(November 13 to 20, 2024). We arrived in Bundaberg, Australia, after sailing 1,600 nautical miles, 13 days. The last part of the journey was a bit stressful, mainly due to the wind direction coming directly from behind us. Despite this challenge, this trip was the best among our long passages.
We hardly slept during the final days but worked diligently on arrival requirements, focusing on cleaning and organizing the boat and managing food restrictions. I prepared the restricted items as follows:
–Raw rice → Cooked rice
–Ham → John ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
–More ham and peas → Made into soup
–Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds → Baked into healthy bread
–Cat food → The cats were fed frequently, and we gave only the juice from the wet food, as they preferred it.
–Chili pepper and whole black pepper → The ocean ate it
Upon arrival, Biosecurity officer inspected our boat (food, insects, drugs, all items on the boat) and cats. The officer found two tangerines and an apple which I forgot about. She kindly asked if I wanted to eat them. “Yes!!!” as I missed fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) provided paperwork and asked several questions with a recorder.
Two hours later, we paid the necessary fees by credit card to the Biosecurity and were officially cleared to step into Australia. (*Biosecurity Fee is calculated by 15 minutes incremental.)
