SISTERS

Ever optimimistic.  Karen is sure the engine
will start next pull.

Karen is the eldest of my three siblings and is two years younger than me.  Over the years we have done lots of things together.  As often as not, this has involved me in following her into hair-raising adventures or physical endeavours.  She is blessed with an adventurous spirit, determination, and great physical coordination, grace and courage. In her time she has been a champion squash player, world champion speed wind surfing champion, and intrepid four-wheel driver. She surfed seriously for many years, and thought nothing of co-habiting with snakes and sharks while in search of the perfect wave. She was always the best in the family at water skiing. She was Australian champion rock and roll dancer at the age of 40. She became a biker in middle age.  She has always been the life and soul of any camping trip, with her legendary story telling, imagination and organisation skills.  At one family Xmas, she issued water cannon. Everyone, from grandparents to kiddies spend hours on that hot day chasing each other around bushes having a whale of a time.   Her current passions are scuba diving and saving the marine environment, and her favourite dive sites are deep, deep dives in the cold waters off Esperance, home of the great White Pointers.

Gary has the knack that eludes Dean and I for fishing

So, what joy to have Karen and her husband Gary on Moonraker for two weeks, sharing our sailing adventure.  They arrived with heaps of diving gear and off we went, cruising the coast from Townsville to Cairns.  In ten days we packed in many dives, a fair bit of sailing with our new parachute, fishing, exploring five islands and gracing three resorts.

Karen hasn’t changed much over the last 50 years.  She is still energetic, game, adventurous, organised and fun. She is still ultra-responsible, getting up more frequently than I did to check the anchor. She is still the best person to have an adventure with.

Moonraker is not a good dive platform, but where there
is a will there is a way.  And Karen never lacks will.

 She also has terrific taste in husbands.  Gary is the most accommodating and likeable guy you could imagine, with the same commitment to intrepid adventure as Karen. He also has the good grace to laugh at all my jokes (very gratifying) and appreciates Dean's cooking. Nothing is a problem for Gary, unless you run out of lemon for his Corona.



No Karen.  its not a crocodile.  It is a log.
You can go in. ... Well, I'm pretty sure its a log.



I learned a couple of things about Karen I did not know. First, she has developed a worrying addiction to coffee and massage, which needed to be fed by constantly dropping into resorts as we passed them by.  I fear she is getting soft.  Second, I have discovered something that she is afraid off. I didn’t think such as thing existed.  It turns out that, she doesn’t like swimming with crocodiles.  Sea snakes or sharks are OK, but she draws a line at crocs.  Strange.

Devestated Dunk Island resort.  Yassi did for it.
 Even the coral was all dead. No coffee either.