After Bundaberg, they visited several islands along the way, and from the photos they took, they visited some lovely spots.
We rejoined AROONA at Hamilton Island with a couple of mates for the rest of the trip north. We had beautiful calm weather around the Whitsundays, caught a couple of fish, visited Whitehaven Beach, snorkeled and the boys taught me how to skurf. Early the next morning we headed out to the Outer Reef, where we fished, did some more snorkeling and spent the night doing a spot of shark fishing.
From there, we came back in towards the Palm Islands where we caught two ripper fish. We then spent the night there, before we entered the Hinchinbrook Channel. Next morning, we put the tender down and fished up a couple of lovely creeks where we caught a good feed for lunch of flathead and one nice perch. The following day we headed off to Cairns, fortunately getting in before the heavy rain set in.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip and we felt very satisfied to finally have AROONA safely at her home at Yorkey Knob.
- Andrew and Linda P., Owners of Outer Reef 700 Motoryacht "AROONA"
Back to All Testimonials