Saturday 22nd
Parkrun Day. The “Henry Kendal Reserve” Parkrun was a 3km trip by tender from where we were anchored.
This was made more acceptable by an 8am start, as the girls (to be honest everyone!) needed some sleep after the last few days.
The trip to the start was easy, we saw a few dolphins in the creek swimming back towards the river.
We pulled the tender up a bit of a ramp and chained to a tree, and then set off to the start.
It’s not a big event, maybe about 60 ppl.
I ran, while the girls walked with Kristie (Kristina’s foot still store from the stingray!).
Saw another dolphin on the way back to Lazuli.
The girls and I had a morning inside while Kristie went off to do laundry and some exploring.
There is a fish cleaning table at the jetty, and it gets frequent use by those more successful than I.
There are two public and one emergency moorings opposite the Services Club. There were yachts on all three when we had turned up.
The guy from the last yacht came past on his SUP to chat. He admitted he’d been on the mooring for 3 weeks (he’d gone to Melbourne for work!) and would vacate this afternoon if we then wanted his mooring!
Once he left we did indeed take his mooring. I’m much more relaxed on these moorings when in the river, with the boat moving about on change of tide.
At about 5pm we took the tender to the jetty at the services club. They offer a shower for visiting yachties. Free, but it’s not in the best condition… but hot water is hot water!
Made use of the facilities, then went upstairs for dinner and a drink. We sat out on the deck, cooler and a good breeze.
Back to the boat.
Whilst at dinner the girls decided to make a “monstrosity” out of the leftovers… here’s there writing task where they outline the procedure for making a nasty monstrosity.
Maybe skip this bit if your stomach is a bit sensitive ;)
1 | How to make a monstrosety. |
Sunday 23rd
Another biggish day planned, but pancakes with jam and cream for breakfast first!
With that done it was time to get ready to walk up “North Brother”.
It was about 1km to the start, then another 2.7km to the top. It was a steep walk, lots of steps. Quite nice other than the effort to get up there.
Once at the top there was a great view all around.
It looks like we’ve anchored in the middle of the channel (which is how I usually roll!), but where we are is more or less on the edge of navigable waters - it gets shallow to the east of us!
The walk down was much easier :)
We also needed to get our location ice cream. We were about to go into a local takeaway to get one when a better idea presented itself: a drink at the pub instead (and ice cream for the girls!).
Back to Lazuli, then back to shore for the showers.
Sip’s ‘n dips and a movie night - we watched Nimona on my laptop and enjoyed some fresh popcorn.
Monday 24th
School and work.
Dropped Kristie to shore then spent some more time inside with the girls.
I eventually convinced them head to shore (there wasn’t much appetite for a walk after the big day yesterday!)
There aren’t any Ubers or official Taxi’s in Laurieton, but there is “Just call Scotty” (0455 199 220) who has a few cars (taxi’s!) in the area.
I called him and 15min later one of his drivers had picked us up. We were off to walk up the Perpendicular Point headland.
Kristie was at the Boat Shed which was on the way.
It’s a 5km walk from the road to the end of the point, and back down the bottom to the playground.
There were a few other lookouts on the way.
The girls had a bit of a play, and then I called Scotty, and it was Scotty who came and picked us up and whisked us back to Lazuli.
Back to Lazuli, and back to shore for showers. I thought chips and a drink wouldn’t go astray, however we ended up with full dinner instead!
We’d been chatting with another yachtie couple who’d been moored up on the jetty.
They were also heading north, but with Alfred on the way they were now planning to spend a few weeks in Laurieton.
Our options were similar: stuck in Laurieton for maybe two weeks, head to Port Macquarie and get stuck there for maybe two weeks, or keep heading further north.
We had originally wanted to stay in Coffs so Kristie could do some diving. However, Coffs marina is undergoing an extensive refit, so they’re not operating at full capacity, so we may not have been able to get a berth for the time we needed.
And staying in the harbour itself in the predicted swell and winds would be no fun at all (and quite possibly dangerous!).
The next two days had forecast light eastish winds and slight swell. It meant we would be motoring a bit, but we could get all the way to Yamba bypassing Port Macq and just a quick stop in at Coffs for a few hours sleep.
That seemed like our best option - it meant we get lots more time in Yamba, and could head up the river to escape any swell and wind.
With that decision made, Kristie and Kristina went straight to Coles after dinner to get supplies (sausages and oranges!) for the next two days.
Back to Lazuli to get a few things ready and some sleep.
Laurieton has been really nice. To be honest it’s probably never the sort of place we would have visited if we were not on Lazuli.
However, it’s a good protected anchorage with easy access to services, if you can get through the bar.
Tuesday 25th
Up at 6am to get ready for a BIG day to get to Coffs.
Lazuli was mostly ready for the trip up; I just needed to cook two batches of sausages in preparation for the next two days.
With the girls dressed and fed, we dropped the mooring at 7:30am and headed out the river entrance.
Easy bar crossing (no wind, very minimal swell - about 1m).
Slow morning motoring in the light winds and southerly currents.
I got in a few hours work, the girls had sometime on their iPads.
After lunch the wind came up a bit - maybe 8-9kts. Sails up, and we were off just a little bit faster than motoring.
Eventually the wind died off towards evening, so down they came and then motoring.
With the sun down, the girls and Kristie slept in the cockpit. I had my audiobook and with autopilot on it was an easy night.
We got to Coffs Harbour by about 12:30am and dropped anchor.
Quickly got the boat and us to bed, as we’d have another early start tomorrow.
Wednesday 26th
Up at 6am again for a 7am departure.
Another day of motoring, until lunchtime.
We got the sails up at about midday and enjoyed sailing all the way to Yamba.
Dropped sails and went through the bar at about 5:30pm.
We’d got there a bit earlier than planned, but we were still enough time after low that the bar was ok.
A few big sets came through, but no breaking waves!
We went straight to Whiting Beach and dropped anchor (probably the same spot we had been at Christmas!).
Sausages for dinner then bed!
It’s good to be back in Yamba, feels like home after all the time we spent here before heading to Sydney.
Now to enjoy Yamba, and then go exploring down the Clarence River.x