Thursday 13th
With Ballina only 40nm away, and a low tide early in the afternoon we wanted to time our arrival around 5:30/6pm.
We topped up water and got Lazuli ready for departure. We left the marina at 10:30am and headed for the bar crossing.
There was still a little water flowing out, but otherwise good conditions.
There was zero wind, but still about a 1m swell.
Motor on, autopilot on, enjoyed some coffee. The girls like it when we motor as we have the infill on; and more importantly they’re allowed to watch their iPads up top!
At one point on the journey we had a pair of Osprey’s try and land on us! They weren’t successful. Cool to see though.
We got to Ballina around 5:30pm (a bit earlier than I had originally planned), but the bar crossing looked ok.
We checked the bar cam and couldn’t spot any trouble. There were no breaking waves.
There was still quite a bit of water flowing out the Richmond River (nothing like it would have been a few days prior) but nothing to stop us.
The ride in was a lot more rolly than we would have guessed looking at the bar cam.
Slow motor down the channel into town, with Kristie and Kristina looking out for floating logs; this became harder as we were heading into the sunset.
Got to the main public pontoon with the outflowing water it was easy to crab the boat sideways onto the pontoon. No other boats about.
Signage suggested we shouldn’t stay, but other boats we’ve met have stayed there and Zulu also suggests it shouldn’t be an issue.
“Wharf Bar and Restaurant” is conveniently located at the top of the pontoon, and given it was 6:30 by the time we tied up it made sense to go there.
We could enjoy a drink, tasty dinner, and keep an eye on Lazuli. Quite a few people walked down the ramp to check her out. One guy even paced out the length to see how long she is.
The girls needed a quick run around in the grassy area next door before we got back onboard.
Early start tomorrow.
Friday 14th
Ballina to Southport was going to be a much longer day. With the same wind forecast as yesterday we’d be motoring most if not all of the day.
We left at 7:15 and got out the bar without too much issue. Motor on, autopilot on, enjoyed some coffee.
There were still a few logs flowing out in the ocean and had to keep an eye out for them.
The water was still pretty brown, we got a bit of blue water up towards tweed.
The wind picked up a bit in the afternoon, so off Kingscliff we got the sails up and sailed the rest of the way to the Seaway.
It was close to 6pm by the time we got through the bar, and dropped anchor just north of Seaworld by about 7:15pm.
Quick dinner and a post trip whisky.
Saturday 15th
Breakfast, then took the tender across the channel over the Peninsula Playground. The girls enjoyed playing there while Kristie walked off to find out where a festival of colour was.
Turns out she went the wrong direction.
We got to where the festival was, and it wasn’t quite what was advertised. It was also really hot, too hot to be running around getting covered in colour.
We got fish ‘n chips from the Fish Shack, and then our location ice cream.
Back to the tender and across the channel.
Sunday 16th
Breakfast, then picked up anchor and moved further down just off the Boardwater parklands and out of the boat chop.
(where we were is in the 40knt zone and plenty of boats zoom past all day).
I dropped Kristie in with a load of washing. One of the locals let me know we were too close to his boat.
Kristie took the girls into the pool for a swim after lunch
When Kristie was back we moved the boat further out, but as he had 40m of chain out (in 3m water) we still got pretty close.
We moved back up to where we were last night and had a quieter night.
Monday 17th
With the strong winds forecast, we wanted somewhere a) out of the wind, and b) out of the boat chop.
Thankfully Southport Yacht Club had a space for us :)
We got a single berth which was a first for us. It’s nice knowing you’re not going to hit other boats by mistake.
We had also timed it for slack water, and we had minimal tide differences, so we had a pretty easy time getting Lazuli docked.
Quick school, then an early lunch.
Now that we could safely leave the boat, we bought tickets to SeaWorld. 20min walk from the marina to SeaWorld.
We could walk straight in, and straight into the Penguin area to get out of the heat.
We had plenty of fun.
We enjoyed the shark and fish tanks!
Tuesday 18th
School and work, then off to Seaworld again. Cooler day today thankfully!
Wednesday 19th
Kristina’s Birthday!
Breakfast - bacon and eggs.
Back to SeaWorld via the marina office to book in another few nights.
As were meeting both sets of parents for a dinner in the park, we left SeaWorld by 4pm after Kristina got to spend some of her birthday money!
Christine and Rod bought up chips and dips, then we picked up Fish ‘n Chips from Peter’s Fish. Great fish as always (it’s a regular post dive lunch stop).
Back to the boat, watch some TV.
Thursday 20th
Rest Day (after school!). After a few big days walking around the girls needed a rest day. It was also raining, another excuse not to go anywhere.
Kristie went off for a few walks to shops and to check out the beach.
Friday 21st
School and work.
Our yearly pass includes Wet ‘n Wild. We jumped in an Uber and got there reasonably quickly. No queue so straight into drop stuff at the lockers and set off to do everything.
We all enjoyed the various different rides. Kristie liked the Super 8 Aqua Racer the most as she beat me both times.
Not too many photos as we were too busy getting wet.
We did cover quite a bit of distance.
Uber back home and dinner onboard.
Saturday 22nd
ParkRun for Kristina and I. Emma declared the night before she would not be participating as her legs would need a rest.
This also meant Kristie didn’t have to participate :)
The start of Main Beach ParkRun is just across from the marina, so easy for us to get to.
They were doing their alternate course as the main course isn’t an option after TC Alfred.
We walked more than ran (due to sore legs from yesterday). We hadn’t realised but Main Beach was Australia’s 1st ParkRun.
Back to Lazuli for breakfast (both Emma and Kristie were still in bed!).
There was a function at the Yacht Club tomorrow, so the marina was fully booked and we had to leave today.
Filled up water, did a load of washing, had a shower and got ready to leave.
The racing yacht that was in the pen behind us had left earlier, so we had plenty of space to reverse before being able to head out.
One of the local live-aboard residents gave us a hand with lines.
The tide difference was only 0.3m between the tides we had now, and with no wind it was an easy exit from the marina.
We went up the northern side of Wave Break island, and dropped anchor not to far away from where we had stopped in December.
Girls didn’t want to leave the boat.
Sunday 23rd
Took a bit of convincing, but we eventually got Kristina off the boat to try out a few of her birthday presents.
Was nice to get in the water, as it was a hot morning and not much wind about.
Back to the boat for a shower, lunch, a few cleaning jobs then set off to Gold Coast City Marina up the Coomera River.
We found a shallow bit of water, then back tracked to Wave Break to get to the main channel.
Fairly slow trip up the river, getting to the marina about 3pm ish. We tied up to the Service Dock as we’d be 1st out of the water tomorrow.
We had a hand with the lines, then a quick unload.
My parents had picked up one of our cars (thanks for the help Simon!) and driven that down for us. We’d hoped to meet them for handover but they had to leave before we got there.
Thanks heaps Richard & Judy!
Rather than spending the night on the dock, Kristie took the girls back to her parents, and left me to get the boat ready for the morning lift out.
With the boat cleaned, stuff put away, fridges/freezers defrosted I treated myself to some 2minute noodles, whisky, and watched The Beekeeper.
Monday 24th
Up early to do final boat prep and get everything off that I/we needed for the next 2 weeks.
Undid the back stay, and then the guys turned up to turn her around and push into the slings.
They had Lazuli up and out of the water pretty quickly, to give a wash down and then move her over to where the work will be done.
We’re getting the bottom sandblasted and redone.
We’ll be land based for the next 2 weeks at least.