Christmas Down Under

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03f8e8e3.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="04095810.png" border=0 width="149" height="129" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Voyage of S.V. Sea Star</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FF9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04500c82dwnjbj.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Sea Star Voyage</B></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#3366FF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>   |     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sea Star Voyage"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Homeward leg"><U>Homeward leg</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Panama to Mexico"><U>Panama to Mexico</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grenada to ABCs"><U>Grenada to ABC's</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Atlantic crossing"><U>Atlantic crossing</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spanish Family"><U>Spanish Family</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Portugal"><U>Portugal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bay of Biscay"><U>Bay of Biscay</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ireland and London"><U>Ireland and London</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Isle of Man"><U>Isle of Man</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Castles and Lake District"><U>Castles and Lake District</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Arrival in Scotland"><U> Arrival in Scotland</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Norway"><U>Norway</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Germany and Denmark"><U>Germany and Denmark</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Belgium and Holland"><U>Belgium and Holland</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Heading north"><U>Heading north</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Final Days in Paris"><U>Final Days in Paris</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vimy Memorial"><U>Vimy Memorial</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winter in the City of Light"><U>Winter in the City of Light</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christmas in Paris"><U>Christmas in Paris</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Jean to Paris by canal"><U>St. Jean to Paris by canal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Visit Home"><U>Visit Home</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Up the French Canals"><U>Up the French Canals</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="More Italian adventures"><U>More Italian adventures</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Italy"><U>Italy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Greece"><U>Greece</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Turkey"><U>Turkey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cyprus"><U>Cyprus</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Battle up the Red Sea"><U>Battle up the Red Sea</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oman"><U>Oman</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Looking for family roots"><U>Looking for family roots</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Passage to India"><U>Passage to India</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Surviving the Tsunami"><U>Surviving the Tsunami</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thailand"><U>Thailand</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Malaysia"><U>Malaysia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Leaving Indonesia for Singapore"><U>Leaving Indonesia for Singapore</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arriving in Indonesia"><U>Arriving in Indonesia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Leaving Australia"><U>Leaving Australia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sailing with friends"><U>Sailing with friends</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Yamba"><U>Yamba</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cruising the Oz Coast"><U>Cruising the Oz Coast</U></A>   |   Christmas Down Under   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maps"><U>Maps</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kids page"><U>Kids page</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="New Caledonia to Australia"><U>New Caledonia to Australia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vanuatu"><U>Vanuatu</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fiji"><U>Fiji</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wallis Island"><U>Wallis Island</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Samoa"><U>Samoa</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Canton Island"><U>Canton Island</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hawaii"><U>Hawaii</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Leaving Canada"><U>Leaving Canada</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The boat"><U>The boat</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <div> Christmas Down Under</div> <div> At times it feels like we are the maritime equivalent of the Antique Roadshow. Since Volvo doesn't manufacture our saildrive anymore,  with <I>Cstar </I>Matt's help ( removing our engine and driving 700 km to locate a used saildrive) we ended up with enough bits for Mike at Marine Torque to rebuild our leg. We slapped on a coat of anti-fouling and motored up the river to Bundaberg to pick up friends spending Christmas with us. Bundaberg is located in the sugar cane growing area and is renowned for its rum factory.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="104c02c0.jpg" border=0 width="192" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  Bundaberg post office</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="106e12c0.jpg" border=0 width="225" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   munching in a downtown pedestrian mall</div> <bR> <div> Once our friends arrived from Victoria we hopped in a rental and drove up to 1770, a town where Captain Cook came ashore and cooked a bustard.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11110cc0.jpg" border=0 width="272" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> on the road again...</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="109fbe60.jpg" border=0 width="251" height="230" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    heading north on our roadtrip with Sue, Bill and Alice</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="10df22c0.jpg" border=0 width="242" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  Emma and Alice on kangaroo spotting patrol</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="115e12c0.jpg" border=0 width="225" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  Climbing in Bunya National Park</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="117e12c0.jpg" border=0 width="225" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> Intrepid hikers in Carnavon Gorge National Park</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="10fe82c0.jpg" border=0 width="232" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   hitting the beach on International Surfer Girl Day</div> <bR> <div> After our road trip we loaded aboard <I>Sea Star </I>for the 50 mile trip to Lady Musgrave Island to spend Christmas. On the way we were visited by 30 dolphins and one evening we went out with turtle researchers to watch green turtles nest.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11aba2c0.jpg" border=0 width="186" height="300" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> group of three bottle-nosed dolphins bow-riding</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1202ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  Anchored off Lady Musgrave Island</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1222cf30.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="243" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  Green turtle tracks </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1242cd10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="209" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">   Green turtle nesting</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1272cfc0.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  Researcher tagging green turtle</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11e2cd10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="209" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">  opening presents</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>