Now for a few things Chris forgot to mention...

Going south, the ports we put into included Mooloolaba, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Port stephens, Broken Bay, and finally Port Jackson.  On the return trip we stopped at Port Macquarie, Yamba, Mooloolaba, and finally at Maryborough.  Often our main reason for stopping was just to see a new place, but sometimes it was for diesel fuel, water, food supplies, or a rest.  The rest was always welcome, as sailing non stop with a crew of only two proved to be quite tiring.

Ray Stockdale accompanied us from Maryborough as far as Mooloolaba just in case Chris's lack of sailing experience caused problems.  Fortunately, Chris is a quick learner and a very capable young fellow who quickly developed into the best crewmember I have had aboard Nova Vida so far.

The name Nova Vida seems to cause some pronounciation difficulties for radio operators at the various Coastal Patrol and Coastguard stations we passed along the way.  We sometimes heard ourselves being called as Nova Vita, New Vita, Novida, and Nova Vyda, as well as the more usual Nova Vida.

Port Stephens a short distance north of Newcastle proved to be a wonderful holiday destination.  Its waters are extensive providing much to explore, shopping is easy at its Nelson Bay, and numerous anchorages provide great variety.  It was whilst we were in Port Stephens for four days that we tried towing our tender, El Niño behind Nova Vida as we moved from one anchorage to the next.  We were pleased to discover it towed without any vices and survived some surprisingly big waves thrown up by gin palaces speeding past.

Cruising around Port Jackson just exploring the harbour was one highlight of our trip.  It had been a long time since I last sailed under the harbour bridge (more than 50 years), and finding a wharf harbouring several old and replica sailing ships came as an unexpected surprise.  One night we anchored off a beach at Rose Bay where we got close up views of the float planes that were operating there.  But most of the time we were hobnobbing with the elite at the marina of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia at Rushcutters Bay, our base for exploring Sydney on land.  We took a train to the CBD one day, walked over the harbour bridge, got halfway up the exhibition pylon without buying a ticket, and saw the new Harry Potter movie.  Several times we walked up to Kings Cross for a meal or to buy supplies for the boat.

Without doubt, the highlight of the trip for me was the New Year's Eve celebration on Sydney Harbour.  I have never been part of anything like it either before or since.  Just being in amongst the big crowd of anchored boats provided moments of excitement, yet we were close enough to the big crowd of people gathered on shore to hear their singing, and once the fireworks started all else was forgotten.  The fireworks display on the harbour bridge itself was accompanied by a bigger display immediately overhead, producing enough bangs and whistles to drown out all lesser sounds. And in between the two fireworks displays there was a parade of brightly lit up ships sailing around the harbour to entertain us.

It seems cruising yachts do not beat into head winds very efficiently.  On one night going south we encountered a strong head wind, causing us to tack and zig-zag all night for a nett gain of just five miles in the direction we wanted to go... and that was with the southerly current assisting us!

Returning north, we encountered a worse set of conditions trying to round Point Byron, the most easterly point of mainland Australia.  Wind was about 5 knots from due north, but big waves and swell were coming from there too, together with the southerly current of several knots.  With insufficient wind to power through the waves and current we had the motor running a lot of the time, but though we tacked and motored and tacked repeatedly it took us all night just to round that point.  If the wind had not changed and strengthened we might have been there until we ran out of fuel!

Yamba was officially the wettest place in NSW on the day we arrived there, having recorded more rainfall than anywhere else.  We expected that to be the case, as it was whilst approaching Yamba on the trip south that we were driven away by the violent electrical storm that Chris described on our previous page.  We were not surprised that rain fell on each of the four days we spent there.

One thing we were always wary of was running into big ships.  We saw an average of 5 or more of them each day on the trip south whilst we were several miles out to sea seeking a southerly current.  The big ships seemed thickest around Newcastle, with almost none of them encountered around Sydney.

1. Sydney Opera House as seen from the water

2. The Manly ferry honked at us twice off Circular Quay

3. Exploring the harbour, we found the Bounty replica

4. Anchoring at Farm Cove on New Year's Eve

5. This was as close as we could get to a front row seat

6. Many ships outlined with lights paraded past us

7. The second fireworks show was better than the first!

8. Returning north we were passed by this big freighter

9. Dolphins often swam off our bow and under the boat