Report Number 11

unday 2nd we finally and reluctantly left the Clarance River, Yamba and Iluka. We have really enjoyed this part of our trip. The Clarence River is so wide and deep and has almost no boats on it, it's amazing. Iluka was tremendous - lots of walks through the largest remnant of littoral (I think that means it has been spell checked!)rainforest in NSW - part of Iluka Nature Reserve in Bunjalung National Park, informal lunch at the pub, etc. Alan and Trish Lucas were there and Rod and Jane (the folk we were next to at Coffs) were also there so the 6 of us spent a fair bit of time together. While in Iluka, Warwick changed Jess's oil and fuel filter, but other than that it was all relaxation and fun, though Warwick says that the oil change debacle was a long way from "fun". It seems that the equipment he has is not quite adequate, so he didn't get all the oil out. Then he didn't have an oil filter spanner, so hasn't changed it yet. And, on top of all the frustration around this, he discovered a continuous fuel leak which he tried to fix. One of those "15 minute" jobs which took a total of 6 hours!! However, all is now well with Jess' heart. We tried to get someone to do the work, but no-one wanted the money, all the fishermen on the trawlers do their own and are not interested in doing other people's. Through the guru, we had a contact name at the Iluka Chandlery but we didn't know where it was so rang up to find out: "Hello, is that the Iluka Chandlery?", "Yes", "Where are you?", "I'm in the Iluka Chandlery!". That was our introduction to Allan, who was very helpful once you managed to accept his very strong sense of humour. He did intrduce us to Graham Duff, a trawler owner/shipwight who came out to Jess and answered our questions about water leakage ("nothing to worry about - all the trawler owners would love to have as little water getting in as you have"). Very nice, helpful, patient, thorough guy who seemed to know what he was talking about. After Graham left we just goofed off, though Warwick did some work on fuel consumption figures and it seems Jess uses an average of 7.35 litres per hour. This is equivalent to about 60 litres per 100 kilometres, which sounds a lot, but that is for our fares and accommodation and amounts to around $40 per day for the two of us ($20 each) for the 41 days we have been travelling which we think is very reasonable.

So, this morning we left at about 8.00am and headed for Evans Head. The weather and seas were great so we had a very pleasant and short trip. Evans River is VERY shallow and we ran aground twice while trying to find a place to anchor (and we only went about 500 metres!). Eventually found a spot and put the anchor down. The water was so clear we could see the anchor and chain! However, once again our estimated time of arrival was way out, so Warwick set about refining our method of estimating travel time and we hope it will be more accurate in future. Had a bit of a look around the town - it has a fair range of shops all close together, and lots of open public space with good paths through well kept grass areas and good picnic facilities. Had planned to leave early Monday morning, but decided against that when we saw the nature of the sand bar. So we did a little bit of food shopping and prepared to leave at midday for Byron Bay.

Monday we had a charmed trip to Byron Bay with a gentle following sea and wind. We drove from upstairs for a while - something we only do when the boat is very steady, and which we have only had a couple of chances to do since we left. We get a good view from up there, and the engine noise is much less, so it is a terrific experience. Our time estimate was much better, and we arrived and anchored in Byron Bay in the fading light accompanied by lightning all around which was beautiful. It had a slight down side, though, because the lightning had put the local Coast Guard radios out and we couldn't contact them to let them know we had arrived. This is vital because otherwise an alarm could be raised, so we found their phone number and rang them. Had a great night's sleep - our first anchored in open waters, and planned to leave Tuesday morning at around 8 for a 5 and a half hour trip to Tweed Heads. Had an extremely rough trip up to the Tweed - waves over the windscreen and much rolling - but arrived safely (saw Queensland!!!) and anchored in the Tweed River directly behind the Fingal Head lighthouse at about 1.30pm. Want to stay around this area for a few days and do some "tourist things" and not go out again until the elements are a LOT more friendly!.

Cheers

Karen & Warwick