.: A week of sailing down the southern coast of Australia

This past week we have sailed south down the Australian coast and have been blown away by how beautiful it is. Many cruisers say to give Australia a miss, but we’ve discovered that is because they make landfall in Brisbane or Bundaberg, which is too far north. If you cruise in to these ports, it is almost impossible to get to the southern Australian coast.

Heading in to Port Stephens

We had good advice before we left New Caledonia, so QuickStar made landfall in Coff’s Harbour. From there we set out early in the morning and made our final overnight sail of the season, arriving in to Port Stephens mid-morning. The overnight passage was awesome, with lots of stars and a smooth ride, so I’m thrilled to end this season on such a positive note.

Our anchorage in Port Stephens

The area around Port Stephens is a huge, world-class cruising area. Unfortunately, we needed to get moving due to commitments, so we’ll have to save this cruising area for another season. What was really cool here is that the dolphins come right in to the swimming beach and swam around our boat as we were sipping our Gin and Tonics!

Port Stephens beach (and dolphin playground)

Stand up paddle boarder taking a break

What is really awesome in Australia are the many volunteer marine rescue stations that are located all along the coast. When you leave a destination you can check in with them and give them your ETA for your next destination. Once you arrive you log off. It is a great system. This past week there was one SOS by a sailboat who lost his engine power, so he needed to be rescued before crashing into the coast with the 25 knot plus winds.

Marine Rescue station atop the hill. Many are manned 24 hours a day

The next morning we had a 30 mile trip to Newcastle. The coastline was very picturesque with continuous sand dunes and we had an entire three days of dolphin visits and lots of humpback whale sightings. The port of Newcastle is a large commercial port, so it was exciting to be there and watch the comings and goings.

The port of Newcastle

Newcastle is being revitalized and becoming a major tourist draw

Our final leg of 80 miles began before dawn. We left Newcastle and

arrived in Pittwater (near Sydney) that same day.

Di keeping a close eye out for incoming and outgoing freighters.

This is where we will be leaving QuickStar for the winter season. We feel really confident about the strength of the mooring. Yesterday, we had over 40 knot winds and everything was just fine. We will have the boat looked after while we are back in Canada, which is estimated to be early November.

Lots of very large Jelly Fish in the mooring field

Pittwater is a huge destination and every Wednesday in the winter (which is now) they have Race Day. In the summer months it is every day of the week. Peter will hop onboard one of the racing boats next week.

Today, we are heading out on a 10 day road trip to Melbourne and Adelaide to visit friends that we’ve known for 34 years. Will be a nice trip down memory lane. We’ve rented a Wicked car with a tent that you set up on top. This should be fun – but the weather is quite cool and rain is expected. Not that it matters to me, but Peter is getting really soft and spoiled, so he is already whinging about sleeping in a tent (I say…don’t spit the dummy – which is my favourite Australian saying - thanks Ara for sharing). I also remind him that it is because we are so frugal, we can have all these adventures.

I’m posting this blog two days earlier than normal because of the road trip.

Will update once we are back.

Until next time……Have a safe Friday, September 13^th

P.S. The sad part of being away for six months is we do miss very special and important events. In August we missed the wedding of Sheena (daughter of Joe and Fatima who are great friends of ours) and Alex. Just last weekend, Nicole and Chris got married at our son and daughter-in-laws Whiskey River Ranch. This upcoming weekend Colin and Amy will be tying the knot. Sending our best wishes to all of you. We will raise a glass (or two) to celebrate!

Chris and Nicole’s wedding at Whiskey River Ranch