Palm Beach

On Mooring Ball
Palm Beach
Broken Bay, New South Wales
Australia
33'35.7S/151'19.0E

Today finds us moored at the lovely beach town of Palm Beach. Since our last update from Cowan Creek, Refuge Bay, we've done a bit of jumping around in this area.

We left Refuge Bay and headed for Cottage Point just an hours motor away. Once at Cottage Point we pulled Sandpiper right up to the small dock and popped into the kiosk for a bit of lunch. After lunch we checked in with the grounds keeper to find out where we would be able to refill our propane bottles. We thought this might be a problem because our US fittings are a bit different than the Aussie's. But "No worries mate!", and off we went.

We went back to the anchorage at Hallets Beach/Cottage Rock where there is yet another waterfall. This was just gorgeous. We were the only footprints on the small beach. And the natural waterfalls over the smooth rocks was just lovely.

The winds were picking up that afternoon, so we went back to Refuge Bay, where we were protected for the night.

On Friday we were off to the Royal Motor Yacht Club. We had stayed here on our way down the coast, and we had a blast. So here we are yet again. Their fuel pier is very easy to pull up to. Seeing as how we haven't gotten fuel since Vanuatu, it was time to fill at least one tank. We filled our tank, squeezed into our slip, did a few boat projects, enjoyed their nice showers, and then really enjoyed an icy cold beer at the bar.

That evening we met a few locals. Lisa invited us back to her place where we enjoyed a few more cold ones. It's always nice to hang at a house, and we had a really great time thanks to the hospitality of Lisa and her dog Tazzie!

On Saturday afternoon we were off again, this time headed for our current location of Palm Beach. Our friends Steve and Rene (S/V Shiraz) had stopped here on their way to Sydney and met the owners of the local fish-n-chip shop. They said it was "a must do" for us. So early Saturday evening we found the Palm Beach Fish-and-Chips, met Ginger, one of the owners, and had a fantastic dinner. The WOW Prawns being my favorite. Ginger and her partner would some day like to join the likes of us cruisers, so they are quite interested in our stories.

Sunday we lazed away at Avalon Beach, a locals beach with lots of great surfers. On our way to the beach we spotted an RSL, one of Tom's favorites, so we had to stop. It actually worked out great as they had a table of books for a gold coin donation and we had just run out.

Today, Monday, we joined Ginger for coffee this morning. Then she drove us around to one of the more remote beaches, Whale Beach, and dropped us at the trails head to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse. This was about a 20 minute up hill climb with great 180' views of the area. The lighthouse has been around since 1881 and marks the northernmost point of Sydney's Beaches.

We had a nice walk back on Palm Beach with one last chance for fish-n'-chips. A big thanks to Ginger for all the great fish-n'-chips!

Our plan for this evening is to leave here with a 30 knot south wind pushing us up the coast to Port Stephens. Leaving here this evening around 6pm, we should arrive in the Nelson Bay area of Port Stephens no later than 9am tomorrow morning.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Cheers

Amy and Tom

Notes From Ron:

• "gold coin donation" means a $1 or $2 donation. The smallest Australian note is $5. $1 and $2 are small, thick, gold colored coins. Hence, the term "Gold Coin".
• Prawns = Aussie for what Americans call shrimp