We had an unsettled night (it was hot on the boat) which involved lots of bed swapping and me sitting out the back of the boat watching the stars when I couldn't sleep. We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning which became warm then hot very quickly. Tony took LiAM and Caitlin for a row around the bay, and then to shore where they climbed up the rocks and explored the echoes of the surrounding cliffs. Once they came back I had a swim off the back of the boat - I was a bit nervous and it took me a while to jump in, then it was amazing to be in the water, so glad I made the effort. Caitlin joined me briefly and Tony had a quick dip after us, then we set off on our way.
We made our way slowly back up the creek and past the opening to the ocean, under the railway bridge (nearly managed to go under as a train was passing) and across to under the road bridges - going under 2 bridges next to each other was pretty exciting and looked spectacular. On our way we saw lots more jellyfish, other boats, Caitlin had a turn at driving, the kids watched 'How to Train Your Dragon', we drank cups of tea and snacked, sat out the front and watched the river pass by - very enjoyable morning. As we headed down towards and into Berowra Creek the weather got hotter and hotter - it was hard to be inside the boat for very long, even with the windows open. After a while Tony had the idea of using the fire bucket and filling it up with water from the river and tipping it over himself and the kids - helped everyone cool down somewhat.
We reached Berowra Waters in the early afternoon and circled around for a while until my brother met us with a tinny - a little motor boat that was being lent to us by the Marina (as our family was renting the Penthouse at the marina) and that would make it easier for us to get back and forwards to wedding events. We sent all our wedding clothes ashore as we grabbed the boat too, as I had been worried about carrying them in a little boat and losing them all overboard. I felt much better once the clothes were safely where they needed to be.
We motored back down river a bit and moored in Deep Bay (easily this time, just approached the mooring and attached the boat to it). It was low tide and there was a little beach at the end of the bay, so we all got into the rowboat and headed ashore. We played in the water - I just lay down in the shallow water for a while which cooled me off nicely - and on the little sand bar, and had a picnic lunch on the rocks. We went exploring into the exposed land at the end of the bay - lots of crabs (different ones this time, they were orange and black, and went into pre-dug burrows rather than burrowing under the sand - I haven't yet looked up what type they were), lots of mangrove trees and plants, lots and lots of mud - I nearly lost my river shoes a few times until we found a more solid area to walk on. Beyond the mud and mangroves there were rocks to clamber over, and a natural cave right at the end of the cove which was amazingly cool on this hot day. It was weird to think that in a few hours this whole area would be underwater when the tide came back in.
After another swim we rowed back to the houseboat, then got ready and jumped in the tinny to go back to the marina and see all the family before the wedding. We spent a lovely couple of hours in the penthouse, getting to know C's family a bit more, playing with baby T, chatting with mum and dad and my sister and one of my brother's friends. I took the opportunity to have a shower as well. Around 7pm we motored back to the houseboat and cooked dinner as the sun set. We ate sitting in various spots around the boat, admiring the darkening sky and cliffs, and headed to bed soon afterwards
Sunday 30 November 2014
Thursday 27 November 2014
Houseboat/Wedding Trip Day 2: Sydney -> Hawkesbury River
We had an early start on Thursday - luckily the girls woke up themselves at 5.45am, so it wasn't too difficult to get everyone ready and out the door by 7.30. We walked back down to the Light Rail - much easier downhill, and in the early morning, compared to yesterday afternoon. We got to Central Station in plenty of time to transfer to our train to take us up to Hawkesbury River, where we were picked up at the station by one of the houseboat company employees.
Our boat was called Josephine, and we spent about an hour getting everything on board (I'd ordered our groceries via Coles Online, so they were there waiting for us - much easier than carrying them all with us!), watching the safety video, being shown how to use everything on board (especially the toilet), organising life jackets etc, then we were piloted out into the river and left to our own devices! It was a beautiful sunny day, pleasantly warm, and the boat was very easy to drive.
We motored under the rail bridge (so exciting) then past the opening to the ocean (in the distance) and past an increasing number (and variety of colours) of jellyfish. We reached Jerusalem Creek at low tide and it looked magnificent, exposed sand banks and mangroves between high cliffs. All of the public moorings were taken and we tried to anchor but it was much trickier than the instructions made it seem, so we decided to move on. There was a bay with a beach just to the south of the creek, with 3 available public moorings, so we pulled in there. Our first attempt at mooring took us a while, especially with the swell and the tide, but we got it eventually.
We all jumped into the row boat and rowed to shore. The girls were a bit nervous. I hadn't rowed for many years and the life jacket made it trickier (Tony and I ditched the life jackets for subsequent trips) - it came back to me quickly and I enjoyed it. On the beach we discovered a huge colony of soldier crabs - whenever we went close it looked like the ground was moving, there were so many of them. Watching them burrow into the sand when we got too close was fascinating too. We played in the water and went for a walk up into the mangroves, tried snorkelling a little and saw lots of little fish. As Tony was pulling the row boat back into the water he saw a Port Jackson Shark, and Caitlin stepped on something (possibly another little shark) that bit her.
Back to the houseboat and we got moving again. One of the cool things about being on the boat was that we could eat (and prepare food) while we were on the move. We ate and sat out the front or back of the boat, or chatted inside, took lots of photos, listened to music, surrounded by a magnificent view. A very very pleasant way to travel.
We headed down to the far end of Smiths Creek, where we'd hoped to go snorkelling. It was higher tide by now so not so much shallow water and we weren't sure if there would even be beaches as such this far from the ocean. We moored (much more easily this time) and spent an hour or so sitting on the boat enjoying the tranquility of the bay, watching the birds, dangling our feet in the water etc. Caitlin was a bit spooked after being bitten earlier and decided not to go in the water here, and after a while we moved to Stingray Bay, a bit closer to the entrance to the creek. Tony took the big kids for a row - Amelie didn't want to get back in the rowboat so she and I stayed on board and played with her sticker book. The others rowed to the end of the bay and climbed up on the rocks, and went snorkelling. Tony cut his foot on the rocks and Caitlin saw a stingray which freaked her out, so they came back fairly quickly. We had sausages in bread for tea, sitting up on top of the boat, then watched the sun set over the high cliffs. Once it was dark we went to bed fairly quickly rather than using up battery power on lights for too long.
(I don't have photos available of today at the moment - will include some when I get access to them)
Our boat was called Josephine, and we spent about an hour getting everything on board (I'd ordered our groceries via Coles Online, so they were there waiting for us - much easier than carrying them all with us!), watching the safety video, being shown how to use everything on board (especially the toilet), organising life jackets etc, then we were piloted out into the river and left to our own devices! It was a beautiful sunny day, pleasantly warm, and the boat was very easy to drive.
We motored under the rail bridge (so exciting) then past the opening to the ocean (in the distance) and past an increasing number (and variety of colours) of jellyfish. We reached Jerusalem Creek at low tide and it looked magnificent, exposed sand banks and mangroves between high cliffs. All of the public moorings were taken and we tried to anchor but it was much trickier than the instructions made it seem, so we decided to move on. There was a bay with a beach just to the south of the creek, with 3 available public moorings, so we pulled in there. Our first attempt at mooring took us a while, especially with the swell and the tide, but we got it eventually.
We all jumped into the row boat and rowed to shore. The girls were a bit nervous. I hadn't rowed for many years and the life jacket made it trickier (Tony and I ditched the life jackets for subsequent trips) - it came back to me quickly and I enjoyed it. On the beach we discovered a huge colony of soldier crabs - whenever we went close it looked like the ground was moving, there were so many of them. Watching them burrow into the sand when we got too close was fascinating too. We played in the water and went for a walk up into the mangroves, tried snorkelling a little and saw lots of little fish. As Tony was pulling the row boat back into the water he saw a Port Jackson Shark, and Caitlin stepped on something (possibly another little shark) that bit her.
Back to the houseboat and we got moving again. One of the cool things about being on the boat was that we could eat (and prepare food) while we were on the move. We ate and sat out the front or back of the boat, or chatted inside, took lots of photos, listened to music, surrounded by a magnificent view. A very very pleasant way to travel.
We headed down to the far end of Smiths Creek, where we'd hoped to go snorkelling. It was higher tide by now so not so much shallow water and we weren't sure if there would even be beaches as such this far from the ocean. We moored (much more easily this time) and spent an hour or so sitting on the boat enjoying the tranquility of the bay, watching the birds, dangling our feet in the water etc. Caitlin was a bit spooked after being bitten earlier and decided not to go in the water here, and after a while we moved to Stingray Bay, a bit closer to the entrance to the creek. Tony took the big kids for a row - Amelie didn't want to get back in the rowboat so she and I stayed on board and played with her sticker book. The others rowed to the end of the bay and climbed up on the rocks, and went snorkelling. Tony cut his foot on the rocks and Caitlin saw a stingray which freaked her out, so they came back fairly quickly. We had sausages in bread for tea, sitting up on top of the boat, then watched the sun set over the high cliffs. Once it was dark we went to bed fairly quickly rather than using up battery power on lights for too long.
(I don't have photos available of today at the moment - will include some when I get access to them)
Wednesday 26 November 2014
Houseboat /Wedding Trip Day 1: Home -> Sydney
We were up fairly early to finish getting ready and out of the house before 9am. Running a little later than I would have liked, we then had a slow trip to the airport, and by the time we arrived to drop our car off it was getting pretty tight. I had already checked in (as weird as that seems, checking in before we arrive) and we raced to drop our bags off but everything took longer than expected and bag drop off closed before we had them all in. A Qantas guy came to help us and checked our bags in for us, we got to the gate and they were already boarding - so a crazy rush to get started but we did happily make it on to the plane.
The kids were given little activity packs and there were iPads to watch TV shows on so the kids were quite well occupied, and I took the chance to do some of my own puzzle book. Arriving in Sydney we caught the train to Central Station (I haven't been there for a long time, it was partially very familiar and also different as some things have changed in the intervening years). We had Hungry Jacks for lunch, as everyone was tired and hot and hungry, then caught the Light Rail out to Leichhardt to our friend's P & S where we were staying the first night.
It was a hot walk up from the station to their house, then the kids and I quickly got changed into cooler clothes, had a drink then set off again to catch the bus to my brother's house. Tony went shopping for suitable 'Garden Party' attire for the wedding. The kids tried on their wedding clothes, which all needed slight altering, so C, her sister E, and the kids and I walked up to her tailor. It was the first time I had met E and she was lovely. She has been to Afghanistan so I was looking forward to talking to her about that, which I did, and then the tailor himself was from Kabul so we both chatted to him a bit about life there and here. The kids tried their clothes on again and had them marked for alteration, then back to the flat for a cool drink and a bit of a rest, my brother turned up while we were there.
We caught the bus back to Leichhardt and played in the park for a while, then back to P&S's for Indian takeaway. The kids all played really well (they have a 5yo boy and 3yo girl), playing with a football, on the iPad, making hama bead designs, and watching a Barbie movie. It was great catching up as always.
The kids were given little activity packs and there were iPads to watch TV shows on so the kids were quite well occupied, and I took the chance to do some of my own puzzle book. Arriving in Sydney we caught the train to Central Station (I haven't been there for a long time, it was partially very familiar and also different as some things have changed in the intervening years). We had Hungry Jacks for lunch, as everyone was tired and hot and hungry, then caught the Light Rail out to Leichhardt to our friend's P & S where we were staying the first night.
It was a hot walk up from the station to their house, then the kids and I quickly got changed into cooler clothes, had a drink then set off again to catch the bus to my brother's house. Tony went shopping for suitable 'Garden Party' attire for the wedding. The kids tried on their wedding clothes, which all needed slight altering, so C, her sister E, and the kids and I walked up to her tailor. It was the first time I had met E and she was lovely. She has been to Afghanistan so I was looking forward to talking to her about that, which I did, and then the tailor himself was from Kabul so we both chatted to him a bit about life there and here. The kids tried their clothes on again and had them marked for alteration, then back to the flat for a cool drink and a bit of a rest, my brother turned up while we were there.
We caught the bus back to Leichhardt and played in the park for a while, then back to P&S's for Indian takeaway. The kids all played really well (they have a 5yo boy and 3yo girl), playing with a football, on the iPad, making hama bead designs, and watching a Barbie movie. It was great catching up as always.
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