Photo above shows the entrance to Port Stephens with the northern headland, Mt Yacaaba in the foreground, small offshore islands and the sweeping beach that lies close tothe Myall Lakes.

We are anchored in a stiff north easterly breeze in Salamander Bay, half way down the southern coastline of Port Stephens, a natural harbour larger than Sydney harbour, about 80 nm north east of that city along the NSW coastline.

We are now 300 miles from the Gold Coast and three long day sails away from our last, long stop in the Clarence River. As has been mentioned a few times before, sailing along the NSW coast isn't easy, partly because of the distances between potential anchorages, but also because of the many barred river entrances and the changeable nature of the weather patterns at this time of the year. Ho hum, we finally set sail from the Clarence a week ago, stopping at Coffs Harbour (65nm) for a couple of nights, then Port Macquarie (85nm), a barred river entrance, but flat calm when we arrived and left the next morning and finally Port Stephens (90nm), where we arrived just after dark.



Coffs Harbour at dusk seen from Muttonbird Island- it's a man made harbour with a fishing port and marina. Swell rolls in and at anchor monohulls like Sundari tend to roll horribly. We opted for the marina for a couple of nights!



Trawlers neatly lined up in the inner harbour at Coffs.



Coffs Harbour marina



Stern notice just inside the entrance to the Hastings River at Port Macquarie. Fortunately, this often unruly bar was in tranquil mode - otherwise we wouldn't have crossed it!



Puttering down from our calm anchorage in the Hastings River at Port Macquarie towards the entrance.

Port Stephens is not really a single defined town centre, more a gaggle of larger suburbs clustered around the perimeter of the indented harbour. The entrance is relatively narrow, between towering headlands, but is relatively deep and not barred in the same way as the rivers, making it far less stressful entering the harbour under most conditions.

The weather seems to follow an unpredictably predictable pattern down this way, veering from southerlies through to northerlies every couple of days, making it essential to keep an eye on the weather forecasts and move to wherever it is comfortable. The harbour is lined with beautiful white sand beaches between small headlands, wetlands, suburbia and parks. The water is a translucent green, changing to blue when seen from above. Ashore there are holiday crowds, but the water is quiet, nothing like the hectic turmoil experienced in the Gold Coast over the holiday.



Arrival at the hilly entrance to Port Stephens at dusk.



Shoal Bay, the first bay inside Port Stephens - Sundari was on a mooring down there while we hiked up Mount Tomaree at the southern entrance to the harbour.




Zenith Bay in the foreground, looking south towards Sydney from Mount Tomaree.



White bellied sea eagle soaring in the thermals at Tomaree.



Cheeky little corella decided to cause a bit of mischief amongst some bemused seagulls at Nelson Bay on the Port Stephens foreshore.

We will be here for at least another week before continuing on south. From Port Stephens it's only a short day hop to the mouth of the Hunter River and the busy industrial city of Newcastle, then another short distance to the barred entrance to Lake Macquarie, another short hop from there to Broken Bay with its expansive cruising ground amongst Ku-ringai Chase National Park. Sydney Harbour is 15 nm further on, with other potential anchorages further down the coast before the distances become annoying again. The last all weather anchorage before Bass Strait and Tasmania is Eden, nearly at the turning point where Victoria beckons sharply to the west.