Arriving Down Under – Bundaburg, Australia

Having radioed the officials, we pulled alongside the gated quarantine dock to start the process of checking into Australia. The couple of hours awaiting their arrival was spent frantically cleaning up the kind of mess only an ocean passage can create, and munching our way through the last of the food that would otherwise be confiscated by bio-security.

First on the scene were three Border Force (Customs and Immigration) guys complete with a sniffer dog. We were asked to step off of the boat whilst a thorough search was completed, whilst stood on the dock waiting we were politely interrogated. Their nicely worded questions translated as “you seem very young and happy, are you sure you don’t take drugs?”and “how do you afford to do what you do without smuggling something?” Eventually satisfied that we were just high on life and the joy of arriving in a new country, they let us be to await bio-security.

By the time bio-security visited, we had thrown together and devoured a creative vegeburger, seeded flatbread concoction that meant that all we had left to hand over was a measly bit of white cabbage and some cucumber. It took a little longer to convince the lady from bio-security that the paw prints on the sofa and dog hair covering our nicely cleaned floor did in fact belong to the sniffer dog, not a smuggled pooch of our own.

Next up was the termite check/timer inspection scheduled for the following day. Every section of timber on Florence would need to be closely inspected for the wood boring bug. Despite having cleared as much of our stuff onto the deck possible it was still a lengthy process emptying cupboards and lifting bunks. A 37ft boat soon becomes crowded when you empty the lockers of a live-aboard. After a suspect grain of sand found in the shoe cupboard was given the all clear under microscope, we were officially cleared into the country.

Although the process was both the most expensive and thorough of any country so far (AUS $490, not including visa’s, as we came in through the Go West Rally), the officials were polite and worked hard to get what they needed to do done as quickly as possible. It’s a great privilege to be able to bring your home into another country so we are always happy to jump through the necessary hoops to do so.

Finally allowed to stretch out our sea legs, we took a walk along to Burnett Heads, the local village with a small supermarket. Only in Australia would such a walk involve kangaroos. Cue two very excitable tourists. One day ashore and we have 1,000 kangaroo photos, this has to stop as we are planning to be in Australia for the next 9 months!