Tick Magnet 19th August

I'm not sure why, but my ability to attract bush ticks has my unsympathetic family rolling about laughing hysterically at my expense. Peter says he can hear them backstroking across the bay to find me. A portion of Peter and Greg's phone calls always contains quips about the problem. The last tick was picked up on a walk at Towlers Bay in Pittwater. I even sent Peter through the bush first, but they never get on him. Why me? Greg has even suggested I should be put in a bag and dusted!!! Ha, Ha, very funny guys! I have two frivolous tallies going on this trip. One is tick attachments to Liz - 5 at present. The other is how much money I find. Believe me it is not a realistic way to survive. The total since the start of the trip is $11.50. I'll still have to do some relief teaching when I get home.

Here they come!

 

 

It is Monday 19th August and because of a strong wind warning we are staying in this area today. We plan to make the trip to Lake Macquarie tomorrow, weather permitting.

Train Trip to Newcastle & Jobs 17th & 18th August

As we're still at Brooklyn we decided to take advantage of being near the Central Coast Line and take a journey to Newcastle for the day. At the huge cost of $2.50 return each, we set out. Strong winds were forecast so it seemed like a good idea. We must have taken the 'milk run' on the way north as the train stopped at every station and we had to change at Wyong. It took just over two hours to get to Newcastle, but the journey was scenic and having views of countryside instead of water was a change. On arrival we walked along the foreshore where huge amounts of money have been spent on beautifying the area. It was a pleasant walk around to the marina and yacht club, but the wind gradually built until it was almost uncomfortable to continue to walk here. An enquiry at the Yacht Club informed us that it would cost $50 per night to stay. Of course all amenities were on hand. Our trip back to Hawkesbury River was much quicker and took only 1 1/2 hours with a change at Gosford. The landscape around Newcastle was very flat and I realised how lucky I am to have spent so much time in the rivers and bays around Broken Bay.

Lily is left at the public pontoon for the day (locked)

 

Another windy day was forecast for Sunday so we decided to do a few jobs. Took advantage of the cheap laundry facility at Brooklyn Marina (1 load = $7.50 per wash and dry)and purchased ice which they sell in a huge block as this lasts much better than the small ice block variety. After this was done we decided to move back to Patonga Beach as the wind was still in the northern sector. A walk along the beach in the evening finished off a pleasant day.

Bonus Time in Pittwater, Cowan Creek and the Hawkesbury River 13th to 17th August

After the water pump was fixed we decided to stay in this area for a few more days. We studied the maps and found some places we had not yet seen. Tuesday night was spent in beautiful, calm, secluded Refuge Bay close to the waterfall. The trickling sound of water falling over the rocks sent us to sleep that night.

On Wednesday we motored back to Pittwater and into Towlers Bay. This bay is full of private and club moorings and as this is not a busy time of the year no one seems to mind visitors taking up one of the moorings. Most of them are empty. It was very sheltered here from the strong westerly winds blowing outside the bay. Towlers Bay has good walking tracks into the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park

We had explored all of the tracks we could find in Towlers Bay, so on Thursday we motored back into Cowan Creek and took up a National Park mooring off Hallets Beach, which is just south and on the opposite side to the Hawkesbury River entrance. What a gorgeous little beach! The wind had disappeared, the sun was out and as the afternoon wore on Peter and I decided to have our first drinks and nibbles on the beach for this trip. It has been too cold up until this point.

By Friday our larder was becoming boringly bare so the mutual decision was to go back to Brooklyn and do the laundry, have hot showers and go to Woy Woy and do the shopping. It is an easy 15 minute train trip and a short walk each end to the shops and boat. Very convenient!

Wind and Water Pump 12th August

At some stage over the last few weeks we had noticed larger amounts of water appearing in the bilge. Peter investigated in the dark recesses behind the motor and discovered that the water pump was leaking indicating that the seal had gone. He ordered parts on line and had them posted to Greg and Leisha's address. One of the reasons they came up for the weekend was to deliver the parts. Monday was then set aside for repairing the pump. Firstly, this is a Volvo MD7B 3000 series diesel motor and Peter had extraordinary difficulty getting behind the motor and below the exhaust manifold to disconnect the pump for repairs and then replace it afterwards. I heard a few choice words strung together in ways I've not heard before. I don't usually stick around when these jobs are done. However soon you will discover why I had to remain on board on this day. It seemed to take ages to fix and several times nuts and spanners dropped into the bilge under the motor, which resulted in the air turning blue. Eventually everything was put back together and no more leaks.

Once this job was completed, we were just sitting back admiring Peter's handiwork when suddenly a huge gust of wind hit Rene. It had been obvious that the weather was taking a turn for the worse, but the wind was incredibly strong. Gusts whipped over the water flinging spray in the air across the river. We were in a sheltered spot on a mooring in the Hawkesbury River. Goodness knows what it would have been like at sea. The tide was going out, the current strong and we were held side on to the wind, which made things quite uncomfortable as the gusts came through and at one stage heeled Rene to about 20 degrees. During the afternoon the wind remained strong and gusty. Later we heard on the news that hundreds of people requested assistance from SES throughout the Sydney area as trees and power lines came down. Also a 40' catamaran was turned over while sailing on Sydney Harbour. It was reported that the winds were gusting to 100km per hour there.

We had originally thought we would sail to Lake Macquarie this week. It is 35nm north of Broken Bay entrance and an easy days sail. However the weather forecast was for strong winds or winds from the north east (that's where we want to go) so we decided to stay in this area for a few more days until the weather turned more favourable for us.

Adventures With Greg and Leisha 11th August

Greg and Leisha caught the train from Sydney up to Hawkesbury River yesterday. We decided to take them over to Dangar Island, as they had not been there, and we had enjoyed it so much. Again we put Lily on the small beach near the coffee shop and then did the circumnavigation. They were both as impressed as we had been. A cup of coffee and toasted banana bread completed a lovely morning.

As we were preparing ourselves and Lily to go back to Rene a lady from a house nearby started talking to us about this beautiful island. She mentioned that she and her friend were about to go over to the other side of the river to climb up to her favourite waterfall. She invited us along, so of course we took her up on the invitation and off we went. We both tied the dinghies to a rock at the edge and clambered up to a level area above. Helen actually said, 'It's not far, a bit steep at the beginning, but then flattens out.'

Off we went, following Helen and Adrian up an ill defined path, the steepest I have ever been on. It was OK at first, but as we climbed it got steeper and eventually we had to use an old knotted rope to pull ourselves up an almost insurmountable rock. By now I was feeling very uneasy, wishing I had suction pads on my hands and feet, such as those frogs have. Climbing required both hands and feet and looking down from these dizzying heights had me deciding to pull out. Leisha at six months pregnant was happy to go on. I kept wondering what would happen if she slipped. She wasn't at all fazed. I must say now that Helen is 70 years old and went up this ravine like an antelope. After a short break everyone talked me into going on and for a while I tried not to look down as I felt I might fall of the slope at any moment. We had to push through bush and Greg said, 'What about the ticks Mum?' At that point in time I had got past my phobia about ticks. They were the least of my problems. Eventually the path flattened out and soon we stepped down into the rocky creek bed.

The creek and waterfall were a delight. The views from the top amazing - so far up! I imagine in summer this would be a wonderful spot for a swim, but now the water was very cold. I'm glad I conquered my fears and climbed on. It must be said I am a West Aussie and have never climbed anything as scary, steep and high as this. On the way down I carried a stout stick and this was a great help in providing support as I went. I'm even considering buying some "Dork Sticks" much to Greg's horror.

We made our way back to Rene and eventually had a very late lunch.

 

Helen and Adrian

  

A Week in Cowan Creek 5th to 10th August

We have just spent the week in the various bays up Cowan Creek. In WA this would be a river, as even as far as Bobbin Head there was still 8m depth. Empire Marina (Halvorsen's) is at the navigable end of the creek just around the corner from Bobbin Head picnic area, and from here it shallows quickly, but continues on for a few more kilometres before petering out in mangroves. We walked as usual and discovered some interesting and energetic walks. The Sphinx walk was beautiful. It took us on a loop of 6.5km up the range to a 1/8th replica of the Egyptian Sphinx. It had been carved in sandstone by a soldier who had spent time in Egypt during the war, his purpose being as a memorial to his mates.

 

One of the outstanding Bays was Jerusalem Bay, which is quite long and narrow and we discovered a very tiny patch of sand where we could land Lily. The rocks are covered with oysters and as Lily is an inflatable dinghy oysters are bad news for her. This has been one of our enduring problems - finding a place to leave the dinghy safely to go ashore. From here we were able to climb a steep path up to Cowan and find a general store where we had lunch and a rest before retracing our steps back to Jerusalem Bay. On the way we met a couple of ladies (senior) and discovered that one was over from Geraldton. She practises as a vet, but Peter forgot her name so can't help you Judy. I didn't get introduced properly so missed it.

We tied up to a National Park courtesy mooring in a small bay off Jerusalem called Pinta Bay. Steep, forested hills surrounded our bay, and the other side of Jerusalem Bay, locking us into a dark green triangle. It is such a sheltered bay that no wind stirred here and the dark, oily water was completely glassed out. I couldn't help thinking that this would have been exactly how Cook would have seen this bay if he had come here. One thing he would not have heard was the sound of the road trains roaring along the distant Pacific Motorway. It was interesting because the deep valleys funnelled the sound down and somehow made it echo strangely into a really ominous growl.

As evening approached many different birds called as they prepared for the night, crickets chirped and fish splashed. After a while silence fell and I began to find it a little claustrophobic in this dark little bay with the distant growl of the motorway floating down to us. This feeling changed in a moment though when Peter decided to have a go at fishing. As he threw out the line it splashed into the water and we discovered the most amazing phosphorescence we have ever seen. It was so dark, no moon, just our small patch of stars above. We spent ages throwing water over the side and watching our own glittering fireworks show. Everywhere the droplets hit the water hundreds of rings of fluorescent light shimmered in the darkness. We could even see large fish chasing and catching smaller ones. In places where leaves and twigs disturbed the surface sparkles of light flashed like those on the overhead lines as the electric train goes by. All of a sudden our bay turned magic and I forgot the oppressive feeling I had earlier.

We spent three nights at Bobbin Head, an extra one because it rained for a whole day and we were confined to the boat. At Cottage Point we watched as the float plane brought people in for dinner at the local restaurant. Cowan Creek is a must for anyone contemplating this journey - an absolute treasure.

Greg and Leisha Visit 3rd - 5th August

Coffee excursion at Dangar over we left the mooring and circumnavigated the island before motoring back to Patonga Beach to meet Greg and Fine Gold. Fine Gold is Greg and Leisha's (son and daughter-in-law) 27' Vancouver that they sailed back from the UK a couple of years ago. Leisha had other commitments so Greg brought Fine Gold up by himself. We both anchored in front of the Patonga Pub and adjourned for late afternoon drinks before dinner on board Rene. My latest concoction was Chicken with Mushroom and Paprika Sauce - YUM!

On Sunday we heard from Leisha that she was catching the bus and train up for the day. We were to meet her at Pearl Beach for morning tea, which we did and then we all walked back over the range to Patonga Beach for lunch. Spent the afternoon lazing about and then saw Leisha to the bus at 4.10pm for the trip back to Sydney.

Greg had a bank holiday today, Monday, so we waved him off after breakfast and made our way over to America and Refuge Bays. These bays are chocked full of private and club moorings along with a few courtesy moorings and it is easy to understand why. America Bay is surrounded by very steep thickly wooded hills. High sandstone cliffs jutting out of the vegetation render any exploring ashore out of the question. This bay would be totally protected from any adverse weather raging in from any direction. Refuge Bay has a couple of small beaches that invite landing and exploring. On the south side is a high sandstone cliff that has a waterfall spilling over into a small beach stream at the bottom. We grabbed a mooring nearby and sat outside in the sunshine and ate lunch whilst the splash of the waterfall broke the silence.

After lunch we decided to motor over to Brooklyn for the night as we both felt in need of a hot shower. While we were there we bought fuel for the dinghy, washed the clothes and enquired about the possibility of leaving the dinghy there overnight while we went to Sydney to collect a water pump kit that Peter ordered on the internet. The storekeeper thought there would be no problem in accommodating Lily for the night.  Brooklyn Marina is an excellent spot to catch up on the jobs as most of the services are here at the one spot. The only thing Brooklyn doesn't have is a supermarket. Gosford is only a short trip on the train, the station being right next to the marina.

Delightful Dangar Island 3rd August

Dangar Art

 

One of the problems with attaching Rene to a mooring for the night is that often she spends half the night butting up against the float as wind and tide work against each other. Very annoying, in fact drives you mad! We had no such troubles off Brooklyn. The current was so strong here that the rope and mooring were stretched out tight in one direction. At some time during the night I heard the gurgle, bubble, slap of the change of the tide with a sinking heart, but all that happened was that she bumped past the float and then stretched out tight as a drum in the other direction. Peaceful sleep.... 

 

The view from our courtesy mooring this morning takes in an inviting looking island to the north east, Dangar Island. It is quite high and forested and ringed on the lower slopes with houses, jetties and numerous moored craft. We read that there is a coffee shop/general store on the north side near the public wharf and that is an undeniable magnet for Peter. He likes to indulge in a flat white once a day. Off we went, Lily battling the strong current flowing down the Hawkesbury River. There was a small beach near the public jetty so we hauled Lily up the golden sand and decided to walk the island in order to earn our morning coffee.

Getting the shopping home Dangar Island style.

What a beautiful island! There are no cars here. Locals have dinghies that they take to the mainland marina near Brooklyn where there is a dinghy dock. From here they either have a car or can take a train from the nearby Brooklyn station. The streets are marked as usual with street signs, but are much more walker friendly paths circling the island. People here indulge their artistic expression by dressing up the street signs and light poles and adding delightful characters and art to their gardens.
Back at the coffee shop we sat on the waterfront and sipped away as we looked at the beautiful views across the river towards the railway bridge. We decided to look into the possibility of taking a ferry trip up the Hawkesbury as Rene is too tall to go under the bridge.

 

 

Gosford to the Hawkesbury River 2nd & 3rd August

Last night we took up a courtesy mooring in the west side of the Hawkesbury River between the shallows of the mainland and Dangar Island. At some time during the night I was woken by a hideous thrashing machinery noise, my half senseless brain believing we were about to  be run down by a runaway paddle steamer that had not noticed our anchor light. Struggling into consciousness, heart still hammering, I finally realised it was a train rattling along the tracks on it's way south along the Sydney/Newcastle line. Phew!!! The railway runs along the shore against the hills and emerges from a tunnel nearby, and in the stillness of the night it's clamour echoes around the bay and the train appears to be about to crash through the cabin.

Yesterday we steamed slowly back down the tortuous Brisbane Water Channel between the oyster farms, past the mangroves , through The Rip and under the Rip Bridge with it's currents and whirlpools, beside the sandbanks, around Wagstaff Point, with it's protruding rocky reef and around the rock lined shore on the north/east side of Broken Bay - the views in the warm, windless sunshine just stunning.

OH S#!*! Are we going to make it under or not!?

 

 

 

OH YES!!



 

 



At 11.30am we motored by beautiful Patonga Beach and made our way into the wide, dark, slatey/green water of the Hawkesbury River. The purpose of our courtesy mooring is to allow access to the Brooklyn Marina and the shops and cafes associated with it. Here we were able to buy a new bottle of gas and we discovered showers and laundry also available, although that had been taken care of back in Gosford on Fernaux Explorer.

Feeling fresh and clean after our steaming hot shower we sat in the cockpit with nibbles and wine and enjoyed the slow advance of night fall. The evenings are becoming milder.

    

Gosford 30th July to 1st August

Hooray for the twin tub washing machine! In this life there are a few essential appliances and one of them is a method of cleaning clothes. We discovered that our friends from Eden and Bermagui, Helen and Brian and their vessel Fernaux Explorer were tied up at the Gosford Public Wharf. On our first morning there Brian came along the wharf to catch up and one of the first things he offered was the use of the washing machine. Top loaders are no good on boats - too much water. As the laundromat was at a distance that required us to venture forth with a packed lunch and a water bag we gladly accepted their offer. Friday dawned clear and sunny so I took our mammoth pile of dirty washing and lo and behold an hour later Fernaux Explorer was bedecked with lines of clean, sweet smelling clothes flapping in the breeze. Thanks again Brian and Helen for your friendship and generosity.

Two days before we had arrived in Broadwater, Gosford and took up a courtesy mooring just south of the sailing club premises. We rowed Lily ashore to a tiny beach near the yacht club where we abandoned her, after carefully tying her to a rubbish bin pole, to explore Gosford city. One of the first shops we walked past was a barbers. Half an hour later Peter emerged minus his hair. Actually it looked OK, but his suggestion that I go in there was rejected as I was not keen on appearing with a number 2, even where no-one knows me. I made an appointment at the Milk & Honey hairdressers and an hour and a half later - a new me!

The weather forecast for Tuesday evening into Wednesday was for building southerly winds up to 20-25 knots, so we decided to phone the Marine Rescue Central Coast to organise a berth at the Gosford Public Wharf for the next three nights. RMCC manage the wharf for the local council and in the process earn some much needed funds for their organisation. Many of the berths were empty so we had our pick and Dave from RMCC kindly helped us tie up safely. Chris and Roz on a 47' Boro were our neighbours on one side (what a magnificent boat fit out they had done) and a family of mum, dad and three kids living on an old fishing boat were on the other side. Luckily there was a space of about five berths between each of us.

Who needs TV? Not us! We had the best entertainment from the fishing boat family. The boys probably ranged in age from 11 down to 4. Their antics in a very unreliable dinghy at the end of the day kept us entertained. Dad shouting instructions from the mother ship as the boys conked out numerous times and began drifting towards the rock wall was probably an exercise in how not to talk to kids. Hmmmm! The Moscow Circus arrived and set themselves up on a small oval over the street from the wharf and we watched as they set up the Big Top in the rain. The sound and light show in the evening was interesting.

Brisbane Water 29th July

Time to leave lovely Patonga Beach for a while and venture into Brisbane Water which is another huge waterway that leads off to the north from Broken Bay up to Gosford. We motored between Lion Island and the mainland and headed to the east to Little Box Head where the channel into Brisbane Water begins. This is a narrow winding channel that Alan Lucas (Cruising The NSW Coast) recommended to  navigate on a rising tide, 2 hours before high tide. Wagstaff Point was our first interesting experience as the channel takes you to the far western side around  shallow ground jutting out from the point over which the tide was racing and swirling. The channel is well marked so it was not difficult to navigate, but care and a little research is needed to ensure a safe passage. Next came the Rip and Rip Bridge. The bridge at 17.4m left plenty of room for us to go under, but on approach it looks like the mast will hit the bridge and there is always a tense moment as it goes under. Our mast at 15m meant we had a couple of metres to spare.

The Rip is interesting as generally the channel has a depth of between 3-4m, but on either side of the bridge are two deep holes of up to 33m deep. Under the bridge itself the depth is only 3-4m. On the chart we had observed the symbols for whirlpools so we were keeping a good lookout for them. Certainly the currents in this area were exceptionally strong and as we motored through we could feel the water pulling the boat around. There wasn't any whirlpools, but you could see that it was possible that they would form at times. We continued on through the mangrove channels and around the sandbanks, low islands and oyster farms and at last found ourselves in the open area of Brisbane Water. Gosford City is in the northern end of Brisbane Water and we motored there and picked up a courtesy mooring for the night outside the Gosford Sailing Club. A totally windless evening meant  that it was hard to believe we were on the water when we went below.

Walk to Warrah Trig 28th July

 

It was time to do a bit of real exercise, elevate the heart rate, have a bit of a huff and puff etc, so we decided to take the section of the Great North Walk from Patonga to Pearl Beach. Immediately the path leaves Patonga Beach it begins the steep climb up to the lookout at Warrah Trig. It didn't take long for the heart rate to soar and there was plenty of huffing and puffing, but what a view! I have previously been talking about steep rocky hills and cliffs, but this area is more precipitous than anything we have seen before. There are several lookouts along the ridge top that give incredible views of Broken Bay and Pittwater and as we gazed down we could still see the remnants of the early morning mist - beautiful!

In the gullies here we are beginning to see the thicker growth of rainforest that is found north of here, a little taste of things to come. The ridges and hills are covered with more open forest and bushland with a hint of spring and early wildflowers starting to bloom. The dominant flower at the moment is Crowea of which there are several varieties. In a few places the bush is covered in the bright pink star shaped flowers. On the long walk that follows the fire trail down to Pearl Beach we passed a high sandstone cliff under which was a huge cave dripping with water and ferns. Quite spectacular. There was a trendy restaurant at Pearl Beach where we decided a meal out was justified since we had expended a serious amount of energy to get there. We were not disappointed. The Fisherman's Platter (Peter) and Feta and Caramelised Onion Tart (Liz) made a perfect lunch in a beautiful setting overlooking the beach. Great Day!

 

 

Broken Bay NSW

  

Woy Woy by Bus 27th July

Our shop in Manley was such a hurried affair that we forgot some important supplies and as we came across a bus stop on one of our walks around the community of Patonga we decided to catch the bus to Woy Woy. The bus climbed the steep hill out of Patonga and then quickly plunged again down to the little settlement of Pearl Bay. What a pearler of a bay. Imagine your absolute ideal heaven and this is it. We spotted a very inviting looking coffee shop so a walk here tomorrow was a decision that was confirmed then and there.

We have found that people who drive and ride on the buses are creatures of habit. The bus driver obviously knows who everyone is and a stranger is usually well looked after as he/she makes sure you don't get lost. A senior lady caught the bus in Pearl Bay and came to an abrupt halt as she spied us on one of the high seats towards the back. 'Have I seen you before?' she enquires. 'No.' Then she says, 'I've never seen this many people on the bus.' As the other seven people were locals an extra two were an attention grabber.Woy Woy is on Brisbane Water south of Gosford and surrounded with mangroves. Not the sort of place that ones aspires to holiday in but served it's purpose for us. 

Broken Bay & Pittwater 25th & 26th July

 

Patonga Beach

We did not manage to get all of our jobs done on Wednesday because of a strong wind from the south west. Bringing Rene alongside at Clontarf Marina for water and fuel would have been problematic in the wind with the small amount of space over there. Also food shopping at Manly was out of the question as the wind was blowing straight up the bay there. Instead we took up a courtesy mooring in Shell Cove in Middle Harbour near The Spit and waited for the wind to abate as the forecast predicted. By mid afternoon it was obvious that the wind was dying so Peter and I rowed ashore and left Lily outside the Dinghy Sailing Club on the grass and caught the bus to Greg and Leisha's.

Thursday dawned fine and light northwest winds ruffled our hair as we poked our heads out of the companionway. Firstly we motored over to Clontarf to fill up with fuel and water, then it was off to Manly to stock up with stores. At midday all jobs had been completed, so as we still had time to get to Pittwater before dark (22nm from Manly to our Pittwater anchorage), we set off. The light north westerly helped us motor sail the whole way. The trip was scenic as we watched the northern beach suburbs, steep rocky headlands and golden beaches slowly pass by. Once around Barrenjoey Head we started to look for an anchorage for the night. It took a while as most of Pittwater is packed with moored craft or it is too deep. Eventually we found a sheltered spot in the eastern part of Careel Bay just outside the shoaling ground.

 

Looking for a spot to anchor

Our Careel Bay anchorage was very still and quiet and after breakfast we decided to take a turn around Pittwater to see what was there. There are thousands of boats. Every type of pleasure craft must be represented here and even some you would not have thought of. The place is choked with moorings. However we did manage to find several possibilities for anchoring.

As the weather forecast was for light northerlies and variable light winds we thought it would be a good idea to motor over to Patonga. This is the perfect conditions for this anchorage being in Broken Bay and open to the east and south. At the moment it is perfectly still here - not a sound. The bay is so pretty. Patonga is a small community with a hotel, general store, fish and chip shop, jetty and a ferry to Palm Beach. The hotel is a great spot for a pre dinner drink as it overlooks the bay and in fact has won 'NSW Best Country Pub' and 'Pub with the Best View, NSW.' Nice place!

We intend to spend a few days here, weather permitting, and then venture up the Hawkesbury River and Cowan Creek.

Bantry Bay Middle Harbour 22nd & 23rd July

Poor Peter! He has finally decided that it is time to change the authors name on this blog. The 'Brrrr' for the cold weather was the final straw. He did not want anyone to be under the illusion that he wrote stuff like that - definitely female.

Beautiful Bantry Bay! The wind has been sweeping across the hills here, but has had little impact upon us down here at water level in this picturesque spot. Approaching this bay from the south the buildings of the old munitions depot dominate the left bank. Some of these buildings have new roofs so it appears that they are to be renovated. This is an off limits area for landing. Opposite, and close to us on our courtesy mooring is a small public jetty and picnic area. I doubt many picnickers use it as access involves a very energetic walk down the hundreds of rocky steps and steep bush tracks, which takes about 30 minutes to climb down from the car park. The trek up had us both puffing and panting. We had tied Lily up to the jetty and checked that the wind was blowing her off and away from the oyster encrusted piles and rocks and that she would not get stuck under the jetty as the tide ebbed. The tide was not due in for a few hours so we decided she was safe for the time being. On arrival back at the jetty a couple of hours later - no sign of the dinghy. She was skulking right under the jetty out of sight and Peter had to scramble under the slippery, slimy, oyster covered piles to retrieve her. The wind direction indicated that the dinghy should still be blown off, but I guess eddies and tide were causing our recalcitrant dinghy to misbehave.

Today we piled in the dinghy, with our lunch, and motored around to Roseville Chase to a small beach where we could lift the dinghy out and not have to worry about oyster covered rocks. From here we followed tracks west in the Garigal National Park. The terrain was as usual very steep and sandstone cliffs dropped off from the walk track at dizzying heights. Mostly the track was about half way up the hill and the cliffs also rose vertically beside us sometimes thickly covered with ferns and gum trees and at other times the bush was more open affording panoramic views across Middle Harbour. We continued on under the Roseville Bridge and along the Lyre Bird track for a few kms where we sat on a rock and ate lunch overlooking Middle Harbour Creek.

 

 

 

Tomorrow is to be a jobs day. The Spit Bridge opens at 10.15am and we will go to the fuel jetty at Clontarf Marina and fill up with fuel and water. Then it is off to Manly to food shop ready for our trip to Broken Bay and Pittwater some 16nm north of Sydney Harbour. Greg and Leisha have invited us to dinner so we will do the washing and have the big clean up.

Middle Harbour 20th & 21st July

We spent all Saturday and Sunday morning appreciating the beauty of Sugarloaf Bay and the two small coves leading into it, Crag Cove and Castle Cove. Both coves were lined with tall mangroves as they grew narrower and we continued up, in the dinghy, until we could go no further. In places rocky cliffs lined the banks and flowering wattles tumbled over the edge. There were six or seven other yachts and motor boats around us and Peter made friends with Megan and Andrew (lawyers) who had a sleek looking 41' Bavaria next to us.

Alan Lucas (book) advised us that there were shops up the hill from the old derelict stone jetty on the north side of the bay. We were able to land the dinghy on the shore near the wall and lifted it across the sand up onto the grass, safe from the incoming tide and started out to find the shops for a few supplies. In the end it took us about 45 minutes to walk to them, so we decided we deserved a morning coffee for our efforts. The walk took us up a very steep hill and into some expensive suburban streets and houses overlooking Middle Harbour.

 

Just a small pad in Castlecrag

Greg and Leisha met us on the way to the 11.30am opening of Spit Bridge. We managed to be early this time. We didn't think we'd try our luck by being late again. As the courtesy moorings in Shell Cove were free we stopped there and they came over to us for a lunch of toasted cheese and asparagus sandwiches. Yum! Today has been very windy, and although Middle Harbour is calm and sheltered, it was still a cold brisk wind that blew across the deck. This is the reason for my trendy flannel jacket. It's a tad small for Peter so I have inherited it.

 

Flannel coat and ugg boots - Brrrrrr!

Late this afternoon, after Greg and Leisha left, we decided to spend the next two days in Bantry Bay in the north end of Middle Harbour. We are surrounded by national park, high hills covered in thick bush and trees and completely sheltered from the worst of the wind. During the next two days we plan to take long bush walks on the park tracks here.

 

 

Our view of Bantry Bay landing from our mooring.