New South Wales, Australia

Town Beach, with salt water pool in Yamba

click photos to enlarge

Local birds of the Clarence River, Pelicans

We have had so much fun in New South Wales – from Blues and Roots music festivals in Byron Bay, to surfing and sunning on the many beautiful beaches all along the coast, to hiking on the numerous trails in the bush and National Parks, to the fast track and historic sights of the city life in Sydney. The most extraordinary thing about New South Wales and Australia in general, are the people and how genuinely warm, friendly and hospitable they are.  Everywhere we go there is another person or persons going out of their way to help us find ours, or take a great interest in our travels. They have opened their hearts and lives and often their homes to invite us in and share the vitality, love and pride they have for Australia. There is a refreshing sense of youthful innocence and simple joy of life in the people here that, in my opinion, is regretfully waning in the people across America. We could learn so much from their enthusiasm and pride of country.  And to think that it all got it’s start from such humble and somewhat shameful beginnings as convicted criminals sentenced to a hard life in exile to a place that, then, was as remote as the moon, and almost as inhospitable. We spent  a lot of time in the marina in Yamba, a small town at the mouth of the Clarence River, where the staff and haul out yard was extremely good so we hauled “Grace” out and painted her bottom and installed a new refrigeration system.  The prices were reasonable enough to allow us to leave the boat there for a couple of months and fly back to the US for the birth of our first grandchild, Savannah Shea.  We made great friends with the entire staff at the Yamba Marina and have to give an official thanks to Joyce, Sonya, Graeme, Sam, Peter and Kay for all their hard work and hospitality while we were there. We sailed up the river for a week enjoying small towns and pubs of the Clarence such as Brush Grove, Maclean, and Grafton, before we started south towards Sydney. We found coming into ports along the New South Wales coast quite tricky because of the tidal flow and potentially hazardous sand bar entrances in most ports. The one word of advice we could give cruisers from other parts of the world cruising this coast, is to mind your tide chart carefully and pay close attention to local weather and swell conditions as well as current location of the sand bar at each port entrance, as they can shift. We managed very well, but we did hear a lot of horror stories. The ports we visited along the coast after Yamba were, Coff’s Harbor, Port Macquarie, Camden Haven, Forster, Port Stevens, Newcastle, Pittwater Bay at Broken Bay and finally Sydney Harbor, all unique in their own way.

Jug Band at the Blues and Roots festival, Byron Bay.

Baloons at the festival

Robert Cray on stage at the Blues and Roots festival , Byron Bay

Joyce,Kate,Susan (Eddie), and Bill at going away party for residents leaving Yamba Marina

Sonya, Rod and Sam staff at Yamba Marina

Monthly dinner party at Yamba Marina

Tarzo, marina dog in Yamba

Lighthouse,Yamba

Rich(right) visits with Frank(center) and another guest at the Schaefer House museum in Grafton.

We've just come under the bridge on the Clarence River

Tarzo, the dog's owner, Glen at the Yamba Marina

Coff's Harbor Marina

Hyde Park, Sydney

"Grace" docked at a local friends house in Port Macquarie

Kelly in front of local hotel truck in Grafton

Rich with Port Stephens Yacht Club commadore, John Sharpe and his wife Kay

The port of Newcastle

Camden Haven

Barrenjoey Peninsula, Pittwater

Harbor Bridge, Sydney Harbor

Barrenjoey Lighthouse,Pittwater.

Sydney Harbor, with Opera House in the background.

Reflection pond and Monument in Hyde Park, Sydney

Kelly, in the foreground on the Pyrmont Bridge, Sydney Harbor.

Beautiful Chinese Garden, Sydney

Fountain, Hyde Park, Sydney

Lord Nelson Hotel, one of the oldest in Sydney.

Sydney Harbor has got to be one of the greatest harbors and cities to be anchored in. When we first came into the harbor we dropped our sails and turned on the motor as we were a bit overwhelmed by the amount of traffic in this emmense harbor.  It was a Saturday and there were fleets of sailboats racing from the local yacht clubs, large cruise ships coming in, fast ferries racing from one side to the other and small water taxis zipping around us like like a swarm of bees, or so it felt.  But after a few weeks here we were much more comfortable with all the activity that surrounds you when you move around this harbor.  There is so much to see and do here and the anchorages are very safe and convenient. We  spent a lot of anchor time in the Black Wattle Bay near the Sydney Fish Market, where we were able to have our pick of any kind of seafood that can be imagined and as much as we could possibly eat and more.  We've eaten more than our share of fresh sushi, oysters, prawns, tuna, mackeral, you name it. Everyday we went out walking all over Sydney - to the museums, shopping in the beautifully restored 19th century Queen Victoria Building, sight seeing in the Chinese Gardens, Hyde Park, which is Sydney's Central Park, and the historic "Rocks" district, which the convicts built starting as early as the late 18th  to early 19th century. Another attraction we really enjoyed was the replica of the "Endeaver", the ship that Capt. James Cook sailed when he discovered and charted the East coast of Australia. New Year's Eve was a fantastic experience, anchored right in front of the beautiful Opera house and bridge to witness the worlds most spectacular fireworks display and parade of brightly lit tall masted ships.

One of the many ferries that pass by the Opera house daily.

This photo gives an idea  of the size of the Sydney Harbor.

Amazing Grace (center) near the Anzac Bridge Sydney Harbor

Queen Victoria Building, built in the 1800's and renovated as a shopping mall is decked out for Christmas. Notice the 3 story Christmas tree behind the arches on the picture on the left.

Quaint street in the"rocks"

19th century Queen Victoria Building (QVB)

"Amazing Grace" anchored at Farm Cove, in between our friends, "Tigress" on the right and another boat Jan.1,2007

waiting for the fireworks New Year's Eve 2006

The photos above, below, right and left,  show the fantastic fireworks on New Year's Eve.

Tall mast ships parade the harbor on New Year's Eve

replica of the " Endeavor"

the "mess" on the "Endeavor"

Apart from our camping trip to the music festival in Byron and our sail up the Clarence River, we stayed primarily near the coast while in New South Wales. However, we took a short trip,

the botanist's, Mr. Banks' cabin on the "Endeavor"

Capt. Cooks cabin on the "Endeavor"

led by our friends Bob and Sue, and their son, Scotty in-land, through the Blue Mountains to the old gold rush area. We road on an old steam engine, tramped through the river beds where the 19th century prospectors panned for gold, and stayed in historic hotels built in a time long since forgotten by some, but certainly not the present-day inhabitants of these congenial, albeit eccentric villages.  We then decided to steal one more week to play in the surf at one of the great breaks in OZ, Crescent Head, before we shackled ourselves to the binnacle for the long haul north to Townsville, our check out point for our long voyage back to Hawaii via; the Louisiades, Soloman Islands, Tuvalu, Canton and Fanning.

Bob, Sue, Kel in the pub in Victoria

The motley crew, Rich,Kel,Bob,Sue in the Blue Mountains

The Zig-Zag railway steam engine ride in the Blue Mountains

Conductor of the Zig-Zag railway. He had been there for years

Wonderful looking Aboriginal didgeridoo player

Beautiful vista of the Blue Mountains

return to home page Queensland Australia Victoria Tasmania

Bob, Rob (friend from NZ), and local at the "Pub with No Beer"

Our gang from Crescent Head at the "Pub with No Beer"