Christmas 2017 ...

Merry Christmas to all from us on SOL 

Our very natural Christmas Tree

We left Whangarei Tuesday 19^th December and sailed in a good 15 to 20 knot breeze down to Algies Bay, passing so many familiar places on the way – Langs Beach, Waipu Cove, Mangawhai, Te Arai, Pakiri, Omaha and Takatu Peninsula before going out the back of Kawau Island then turning towards Sandspit and Algies. Unfortunately, as we went around the bottom of Kawau we had to drop the sails and motor – a very bumpy wind against tide ride – the port engine overheated. So, under one engine we limped to the mooring in Algies we had borrowed.

Once we were safely moored – albeit rather hesitantly as it was very close to two other boats – we inspected the damage - the issue we had had with our starboard engine back almost a year ago to the day had occurred on the opposite side – we had melted our port engine water lock box. So, first thing Wednesday morning we walked to Snells Beach to Mahurangi Marine and managed to source a replacement which was in Albany and our very kind friend, Colin Chester, drove from Silverdale to pick it up and delivered it to us. We hadn’t seen Colin for ages and spent time catching up over coffee and cake on SOL. Colin then dropped us in Warkworth where we walked the car yards in search of a cheap, tidy, reliable car for the next 5 months – we found a pretty good 2008 Toyota Camry for sale privately and by 730pm we were its new owners. We celebrated with a drive into Snells for fish and chips for dinner!!

John and Sibyl - looking just the same!!

Whilst in Warkworth we dropped in on John and Sibyl Patrick, Sibyl used to look after the children after school back in the days when we had Warkworth Printing and was like a grandmother to them. It was lovely to see them, and find they hadn’t changed at all – we sent a photo to the children and the resounding response was – “oh, that’s John and Sibyl” and “they’re just the same”.

Thursday was spent replacing the old water lock box and checking there were no further problems. Then, as my sister, Theresa and her husband Des had arrived up to their holiday house here in Algies it was off to have drinks with them!! They have been so very helpful, especially with finding us the mooring here in Algies. 

Friday morning dawned overcast, drizzly, and initially with limited visibility but we headed to Kawau anyway. By the time we arrived in Mansion House Bay though, it was another beautiful day. We anchored SOL just metres from the beach, walked around and up to the Coppermine Lookout. It’s a pity but due to some wind damage causing trees down, most of the tracks are closed at the moment.

Mansion House, Kawau Island

We decided not to go through the publicly owned historic house – originally the home of the Coppermine superintendent then purchased in 1862 by Sir George Grey, former governor of New Zealand – this time, we will do this when we have visitors aboard, so just wandered the grounds. The Department of Conservation has, over many years, reintroduced many of the plants Sir George had, spending many hours on the manicured gardens and the house has been restored and furnished to how it was in his time.

Anchored so close we could almost walk ashore!!

Friday night we availed ourselves of the free bbq ashore (eating another yummy tuna meal) then to bed, planning to explore more bays of this island Saturday, maybe going into the bay where we had owned a bach and spent all the summers of our childhood – Speedy Bay, between Bon Accord Harbour and North Cove. However, the ever-clumsy Mrs Docker managed to sustain a nasty eye injury and after an extremely painful sleepless night, Saturday morning saw us racing back to the mooring at Algies, then spending two hours waiting at the doctors’ surgery before having confirmed that, yes, a rather large piece of cornea had been scraped from my right eye by an errant fingernail when removing contact lenses. Local anaesthetic drops gave instant relief, to be followed over the next few days with drops for pain and as a precaution against infection, and the warning that it probably not improve until at least Christmas Day. Grrrr.

Christmas morning, we drove down to Norah (my stepmother) in Castor Bay then to Christmas lunch in the Rest Home in Forrest Hill with Thomas, my father. We had a superb lunch, then spent some time sitting outside on the deck with him (dozing) so we left him to rest. We went back to Norah’s then down to Castor Bay beach before tackling the traffic back to Christmas dinner with Theresa and Des. Sandy, Jamie and their three young children (Sandy is my niece) were there too so even though we didn’t have our children close we still had a lovely family Christmas Day.

Wednesday 27^th December, we drove to Orewa 35km south, to renew our NZ driving licences so we could change the car ownership, and do a couple of other bits and pieces – not a good plan we discovered when having done what we wanted to do we started the drive back north – everyone else had decided to go north as well – the traffic was banked up bumper to bumper from just out of Orewa. Enough of this, my ever-patient in traffic, husband said after looking at the stationary line of cars ahead of us, and he turned around. 

We decided that even if it took just as much time, we would take the scenic route – through Waiwera, Puhoi, Ahuroa then out towards Kaipara Flats before turning back to Warkworth – and we had the road to ourselves.

Puhoi is the place where my ancestors came to from Bohemia (in the Black Forest area on the Czechoslovakia-German border) back in 1863. The Turnwald block was at Ahuroa. So often we have been here in the past but never tire of it.

A visit to Puhoi is never complete without a trip to the old cemetery

Between Puhoi and Ahuroa

Nearing Algies we got a call from Theresa to tell us that Des, who had been keeping an eye on SOL from their place, felt that the little red wreck of an abandoned sailboat moored behind us appeared rather too close for comfort, so we hotfooted it back to find that – yes – it was almost in our cockpit!!

Time to move.

So, at 2.30pm we waved them goodbye for now and set off in the direction of Whangaparaoa.

And it's "Cheers" to all for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Abel Tasman National Park …

A great couple of days were spent in Nelson, a part of the country we had only visited very briefly in the past. On our first night, Peter Jones, whom I had grown up with back in Auckland, and his partner, Donna came down to SOL bearing gifts of homegrown veges, a cooked chook and wine – a lovely surprise, they stayed for dinner and we chatted for hours. On Monday, an old neighbour of ours from when we were living in Matakana, north of Auckland, 20 years ago, Frank Carlisle, drove over from Blenheim, for normal people a near 2hr drive, but Frank, who has never been “normal”, whizzed over in his very sporty Lotus Elise!! to spend most of the day with us, including taking us to The Boat Shed for a super, late lunch. 

Then Tuesday we enjoyed a Tiki tour of Nelson and surrounds with Peter, going out to the Boulder Bank – a 13km naturally formed bank of rocks which provides protection for the Port of Nelson from the weather of Tasman Bay, the Matai River, past the centre of New Zealand – geographically – and to the hills overlooking Motueka, culminating in lunch and a bit of ‘home-made wine and port tasting’ at his place – and a very nice drop he makes indeed.

Peter and Jamie at the Boulder Bank

Looking out from Nelson, Boulder Bank visible on left, Abel Tasman National Park in background

Having restocked, organised NZ sim cards for our phones, and tossed up as to whether we would go up the East Coast or the West Coast to get to Auckland (I thought the East Coast route would be prettier, however, West Coast won due to the better weather – gale force winds in Cook Strait not being too appealing). Wednesday, we left for the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park anchoring the first night in Stilwell Bay where we headed ashore and walked the coast to Marahau, a really pleasant 15km round trip walk – we hadn’t walked far since leaving Australia of course so it was excellent to get off the boat and stretch our legs. 

A great 7.5km walk through the bush to Marahau

A natural tunnel on the way to Takaka

This magnificent piece of New Zealand coastline would have to be one of the best. We moved on to Onetahuti then Totaranui, spending a night in each of these delightful anchorages. Whilst in Totaranui we bussed into Takaka for a little look, the lovely lady bus driver giving us an impromptu guided tour!!

Tuesday, 12^th Dec, Jamie and I set off on the next 550 nautical mile leg of our trip. Leaving the amazing South Island for now, we will be back here in April 2018 with Jim and Terry, friends visiting from Canada, doing it by land in a motorhome then. 

We upped anchor as the sun rose and set the sails, starting out with three reefs in the main and just the little stormsail as we were expecting 25+knots of wind as we passed Farewell Spit – and we were not disappointed – she blew! and she blew some more (30kn for a time)!! We were off the Taranaki Coastline, where, had we been closer to shore, we would have seen Mt Egmont/Taranaki, by lunchtime. We made good passage, over 180 nautical miles on day one. 

Tuna, tuna !!

We caught our first tuna, followed later that day with another, woo hoo were we excited, Tuna, Tuna!!! 

Tuna steaks for dinner

Rounding Cape Reinga, the tip of the North Island of New Zealand is quite amazing, it is here where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet – and yes, you see a very obvious line of very disturbed water, what looks to be waves hitting each other from two different directions. We rounded the Cape 54hrs after departing the South Island, it had been a great sail, hassle-free and comfortable, but it was not finished yet. 

We turned and made our course in the direction of Auckland, where we plan to spend Christmas Day with my dad in Forrest Hill, (sadly, he is in a Rest Home there with dementia).

Bypassing the Bay of Islands for now, we will be definitely back there in mid-January, we kept on sailing till we dropped our anchor in Whangarei – slightly more than 3 ½ days constant sailing and after fish and chips for dinner – we headed to bed, a place we had not spent long in since departing the magical Abel Tasman area.

Whangarei Quarry Tropical Gardens with Jenny

Three great days were spent in Whangarei, anchored just outside the Port of Whangarei Marine Centre, where my oldest brother, Andrew, has his fishing boat. We had a couple of meals with Andrew and wife, Jenny, did the usual - washing, grocery shopping and had some time for a bit of sightseeing in what is actually a really nice spot - Whangarei - having only quickly driven through it in the past it was great to spend some time. The inner harbour area where the marina houses many boats is amazing - so many boats, from so many countries as well as boutiques, eateries, local craft and souvenir shops. After staying to help celebrate Andrew's birthday we set sail south.

Our anchorage, Stillwell Bay, Abel Tasman Park

Could have been Thailand !!

Nesting gulls, Onetahuti

Crossing the Tasman ...

Away at Last - 

0700 hrs Thursday 23^rd November 2017 saw us finally cast off the docklines in Australia and set off across the Tasman.

Bye bye Coffs Harbour, Adieu Australia

Sailing to NZ !!

The first hour down the coast was filled with sending and receiving farewell messages to and from family and friends. Even the dolphins came along with us for a few miles to see us off.

Our route was more of a U shape due to the prevalence of the Easterly winds which were going to make passage to New Zealand unpleasant were we to try to go directly. 

So, we initially went down the coast, although the winds were not very strong we were making good speed, travelling along at an average between 8 and 8.5 knots. We put a reef in the main for the night, just as a security measure – we didn’t want to have too much sail up if the wind increased during the night, so reducing the size of the sails in the daylight is a good idea, but around 3am on Friday morning the wind had dropped away and so the reef was shaken out, the jib furled away and the port engine started.

This was to be our view for the next few days

We ticked along like this for the next four hours, only managing about 5.5 knots boat speed, we only run one engine as the increase of speed through running two in these conditions is minimal yet running two uses more diesel, of course. The sky was clear blue with next to no cloud, the sailing was pleasant if unexciting – a few more knots of wind would have been superb. This continued all the next day, alternately motorsailing as the wind dropped away then turning off the engine as the wind filled in.

We had the fishing lures out constantly, with no success – until WOO HOO – FISH ON !!!! it was big, it fought, it leapt out of the water just beside the boat showing us its beautiful blue colour and its marlinlike bill – then with a final twist it broke away, taking our special new lure with it. Sorry, Lilly, the swordfish you wanted us to catch got away.

We seem unable to break the 10-knot boat speed barrier and with the wind no greater than 15 knots maximum we were wondering if we would ever see the shores of New Zealand!!! No longer were we reefing before dark – just in case – we would have welcomed the wind being stronger and necessitating reefed sails.

Night watch, moon hiding behind cloud

The trip continued in this vein all through Friday night, with some periods where we sailed along nicely and others where it was completely frustrating with minimal wind and engines on – certainly not how we had envisaged the passage.

Saturday afternoon saw a change – the wind got up to 27 knots, we reefed the main, furled in some jib, then put a second reef in the mainsail, furled the jib and pulled out the staysail – a smaller sail than the jib. We were taking waves over the bows and the occasional one over the cabin top – SOL was uttering the odd creak and groan of disapproval as water splashed all over her. 

Unfortunately, the hatch over the forward starboard cabin sprung a leak – right as we were in the midst of sail changing – of course, which meant that water was leaking down on the bed – the seal around the hatch had split. We did an emergency repair which entailed tying a plastic bag over the hatch on the outside, then squirting the gap full of mastic – and it worked!! Luckily the amount of water ingress had not been great and a strategically placed towel covered the damp patch. We had two reefs in the main and just half the jib out for the next couple of days, each time we shook out a reef in the main we ended up putting it back in an hour or two later.

But…on Wednesday evening around 8pm the wind had died away yet again. Now as well, the current was against us – it was back to motoring.

Sunrise over a calm Tasman Sea

The sea was flat calm, an absolutely azure blue colour, but flat calm all the same. We were becalmed in the Tasman Sea. Unheard of. We were all prepared for cold and wind – these sunny days and lack of even the slightest breeze astounded us all.

Not even a ripple

We didn't need the foul weather gear this trip!!

We have been underway 7 days now and had the winds been in our favour we would have been rounding the tip of New Zealand – instead we were stuck in the Tasman – not complaining about the very temperate weather, just some wind would have been nice. It was totally bizarre to be sunning ourselves up on the trampoline with a book in hand in comparison to the last time Jamie and I sailed across to New Zealand where we were in our foul weather gear from day two!!

Admittedly though, these windless days made for some superb photographs.

Still, we tried

There was no point in having the fishing lines out either – for a start we weren’t going fast enough and secondly with the very calm flat seas came the jellyfish, millions of these small creatures which clogged up our lures.

At 0800hrs (Australian time) Saturday we changed to New Zealand time losing 2 hours in the process – surely this means we are 2 hours closer to New Zealand!!! At 0730 we had raised the sails in the slight breeze and we were sailing again with the screecher up and making way. A very large pod of dolphins came alongside and all around us, cavorting in our wake like there was something exciting about to happen….

And yes, at 1300hrs Saturday December 2^nd 2017 came the call – LAND HO!!!

New Zealand was in sight. Up on the starboard spreader went the Yellow Flag – the international Q flag signifying “we are entering your country’s waters from overseas and we need customs and immigration clearance before we can make landfall”.

Nelson, the top of the South Island, New Zealand

As we approached Farewell Spit the wind increased. 

In the space of just a few hours it went from around 8 knots to 30 and sails went up and down more often than a whores drawers!! At one stage we were flying along at boat speeds more than 16knots and the dolphins were having a ball, leaping and laughing as they raced us to the New Zealand coast.

Heather (NZ Customs) and Stuart (NZ Immigration) were at the quarantine dock to take our lines – what terrific service, totally unexpected but welcome. The whole customs and immigration process went without a hitch and an hour later we were free to enter a berth in Nelson Marina.

WHAT – NELSON???????

Yes, as we say when cruising…

Plans are written in the sand at low tide

Always open to change, and due to the conditions, added to the fact that we would probably not sail down to this area, when we were becalmed and it seemed the wind would not cooperate with a northerly passage, we had decided to make landfall here, spend a few days cruising around the beautiful Tasman Bay/Marlborough Sounds before going north. 

Another amazing photo opportunity mid-Tasman

Bruce and Jamie relaxing on the trampoline - many hours were spent thus

Waiting, waiting, waiting …

A month has gone by and we are in Coffs Harbour still. Neither Jamie nor myself have ever been much good at playing this waiting game and although we knew we would be here in Coffs marina for a couple of weeks it is now starting to wear thin.

Wet weather wedding

We had much to do the first few days - with the wedding of Kate and David up in Brisbane on the Saturday it was an opportunity to break out the flash gear which had been packed in a vacuum bag and taken aboard for just this occasion – hmmmn – we would look great if we were supposed to be wearing crinkled cotton by design. No iron on board (I hardly used the one we had on dry land let alone even think of one on the boat) so a quick detour into Derek and Debbie’s laundromat in Southport to borrow theirs had us looking very smart. There was, however, a small moment of terror when getting changed behind the hire car in the multistorey carpark we couldn’t find Jamie’s shoes – visions of all dressed up at the wedding and look down – jandals/thongs/flip flops – whatever you call them – not a good look – but we found them, phew.

The new Mr & Mrs

Planning a wedding at any time of year can be fraught with problems, planning an outdoor wedding brings the weather issue to the fore again and on Kate and David’s day it rained. But, as usual with celebrations like this, even rain cannot dampen the spirits and we stood on the Wedding Lawn, in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, alongside their friends and family, sharing the moment they exchanged their vows. It was a touching ceremony despite the dismal weather, and we had a superb time at the reception – in fact the food was to die for – absolutely the best food in a very long time. Thank you, Kate and David for inviting us to enjoy your special day.

We drove across the Clarence river – (no pesky sailboats held us up!!) travelling through the towns we had sailed to – Grafton, Brushgrove, Cowper, Ulmarra.

Crossing over the bridge this time rather than under it

Back on SOL we had a few last-minute jobs we needed to do before departure and the list seemed to grow as it got shorter – well as we crossed items off, I added more.

Jacklines – these are safety lines you tether yourself to when underway to ensure that you don’t fall off the boat. We had gotten good strong webbing online and needed them stitched with heavy thread on a commercial machine, so a trip to the canvas man in town sorted this.

Ditch bag – this strangely named bag holds the supplies that you take if you are forced to abandon ship, also known as a grab bag. We had a bag ready and just needed to fill it – in went torch, batteries, first aid kit, bottles of water, muesli bars, scroggin (nuts, fruit and chocolate mix), spectacles, sunscreen, etc. the passports, credit card, boat registration papers would be added later.

Food prep for Tasman crossing

Sails – we decided we probably wouldn’t need the screecher on our Tasman crossing so this has been taken down and the storm sail, smaller and tougher, has been hoisted instead. Back in Bundaberg we had the stitching on both the genoa and the stormy checked and reinforced in preparation and stormy had been in a cupboard since then.

Food – the freezer is full - we have prepared, cooked and vacpacked dinners for 9 nights – we won’t be going hungry!! We have made up bags of scroggin for energy giving snacks. Just got to get fresh fruit and veg, eggs, bread and milk.

The diesel tanks are full, will top up the water tanks last minute ….. SOL is ready, we are ready – why is the weather not cooperating???

We enlisted NZ weather guru, Bob McDavitt (MetBob), to give us a passage plan and to provide weather updates via the Delorme inreach (satellite tracker) during the trip. He has been emailing weather updates to us since the beginning of November, and none have been good. The expected pattern of prevailing winds at this time of the year is generally favourable for a Tasman crossing, however, this year, the damned easterlies continue so here we remain, waiting for that weather window. We can handle some unpleasant days, but incessant pounding headfirst into wind and waves endlessly takes you way out of the realm of “unpleasant”.

The time has not been wasted. Jamie managed to take a 5-day trip down to the Blue Mountains to see his family, it will be some months before we can get to see his parents so having this time was ideal – notwithstanding the twelve-hour, two train trip each way.

Jamie and Matthew overlooking the Dorrigo Rainforest

We spent a great day out touring the nearby countryside with Matthew, who is on a boat just a couple away from us, and drove through Bellingen, Dorrigo and outlying areas. We visited Dangar Falls, on the Bellinger River and walked through the rainforest skywalk listening to the abundant birdlife at Dorrigo Rainforest centre. I thought the most fascinating was the catbird – a fairly nondescript grey or green coloured bird that makes a sound truly like a screaming cat – hearing its incredible call was definitely recognisable and amazing. After a restaurant quality lunch at the Dorrigo Heritage Hotel we drove through the Dorrigo National Park to see the huge Tallowood trees there. Tallowood is a species of Eucalyptus found around Dorrigo, the wood apparently feels greasy when cut due to high tannin content and the leaves are a good source of koala food. The specimens we saw in the Norman Jolly Memorial Grove would have been up to 70m tall, dwarfing us as we stood insignificant beneath.

Amazing Tallowood trees at Norman Jolly Memorial Grove

We have walked miles, one day visiting the Coffs Harbour Botanical Gardens, these gardens are a real credit to all the people who man and maintain them. One day is not enough to see all the plants on display, you could seriously return week after week and still find another gem.

Botanical gardens Coffs Harbour

Unfortunately, this extended delay has meant that Philip Mercer, who travelled up from Adelaide to make the crossing with us has had to pull out. Lyn Nichols, from the Gold Coast (originally Whangarei, NZ) has gone back to wait out the next few days with family there. Fortunately for us, Bruce Allen, owner of Shellac, a Fusion Catamaran also here in the marina has stepped in to fill Philip's place. 

It’s not all bad, as is usual in a marina, you get to meet some great people and hear some even greater stories and the Coffs Marina is no different. So many people appear to have arrived in Coffs and never left (maybe it’s those goddamn easterly winds that don’t allow them to get away!!).

Next to us is Steve, who has travelled the world on his 33ft yacht “Tatura”, he has so many tales to tell of places he has been over the years – he has sailed to most of the places you hear of and many of us just dream of going (even through the Red Sea). He has been a huge help while here, having a contact to weld our cracked exhaust on the starboard engine and spending hours with Jamie trying to get the HF WeatherFax working so we can get weather patterns offshore.

Matthew, who is ‘boat-sitting’ a cat just two down from us, built his boat up in the Snowy Mountains and sailed it on Lake Eucumbene, tamed a kingfish (aptly he named it Elvis) that we fed with minced meat each morning – after a few days Elvis would take the meat from your hand. We have spent many enjoyable hours in his company, laughing at the stories he tells. He kindly took us away from the marina for the day in his car for a trip through the Dorrigo Hinterland.

The World Rally Championship held a special stage right here in Coffs Harbour which we went to with Valinda and Steve, who live on their 47ft yacht here in the marina. They have a small power equipment business up in Woolgoolga (Whoopi to the locals!!). Their aim is to eventually sell the business and sail away but in the meantime, business and boat maintenance take most of their time. The rally was not as noisy, dusty or even fumey as I had expected and current safety regulations kept the spectators well away from the cars – but we had fun.

Dangar Falls, Dorrigo, New South Wales

Not so straight forward driving to the Tallowood trees!! Luckily it's a jeep

Definately above average "Pub meals"

The Amazing Clarence ...

Thursday 5th October

Goodbye Gold Coast

The overnight sail started out well, we upped anchor in Paradise Point at 2pm and passing through the Gold Coast Seaway turned right. It was hot and sticky, the temperature over 29 degrees, so it was a real pleasure to hoist the main and with the wind about 12knots we tootled along nicely towards our destination – Yamba/Iluka, twin towns at the entrance of the Clarence River. However, about three hours later, the forecast wind had not eventuated so it was down with the sails, on with the engine. And that’s how it was for the next twelve hours – one engine, chugging away, pushing us south. Any opportunity and we hauled out the jib, the wind too often had it flapping mindlessly, but it does help to pass the time on a night sail – watching the sail, furling it in as the wind drops then pulling it out again!! My romantic anticipation of a clear cloudless night sail with moonlight showing us the way turned out to be erroneous, as shortly before midnight the clouds came over, the moon hid her face and a slight drizzle of rain settled in.

Another beautiful day dawns

Dawn, and fish on!! A nice bonito had run into our lure!! We googled and got different opinions as to its taste – so we cleaned it up, kept half for us and half for bait – we will judge for ourselves.

Dozens of dolphins greeted us outside Yamba/Iluka, playing around the boat for about 15 minutes, leaving us before we went through the rock walls and entered the mouth of the Clarence. Choosing the quieter looking side (Iluka) we dropped our anchor, breakfasted (the fresh bonito was good!!), then sank thankfully into bed for a few hours.

Rainstorm in Iluka

What a difference a day makes – flat calm when we anchored here this morning, almost windless when we went ashore this afternoon and had a walk, peaceful when going to test the fish and chip shop this evening – then BANG – the heavens opened. Lightning, thunder, rain and wind. It was like a tropical storm. Sudden and strong. The wind got up to 40knots, three boats around us dragged their anchors, we watched through the, at times, almost horizontal rain as people aboard rushed around in the howling wind to reset their anchors. It was scary to watch. During the worst, when we saw the other boats moving, we started our engines as well, but thank goodness our Super Sarca anchor held solid as a rock. That, plus the amount of chain we had laid out.

Sugar refinery, just south of Harwood, on the banks of the Clarence

The Clarence River is second to the Mighty Murray River in size, and flows 394 kilometres from its start in the Great Dividing Range down to the sea and in times of flooding the increased influx of water can make it temporarily equal in flow to some of the largest rivers in the world. Along the banks there is farmland – sugarcane and cattle. At Harwood the sugar mill, the oldest sugar refinery in Australia still in operation, stands proud on the riverbank, in previous times the cane would have been delivered by barge from the surrounding areas.

We had been told that the Harwood Bridge would be closing for some weeks, only opening at certain hours on certain days – huge works are happening as a new bridge to carry the Pacific Highway traffic is being built at Harwood. Harwood Bridge, a steel truss bridge, was opened in 1966, prior to this, vehicles were transported across the river on cable guided ferries, and is the longest steel truss bridge on the Pacific Highway. We contacted Craig, (the bridgeman) and booked to go through at the 6.45 am opening on Sunday morning.

From our anchorage opposite the sugar refinery, just downstream of the bridge we watched the seemingly endless stream of traffic – we would be stopping that stream in the morning!!

Another first –

We have gone under powerlines. Over cables in rivers used to pull vehicular ferries across. Now we have gone under our first bridge.

Approaching our first bridge, in the calm of the early morning

Street poster, Maclean

At Maclean we tied up to the public pontoon, walked across the road to the liquor store – no – we were not desperate for a drink … the key for the free showers attached to the pontoon for the visiting boaties was kept there!! However, we did spot a nice bottle of red that accompanied us back to SOL and we enjoyed with fish and chips after a lovely hot shower.

We spent a couple of days in Maclean – the town claims to be “The Scottish Town in Australia” due to the origins of the original settlers and the town being named after a Scot. There are shops selling Scottish influenced souvenirs – bagpipes, kilts, etc and of course whisky!! We walked around the town amazed at the more than 200 power poles which are painted with different tartans, visited the library and swam in the local pool before continuing our trip up towards Grafton.

Dolphins accompanied us up river – we were astonished to see dolphins inland but apparently they are commonly seen here. Next stop Ulmarra, a place we had driven through some years ago, and whilst having a meal at the pub had looked down at the river and thought how nice it would be to go up there by boat one day – we could tick that off the list now – it was our boat we could see tied to the pontoon beside the jacaranda tree from our table as we ate!!

Jacarandas and SOL on public pontoon in Ulmarra

Up to Grafton next, we decided not to attempt going under the overhead powerlines just out of Grafton – the sign said 17metres – our mast alone is 18.5 and then add the distance from waterline to base of mast – no way!! So we anchored, and travelled the km or so up to the Pound Street jetty, puttering rather slowly in our little dinghy with her 3hp motor, to make our visit to the laundromat. 

Jacaranda trees abound in this region, and from the last weekend in October to the first weekend in November each year is held the Grafton Annual Jacaranda Festival. We are a couple of weeks too early to join in the 10 days of festivities, watch the crowning of the Jacaranda Queen and the Jacaranda Float Parade but as these magnificent trees are all blossoming now not only did we walk under their canopy but we tread on their purple carpet as well.

On our way back down the river we spent a night on another public pontoon, this time at Cowper/Brushgrove. Cowper was the site of a horrendous road accident 26yrs ago – we walked to the memorial stone. On 20^th October 1989 a bus carrying 45 passengers travelling along the Pacific Highway was hit by a semi-trailer truck which had veered onto the wrong side of the road. The truck driver and 21 passengers all died. At the time it was the worst road accident in Australia’s history. What made it particularly poignant was that the 26^th anniversary was just days away.

Back under the Harwood Bridge once again feeling the power of stopping all the traffic on the Pacific Highway. Guess there were a few annoyed car and truck drivers this afternoon as we went through along with about ten other boats so traffic ceased for over half an hour.

Us going under Harwood Bridge, photo taken by Anna, on Osprey

Whilst waiting our time to pass under the bridge we tied up to yet another superb public pontoon and here we met a lovely couple from Melbourne, Wal and Anna Robinson, who have an 8metre cruiser named Osprey. Osprey is a great little craft – they pop her on the trailer and have travelled far and wide, sleeping aboard in caravan parks and putting her into the water whenever the conditions are right. They have spent up to 7 months living aboard last year. Just going where the fancy takes them. They were up to watch the bridge opening then going back to Yamba – we organised to meet with them in the next few days.

Back to our anchorage spot in Iluka – and funnily enough, another fierce storm hit that evening – what is it with this place??

Anna and Wal, on their boat, Osprey, leaving to go up the Clarence to Grafton

Met Wal and Anna in Yamba, we caught the ferry over and they met us in their car taking us on a great little tiki tour around the town. We walked out the breakwater and watched the waves crashing on the rock wall – no boats going in or out today!! Lunch the next day in the pub at Iluka with them then with our plans made to go south and theirs to go up the Clarence, we said a fond farewell.

Waves crashing in on the rock wall breakwater at the entrance to the Clarence River

On the morning of Thursday 19^th October, with dolphins again there to say goodbye as we left, we spent a slightly nerve-wracking half hour motoring through the 2metre swell then turned towards Coffs Harbour. With not much wind we battled our way along, not wanting to resort to motoring, then about 3pm the wind filled in and we had a good sail the last couple of hours. To my consternation though, we were achieving some of our best speeds so far, but as we were sailing along, and just as we were approaching the entrance to Coffs Harbour - Jamie is looking at the speed log calling out the “look, 14.5, 14.8, 15.9, look, look, 16.4, 17…….” Whilst I’m shouting “stop looking at the speed, look at where we are heading!!!!” - we flew through the breakwater into Coffs under full sail doing 18knots!! Phew!!

We dropped the sails and entered the marina which is where we will be staying until the best weather window presents for our passage to New Zealand.

Old homestead along the Clarence

One of the many beautiful trees in flower right now

A lovely avenue of trees in Grafton

Warning the height of the power lines we didn't go under!!