Sécurité, sécurité, strong wind warning.

I knew that wind this morning was strong enough to blow a dog off its chain. We left the safety of Pelican Bay and headed north under storm sails – two handkerchiefs wouldn’t have looked out of place up our mast! Roo Bin Esque lifted her skirts and scooted along in the gusty winds and Continue reading


Crossing the bar

Crossing the bar means many things to many people. Alfred Lord Tennyson’s beautiful poem always makes me cry with its promise and its farewell. A  bar crossing can be the start of an adventure or the finish, where safe harbour and family and friends beckon. It can be a treacherous bar, with currents and eddies Continue reading


Where’s Zeus?

Well that’s a relief! Day One is under our belts (or is that under our keel?). After a mad dash to the airport to drop off the hire car, followed by  a journey back to Manly on Brisbane’s trains (entertained by Margareta Osborn’s fabulous ‘Hope’s Road’ on my iPhone), good friends came to throw our Continue reading


And the sun sets on a new day

Phew, it’s been a hectic day, but I’m aboard Roo Bin Esque and settling into the rhythm of a marina with GW and Zeus. As it’s a long weekend the activity has been frenetic all day. Many of our neighbours have already cast off. April also marks the beginning of the cruising season in Queensland Continue reading


Farewells and new beginnings

It’s my last night in our house. It feels empty and a little sad without GW and Zeus. I knew I’d have mixed emotions when the time came to pack everything up, downsize and move onto a boat. Good to see I haven’t disappointed myself…. It’s not that I don’t want to turn into a Continue reading


Colours of the morning

We’ve been on a mission to get as much stuff  as we could onto Roo Bin Esque for our planned cruise back to Cairns in April so we organised a one way relocation rental for $1 day to drive a camper van south to Brisbane. (I think the pictures in the brochure must have been taken Continue reading


How to make a diamond sparkle!

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming another debut Penguin author, Kathryn Ledson. If you’re a devotee of Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum then you need to read ROUGH DIAMOND because Erica Jewell will kick Stephanie’s pert backside into touch! (And this from a devoted Stephanie fan!!!) Snappy dialogue, a rich cast of characters and Continue reading