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admin, wrote on December 21, 2017:

Dream run from Sydney to Melbourne….

The mighty Tika sailed out of the Sydney Harbour heads with two extra crew aboard! Cousins Jordan and Oliver flew from Melbourne to join us for the sail to Port Phillip Bay…

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What do you do with four crew aged 10-17? Put them to work of course…

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This 5 day trip goes down as (another) one of my many favourites. After feeling a little depressed about leaving the bejewelled South Pacific in our wake; boom! this sea-sculpted coastline delivered a new, sparkling appreciation for Australia’s rugged seaboard. Dramatic headlands, coves and solitary beaches huddled under vast National Parkland with brown, sunburnt cliffs. We had fabulous conditions and loved having the boys aboard….

The Tasman sea (or ‘the ditch’ to Aussies and Kiwis) runs all the way from New Zealand to the Sapphire coast of New South Wales on Australia’s south east corner. We can confirm that the Sapphire Coast is best contemplated while slow-traveling on a yacht from the Tasman. Tika passed by Eden and slipped into a small bay at Bittangabee in the Ben Boyd National Park. We had a late night fire on the far side of the bay. While the kids chatted and toasted marshmallows, I fell into a deep, sandy snooze and caught up after our overnight passage the previous day….. 

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Gabo Island is a scrubby, isolated island that sits between Mallacoota and Cape Howe on the Victorian side of the border to New South Wales. We stopped for lunch and a look at the historic lighthouse- and we are so glad we did!
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The Gabo island lighthouse is Australia’s second tallest. Construction was completed in 1862 using pink granite quarried from the island itself. The granite is extremely hard and 150 years of coastal salt, gale-force winds and sand-blasting had not managed to weather the stoic blocks. Seriously, it looked like it could have been built last year…. 

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The first steam ship to cross the Pacific; SS Monumental City, shipwrecked near Gabo in 1853. It was the catalyst for the 154 foot, 20 mile range light-house. Gabo only hosts a smattering of structures; a monument (below right) to the wrecked steamship, the original keeper’s house, the assistant keeper’s quarters, the lighthouse itself and a couple of antiquated buildings with dollops of rugged, remote-coastal character…

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Gabo is a haven for bird life- with large populations of little penguins, white-faced storm petrels and shearwaters. There are also plenty of frogs and a colony of Australian fur seals. (photo credit; Jordan Lamb who snapped the above photo of a seal pup)

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The kids watching the wildlife on Little Gabo; a rocky, guano stained outcrop off the main island. 

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Above; meet the lightkeepers (or more accurately; caretakers as there are no manned lighthouses left in Australia) Tony and Karen were delightful hosts. When we met Tony (above right) he was on his way to destroy a non-native rat that had been causing havoc in the house. We stood and chatted while the poor thing climbed and squeaked and desperately sought an escape from the suspended cage.

Tony first visited Gabo in his 20’s. He’d been fishing for abalone with his mate when his boat broke down. They managed to row to the island and the then-lighthouse keeper put them up in the cosy confides of the signalman’s quarters. That was 40-something years ago…..

Tony and Karen took us to the top of the lighthouse and told us tales imbued with history, a deep connection to the island and a lingering heritage of lightkeepers that stretches back in time to before 1860.   

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From the top of the lighthouse we overlooked the Croajingolong National Park on the mainland. It is only 500m from the closest part of Gabo. Out to sea we saw our friends on SV Steely Dan sail past…

As the afternoon sun descended towards a stunning sunset, we hauled anchor and headed out for another night at sea…

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I love what cruising has gifted our kids; confidence, competence, team-work, large doses of engineering, history, geography, patience, oceanography, a sense of adventure and just plain fun!

Seeing tweens and teens staring out into an empty horizon, engaged in the natural world and removed for a time from the all-consuming digital realm… honestly? it’s the most rewarding thing. We did occasionally need to coax all 4 kids out of the saloon, OFF various devices and out onto the foredeck, but once there they hung out and watched Victoria’s East Gippsland slide past. We were approaching the most southern point on Australia’s mainland; Wilson’s Promontory….

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The cousins- Kai and Jaiya don’t get to see Jordan and Oliver often so it was wonderful for them to spend this time together…

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Above- We flew our drone in an attempt to capture a visual of our perfect sailing conditions in Bass Strait. These waters are notorious for boisterous weather, steep waves and unpredictable currents. Exposed to the fury of the southern trade winds, around 1500 ships came to grief in the Strait throughout the 1800’s. It has been the cause of maritime carnage few places in the world have seen. For Tika, the Strait was a pussy cat, with 15-20 knot winds from behind, no swell and bluebird skies. We had the screecher out the front all the way to Bittangabee and the code zero was flying until just before Wilson’s Prom.

We did have trouble landing the drone as the wind picked up just enough to make it tricky. It was taking a while, the battery was getting dangerously low and we flew into a panicked frenzy of pulling in sails to stall the boat and get the drone back aboard before it dropped from the sky! We have some farcical footage of the scene from the drone’s point of view and you can clearly see the urgency in our moves and our worried looks at the drone… snippets can be viewed in the movie at the bottom!

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Above- captain underpants enjoying a contemplative, moment gazing out over a docile sea and the approaching sunset… An hour later, just before we reached the safety of Refuge Cove, the wind jacked to 25-30 knots. We had planned to get in before dusk, but had been moving slower than expected due to a lull in the breeze for a good number of hours. From my perspective, entering Refuge Cove in the dark in 25-30 knots wasn’t ideal. We tucked in behind the headland to drop the sails and cautiously felt our way in through the neck of the cove. Kids with spotlights on the bows and a radar ping told us where the headland loomed. We got in, anchored and relaxed next to a ketch on the north east side of the bay… 

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Wilsons Promontory is an entire peninsula of protected national and marine park. Refuge Cove on The Prom’s eastern side is only accessible by an overnight hike or by boat. For 200 years sailors and whalers have sheltered at Refuge. It’s a spell-binding natural harbour…

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Lichen covered boulders and green escarpments surrounded us. Refuge Cove was a magical playground for hiking, swimming and rock hopping around the plunging granite cliffs. We were lucky to have 3 spectacularly gorgeous days here….

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Below- our friends on Steely Dan arrived!

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The yachties wall of fame at Refuge Cove consists of a make-shift fence crammed full of drift-wood, planks, flotsam, jettsom, flags, plaques (and one flipper!) that are engraved, printed or scribbled with boat names and dates. Tika’s was a wooden chopping board with a sticker…

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After leaving Refuge Cove we spent a calm night anchored at Rabbit Island just off The Prom. We were on the lookout for a colony of Little Penguins….

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We landed on the beach at dusk and waited. Pretty soon a handful of little penguins (also known as blue, little blue or fairy penguins…) emerged from the sea and waddled up the beach. More followed and it wasn’t long before an entire colony of chatting birds were flapping around near the crevices and rocks that fringe the beach….

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Jordan had the idea to lie on the sand for penguin observation. We noticed that if he kept still they would get very close so we all decided to join him. Penguins actually cuddled up to us as if we were cosy rock-crannies. Jordan had one climb up on top of him and we all got to watch their activities up close. It was comical. At times you could see them stop dead and cock their heads (particularly as we were all suppressing giggles from being tickled and climbed upon) You could see that some intuition told them that there was something odd about us ‘rocks.’ A strange smell… texture…movement….and giggles! But they just couldn’t quite work it out- this made us giggle more. A delightful encounter.

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Above; leaving Rabbit Island in the wee hours…. bound for Port Phillip Bay! The sunrise was like an etching…

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Dolphins on the bow! Of course we had dolphins to top off this awesome passage….

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As Tika sailed through the heads of Port Phillip Bay, the Spirit of Tasmainia was heading out. A quick chat to the captain on the VHF and we altered course to stay out of the Spirit’s way… we arrived at Queenscliff just after dark to deliver Jordan and Oliver to their waiting parents…

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Click below for the Sydney to Melbourne movie…

Next post- Christmas in Port Phillip Bay before we head to Tassie…

   

 

This entry was posted in The Sail.

7 thoughts on “Dream run from Sydney to Melbourne….

  1. Lana, 17 June 5:44 am

    Hard to believe that this is so close to the wild southern ocean… Love it!!! and what type of dolphin is that? Keep on writing please!!! Lana xxx

  2. Love that picture of the seal pup – adorable! How much fun to have all those kids on board :-)

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