It’s nearly a week now since we had our last Epic Milestone day where we sailed into Sydney harbour!
Sydney is one of my favourite places to visit and it has been even better being here on the harbour!
When we first came in we were hoping to pick up a mooring near the Taronga Zoo, but they were all full, but close by there were places to anchor and that first morning we awoke to the sounds of monkeys calling and lions roaring! Magic! Erina and I hopped on to a ferry and went across to the city to do some Christmas shopping and then the next day we decided to pop over to another part of the harbour, Rozelle Bay where there were several places we could anchor.
This took us beneath the harbour bridge and into new areas, past Darling Harbour where we had a quick peek at The Endeavour and The James Craig, beautiful Tall ships – and on through where lots of yachts were preparing for the Sydney to Hobart race which begins on Boxing Day – and into Rozelle Bay. With wind form the North east this proved not to be a very comfortable spot, and the holding was in sludgy mud and we were not as comfortable as we would have liked to be so we looked at some other options. We spent a morning at Birkenhead Point marina, where you can tie up for $20 for 3 hours and replenish supplies at the adjacent shopping mall which has a Coles and an Aldi, fuel close by and water at the marina. This was a lovely day for us as we sat sipping latte’s remembering all the times we imagined our life on board and pictured this very thing!
Once we had got the groceries and fuel – and Peter had a little visit at Whitworths and replaced our depth sounder which had announced its early retirement just days out of Batemans Bay, we were on our way again. With more northerly winds forecast we decided not to return to Rozelle but instead to aim for another pretty anchorage near North Sydney, at Balls Point. This has proved to be excellent!
Even as we rounded the point and came into the bay we felt excited – it’s a pretty little spot nestled into a corner, very well protected from the north east and the north west, with little ferry wash – a problem we had found on our anchorage near the Zoo – and safe enough for the children to kayak and swim and explore.
We have stayed a few days here now and are really glad with our choice. This anchorage is an easy row to land and there are shops not too far away as well as two train stations that are less than a 15 minute ride into the city. There is a bit of a hill to climb to get to them but other than that it is very simple. At the Wollstonecraft station there are a couple of small shops, but at Waverton, in the other direction, there is a small IGA supermarket and several good looking café’s – one which made quite a fine coffee, as well as several other stores.
Nearby there is a park with an accessible tap for refilling jerry cans so we have been even been able to top up our water.
We plan now to stay in this spot until Christmas, and then head over to Farm Cove or back towards the Zoo closer to New Year’s Eve. Everyone is looking forwards to the fireworks and our amazing vantage spot – and we expect to have a full boat on the night!
I have always found Sydney Harbour to be a beautiful place and I would have to say that by yacht it is even more beautiful. We heard stories of people being moved on when they had stayed more than a day or two on a mooring or at anchor but have experienced nothing like that – in fact we’ve even come across a couple of different people living on board their boats while anchored – so much for that worry!
Sydney Harbour will be home for us for another week or two before we start to watch the weather ready to head further north, calling in to Pittwater first and then all possible stops till Coffs Harbour! It felt like an epic milestone when we arrived, and it had=s proved to be just a delight!