Arrived in Australia at Last

In the early hours of the morning, after what seemed like a very long passage despite being only 5 days,  we arrived in Australia.  This passage was the first time that we needed our full wet weather gear for the entire passage.  It had been cold beyond reason, partly a result of us having become acclimatised to 30+ degrees, as well as it being an unseasonal cold snap.

I emerged from down below after hiding out from the 30kt winds and big waves, to see the lights marking the harbour at Bundaberg.  

As dawn began to break, we could see the flat coastline and smell the sugar cane.  That distinctive land smell was like heaven.  We hugged, I cried.  The realisation that we had made it over 13,000 miles from the Caribbean to Australia was overwhelming.  Both of us felt relieved that we had no more ocean passages ahead of us.

Gary told me that as he gazed out at the star filled sky during the last night, he asked himself "will I miss this?".  His answer was "yes, but not for a long while".

We had heard so many horror stories of Australian customs and quarantine, but our experience was fantastic.  We had sent our notice of intention to arrive in Australia by email while we were in New Caledonia.  When we arrived, we called quarantine (AQIS), who knew all about us and arrived in minutes.  They kindly called customs for us so we could sit back and relax.  The quarantine process was thorough, but no more difficult than all the other pacific islands.  Customs arrived on the boat shortly after and we filled out the paper work.  I had a few questions since we were leaving Toodles in Australia.  They answered my questions easily and went out of their way to help us out.

Within an hour we were all legal.

Our adventure hadn't ended just yet, we still had another 4 days sail down to Brisbane ahead of us.  But first a few days relaxing in Bundaberg.