I think I have been underestimating Nic's life skills. We arrived at the Exmouth Marina on a Saturday, I rang the Dept of Transport (DoT) person to let them know we were coming, and he was great, telling us where to pull up etc and said he would catch up with us on Monday. When we got here, there is a locked gate at the end of the jetty, you can get out OK and you can latch it so it doesn't lock, but all the other people with boats on the jetty probably want it locked. I rang our DoT man to see if we could get a key, but he said just leave it unlocked - "this is Exmouth". Cool I said.
After our first excursion the gate was locked and we couldn't get back in. Nic piped up, no problems, I can get out of handcuffs with a safety pin! I'll unlock the gate. My mind started spinning a bit - how on earth would my girlfriend know how to get out of handcuffs, was there a side to her I was unaware of? But true to form she used a piece of string and a stick and we unlocked the gate - clever girlfriend.
Next thing she did, while on a roll, was said lets get a piece of wire and see if there are any spare keys in the lock box on the jetty. Sure enough there was. Well done girlfriend! I said while patting my trouser pocket to check my wallet was still there.
Finally she suggested we change our plans so instead of going all the way to Darwin, we simply turn around at Hunter River which is the drop off and pick up point for our friends and family. That will knock off about 7 weeks and give us a relaxed return journey to visit all the spots we have missed on the way up. Clever girlfriend.
We are planning now on leaving tomorrow (Tuesday morn). The weather and winds are looking a bit more favourable. We have about 500 litres of diesel on board, after filling up the flexi tanks. Finally we are going to go all out and see if we can land a fish as we travel over to Broome in the next four or five .. or six days??!!
After our first excursion the gate was locked and we couldn't get back in. Nic piped up, no problems, I can get out of handcuffs with a safety pin! I'll unlock the gate. My mind started spinning a bit - how on earth would my girlfriend know how to get out of handcuffs, was there a side to her I was unaware of? But true to form she used a piece of string and a stick and we unlocked the gate - clever girlfriend.
Next thing she did, while on a roll, was said lets get a piece of wire and see if there are any spare keys in the lock box on the jetty. Sure enough there was. Well done girlfriend! I said while patting my trouser pocket to check my wallet was still there.
Finally she suggested we change our plans so instead of going all the way to Darwin, we simply turn around at Hunter River which is the drop off and pick up point for our friends and family. That will knock off about 7 weeks and give us a relaxed return journey to visit all the spots we have missed on the way up. Clever girlfriend.
We are planning now on leaving tomorrow (Tuesday morn). The weather and winds are looking a bit more favourable. We have about 500 litres of diesel on board, after filling up the flexi tanks. Finally we are going to go all out and see if we can land a fish as we travel over to Broome in the next four or five .. or six days??!!