Image:"goodbye Gold Coast"


Today's marine weather forecast: Southerly Gale - winds to 40 knots and 4 metre swells for the NSW coast between Byron and Newcastle. Luckily for us, Tangaloa is swinging to a mooring in the delightful harbour of Iluka on the Clarence River in the northern NSW coast. This picturesque anchorage surrounded by rainforest, river and beaches is so sheltered that the percolating coffee pot shows no signs of movement on the gimbel stove top as the 35 knot wind reverberates through the rigging.

Since our last update we have decided to move out of the tropical region of Oz - the heat & humidity isn't conducive to our life style and sanity. We would much rather be donning gloves and beanies rather than sweltering in sticky sweaty heat - especially in the height of summer! So we have set our compass south and won't stop until the butter goes hard. (Hopefully by the time we get to 41o south).

We didn't realise how quickly the Australian coast is changing through subtle incremental growth. On our sail through the waterways of Moreton Bay we reflected on 'what was' when we last sailed the area in 1998. Memory is a subjective thing but our memory of the northern Broadwater was a quiet waterway where we may anchor with ten other vessels and only pass a handful when underway. On this trip it felt like the water world had gone mad with literally hundreds of jet skis passing in all directions within metres of the boat! Even 50' high speed power launches showed no regard for other vessels - they too passed at high speed & their huge high velocity wake rolling unsuspecting boaters violently onto their beams end. It seems that seamanship is lost on this high speed boating community.

The changes to the coastal landscape also had us slack jawed, canal after canal of housing development with house footprints covering the entire block and high-rise buildings that looked like clones of other cites growing inexorably from the Broadwater through to Point Danger. If this is progress, modernity and conspicuous consumption we definitely aren't suited to that part of the world!

So it was with great relief we crossed the Southport bar-way, hoisted the sails and set 'Ed' (our self-steering system) south happily watching that glistening cityscape along with with its high speed lifestyle disappear over the horizon.

PS the last 3 images in our updated gallery show:
1 BOM's thunder-storm warning map
2 BOM's rain radar image
3 Vick watching the storm approach.