Homeward Bound to Sydney

16th November to 27th December 2022

After many sad goodbyes  to new found friends at the marina we dropped our dock lines at 0500hrs and motored out of the Burnett river. We were headed down the inside passage, aka the Sandy Straits, of Frasier Island bound for the notorious Wide Bay Bar.

Catching a boost from the flooding (incoming) tide we motor sailed to our first overnight anchorage some 64 nm south from Bundy and dropped the hook into 29 ft of thick mud in Yankee Jack Creek.  

Next afternoon the popular “Garry’s Anchorage’' was a welcome destination after another day of long motoring through the shifting sand banks which required our full attention so as to not go aground.

Fabulous sunset at Garry's anchorage

This was a lovely spot filled with the sounds of bird life as well as laughter from the the other six boats anchored nearby. The following day we continued on to wait at Pelican Bay, a staging area where we and many other boats wait for the favorable tide to cross the bar.

Legends says that dolphins bring good luck to mariners and later that afternoon a pod came to visit us.

Waiting at Pelican Beach at the south end of Fraser Island

The car ferry from the mainland dropping of campers to the island

The local Coast Guard based in Tin Can Bay gave us the “Virtual” coordinates of the markers to make a safe as possible passage across the Wide Bay Bar. However they always make the disclaimer that the bar is prone to shifting sands and you cross at your own risk. For us this would be our second crossing of this bar in 16 years.

And so when the virtual gun sounded at 1300  also known as slack tide, a procession of sail boats headed out like ducks in a row. The transit took us a very focused 45 minutes.

Above and Below shows GWTW in red leading the charge on our way crossing the Wide Bay Bar into the ocean

Every boat that tackles this unpredictable patch of water and makes it through without incident breaths a mighty sigh of relief once in the deep waters of the Tasman Sea.

You may be wondering why take the chance of disaster? Well it cuts travel time considerably and eliminates the roughly 150 nautical mile trip along eastern shoreline of Fraser Island.

With the Screecher set GWTW heads for the Gold Coast

Moving on, we quickly settled back into into cruising mode once more. 

We hoisted the mainsail and rolled out our screecher. With an east to north east breeze it was an uneventful sail sitting on 10kts boat speed with a starry sky above. 

Hitchhikers are not uncommon in our line of work. 

We have had our fair share of big and small ones as we have sailed around this planet. 

So waking up to find an exhausted seagull perched on our bow was really just another day at the office. 

We are always glad to give any of our feathered friends a free ride.

Dropping our mainsail on the way into the Gold Coast Seaway

By 1030 the next morning we had just about covered the 136 nm to the Gold Coast seaway with just 4 miles left to run. 

It was great to be able to catch up with our long time Gold Coast friends for a week. But as always the weather dictates our schedule and it was time to hit the road again.

Above and Below : Our welcoming committee at Southport Yacht Club

Sunset leaving the Gold Coast  

First stop on our continuing passage south would be spent in Yamba for a few days of RnR.  This of course included paying the local fish co-op a visit for some mouth watering Yamba prawns. 

Coffs Harbour would be our next stop for a couple of days and as soon as the weather gods would allow we would be heading out for a 225 NM sail to Pittwater north of Sydney.

While in Pittwater we caught up with some of Liam's family and then my family over at a bay called the Basin. The shoreline and camp grounds are run by the National Park Service and can only be accessed via the water, ferry or private vessel, or a very long walk through the National park. It's a beautiful spot and worthy of a few days of chilling out.

Lots of friendly Wallabies and Goannas too.

Liam with his twin boys

Yours truly with my sister at the anchorage at The Basin

December 27th rolled around and as we we left Barrenjoey Lighthouse in our wake we pointed GWTW's bows towards Sydney Heads, 19 miles to the south.

We were going home at last.

GWTW and her crew of two about to enter Sydney Harbour for the first time since we left in 2006

At 4pm and to the tune of Mark Knoffler’s “Going Home” we made a very emotional entrance into Sydney Harbour. Tears rolled down our faces and there were hugs all round even though it was just the two of us

         There was no fanfare nor anyone waving from the shore to welcome us back. 

Our Final Track into Sydney Harbour

And as we headed towards Manly to drop our anchor the ferries, the18 ft skiffs and the Tuesday afternoon race boats that passed by us had no idea of the epic journey around the world that we had just completed.

                   It was time for a well earned glass of Champagne or three.

                                                           THE END.

                                          Well for the time being anyway

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“Down Under Go West Rally Week” What a hoot!

11th –15th November 2022

Above and below GWTW dressed with all the country flags we've visited

The “Welcome Week” events got off to a great start with the first event being the ‘Welcome to Country” ceremony.

This is a traditional welcome by members of the local Taribelang Bunda people who have inhabited this land and the surrounding sea area for thousands of years.

After the haunting sounds of the Digeridoo faded away the ceremony moved on to the “Smoking” ceremony where all rally participants were encouraged to step forward and be enveloped by the white smoke.

According to legend the smoke not only cleanses us of any bad spirits hanging around our person but also keeps us safe while in this country and provides everyone a safe journey back to the land from which they hail. 

With the welcome formalities over it was time to move inside and partake in some serious imbibing and woofing down of canapes.

We had a fun night socialising with all the other rally goers, swapping stories of the passage from New Caledonia and generally catching up with friends we’d cruised with over the years gone by. Oh, and also to officially celebrate the end of our 16 year circumnavigation.

Us with fellow  Aussie circumnavigators from  the yacht " Blue Heeler"

Group photo with 'forever friends' that we hung out with for two years in NZ.

Over the coming week their was more catching up with friends but this time they were land based. Nick flew in from the Gold Coast and Pete drove down from the sunshine coast. It was great to see them both. 

Every day there were a bunch of  new activities to keep us busy. The list included barefoot bowls, music jam nights, dinners at the local pub, BBQ’s, info seminars on weather and cruising the Australian east coast from Cape York to Tassie. There was even one on how to understand the unique way we Aussies speak! Do we really speak that different? Surely not.

A day trip to the Bundaberg Rum factory was a must.

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One of Liam's favourite beverages

Enjoying a seafood platter Ulla and Pelle from Sweden

Music nights featuring Liam

Cane Train crossing

Barefoot bowls on the marina lawn

Roos at sunset

It was a really fun week that literally flew by but soon it was time to drop the dock lines and point GWTW’s bows south to Sydney.

It had been a long time coming and we just couldn't wait to see Sydney Heads and sail back into the harbour once again.

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Down Time at Fraser  Island.

22 October - 7th November 2022.

Now that all our Australian entry formalities were done and dusted we were free to do whatever took our fancy.

First up was a much needed trip to the Supermarket. We were pretty much out of everything. Just a short way down the road from the marina was the local IGA and, as an added bonus, they had a free courtesy bus that would pick you up and once the shopping was done, they’d drive us back to the marina. Wow, after all our years of sailing this was a much welcomed service.

Over the coming days we ventured further afield into the main township of Bundaberg. The local bus stopped right outside of the marina and took about 20 mins to get into town. Town was a pretty busy place. It had everything and more. Woolworths, Coles and Aldi had shelves overflowing with stuff, the likes of which we hadn’t seen for months. No more trying to work out what the labels said either. It was all in English ! 

                                                         Farmland along the Burnett River

Anchored off Fraser Island

Living in the marina was great for a week or so but soon we felt the need to be out on the hook. So in company with our friends on Eye Candy we headed across to Fraser Island, a 46 mile jaunt east of the marina. We dropped the anchor at 1700 hrs just south of Triangle Cliffs on the sheltered western side of the island. It was lovely seeing the clear blue water again rather than the muddy Burnett River that flows past the marina.

Spending four days there was worry free for a change. There was no more being students of the weather or changing sails in the dark on a rolling sea. Sleeping all through the night was sheer bliss with no thumping of the engine to spoil it.

But time moves on and soon we were lifting the anchor and heading back to Bundy. On the way back we caught a huge Wahoo, probably the biggest we’ve ever caught. It was a  real beauty and sure to take up a lot of room in our freezer. And as Liam always says “you can never have too much fish!”

What a catch

No need for a caption here !

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Where Does the time Go

December – January 2019 / 2020.

It seems like just yesterday I turned 60 and now another birthday had rocked around. Our friends here at the marina put on a late afternoon party aboard Dave’s boat Rewa and then we all adjourned to the ‘Barge Inn”, a floating platform at the head of our dock, for pizzas and cake. What a fun evening it was and I really didn't feel any older.

     

                                                      Sixty One and still looking good

Over the previous months our trusty dinghy of 15 years slowly developed a terminal air leak and sadly the time had come to retire  our floating car and buy a replacement. 

We would have liked to  have  been able  to purchase the same brand, however ‘Swift’ is not available in NZ, so we opted for another popular brand, a Highfield. As it had to be shipped from the USA it was touch and go whether it would arrive before our flight back to Australia.

Luckily it was delivered the day before our departure. The commissioning would have to wait until our return in January.

   

Dinghy fleet owners for a short while and Liam taking the fittings off our old faithful.

Our direct flight from Auckland to the Gold Coast went without a hitch and we spent a fun week with long time friends Susan and Nick. Though I’m not so sure that our hard working livers would agree. Amongst other activities we had a great night out on Susan and Nicks boat for the local Christmas parade of boats around the canals where they live.

           Above : Getting into the Christmas spirit & Below : Lunch by the beach at Burleigh Heads .

From the GC it was down to Sydney for Christmas and New Year, catching up with friends and family. 

                                   Spending time with Liam's grand kids is always a hoot

On the spur of the moment we spent the week from Boxing day to New Year living in our apartment that we've had continuously rented since we bought it 1997. Our current tenants of eight years were holidaying on the NSW south coast and kindly agreed to let us house sit in their absence.  It was so nice to spend time there and finally enjoy the views over Sydney Harbour, which was the very reason we bought the apartment in the first place. Maybe one day we will actually retire there ourselves.

        The view from our apartment  on Boxing day for the start of the Sydney - Hobart yacht race.  

          Sydney Harbour fireworks NYE 2019 & below sharing the night with friends Sue and John

                                            Above : Aquatic Yoga Class at Manly beach.

Below : The anchorage off Manly beach harbour side and looking out towards Sydney Heads

                    Beautiful Balmoral beach clouded in  smoke from the devistating bushfires

As the days rushed by my condensed Aussie visit wrapped up and before I knew it I was boarding an Air New Zealand flight and winging it back to Whangarei. Liam was set to join me back on GWTW two weeks later. In the meanwhile I had lots of jobs on board to occupy my alone time.

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