Year 2 – 10 February 2025 -Port Stephens

We woke at a reasonable time to a sunny promising morning although rain was forecast. We had breakfast and made enquiries about a Hunter Valley tour for the following day. The man said he would ring back. We decided to go ashore and we are anchored off a beach in Salamander Bay. Near us our Oyster beds and it has a rural wetland feel. The picture of the day is our view from the anchorage.

We got in the dinghy and approached the beach. There were some large black and white Pelican’s around and gulls and noisy Cockatoos who tend to screech. It was not obvious where to land but there was a sort of dinghy park so we landed on the beach and carried the dinghy up on the beach beside the other dinghies and we were able to chain it to the railing. We walked behind the beach and asked people where the shops were and we headed west along toward Soldier’s Point. We wondered past a number of houses and it was obvious that there was more money here as the houses were neat and tidy. We eventually came to a shopping centre and found a café and had a coffee. We looked up car hire and thought if we are going to see the area we needed a car. The tour idea was very expensive so we decided to hire a car and they will bring it to Salamander Beach tomorrow for us.

This shopping centre was a large one with at least 3 supermarkets. We decided it would be good to go to Nelson – the main town here and luckily there was a bus going that way so we hopped on the bus and got out at Nelson. This was a small town but is the main center in the area for organising tours etc. We found the visitor centre and got some information about the area. The sky was looking threatening and rain had been forecast. We walked down to the front and there as a marina there with lots of bars and restaurants. We walked round and came to the fishing area where fishing boats were unloading their catches. We saw a trawler bringing off lots of large yellow fin tuna, marlin and Mahi Mahi. They went straight into crates with ice and are probably being flown to Japan!! They seemed to have caught a lot and you wonder how  the sea can sustain such loss of fish every day.

There was a good fish restaurant above which we decided to go to as it would give us refuge from the rain and allow us to view the fishing boats. This proved to be a good find and we all had delicious fish washed down with some Hunter Valley Chardonnay. We will visit the area tomorrow.

After a number of hours having a good lunch (men at lunch) we decided to walk back along the coast. This took us along the shore and through the trees and fauna along the way. There were some mangroves and wetlands and some nice beaches en route. The rain came gently and we had to shelter every now and then but it held off mostly. We eventually came to the marina at the end of Colette Point which had some unusual statues and it looked quite upmarket with swimming pools. There had been no chandlery at either marina and with only a few yachts in them but frequented mostly by motorboats. This is what I have found in Australia so far in that it is not really geared up for yachting.

We walked along round the point along the shore and came to the start of Salamander Beach. It was a nice walk and in front of some nice houses many of which looked like holiday homes or weekend retreats. Luckily the dinghy was still there and we returned to Stormbird having escaped the rain on the whole. We chilled and planned our trip to the Hunter Valley.

I meant to explain about the “Brass Monkey history.” That I saw at Fort Scratchley.  In 1611 Johannes Kepler proposed that the most efficient way to stack cannon balls was in a pyramid to stop them from rolling around the deck. To prevent the bottom layer from moving under the other balls a metal plate made from brass (to prevent rusting) with round indentations was called for unknown reasons a monkey. Brass contracts much faster than iron when chilled. If the temperature dropped too far the iron balls would come right off the monkey. This is where the expression came that it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!!   

Need/Opportunity Year Two

I am in need of more crew from late April to Mid-July so if of interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com