Cairns to low islet and beyond
Exiting Cairns after meeting up with Michael and his family had sent a good vibe through the boat. Hannah and I were discussing our future plans for when we reach St Helena. The kids talked about the schools the would go to and making new friends. Sports, especially swimming was high on the list after hearing how well St Helena had done at the Island games in Gotland. It all seems so promising.
With Low Islet on the horizon it was the journey that needed some atmosphere. We decided to get on with building a kite from my past. We had the bamboo so there was no excuse not to continue. Sadie was first to seize the opportunity to get involved and we stripped the bamboo, trimming off the nutty sections making a long even strip. Tape was used at the ends to stop any splitting and notches made to take the string. Once the frame was made the other kids joined in with the covering the frame with sticky back plastic and then stuck their drawings to it.
There was one final touch, the tails that played a major part in the flight of the kite. The kids had never seen the done before, only on movies and books it might have been seen. Anyway, a long tail was attached to the kite and so was the kids enthusiasm.
Our arrival at Low Islet was focused on one thing, will our home made kite fly?
A beach landing was made on the south east corner of the island and the tender ramped above the tide line. Our presence with a kite and excited kids getting out of the tender did spark some confusion with the tourists as they bob head snorkelled with spaghetti buoyancy along the reef.
With holiday makers being transported to the beach from the mothership, we managed to find an uninviting part of the island.
A little adjustment on the lines of the kite, it flew high and far with smiley kids at the oppite end. The overwhelming sucess of our project never wore off the kids, only plans to fly it another day as we made it back to the yacht.
Earlier lunch preparation of chicken curry didn't take long to leave an aroma in the boat interior and the kids sat outside in the warmth of the day eating it. What they didn't know until they started dropping food scraps into the sea was that there were a lot of fish under the boat. There were large Amber Jacks, Bat fish, Remora, Sharks. . . . .lots of them! Unfortunately there is no fishing allowed here, we can only watch.
Our stay here at Low Islet was short. The next stop at Hope Island was even shorter with just the over night stay. We hope that the most talked about island at this part of the Great Barrier Reef, Lizard Island will create some more adventures for the kids in the cockpit!
With Low Islet on the horizon it was the journey that needed some atmosphere. We decided to get on with building a kite from my past. We had the bamboo so there was no excuse not to continue. Sadie was first to seize the opportunity to get involved and we stripped the bamboo, trimming off the nutty sections making a long even strip. Tape was used at the ends to stop any splitting and notches made to take the string. Once the frame was made the other kids joined in with the covering the frame with sticky back plastic and then stuck their drawings to it.
There was one final touch, the tails that played a major part in the flight of the kite. The kids had never seen the done before, only on movies and books it might have been seen. Anyway, a long tail was attached to the kite and so was the kids enthusiasm.
Our arrival at Low Islet was focused on one thing, will our home made kite fly?
A beach landing was made on the south east corner of the island and the tender ramped above the tide line. Our presence with a kite and excited kids getting out of the tender did spark some confusion with the tourists as they bob head snorkelled with spaghetti buoyancy along the reef.
With holiday makers being transported to the beach from the mothership, we managed to find an uninviting part of the island.
A little adjustment on the lines of the kite, it flew high and far with smiley kids at the oppite end. The overwhelming sucess of our project never wore off the kids, only plans to fly it another day as we made it back to the yacht.
Earlier lunch preparation of chicken curry didn't take long to leave an aroma in the boat interior and the kids sat outside in the warmth of the day eating it. What they didn't know until they started dropping food scraps into the sea was that there were a lot of fish under the boat. There were large Amber Jacks, Bat fish, Remora, Sharks. . . . .lots of them! Unfortunately there is no fishing allowed here, we can only watch.
Our stay here at Low Islet was short. The next stop at Hope Island was even shorter with just the over night stay. We hope that the most talked about island at this part of the Great Barrier Reef, Lizard Island will create some more adventures for the kids in the cockpit!
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