We set off over the Wide Bay Bar and could see at least 15 masts ahead of us…the first northerly wind for a while! We made slow progress heading out as you are meant to cross at slack water, meaning that we had 8 miles motor sailing into a 4 knt current. Not very helpful when we were making 5 kts! However, safely across and we started to head southwards. Most of the other yachts were heading into Mooloolaba but we were making great progress and decided to keep going. We soon picked up the East Australian Current (think of the turtles in ‘Finding Nemo’) and started to pick up speed, even as we reduced sail. We decided to aim for the Clarence River and so sailed on for two nights at sea. We did our fastest ever 24hr period – 160nm and for 2 hrs of that we averaged 9knts! The top speed as we surfed down a large wave was 12.4knts, with a tiny bit of genoa and a double-reefed main. Tuarangi was in her element! The weather was stunning, with unbroken blue skies. The night passages were very busy, playing dodgems with any number of large vessels heading north and gybing as we rounded various headlands. We zoomed past the Gold Coast and were ahead of ourselves for being able to cross the bar into the Clarence River in daylight. The wind went from 25knts to nothing in 5 minutes and so we spent between midnight and 5am of the second night wallowing in the swell and making about 2 knts under just the staysail. At dawn we crossed the bar, headed into Iluka Bay and dropped the anchor and dropped ourselves into bed as the uncomfortable motion of the last 6 hrs had made sleep very difficult. We woke and put sail covers on and tidied up, being visited by several others in the anchorage including John from ‘Dove Tail’, from Hobart. The wind picked up in the afternoon so we didn’t launch the dinghy and spent the afternoon sorting and snoozing! That night there was a massive thunderstorm, with forked lightning all around us, crashing and rumbling thunder and then some heavy showers. It was spectacular! The next morning, having re-anchored in deeper water, we went ashore and did a loop walk along the east coast beach, with surf crashing up the squeaky fine sand and a close encounter with an osprey. The trail then heads inland, through a World Heritage Site rainforest, where we came across several large lizards. We looked about the town, which had everything you could want, but again, was full of real estate agents and properties for sale. We found a very nice café for lunch and took local prawns back to the boat for dinner. We went over to John and Shirley’s boat ‘Dove Tail’ for afternoon tea. They are really lovely and full of information. The boat, a Laurent Giles, which they fitted out themselves, is absolutely stunning. Once again, we were amazed by the few degrees of separation in the yachting community, as they are friends with Dick and Pat on ‘Irene’, who we know well in Nelson. They then came over to us at sundown and we exchanged boat yarns.
The next day we ventured up the “Mighty” Clarence River. Having pre-arranged it, the Harwood Bridge (which carries State Highway 1 – the main arterial route up the Eastern Coast of Australia), opened so that we could sail through! The centre portion of the bridge lifts up once all the traffic has been stopped and we got a green light and motored through! Imagine Tuarangi being able to stop the M1 or SH1!! All because we wanted to visit Mclean…apparently the most Scottish town in Australia! We took advantage of the free pontoon, and soon realized the similarities to Scotland as we were greeted by a few of the locals who were all drinking heavily. They were good-humoured, but having stocked up on a few supplies, we decided to anchor on the other side of the river for the night. In the morning we came back in and took advantage of the free water, the “Famous Mclean $4 Laundry”, a coffee shop and the local Spar supermarket. We also took photos of the tartan telegraph poles, Steptoe and Sons secondhand shop and the local signage, which included a recipe for haggis.
Time to head south again and once again the traffic heading across the Harwood Bridge was stopped to let us by. The river trip was lovely with sugar canes in the fields, pelicans on the water and multi-million dollar homes (many of which were for sale) dotting the riverbanks. The weather continues to be stunning, with record-breaking temperatures…the high 20s to mid 30s and clear blue skies.
Tomorrow the wind is back in the north, so its time to put to sea once more, probably heading for Port Stephens, but with options closer and further depending on conditions and the flow of that East Australian Current!