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American Spirit II - Day 204; Tour of MacKay & New AIS Installed on Boat; Monday, July 28, 2014



Up at 5:50 AM today as Jeanine Miami and I are off to an all day tour of the MacKay area. Joel, unfortunately, will be waiting for an electrician to have some work done on the boat. Besides getting a new AIS (Automatic Identification System) installed, we're having our water maker looked at and some antennae's moved around. This new AIS is an improved model from what we've had before, so we're a little more confident that our SSB radio will not blow this one up. Our SSB radio has already fried 3 previous AIS units. This time we're also installing a switch to turn off the AIS when I send out and receive our emails and logs. Hopefully we'll not need another AIS unit before we get home.

Breakfast of scrambled eggs, chilled pineapple slices and bread. Preceded by coffee and tea, of course.

A little after 8:00 AM our bus departed with other Rally crews aboard. Since Charlie from Celebrate was also working on his boat like Joel was on ours, Cathy (Charlie's wife) joined Jeanine and myself all day for the tour.

Our first stop was to a national park to see an animal called a Platypus. Like the Kangaroo and Koala Bear and the Crocodile, the Platypus is synonymous with Australia. This animal is shy, so it takes patience to see one in the water. There were viewing stands along a small river cloaked with trees. In looking for the elusive animal, which is about 18 long and looks somewhat like an American beaver, you look for circular ripples in the water. That will be its head rising up to the surface to catch some air before submerging again. Luckily, I was able to see either 2 Platypus's or the same one twice. The best times to see them are from 4:00 AM (not happening) to 8:00 AM; and from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The Platypus is brown in color, has thick fur, a black bill in the shape of a bill on a baseball cap, and if you see one on land they have a waddling walk. An oddity for the male Platypus is that they have venomous spurs on their aft legs which are presumed to be used "to assert dominance during (the) breeding season."

During our tour our driver, Nola, was kind enough to share some history and facts with us about MacKay, Australia, such as: the area was discovered in 1856 by Captain John MacKay; there are 24 coal mines in the area that pay an average wage of 140,000 Australian dollars a year (an Australian dollar is almost equal to a US dollar); that the sugar cane harvest season is from June 1 thru December 25, and that many people like the jobs in the sugar industry because they only have to work 6 months a year; and that a bug called a 'Scrubbige' gets under your skin quite easily if you walk in the forest and requires kerosene to get rid of. Gives new meaning to the term 'getting under my skin.' Regarding the sugar cane fields we passed, I thought I was in south Florida. The sugar cane fields were endless and never ending.

Next we made a pit stop at a bathroom facility along the road. Now you may be wondering, why would I put that information in a log? The reason is that the street that the bathroom facility was on was called...you guessed it, 'Toilet Street.' I'm not kidding. Some stuff you can't make up. I took a picture of the sign with Laurie, Brian and Lauren from Nexus in a distress pose as they were standing under the street sign. This picture will absolutely make it to the next round of pictures during the next Rally rendezvous dinner.

Our next stop was to a camp in the woods along a river where we were served tea and cooked bread with butter, jam, honey, etc. The tea was cooked in metal tins hung over a blazing fire, then retrieved and poured into mugs for serving. Steaming hot. Very Australian.

Our next stop was to the Eungella Cafe on a bluff or mountain top overlooking a wide valley. Very scenic. There was even a steel and sloped hand gliding ramp for persons to launch themselves out over the valley.

Our final stop of the day was to an old house called Greenmount Homestead. We received an oral history of the house by an aborigine caretaker named Gloria who had worked there since she was 17 years old. She'd been there for 56 years.

We arrived back at the MacKay marina around 4:40 PM.

Joel went to dinner around 6:00 PM with the crew of Nexus; while I worked on reconciling expenses and Jeanine got work done on one of the boat's three computers. Joel returned at 8:30 PM and went right to bed. Jeanine and I then took a late dinner at a sports bar in the marina, having delicious curried chicken wraps and chips (French fries).

Back at the boat I waited until 10:00 PM (8:00 AM Florida time)to call ABC reporter Andrew Doud, who wanted to do a skype interview with Joel and me tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. No luck getting him on the phone, so I'll try again early in the morning (6:00 AM).


Brian Fox





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