For a while this month, we thought Queensland's claim of being Australia's "Sunshine State" was nothing more than devious marketing propaganda. March certainly arrived here like a lion, with gale force winds forecast for several days. We've sat at anchor through several strong winds in our favourite Pelican Bay, but the prospect of a full on gale caused my spirits to dip. Angus, remembering his RAF "crew resource management" training (otherwise known as "keep your wife happy or you'll end up as another male single-hander"), called up the marina and booked us in for a few days.

Tiny tree frog, camouflage not quite working

The storm arrived a little earlier than planned, hence our departure from the bay was hampered by waves breaking over the bow as I slowly winched the anchor on board. The heavy, driving rain required Angus to don a dive mask to enable him to see where he was steering the boat. What a relief to finally secure our mooring lines to the dock, sheltered behind a large motor boat.

Morning snack time for the dolphins

We joined a damp gathering of tourists early one morning to witness Tin Can Bay's prime tourist attraction - hand feeding the local pod of dolphins. Ever since a dolphin was hurt by a fishing boat in the 1950s then hand-fed until it recovered, succeeding generations have returned to the same beach for an early morning snack. As you stand shin deep in the sea, you get a good close look at the impressive array of sharp teeth as the dolphin edges in for his fish. The whole set up is pleasantly low key, and the wild dolphins are genuinely able to choose whether to come to the beach or not. If a massive second marina development gets the go ahead, the entire bay will be transformed, and a little bit of history will be lost.

As the winds eased, we slipped our lines and returned to Pelican Bay to await a weather window for the 50 mile sail south to Mooloolaba for our planned haul out. When I say the winds "eased", I should note that for the first time I had to thread the laundry onto the washing line in order to stop it all disappearing over the horizon.

I will get this job finished...

For a week, it rained, it poured, then it would just blow, before raining again. As the list of indoor jobs dwindled, and Angus became determined that he was going to finish off a few deck jobs - hence I found him happily working on deck in his swim shorts and a rain jacket in a downpour…

After a week of waiting, the wind gods provided the necessary 24-hour break in the strong SE winds, allowing us to escape from Pelican Bay and head south. We had been seeking recommendations for where to haul out since before leaving NZ, and finally elected to go for Lawrie's Boat Services, whose yard is located in the heart of Mooloolaba. What a good choice it proved to be. The manager, Kieran Jackson was a star - friendly, helpful and practical. The only mystery is why so few other foreign yachts use this yard.

The lift went very quickly and smoothly. Last year we dramatically reduced the number of anodes, and also sand-blasted then re-sprayed the antifouling. In previous years we have hauled, then spent weeks removing flaking paint and chipping thousands of bubbles. Not this time. The hull was smooth and clean. Yippee! Kieran even let us do the pressure washing ourselves - we'll do anything to save a few dollars. We spent the next week battling "isolated showers" - not the best weather when you are trying to paint - but got extremely lucky with one sunny morning during which we antifouled the entire hull.

Man's work - pressure washing

One of the reasons for choosing Lawrie's yard was the convenience of being in a town - close to chandlers, supermarkets and purveyors of all those strange widgets on Angus' stock up list. There was also an impressive array of medical practitioners dotted throughout the malls, so I decided to venture into the Australian Medicare system to seek a cure for my painful thumb. In the space of five days, I'd seen the GP twice, had a sonogram and received a cortisone injection - sorted - and all covered by the reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK. A truly great service.

Since our discovery of nasty corrosion issues in NZ last year, we'd planned to do some further investigations this season. What a sense of relief to cut out the cupboards, remove the insulation, and discover that the hull is in good condition. Since this discovery saved us a couple of days planned work, we had time to do a little "cosmetic" re-painting in the anchor locker. I folded myself into the least favourite space in the boat and started tapping away with my chipping hammer, planning to remove a little rust flake. Ten minutes later, "Oh bu$$er…. Angus!!" Seems we have a small issue with the floor of the locker, which given the quotes for fixing it in Oz, we'll bodge until we can effect a proper repair in Malaysia.

Cyclone Ului forecast - red=10m waves

Around the middle of the month, the formation of a cyclone in the Coral Sea gave us something new to worry about. Every morning and every evening saw us download multiple weather predictions, most of which forecast that cyclone Ului would make landfall around Bundaberg, around 100 miles north of us. One even predicted the cyclone would hit the coast then roll southwards. The cyclone at this time was Category 4, with gusts of 300km/h and seas of 9m. As we looked around the neat canal side properties, and marinas with piles just a couple of meters high, we quailed at the thought of what devastation could be caused should the cyclone meander this way.

Historic tracks of cyclones hitting the Queensland coast reveal that their courses are very erratic, unlike those in the Caribbean. Maybe this was the reason that for several days the Australian Bureau of Meteorology made no predictions as to where it would strike. A cyclone hit Brisbane, 60 miles to our south, back in 1975, so Ului arriving nearby was a distinct possibility. We were encouraged by Kieran to be back in the water sooner rather than later, and with no nearby mangrove creeks to hide in, we booked into a small marina. Our dock was tucked up at the end of a canal, with the option of tying anchors and ropes off to buildings if the need arose.

Surfing the cyclone swell

Ului took a sudden swerve to the west and piled ashore at the Whitsundays, causing no loss of life, but much damage to boats.

The main effect felt down in Mooloolaba was the large ocean swell. The local authorities issued a "dangerous surf" warning, which seemed (as with their tsunami warning last month) to trigger the opposite response to that which they intended - the waves were full of surfers, paddle boarders, canoeists and jet-skiers making the most of rollers fit for an Old Spice advert.

The only casualties we saw of Ului were the dozens of Bluebottle jellyfish blown ashore. These little nasties are propelled through the sea by using their air filled sac as a sail, similar to the Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish. As we start to head north next month, we'll be entering the territories of box jellyfish and stingers - the tiny jellyfish with the deadly reputations. Hope we'll just see them on the beach too.

Bluebottle jellyfish

Despite the no-show of Ului, we decided to remain in the marina for a week - a bit of a reward for cracking the bulk of the big tasks on this year's work list. With a long "fun" shopping list, we headed for a massive mall. The modern coastal developments along the Sunshine Coast seem to prefer their stores all under one air-conditioned roof. With the canal-side cafes and cinema, we felt we could have been at the Oracle shopping centre in Reading… Half a day of retail therapy left Ruth invigorated, and Angus wishing that he was in a cyclone.

Knowing to quit when ahead, Ruth took Angus off to see "Avatar" in 3D as a reward. Since we usually watch movies on our 14-inch laptop screen, seeing anything in a cinema is a treat. Watching the sumptuous visuals of "Avatar" was just fantastic. Just need to find out if the glow-in-the-dark plants will be available in my local garden centre when we return home.

As we slipped out of Mooloolaba just before the end of the month, it felt like we have started the next phase of our stay in Oz. The sun is even shining. The worst of the maintenance is behind us. The list isn't finished, but the remaining items will take days per task rather than weeks to complete. Since we have decided to undertake another maintenance session in Malaysia next year, I've also been able to do that old project manager trick of deferring activities to the next phase.

"Leave nothing but...." tyre tracks?

So here we are, anchored back at Pelican Bay again. After our time in Mooloolaba, it is great to be back at anchor in this tranquil setting. Despite being in this area for most of January & February, we'd never ventured ashore, being too busy with the deck work. Yesterday we inflated the dinghy and headed first for a small sand island separated from the mainland by a 10m channel, then across to the mainland itself. The sandbank was teeming with bird life and legions of blue backed crabs clattering together as they scuttled away from us. Just a few short meters away there was nothing - except the tracks of 4x4s. This stretch of coast is a national recreation area, and the favourite sport seems to be driving along beaches. We walked for a mile and saw not a single footprint in the sand. It struck me as terribly sad.

Culinary delights

Dockside grocery delivery

As out thoughts turned northwards, we started pondering what we should stock up with for the trek through SE Asia. The region has the reputation amongst cruisers as being a culinary Mecca, with interesting food, at prices so cheap that it is literally cheaper to eat out than it is to eat on board. There's still a need to stock up on some western staples such as dried milk, muesli and pasta - along with a few gallons of Oz plonk.

Which brings me onto my two questions about Oz prices this month….

• How can a small slice of cake at a café in a mall cost more than a 4 litre box of drinkable wine??
• How can soya protein cost ten times as much here as it does in the UK??

Banksia flowers, loved by local birds

Just the anchor locker… Again, the corrosion we've discovered has been eating away at the boat over many years, thanks to a poor design which placed the drain holes about 1cm higher than the floor level. Doh! Angus' application of fibreglass cloth and large quantities of epoxy will take us up to Thailand for Christmas, then we'll return to Malaysia to cut out the corrosion and weld in a new floor. The joys of a steel boat.

From here on, every trip will take us northwards to the Torres Straits. We have signed up for the Sail Indonesia Rally which departs from Darwin in late July, so unusually we have a fixed schedule to hit.

We're not going to head too far north, too quickly, just in case Cyclone Ului isn't the last cyclone for this season.