Finally! We made it to Queensland!!

Australia's Gold Coast - surf beaches, theme parks, night clubs - Holiday central.

As I type this there is a COVID outbreak happening in Melbourne.  Another example of the virus "escaping" from hotel quarantine.  Unlike so much of the world these events are small in number and severity here but with every breakout there is the threat of state border - or even community - lock downs.  Once we rented the house and moved everything out there was a nagging fear we wouldn't make it to Queensland before another lock down happened.  When we finally crossed the Queensland Gold Coast Seaway early on Saturday, May 15 we felt a great relief.  After delaying our cruising adventure last year it's very rewarding to know we can spend winter this year sailing the tropics.  

Southern Belle in her berth at Coffs Harbour Marina. 

The previous blog ended with us in Coffs Harbour waiting out the weather and in hopes the new v-berth mattress we bought for the boat back at the beginning of December would arrive.  Our much needed new bed had been delayed for months due to COVID in Europe.  Then once on a container ship it was delayed due to another ship stuck crosswise in the Suez Canal.  So, with an uncertain promise of the mattress arriving, we welcomed Judy and Martin taking us away to their lovely property at Girralong way up in the mountains of northern NSW.  

Every stay with J & M is relaxing and usually offers new experiences.  Like the first time I saw a red belly black snake!!  And the various reptiles.  And the tiny antechinus mouse-like marsupial that has absolutely NO fear of humans.  This time we were invited to a birthday party (May 8) a few valleys away.   Everyone attending was asked to either wear something purple or leopard skin print.  Sounded like my kind of party!  The drive there was delightful ... bouncing down ever smaller dirt roads, around sharp mountain switch backs, over flowing creek beds and, as we got closer, paddock fences decorated more and more elaborately.

The first fence.

Second fence going up to the party.

We eventually crossed what was more like a small river than a creek and rounded a slippery hill to look down on a field full of trucks, 4-wheel drive vehicles, a smoking BBQ and lots of people.  It was a great party.  At first I thought people would be standoffish or suspicious of strangers but everyone was more than friendly.  We met an eclectic mix of characters ranging from artists, to organic farmers, tree changers and those who long ago chose to leave main stream society behind.   George and I were warmly welcomed.  I had a terrific time but too soon we had to leave before night came.  When darkness comes up in those parts it comes with a complete unforgiving blackout.  Even the stars are blacked out by the towering tree canopy.

Me and Judy with our purple!

After a wonderful few days with J & M we drove my car back to the boat expecting our mattress to turn up and needing a vehicle to take the old mattress to the tip.  While waiting we took a drive up the coast  to the seaside town of Woolgoolga.  It's a pleasant little coastal town with surfing, white sand beaches, camping, bushwalking, a mix of alternate and run of the mill stores and eateries .. But what it's most known for is it's large Sikh population.  The town has two large Sikh temples and sadly the one we wanted to visit wasn't open.  Woolgoolga is a big testament to successful multiculturalism with the blending of Sikh and Australian culture in this little town.

One of the large Sikh temples.

Back at the boat, the weather window for going north was closing and it looked like our missing mattress was not going to arrive.  Judy had to come into a meeting near Coffs so she and Martin came down to join us for a last lunch and take the car back up to the farm.  That night we prepared the boat for a dawn departure ...  24 hours to Queensland's Gold Coast and our first overnight sail in years.

Darkness falls. The sun dips below the sea and the tiny moon makes an appearance.

The sail north was uneventful.  No wind and a soft rolling sea meant we had to motorsail the whole 24 hours to the Gold Coast.  I admit I was apprehensive as the darkness came, but that soon past as I got into the groove of sailing through the night.  The moon was just a sliver adding very little light but when the stars came out it was like seeing deep into the milky way.  The sheer awesomeness of being so small and insignificant is disarming and at the same time reassuring. Life is good.  All will be OK.

We motored through the Gold Coast Seaway channel into Queensland Saturday morning holiday crowd bedlam.  One of the other cruisers we met here described it, "like entering a Mad Max movie".  There were speed boats of every size, surfers paddling across the channel unconcerned about our approaching boat, fishing boats, jetskis .. you name it.  And everyone and everything going full speed.  We anchored behind Wave Break Island just inside the channel, had an egg sandwich and hit the bed for a much needed sleep.

Louisiades Reunion Crowd. A very special night.

Later that afternoon we spoke to our friends, John and Di from Launceston, who were staying in one of the high rise apartment buildings on the other side of The Broadwater.  We met during the Louisiades Rally in 2013.  Turns out there were lots of people around from that wonderful time.  So Di and a few others puled together a lightning fast reunion for the next night.  It was great to see so many people together after all this time.  Many have kept in touch and continued to sail together or get together whenever an opportunity happened.  I counted people there from 10 boats out of the 20 (21?) boats total.   Great night with terrific people.  The Louisiades Rally was our first trip across oceans and, to this day, one of the best things I have ever done.  Even if it did terrify me on several occasions!

The next morning we upped anchor and headed up the main channel of The Broadwater to Tipplers Passage where we anchored for a couple of nights.  Tipplers is a lovely holiday area on the inside of South Stradbroke Island.  It's only accessable by water via your own personal boat or a ferry from Southport.  There are several club areas and a camping/resort section with a good restaurant.  Our first morning there was unfortunately spent on the boat because our main toilet decided to block.  Solid.  So poor George spent hours pulling all the smelly bits apart and cleaning out the crystal build up in the hoses.  We did have a welcome break in the morning to catch up for coffee with good cruising friends last seen in Tasmania. 

Anchored off the front of lovely Tipplers.

George hard at work stripping the toilet pump.  Bless him.

The plan was to get up the next morning.  Head over for a good cooked breakfast.  Wait for the rising tide and make a bit more progress toward Morton Bay.  There are a lot of channels through The Broadwater and most are shallow.  It's important to head off on a rising tide and pay close attention to the many and sometimes confusing channel markers.  We waited the right amount of time and then headed down the Tipplers Channel to merge again with the main channel.  I won't go into the whole mess here but we had a bit of trouble.  Long story short - the boat stopped right in the middle of the channel and refused to start again, George spent 3 hours trying to start it, we called electricians we knew, we were at the point of spending the night in the channel and getting a tow the next day .. when George managed to short start the starter motor again.  So, right at the top of the tide we raced out towards the only marina in that section of The Broadwater.  Spent the night tied up to a too shallow work berth and after starting the fussy starter early the next day we headed - at the fastest speed possible - to our berth in the East Coast Marina in Manly Qld.  That's where we are now.   Lots more to update but I'll end this marathon here.  More later.

There are 3 or 4 marinas here in Manly.  It's a sea of masts under beautiful and warm Queensland skies.

Transition - Land to Sea - Month #1

 

Looking out to sea.

We talked about it often.  The dream of selling up or renting the house and living on the boat full time.  Over the last 10 years we’ve lived and explored on Southern Belle for periods of 6 or 7 months, but we always had a house, a home, and our dog there waiting.  But now, since Molly left us, there was nothing to keep us from that dream.  So, we did it, rented the house.  Totally.  Moved everything out and happily welcomed other people to build their home there.

I won’t go into the seemingly endless days of cleaning, recycling, re-homing, and throwing out the contents of closets, filing cabinets, kitchen cupboards and, worst of all, the backyard shed.  Too many friends and family have heard that rant far too often.   I’ll just say here, “it was a LOT harder than I thought it would be!”  But it’s done.  All of it.  And it was far less emotionally taxing than I had expected.  George is never as attached to "stuff" as I am; but I managed to sort and pack and clean and then walk away.  Time to move on and try a new way of life.   We have a very nice family making their home for the next few years in our house.  And, as I write this blog one month and one day on from the big move, we’re living on our boat and, so far, I’m happy.

A huge note of thanks goes to our dear friends Judy and Martin for taking a lot of our "stuff" and keeping it on their beautiful property in Girralong, NSW.  They're keeping my car and loads of George's tools.  We even managed to cram our little hard dingy in the back of my car.  I didn't want to leave the fiberglass boat on the beach to rot, like so many you see dotted around the foreshore.  Hopefully they can use it to cross their creek when the summer downpours come.

My Subaru with the last of it headed up to the farm.

So, after all that talking, planing and procrastinating we departed The Basin on Pittwater in the early morning hours of April 21 headed for our first destination of  Newcastle, NSW.  The forecast had 20+ knot winds straight out of the south for our first journey which is good.  It means the full head sail out with good speed.  And it delivered.  We had 24-28 knots most of the 9 hours sailing.  The only downside I guess was the southeasterly swell running about 2 metres slapping against our hull which made my landlubber stomach extremely uncomfortable.  No problem really.  We motored into the picturesque harbour between incoming and outgoing coal ships - huge things - and safely into our berth.  Our friends Thelma and Bruce were there waiting to grab a line and enjoy the resulting evening of wine and good conversation.  

In spite of being a hugely busy coal port Newcastle Harbour is well worth a visit.  The facilities are first rate, there are great walks into town along the foreshore plus shopping and dining are just steps away.

We enjoyed Newcastle and we also had a good, but too short, catch up with our friend David Bradburn of Bluewater Cruising Yachts who built our boat.  Walking around the area is lovely to look at but also historic.  The tree of knowledge was right off our marina arm.  It's a stunning Morton Bay Fig tree, the only survivor of 9 trees planted in 1870 by the wife of the soon to be mayor of the settlement.  The tree is considered significant in NSW for a few reasons ... it was the scene of indigenous corroboree gatherings; it was thought an inspiration for Henry Lawson, Australian poet and writer; it could have been celebrated by the labour/union movement.  Whatever it is significance and a mighty tree.

Tree of Knowledge - Newcastle

The next days were spent cruising in perfect weather.  From Newcastle to Broughton Island off Port Stephens where we anchored at Providence Beach at the northern side of the Island.  Beautiful anchorage but too rolly for my tastes.  

Broughton Island, Providence Beach

Next we traveled to one of my favourite places - Camden Haven - for a few days and after that Port Macquarie.  We had always wanted to go into PM but couldn't due to the conditions on the bar.  We had a great time there staying in the small and very tight marina.  We walked miles.  The best walk is along the barway where the rocks have been painted over the years by people, families, clubs and more to commemorate holidays or the passing of loved ones. 

The walkway along the channel into Port Macquarie with the painted rocks.

 

One of my favourites along the Channel

We departed Port Macquarie at 3am on May 3 to make slack water on the rising tide.  I was apprehensive but the departure was easy.  George did a great job driving Southern Belle through the incoming low swell.  Our destination Coffs Harbour is 67 nautical miles north.  The forecast was for little to no wind so we knew we had a long day of motoring.  But we thought we'd get there about 2 or 3 pm in the afternoon.  What we didn't take into account was the 2 - 3 knot Australian Eastern Current pushing us back the whole way!  We entered the marina just after 5pm with the sun setting after a long long motor against the current.  The wine tasted especially nice that night.

The outer bay at Coffs.  The harbour and marina are in the left of the photo.  This is also the international clearing in port for yacht arrivals on the New South Wales coast.

The weather turned unpleasant after our arrival with strong winds, big sea swells and rain.  So Judy and Martin drove the one hour up from their property to pick us up for a weekend in the country.  So far this boating life has been one of exercise - we've walked a lot at every port, friends, great sleep and revisiting what we've learned about ourselves and our boat.  Not bad for month #1!!!!