Year 2 – 17 February 2025 -Port Stephens – Port Macquarie
If anyone reading this and is free in June- mid July 2025 to come to Australia then do contact me as I am short of crew for that month fully at present.
We woke to a pleasant day but there was a cool breeze. Some went off to do washing and showering ashore. We had some breakfast and then there were some jobs to do. Trevor decided to get rid of the rust on the back from the davits and to clean and polish the stern. Mark glued one of the window seals and then prepared part of a deck seal for resealing. One of the windows in my cabin was leaking and we needed ideally some translucent seal which I did not have. The guys also noticed that the davit supports had dropped and we were trying to work out why etc. I also rang and met with a gas man who could not fill my old tanks but luckily the tank and regulator I had bought in New Zealand would work in Australia and that was good to hear. I am amazed that the current tank is still giving me gas. I bought it in Tahiti and it is still going despite the use since then. I also redid the tape around the shrouds.
Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, 390 km (242 mi) north of Sydney, and 570 km (354 mi) south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the Hastings River, and the eastern end of the Oxley Highway (B56). It had a population of 47,974 in 2018, and an estimated population of 51,965 in 2023.
In 1821, Port Macquarie was founded as a penal settlement, replacing Newcastle as the destination for convicts who had committed secondary crimes in New South Wales. Newcastle, which had fulfilled this role for the previous two decades, had lost the features required for a place for dumping irredeemable criminals, that being isolation, which was lost as the Hunter Region was opened up to farmers, and large amounts of hard labour, which had diminished as the cedar in the area ran out and the settlement grew in size.
Once done we walked into town which was about three quarters of a mile and we walked along the shore and the river. We came around the little harbour and then walked along the walkway toward the entrance to the river and the bar which we had come through yesterday. We noticed as we walked that the rocks were all painted with family pictures and memorabilia. When we came to the end there was the river entrance which we had come into. It was a swirling mass of water and there were breakers outside. This is clearly a difficult piece of water. The picture of the day is a picture of the entrance.
We walked on round and came to the town beach where the waves were breaking on the beach. There was, however, an area where the swell was less and this is where the lifeguards suggested we swam. We therefore changed and in we went and had a refreshing swim. This was nice but there was quite an undertow.
We then walked back into town and found a bar/restaurant to have some lunch which was good. We walked back to Stormbird and I then went off by uber to get some translucent sealant for the window which needed sealing which Mark did. Once I returned we went off to do some shopping so that we had enough for a few days. We have decided to move on tomorrow and planned when we can leave to get over the bar which is just before high water.
We rested and chilled and then had supper of prawns and garlic butter and salad and then cheese and biscuits. We look forward to moving up the coast a bit further.
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