THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Guest Post by Lisa Jouris

This past trip took me from the busy metropolis Auckland, New Zealand to the "road less traveled" into Far North Queensland (FNQ), Australia. It like felt an incredible release to get away from the city and to be immersed into pure natural splendor.


It seemed that no matter where we turned, beauty surrounded us. Our little private bungalow was off the beaten path in the rolling hills of Julatten. We were surrounded by wild birdlife that provided a non-stop concert throughout the day and into the night. Even our daily trips into the resort town of Port Douglas took us past endless rows of sugar cane that seemed to stretch for the sky.


The real discovery of this incredible region really began when we left the paved road behind and took the 80 km off-road journey through the World Heritage Rainforest of Cape Tribulation/Daintree via the Coast Road. We meandered along the rugged roads through intensely lush forests and rocky creek with the windows rolled down. Ah… fresh dewy earthy air.


After briefly visiting the quaint historical town of Cooktown (James Cook discovered it in 1770, while seeking as a safe Haven for his damaged HM Endeavour), we took the Mulligan Highway back to our destination. The 265 km road seems to stretch for miles through open grassy fields and high mountains. We stopped at the Annan Gorge to listen to the roar of the rushing water just at sunset. After the sun dropped, our ride home presented a new challenge for us city folk. Cattle roamed the vast open land freely and into the roads. It slowed our travels down a bit, but this was all part of the experience in the great Outback life of Australia.


Our trip to FNQ, Australia presented an opportunity to re-connect to Mother Nature and explore the great Australian Outback. It is a trip worth taking if you get out this way to the land “Down Under”.

Crossing the Tasman Sea

0700 04/04/ 08 Position 29 49S 162 25E

We are currently midway between New Zealand and Australia traversing the Tasman Sea.

This is my third time crossing this body of water in the past three to four months. We've sailed from Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to the Marlborough Sounds in South Island New Zealand and now from Auckland to Queensland.

This morning the sun is rising over the eastern horizon, bursting light over the mixed swells and storm tossed Tasman. The first light of the day is spotlighting three intense water spouts (mini water tornados) just off of our port beam. In the darkness before sunrise we navigated around this strong squall line by watching it on our radar monitor. Sailing just south of it to avoid the high wind, and now we can see three water spouts! Good call to divert a few miles!

It really is an amazing sight, I guess mother nature is ever changing the seascape and horizons for us and that is one of the strong allures this occupation has for me.
It's so close yet we are out of harms way. One of the water spouts is a fierce solid dark column, absolutely exploding the oceans surface as it moves across it. Another water spout extends down from the squall clouds to the sea. It has a wicked arc to it...its building power, defining its shape, size and direction...it is twisting, bending and curving like a cobra ready to strike its prey.
To the right of this spectacular nature show is a SOLID wall of rain, none of the mornings powerful first light can penetrate this. Those sun rays that are making it above the horizon paint a bold yellow, gold and red background, creating an erie background for all of the action on our immediate horizon.

This stretch of the Tasman Sea between Cape Reianga NZ and Queensland Australia skirt two prevailing weather systems. Their are highs and lows coming over Australia and tropical lows forming in the north and piping out of the New Caledonia area. This morning we are splitting - aka "threading the needle" between two very powerful systems. A strong high pressure system (rotates counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) that originated in Tasmania and a Tropical Depression - Low pressure system (rotates clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) that is moving very quickly out of Caledonia.

It's perfect sailing weather for us on this 1800 mile transit. We are scooting along at an easy 10 knots, rolling down 2 - 3 (6 to 10 feet) meter seas, broad reaching with the wind off of our port aft quarter.

To make the trip even more interesting and special, I am sailing with long time friend and mentor Murray Jacob. Murray is about as Australian as can be! He is chock full of knowledge and one of those few people I would trust my life with when in the s*#t on the high sea.

We are leaving Auckland "the City of Sails" just as signs of the Southern Hemisphere winter are revealing themselves. We have spent the last 5 to 6 months south of latitude 23 degrees south to avoid Cyclones. This is the same as the boats in the Northern hemisphere staying out of the Caribbean until November to avoid Hurricanes.

In this time we have hauled the 28 meter/90 ton yacht out of the water and completed an extensive refit. The goal of the refit is simple: to keep the 7 year old yacht in as close to "new" condition as possible and to ensure all systems are mechanically sound to insure our self sufficiency as we continue to circumnavigate the world.

Official Piracy Report Maps

Piracy is not just "Pirates of the Caribbean" Piracy is a real issue. One that requires planning and due diligence to avoid putting the guests, crew and vessel in harms way.

I feel the best strategy, the same as my storm strategy, that is avoidance! Go around it when ever possible! On top of that preparation, training and a solid security plan is essential.

PS I did not take the picture here. I hope and pray never to get this close to a real pirate.

To see the real picture of the actual attacks and attempted attacks as tracked and published by the International Maritime Bureau, check the links below.

The links are interactive you can zoom in and out and click on a specific attack to get the details.



2008 http://www.icc-ccs.org/extra/display.php?yr=2008

2007 http://www.icc-ccs.org/extra/display.php?yr=2007

2006 http://www.icc-ccs.org/extra/display.php?yr=2006