Tag: festival

Down Time in Lombok

We arrived in Lombok, Indonesia in late November. After three weeks in Indonesia getting to Lombok, we settled there for a bit and got to know the area. During that time, we went to a festival, visited some satellite islands, and enjoyed some down time in Lombok.

About Lombok

Lombok is an island east of Bali and west of Sumbawa. While its closest neighbor is Bali, Lombok is part of the province of West Nusa Tenggara. 4,607 square kilometers in size, Lombok is surrounded by several islets, a few of which we visited. It has a healthy population of over 4 million very friendly people. We spent most of our down time in Lombok in the northwest quadrant, north of the town of Senggigi, and east of the Gili islands. We also sailed to some islands on the southeast, visited waterfalls, and even rented scooters.

beach in Lombok Indonesia
A Lombok Beach
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Best of Sydney

We loved Sydney. After sailing there for the holidays, it was hard to leave. What started as a month long visit became a wonderful two month stay. I miss the city’s clean streets, happy residents, busy bars and restaurants, excellent museums, and fun festivals. The best of Sydney ranges from cool music venues to funky neighborhoods to free art galleries and beautiful hikes.

Best Anchorage: Glebe Bay

My list of the best of Sydney wouldn’t be complete without talking about where we spent most of our time on the boat. Sydney has a lot of great anchorages, and it’s easy to move around as long as you avoid the ferries. You can anchor somewhere for great beaches and elsewhere for the fireworks. For us, the most convenient bay for shops and sightseeing was Glebe, which has three anchorages.

Glebe, Blackwattle and Rozelle were great anchorages for the selection of safe and convenient dinghy docks. We had dinghy parking at the fish market, the ferry dock, or Rozelle Bay park, giving us access to multiple shops, restaurants, and transit lines.

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Touring Townsville

We loved Townsville, in the northern part of Queensland, Australia. Having good friends who live there certainly helped us love this tropical town, but that wasn’t the only reason. Townsville has miles of cycling and walking trails, an excellent selection of bars and restaurants, art and museums! We spent a few weeks touring Townsville and have recommendations if you visit. If you’re sailing Australia’s east coast, it’s likely you will.

mural, street art, Townsville
Cool art in downtown Townsville

Where Is Townsville?

Townsville is as far north as we sailed in Australia before cyclone season. It’s located on the coast in northeastern Queensland, 900 miles north of Brisbane. With a population over 170,000, Townsville is the largest settlement in North Queensland. We found a lot to do and enjoyed our time touring Townsville.

Townsville Queensland on a map of Australia
Townsville in the northeast of Australia

When to Visit Townsville

As it is part of the tropical zone of Australia, Townsville’s climate is warm. We arrived in August, wintertime, the ideal season to visit Townsville. Days are warm in winter, but still comfortable, think low 20s C (70F). We left our boat there for our trip to North America and when we returned in October, springtime in Australia, the days were hot. It gets even hotter in summer into the mid 30sC (90F).

Touring Townsville Must: The Strand

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