It felt very strange to leave Sydney after so many months. Getting out in the open water again was exciting although I felt a bit icky. It felt like learning the boat again as we were so rusty with moves, waives and the flow of us working together wasn’t up to scratch.
Anchored in America bay for couple of night. Beautiful spot and at one point we were the only boat there. It was chilly and misty but it didn’t stop these numties playing in the waterfalls while I sat there with full clothing of leggings and fleece.
We soon realised we had no internet…..what a shock! After months of watching Netflix and unlimited time on Google we were a bit lost those couple of nights. Sat there twiddling our thumbs not sure what to do….so books came out and early nights.
The night before we left for New Castle we changed our anchoring spot. As we had a very long day sail ahead of us we wanted to be closer to the exit so to speak.
We had an amazing sail with sunny blue skies. And we saw lots of humpback whales. Amazing!
Anchoring in New Castle was not good. We couldn’t go up the river, to shallow and around the marina it looked a bit tight. So we called the coast guard who advised us to anchor opposite the marina but watch out for the fishing boats. Great, I could see a sleepless night ahead of me. Stayed onboard, early night and up early for another long day sail.
Arrived in Nelson Bay as the sun was setting. Anchored outside the marina away from the couple of public mooring balls and settled in for the night. The current was amazing and swung us around as the tide changed. The sun set was stunning. But again, little did we know how long we would be here as a mighty storm was brewing out there….
The next day we went ashore to shop and look around. Nelson Bay is stunning. Lots of tourists, families and people hanging about and I was nervous as the COVID was still jumping around. How do you tell kids to stay apart in a playground?
That night the wind picked up and we had such a rubbish night so next day we moved further in to Salamander bay. Very pretty but not much there, few houses, nice beach and to cold to swim.
And then, how lucky were we as Jackie and Lilly came to see us from Sydney so we had a day with them at the beach, picnic in the park ad the girls had fun….
moodyfinn 
Hi from Nelson Bay. You may remember you were kind enough to give Kate (our granddaughter) an ice cream down at the playground on the Marina. I hope all is going well and you are having an amazing time still. Kate remembers playing with your children and often looks to see if they are there when we go down.
Life has been hectic in the Bay during the Christmas holidays with lots of visitors coming and having a stay at home vacation but as school has now resumed, life in the bay is peaceful. Beautiful weather, water temperature is lovely and a great time for swimming and finishing.
Wishing you well on your journey.
Cheers
Chris, Erik and Katie
Hello there,
How fantastic to hear from you. We / I have been thinking a lot about Kate, wondering how she is doing…? She touched our hearts!
We did eventually get to Queensland but no further then Keppel island as had engine issues with the boat. She is currently in Bundaberg and we are house sitting in Toowoomba until end of this month.
Obviously still stuck in good old Oz, wouldn’t want to go anywhere at this time but hoping to cruise next season and see more of the Great Barrier Reef.
Keep in touch, trying to catch up with the blog and lots and lots of love to Kate❤️❤️❤️ are you by any chance on Facebook? More up to date info there. You will find me as Jaana Penttila.