Night Lights 18th & 19th July

 

Fuel jetty at Cabarita Marina - look out for the rocks and the ferry wake!

 

Our stay at Cabarita Marina was a very pleasant one. We found the IGA at Breakfast Point and purchased some stores to keep us going for the next few days. The day was sunny and warm so we looked into all the bays we had bypassed on the way up river - Five Dock Bay, Lane Cove River and Blackwattle, Rozelle and White Bay. These last three are accessed through Darling Harbour, but by now I am getting used to the traffic surrounding us as we travel. Peter, of course, was never worried by it anyway.To get there we had to motor through the Old Glebe Island Bridge which has been partially dismantled so that you go through one of the spans with the top removed. Careful lookout needs to be kept in case there is a boat coming in the opposite direction. Immediately after this is Anzac Bridge (commonly known as Madonna's Bra) then right into Rozelle Bay or left into Blackwattle Bay. We cruised around looking at the huge motor boats (small ships) cruise ships, tugs, etc, then anchored in a designated anchoring area in Blackwattle Bay for lunch. We decided not to spend the night there as the Anzac Bridge is very busy and noisy.

 

Going through Old Glebe Island Bridge, Anzac Bridge behind.

A decision was made to relocate to Athol Bay, near Taronga Park Zoo, and put up with the ferry wash rocking and rolling us about in order to get a good view of the city lights for a night. This morning we were awoken by the "Whoop! Whoop!" of apes and monkeys as they greeted the new day. There are five courtesy moorings in Athol Bay and they were all taken for the night. This morning Peter and I decided to take the beautiful bush walk to Chowder Bay for a coffee before we headed to Middle Harbour for the weekend. We had just climbed back on Rene when the rain that had been threatening all morning arrived with a gusty bluster that had us diving for shelter. Lucky us!

Once the weather settled a bit and we had lunch we made the break for Middle Harbour and Spit Bridge. We knew we were cutting things fine, as the last bridge opening for the day was at 2.15pm, but had decided to take one of the courtesy moorings near Shell Cove if we missed it and wait for tomorrow's 10am opening. However we did make it and the man operating the bridge waved us through, so here we are in Sugarloaf Bay on one of the courtesy moorings along with three other boats. We are surrounded by steep bushy hills and reserves. It hardly seems possible that Australia's largest city centre is only a few kilometres away.