13. Melbourne via North Arm Cove (Port Stephens)

I had agreed to call in to see Rob on the way home and spend some time getting to know each other.  I arrived late Monday night and he picked me up which was nice.  I was uncomfortable though having an open wound on my back, the new dolphin tattoo, to be staying in his house that is just being built and could provide very basic shelter at best.  The house will be amazing when it is finished but it is a major undertaking on your own while trying to work!  I decided the best thing was for me to book into a hotel and I stayed for 2 nights at the Karuah Motor Lodge, which I have to say was a lot more pleasant than I was expecting.  The current owners had put some nice touches to the room and the service and breakfast was great.

The days we spent walking in the forest near where Rob is building his house, walking down on the beach. He also took me out to show me Moreli, the boat he lived on at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron (RMYS) in Melbourne and still has.  We would eat at Rob's cooking in a kitchen exposed to the elements on all sides, an experience! We also went to watch the sunset over Myall Lakes which was spectacular as the water was exceptionally still.  Im quite proud of my photos from there and have included a couple here.  It is a beautiful area and I enjoyed spending the time outside despite the weather being quite cool especially at night.

On my last night there, we had dinner with my dear friends Kerrie and Leigh at their home in Medowie.  It has been a long time since we had caught up and it was so good to see them.  Leigh as always turned on a great feast, three courses no less.  The night went too quickly and it was time to say goodbye...I could have stayed and chatted until I had to catch my flight the next day but that would be silly!  A highlight of the night was that I got to hug Cheyenne, their daughter who has Rets Syndrome so this is very special...well I thought so anyway.  Rob dropped me at the airport after a hot, delicious breakfast delivered on time at the Karuah Motor Lodge and I headed home to Melbourne.  We agreed to stay friends and be in touch and see what happens.

I arrived back in Melbourne and Leah picked a work colleague and I up in my car and we headed back to Elwood to have some lunch and catch up.  Then I took the car as my first mission was to go and pick up some warm clothes!  I took the car back to Leah as her mum was coming over and I thought it would be good for her to be able to take her mum around.  I also had a very pleasant evening during my last week when Leah cooked dinner for her mum, another friend Lisa and I.

I was keen to see the family as always.  Its always fun to stay with Suz and Neil and to spend time with Taylor and Ollie (my great nephews).  I regret not having had the opportunity to spend as much time with my other 'greats' (niece and nephew that is) India and Sebastien.  I did get to watch them play golf on that Sunday morning...too cute!! And of course I also got to see them at my official family birthday dinner on the 2 July, yes still celebrating almost 4 months later....topped off with the presentation of a stunning watch to commemorate the occasion!  AFL featured again while I was in town.  I went to the Carlton v West Coast match and the old grudge match against the Western Bulldogs (my brothers team).  Getting to this last match determined when I was leaving to go to Bali!

During my time in Melbourne I also started making arrangements for my next trip.  Despite numerous attempts I couldnt get the travel agent who had organised my first trip to respond!  Luckily Alicia's cousin Sarah is a Flight Centre team leader at the Strathpine office (if you need a good travel agent, I would recommend her).  She did a great job getting me organised very quickly.  I spoke to her on 4 July, wanting to leave on 13 July eek!!  She got back to me that day with options and I was insured and had my itinerary the next day.   I had to draw the line somewhere as I did actually want to leave and be back by the end of September!   

12. Harry Potter and The Dolphin Tattoo....

No this is not an unreleased chapter of the Harry Potter story!  Just a couple of special anecdotes I wanted to share  :)!  During my time in Brisbane it was Alicia's birthday and Jamie took her out for dinner, then I met them and we went to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  Excellent! During this was the promo for the last Harry Potter movie which got Alicia and I quite excited.  For my last weekend in town Alicia's parents agreed to have the kids so that we could go out for dinner and the intention was to go to the movies to see Harry Potter.  We were all excited and had spent the previous week watching all, yes ALL, the Harry Potter movies...one a night, sometimes two...eek!  We were on a roll!  When we went to book the tickets we were a little embarrassed to find that we were about a month early!  The film had not even been released...doh!

We spent the Saturday night quietly with a few drinks and an early dinner after a trip to the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.  The purpose of this trip was to show Alicia an image for a tattoo that I thought I might like to get.  I had seen it during a recent visit there with Rob.  I have always wanted to get a tattoo but wanted to get something that was meaningful to me.  I also went off the idea as tattoos are so popular here now and Im not one to do the popular thing.  This image was the first that had really stood out to me but it had gone out of my mind until we started talking about it.  Alicia was encouraging me to get the tattoo and so we went to bookshop there and I showed it to Alicia.  I still liked it, so that was a good sign so Alicia took a photo of it.

We tinkered with the design a bit.  Alicia offered to buy the tattoo for me for my birthday.  We talked about going to the tattoo shop that day but it just didnt feel right.  The next day we were close by the tattoo shop and so I said to Alicia, lets see if it is open (it was a Sunday).  It was.  Okay lets see if they can fit me in.  They couldnt really but as I was leaving the next day, Jimmy offered to stay back and do it at 6pm.  Who could argue with that!  Jimmy also made some suggestion about some changes to the design which I liked so I agreed.  I left after making the appointment feeling very nervous but that soon turned to excitement.  Alicias mum agreed to have the kids a little longer (as I had to have Alicia come with me...yes I am 50 but I was nervous!).  Jimmy was good and made me feel relaxed.  He got me to drink a can of coke so I had plenty of sugar to get me through.  It took about 45minutes and was a weird sensation.  Painful but bearable, at least I couldnt see as the tattoo is on my back.  I left feeling super cool, quite proud of myself and just a little paranoid that it would get infected so off to the chemist for some Bepanthen.  The tattoo is of a dolphin, mid leap out of the water, with a little wave symbol next to it.  I have always loved dolphins and never tire of seeing them, particularly when sailing.  I was able to relate to all the meanings that I came across and there are many.  Celts and Pirates believe they are a symbol of protection (and who doesnt love a Celt or a pirate right?); to a variety of deities they represent things including freedom, wildness, joviality, playfulness, sensuality, compassion all attributes I respect and aspire to, the perfect tattoo!  Not only do I have the perfect image for my tattoo, my friends bought it for me for my 50th, I had it done at the same place as Alicia got her tattoo AND Powderfinger (Im a massive fan) used to rehearse upstairs...rah!!  Ah, it was all just meant to be!!

11. Farewell Southport, Hello Brisbane

As expected we had quite a big night on my last night in Southport, complete with green drinks at a lovely restaurant called Saks.  We sat up at the bar to have a couple of pre-dinner drinks.  The service was great (and the waiters cute!) although the cocktail barman was a little embarrassed when he spilt a cocktail all over himself while making our green drinks.  He recovered well though and managed to do the whole cocktail show without doing it again!!!  We feasted on beautiful food and the bonus was that being berthed in the marina we were entitled to 50% off our meals.  This, and only this is the reason that we seemed to spend a significant amount more on alcohol.  We were the last to leave and had cleaned them out of whatever goes into the green drinks we were having.  It was a fun farewell for me.

At some stage during my time in Southport we went to Max Brenners.  I suspect it was Thursday morning, after my farewell night as Im a bit vague about when!  Now a lot of you have probably been there numerous times but Im sure it was the first time Ive had one of their cappuccinos!  OMG...topped with liquid chocolate and in a kangaroo cup, so named as it has a little "pouch" (or lip really) on the side of the cup where they place a square of chocolate so that it melts and can flow into the coffee or just be sucked off the side.  Amazing...I so wanted to have another but it was so rich, that would have just been wrong!!

When Alicia and her two munchkins Harvey (age 3) and Lily (age 20 months) arrived to pick me up on Thursday morning (19 May), we walked past the restaurant and saw the waiter who looked quite surprised to see me up and about!! I was a little surprised too, truth be known. Alicia's husband and my good buddy Jamie was away travelling with his work which is a regular occurrence as he is a bit of a high flyer...:).  Alicia and I and the kids had lunch, and did some shopping as Alicia was about to start a new job.  During this time we had torrential rain.  Not good when you are in thongs...eek!  We headed home to Hawthorne in Brisbane where they moved to in February.  The house is amazing and it is good for them to be close to Alicias parents and family.  As this was the first time I had seen Alicia since leaving in January there was the obligatory night of welcoming to be had...I think we finished "catching up" about 3am.  That was all good fun but the problem was that Jamie arrived home on the Friday and that meant, for me, another night of welcoming...so night 2 Jamie and I finished about 3am again.  Alicia had excused herself early and while I thoroughly enjoyed the 'welcomings', my reserves were running low!!

Somehow the weeks started slipping away again, filled with yoga, exploring the area, visits from Rob that I met in North Arm Cove and thinking about where to next!  Watching the football was a priority and Alicia's father kindly offered for us to watch the matches on his big screen TV on Fox...an offer too good to refuse.  Of course each match was accompanied by many txts between Di (my fellow Carlton supporter) and I on performance, encouragement and general cheering.

I also had an obsession with cooking which began quite soon after arriving and spent much of my time in the kitchen, quite happily making dishes ranging from caramalised onions to sweet brown rice and mushrooms to mediterannean baked vegetables to tuna chilli pasta.  Some of the recipes were from my book "If Buddha came to Dinner" How to Nourish your Body and Awaken your Spirit by Hale Sofia Schwartz.  Its an awesome book and has some great recipes but the principles behind it about how to eat and why we eat the way we do are really interesting.  Unfortunately it also suggests how to do a cleanse which I thought was a good idea to try.  Either I was really "dirty" or it was a bad time as I ended up really sick and ended up going to the doctor and discovered I had some sort of gastro, not because of, but in addition to the cleanse.  I felt really cleansed by the end of it all anyway!!

10. Yamba to Southport - Tues 17 May (90nm)

I went to yoga again this morning, after a somewhat ruckus start.  Up at 5.30am I packed all my things including my water bottle into my backpack as usual.  When I noticed a pool of water on my sleeping bag I suspected something was wrong, top not on the water bottle properly...oops!   So quickly unloaded everything and grabbed the bare essentials to carry.  Threw the backpack into the head and mopped up the spilt water.  Quietly crept off the boat only to realise I had forgotten my phone.  I crept back on the boat and accidently upended my backpack looking for my phone and everything toppled out onto the floor.  So much for sneaking around quietly!!  I walked along the river path and again I wished I had taken my camera as the sun was rising behind some impressive clouds, sail boats bathed in darkness and the planets were visible in the sky.  A beautiful peaceful scene.  I used this as my focus for yoga.  A more challenging class this morning which was good.  I had not realised how stiff I had gotten!  After yoga I walked on the beach, wanting to feel the wet sand beneath my feet again.  The water was warm as I paddled in the shallows watching Southpaw leave from the breakwater.  The sun shone brilliantly over the beach and warmed me as I walked from one end to the other.  Finally I dragged myself away and enjoyed the walk back to the boat along the river.

I had breakfast at the Marina Cafe in the sun again while Mark and Di were off tackling some Di size waves on their boogie boards!  Our last activities here in Yamba before we headed off to Southport.  After some lunch we organised ourselves for our overnight trip and left about 3pm.  The winds were light and swells low.  To make it through the night we ran shifts.  As there were 3 of us we decided on 2 hours on deck for each person, then 4 hours off watch to catch some zzzzs.  It was pretty easy going, Max (the autohelm) kept us on track and keeping a look out was easy, made so by the brilliant full moon which was the highlight of the night.  Er well there was that stray fishing float that seemed to appear a long way off but was actually quite close to the boat, but other than that...:)!  It would have to be the brightest night sailing I have ever done.  I have a thing for moonlight but believe me when I say the moonlight this night was even more beautiful than I had seen before.  Unfortunately the photos didnt work so well but they give you an idea. 

As the moonlight faded and sunrise approached the lights of Southport got brighter and the cityscape of the Gold Coast became more and more visible on the horizon.  It seemed so out of place after the peaceful night we had had at sea!  Originally we were planning on staying at the Southport YC but were not able to get a suitable berth but luckily we were welcomed in at the Marina Mirage which we found out is the home of the super yacht.  Poor Sally, which is actually 44ft long, looked quite small and only really took up a half of the berth we were given.  We wondered what time the sun would shine on us given the height of the decks on the boats around us.  Dont get me wrong we were grateful to have a spot to park!  We were tied up by about 8am so had to fill in some time before "Rooster", the marina manager, was available to give us our keys and book us in.  Rooster is a well known local character apparently and also had a book of his poems available for sale at the marina office.  Christine, the client liaison and concierge for the marina, was very friendly and helpful.  We slowly got familiar with our surroundings....helicopters flying in and out; a floating church; the Palazzo Versace Hotel; restaurants; designer shopping and lots of really big boats for sale!  This would be my last night on the boat so I was looking forward to ending the trip with a green drink (cocktail) or two!

9. Coffs Harbour to Yamba - Sat 14 May (54nm)

We left Coffs Harbour about 6.20am and headed for Yamba, about 54nm away.   There is a front coming up from the south but we should (eek!) get in before it reaches us, if it does make it that far.  It was a very peaceful trip and we moved from the Tasman into the Coral Sea today, a milestone we had been looking forward to, as it means more tropical weather, right??  In fact, in some ways it was eerily peaceful as there were no dolphins, very few birds, very little swell....the only activity were the occasional fish jumping out of the water, reminding us that there is a whole lot going on beneath the surface that is not visible ....a little like humans really (she says being philosophical!).  Di tried her hand at fishing again, trawling a line behind the boat but with no luck this time.

We arrived at the entrance to Yamba at about 4pm with no sign of the bar, confirming our timing was right.  Di did a great job again of navigating us into the Clarence River and through multiple sets of leads to the yacht club, its quite a convoluted route up and around to where we were berthing at the Yamba Marina.  There are a couple of options of places to stop here, the other being Illuka.   We were greeted at Yamba by a few of the local including the cruising person's guru - Alan Lucas.  He is responsible for many of the very useful cruising guides that those with the pleasure of this activity use as a reference.  He also had his boat "Soleares" berthed at the Yamba Marina.  We got our key, showered and headed to the biggest bowls club in the world (to quote Mark) for dinner.  Surprisingly the dinner was good but we were a little tired so caught the Bowls club courtesy bus home...noice!! We are spending 3 nights here so a cruisy couple of days ahead before our last leg from here to Southport.

So there was no early start the next day (Sunday).  I meditated and got up in time to do the dishes and meet Mark and Di at 8.30am for breakfast at the Marina Cafe.  They got up, had showered and done the washing. The Marina Cafe had quite a good selection on the menu and a nice spot in the sun to enjoy the food and coffee.  I had delicious corn fritters and this with good coffee set the tone for the day.  We walked all around Pilot Hill and the Point and were grateful we weren’t trying to come in today. The views were quite spectacular.  We found the town and did a lap, discovering a gourmet grocer that had some exotic items such as Persian fairy floss and Indian sweet potato dip.  We bought some “essential” supplies from here and headed back to the boat for T-bone steak (courtesy of the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club!) for dinner.

I awoke Monday feeling a little shady after being led astray last night.  It began innocently with a couple of glasses of white wine, but noone warned me the good red (actually in a bottle!) would be pulled out of its hiding place!  What is one to do?  It would be rude to refuse, but why, why did I say yes to the port, eek!!   Having declared myself a sugar-free zone a few days ago, I am now also a port free zone!!  We also realised that we had forgotten to watch the motogp and missed a great win by Casey Stoner.  The combination also created a very strange dream indeed but some things just need to stay on the boat.  So the day started slowly,  awakened again by the need to change the gas bottle (as had happened the first morning after I arrived)!  Noone can argue with that if coffee is required.  We had a fantastic lunch at the Pacific Hotel.  A meal of pasta was just what I needed to soak up that port!  The pasta was delicious and with a magnificent view over Main Beach, watching the thunderstorms out to sea (feeling for the yacht we could see out there) and watching the surfers and boogie boarders having a great time, it was a very pleasant Monday lunch.  We also noticed that due to the large surf and ebbing tide the bar looked a whole lot more menacing than when we made our entrance on Saturday.  We walked home in search of the recreation centre that had a yoga class on but to no avail. We didn’t realise until we got home that we almost got there but had turned around just a schmidge too soon.  We did go far enough to see several kangaroos sunning themselves on the sports fields nearby. 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, chatting to Jense, a German guy who had been sailing mostly on his own for the last 8 years.  He was working on getting his AIS going (boat tracking system that allows you to see the positions of other boats/ships and them to see you) and it seemed to be working after some  testing with Mark.  He also told us of saving a turtle that had got itself stranded after laying its eggs.  As they are so big and heavy he had to use bamboo poles to try to lever it into a position where it could use its flippers to move again.  His daughter told him he would get good karma points for this...I have to say I agree!  We welcomed another boat, Southpaw, in quite late in the day.  They were just overnighting and then heading out early in the morning.  I went off to my first yoga class in sometime.  Walking along the river path I wished I had brought my camera as the moon was almost full and it lit up my path completely, it was beautiful.  There is something smooth about moonlight.  I had snacks for dinner (but still no chocolate!) and Di and I watched Offspring which gave us a few laughs.  Tomorrow we head to Southport, sadly my last leg!

8. Forster-Tuncurry to Coffs Harbour - Wed 11 May

After much rain in Forster Tuncurry we woke to a bright sunny day with light westerly winds on Wednesday the 11th May.  Our original destination was Crowdy Head but as we were making excellent progress we decided to continue on to Camden Haven and stopped at a little place that Rob from North Arm Cove had recommended called Laurieton.  Cambden Haven was about another 10nm down the track, and made a total of 36nm for the day. 
 
We arrived late into the afternoon and negotiated the bar at the entrance easily with Di's excellent navigation.  Luckily the bar was quiet today but dolphins were there to greet us and accompany us on our way in, which is always a bonus.  We headed for the visitors pier where we could tie up for the night.  We rafted up next to a boat belonging to a couple who had already been stranded in Laurieton for two weeks as they had engine problems and didnt want to push into the wind (as they were heading south) so they were waiting for some more favourable weather.  They were very friendly and gave us all the inside information on the town.  Not quite the extravagant facilities we had experienced recently but at least there was one shower for us to use (just clarifying, one at a time!).  We ate at the Laurieton United Services Club on our neighbours recommendation.  Quite an impressive building thats for sure and quite popular with the locals.   The surrounding area was quite pretty and it looked like a place that would have been nice to spend a bit more time.  That would be for another time.

Next morning we were up early again on left for our next stop, Trial Bay, approximately 50nm away.  Again we ended up having a lovely sail and arrived late in the afternoon.  The weather was beautiful and it seemed the water was a balmy 23C according to the Sally's sea temperature gauge.   This got Di excited and next thing she was in her bathers and in the water.  Mark wasnt far behind her.  Despite me not feeling so warm and inspired to swim compared to Costa Rica what was I to do?  I couldnt be the only one not to go in, could I? I was pleasantly surprised with how warm it was, but still comparatively cool compared to what I had been used to.  Still it was a nice way to end the day and get ready for happy hour!

 
We had an unexpected early start this morning (Fri 13 May) due to rolly night! Our next stop was Coffs Harbour about 36nm away.  Heading off at 6am the weather was mild with a beautiful sunrise.  Once the sun was up it warmed everything up, the sea was calm with some swell but nothing major.  The wind was abeam so we actually managed to sail without motor for about 4 hours today.  It was nice to finally have the peace and quiet from the engine.  Dolphins were with us again today on and off.  In the afternoon we had about 6 very playful ones jumping out of the waves ahead of us, it was awesome.  We arrived at the marina late afternoon in time for a late lunch on deck.  I was a true grotty yachty today, not leaving the boat until dinner time and not bothering to have a shower...eek!  Despite this (or because of it) I happened to win the meat tray in the raffle at the yacht club.  We also had a delicious meal there, atlantic salmon with warm vegetable salad and a bottle of wine, one of the best meals we have had on the trip...it was a sweet day topped off by a great evening despite the ominous date.

7. Port Stephens to Forster-Tuncurry - Mon 9 May (45 nm)

The good ship Mustang Sally left Port Stephens around 6am Monday morning, early but worth it as we got to watch the sun come up!  Awesome. Today we are headed for the twin towns of Forster-Tuncurry. The sea was calm and it was a sunny day once the sun reached its full height in the sky.   There is a bit of bad weather following us up the coast so we were hoping to get in before it gets us.  The time passed pleasantly with beautiful scenery, good food and company.  There is something special about the perspective you get from viewing the landscape from the sea.  Well for me anyway!  It is probably a good time to mention what a great job Di has been doing navigating us from place to place.  Having done it in the past, it can be quite a nerve wracking time, particularly entering and leaving harbours!  Also a mention for the skipper Mark who has been getting the weather timing pretty spot on.

With our precisely planned timing and exceptional crew work, mostly on the part of Max the Autohelm (or maybe it was luck!) we made it into Forster Tuncurry with plenty of time to spare before the weather caught up with us.  When it did we had quite a bit of rain.  We ended up anchoring in the inlet on the Tuncurry side given the marina at Forster is tiny and also very shallow.    We were near the bridge and had dolphins swimming passed every now and then!  Also a part of the middle of the harbour dried out at low tide and was filled with pelicans and seagulls.  We went to the pub for dinner in the hope of seeing the Carlton V St Kilda game live.  Despite the publican's willingness to put it on for us, it just didnt appear to be scheduled.   Instead we ended up trying to watch it via the computer on the boat.  Has anyone else used the 'watch live' application on the AFL website?  Its ludicrous (but have to say, better than nothing for a couple of footy tragics!).  Its an animated oval that presents footy jumpers with a description of the action (eg Gibbs long kick).  Its behind the match, slow and just about does your head in.  We endured this knowing we could also watch the replay which started about 11pm.  We were trying to negotiate with Phil to spend the night in my cabin (no, not with me!) as he was sleeping in the saloon right under the tv.  It is safe to say that Di and I like to 'participate' while watching our matches so it would have been a bit noisy for Phil or limiting for us for him to stay there.  Despite me thinking it was a splendid offer, Phil was not too keen but eventually I wore him down and he moved.  It was a rather late night to bed though by the end of it all.   Particularly as we didnt win that match mainly due to poor kicking.  But still...GO BLUES!! 

Given the weather we decided to stay another day in Tuncurry (the 10th). We had a nice day lounging around and a couple of us even made it up to the gym for a bit of exercise before enjoying dinner on board, Chilli Con Carne  a la Leapy Lynda.  I maintain that it was not because of the nagging Phil got to move bunks the night before Phil, but he had to head back to Melbourne unexpectedly so we also gave him a bit of a send off over a few glasses of wine.  He made all his arrangements and left first thing in the morning.