Tuesday 27.07 (day 9)

Today we borrowed the courtesy vehicle from the Marina – it is a wonderful amenity to get a vehicle for 2 hours without even being required to fill it with fuel, although a donation is welcomed.  There are some geographical restrictions and a once-off loan during your stay, but it is sufficient to get into the township of Yeppoon to re-provision. 

We had cleverly ordered our beer and spirits online, to eliminate time-wastage with browsing, so the bottle shop was the first port of call.  We don’t consider ourselves heavy drinkers, but we do enjoy a beverage or two or three every day.  Three cartons of craft beer, a bottle of rum and a bottle of gin to replenish our stocks was much needed.  Seems that is how much we need for 3 weeks although I also added a couple bottles of vegan white wine for me to drink so that the beer supplies would last a little longer next time.

After filling the boot of the car with alcohol it was off to Coles nearby to top up the groceries.  We’ve found that unlike 12 years ago when we had to cryvac our own meat or search for butchers who would do this for us, supermarkets nowadays also have a range of meat that is pre-sliced, and often already seasoned.  While we purchase whole cuts like rump steak and lamb backstrap or chicken breasts it is very convenient to also have in the freezer some beef or lamb strips in souvlaki or other seasoned sauces for quick meals.

We held off buying too much fresh produce as we want to get to the community market by bus on Saturday, but we needed beer! 

Keeping an inventory of all the stores is a great way to locate which locker holds particular items.

Having a good record of where food is stored is especially vital as apart from jars, packets, tins, etc., we have wrapped citrus in alfoil in one or two low cupboards, eggs are stored under the boards in the forward head, tomatoes, capsicum, onions, avocadoes and other fruit are in cloth bags in various lockers in the same head, while pumpkin, cabbage, potatoes and sweet potatoes are in paper bags under the navigation seat. 

These require regular checks to ensure that they don’t spoil and what needs replenishing.  I also keep a check on the fruit and vegetables that we dried in the dehydrator at home, wrapped in paper towels and stored either in zip lock bags or paper bags, depending on the moisture content of the food.

A quick stop-off at Statue Lookout to read about the ships wrecked in this area in days gone-by and to take in the scenery before returning the vehicle and making our way with a heavily laden trolley down the steep ramp at low tide and the long boardwalk to the boat.

• 

•