November 16, 2016
I’m interrupting the Able Tasman cruising posts to give a little update on how we’re currently doing in Australia. While I haven’t yet gotten to posting about our previous trip to Australia (Rich has done a few), those who know us personally know we had some issues.
It started with the disastrous decision to clear into in Bundaberg just before Christmas 2014. We should have known better, and had we applied any thought to the matter we could have seen it was too far north for that time of year. But we didn’t apply thought, instead listening to someone’s bad advice…
“It’s not hot,” he said.
“What bugs? Those? Well they never bite me!”
We were soon to discover that summertime in Queensland is hotter than an elephant’s butt! I won’t go into all the issues now, but the end result: we got out of Bundaberg quickly and ended up in Mooloolaba, where we saved ourselves by buying an air conditioner.
Able to stay cool enough to survive, renting air-conditioned cars, and enjoying one national park and beach after another, I quickly got past the trauma and so enjoyed the amazing flora, fauna, and wildlife. Rich, in spite of the fantastic scenery, staying at the world’s best boatyard (The Boat Works) and nicest marina (Soldiers Point Marina), never fully recovered from that initial period, and it threw a shadow over the remainder of our time in Australia. When we departed months later, we had no plans to return.
Fast forward: In May, we took a trip to Melbourne for a few days (it was the cheapest place to go) so we could extend our New Zealand visas. To our surprise, we fell head over heels for that city. This was a lucky happenstance–we ended up waiting so long in New Zealand for a suitable weather window that we could not return this season. It was Australia or the Marshall Islands, and our love for Melbourne made it an easy choice.
In deciding where to clear into Australia, we thought Brisbane or New Castle, or maybe Coffs in the middle. I loved Brisbane and the Gold Coast and we both looked forward to revisiting some of our favorite eateries. But after pondering this awhile, I realized we should do everything in our power not to have a repeat of last time. If we could avoid all things Queensland, we should. It’s not that Rich didn’t enjoy many things there, but Queensland has the blistering heat and the bitey bugs that got us off to a bad start last time.
New South Wales, on the other hand, gave us relief from those issues. Not having to run an air conditioner 24/7, we were able to untie from the marinas and do some cruising. Coffs Harbour, Port Stephens, New Castle and Broken Bay were all places we’d enjoyed; so I pushed for going south even if it meant going through a trough (a day of rough weather). We were able to make it as far south as Coffs Harbour.
I remembered reading a note from Lisa on Lisa Kay, saying something to this effect after they landed in Coffs Harbour in 2014: “This place is fantastic, the food is fabulous, the people are wonderful, you must come to Australia!” I hoped so much that if we did it right this time, Rich and I could feel that way, too.
Now that we’ve returned here, the answer is affirmative. We landed in Coffs Harbour, and even without being able to stay in the marina (closed after severe storm damage), we very much enjoyed our stay there. The people were so nice, the food terrific, the temperatures comfortable, and the surroundings very pleasant.
Our next stop was an overnight trip to an area called Port Stephens, which is quite beautiful. We just finished a stay at Soldiers Point Marina, the world’s greatest marina. We were impressed with the area last time, and are even more so this time after doing more sightseeing. Being back here feels a little like being home, and we’ve met a lot of terrific people. We can both now echo what Lisa said: “Australia is beautiful, the food is fabulous, and the people are wonderful.”
In the end, while I can’t say I regret the previous season here because of the incredible things we did in Queensland (and someday I will get to bogging about those things), I will say that had we started in New South Wales, Oz would have been a very, very different experience for Rich. Sometimes life does give you a second chance. It’s such a pleasure to add Australia to the list of places that we call home.
*Note: For those wondering about this year’s rally in Bundaberg, I want to stress that in 2014, we went at the end of December – in summer. The rally took place early in November, which is spring. From what we hear, the weather hasn’t been too hot, no bitey bugs, and everyone had a great time. We did like the Bundaberg Port Marina (especially the introductory seafood feast) and would recommend it in any time other than summer. For those crazy heat-loving types, even summer might be good if you can tolerate bug bites (some people just don’t seem bothered).
We’ve only been in Oz for a week and a half, but we’ve already enjoyed a couple of beautiful walks, wildlife encounters, and great food. Below, a gallery of a few photos (click to enlarge/scroll).–Cyndi
