Easter in Ulladulla

Easter was spent in Ulladulla. Another fishing port, though we had our own bit of 'visitor's dock'. Not designed for a sailing boat as it was very difficult to fender ourselves off from vertical black rubber buffers which made a horrible mess of hull and fenders until we found a plank of wood to separate one from the other. Also at low tide it was a long way up to the jetty, and with the wind blowing us off, also a giant step over the gap - this life keeps one agile!

Great festivities over the weekend. The Blessing of the (fishing) Fleet on Sunday so all the fishing boats had been cleaned up and were decorated with bunting. The priest later did the rounds of the harbour so we also got a sprinkling of holy water! Then there was a parade with floats and 4 kilted pipe bands amongst other music-makers. It is only a small town, and most of the population must have been involved. Lots of food stalls and side shows and luckily perfect weather after the torrential rain of the day before. We were in the right place for an excellent firework display in the evening - let off from the breakwater only 100yds away. Had the wind been blowing in our direction we might have been a bit worried.

On Easter Monday we had a reunion with Sue Lloyd and her husband. Sue was our bridesmaid all those years ago; I first met her in South Africa. They now live in Canberra. It was perfect picnic weather, and local prawns and salad plus a glass or two of white helped to make it a special occasion.

Since then we have been making our way up the coast, and are now nearing Sydney suburbia. Two nights were spent in Jervis Bay, (35 08.080 and 150 44.886) the official port for Canberra (capital cities have to have one!) though mainly used as a naval base. National parks surround much of it, and we had some good walks along the coastal path. Saw several kangaroos, a kookaburra, and later a fairy penguin fishing near the boat, the former having been particularly lacking on our walks in Oz so far.

Today we are in Port Hacking (34 04.803 and 151 09.905); one side of which is part of the Royal National Park (the second park in existence after Yellowstone), and the other a very desirable residential area of greater Sydney. We've picked up a mooring on the park side, very close to a beach (only a few inches of water under the hull at low tide). In NSW is is forbidden to anchor on seagrass which is home to many creatures and plants. So anchoring is only allowed in water deeper than 10m. in seagrass areas. Decided to take the dinghy to Cronulla, a town on the other side of the bay. A 2-mile trip but easy in calm water and no wind. A bit more splashy on the return trip. A walk in the national park had the interest of some Aboriginal rock engravings, but also the shock of a large black snake on the path that I nearly trod on - other people had warned us that they had seen snakes there too, and being Australia it was probably a poisonous one.

An interesting evening was spent with a S. African couple from Durban, and also the author and his wife of the definitive cruising guide to New South Wales. He and his wife have been producing the guide for the last ten years, so know every nook and cranny of this coast. They have also sailed the world so had many tales to tell. 40 years afloat! They still use paper rather than electronic charts, and although have GPS, they miss the satisfaction of using a sextant for navigation. They say it kept them busy on long passages!