The Beautiful Hawkesbury

From our 9 am Swansea Bridge crossing to the open sea it was relatively calm through the bar.  Outside the swell was easterly 1 metre, skies were grey, but only light drizzle along the way, not the rain we expected.  Favourable winds gave us a good sail down the coast and into Broken Bay.  

There the water was brown, skies were still grey and the harbour was awash with flotsam after the storms: logs, branches, tress, fence posts and of all sorts of plastic debris:  bait bags, bottles, drums, buckets, styrofoam, even coffee cups!

Dodging the logs, we sailed into Refuge Bay, which has more moorings than we’ve seen anywhere!  The yacht clubs all have moorings for members and there are many courtesy and National Parks moorings to choose from.  We chose one near the waterfall, which was running.  In fact, after the torrential rains, there are waterfalls running all around the cliffs.  

There’s a war memorial plaque near the falls to honour Z-Unit, the unit that was also based at Magnetic Island Fort.

After a yummy lunch at Cottage Point Kiosk, of Aussie Black Mussels in a spicy sauce with fresh herbs and crusty bread, we motored around to Stingray Bay in Smith’s Creek, which was serene and perfect for kayaking.  

The earthy colours of the Sydney Sandstone cliffs and caves around the river are beautiful in the sunlight.  We may be tempted to stay another week! 

Well, it was serene until two houseboats of French students arrived, one took the mooring and the other tried to anchor.  About sunset the anchored houseboat drifted by, heading for the rocks, as they were all on the other houseboat enjoying sundowners.  We called out and they quickly dinghied over to take control, then tried to re-anchor in the same spot.  Skipper Pete to the rescue, as we helped them to reset their anchor in the bay.