Jervis Bay - wait out the strong winds

 We had a good overnight downwind sail from Port Hacking to Jervis Bay.  By the time we entered Jervis Bay the wind was up to 30 knots in the gusts so we headed to a nice sheltered anchorage at Cabbage Tree Point.  This was a good spot to rest up and there was a nearby trail that we could hike the next day.  Unfortunately when we went to hike the trail, the signage at the trailhead said it was a military bombing range and closed.  We were not sure if closed meant that the bombing range as closed and we could hike or if it meant the trail was closed because they were going to bomb the area.  I found the phone number for the range security and called them.  They were very surprised that we were at the trailhead since all the road entrances were closed and gated but understood when we said we came to the trailhead in our dinghy.  We were advised to get back in the dinghy and depart as soon as possible because bombing could commence at any moment.  We complied but did it see any bombing all day.

Since we could not hike, we sailed across Jervis Bay to the western shore and took a mooring just off the small tourist town of Huskisson.  The wind had shifted to the east and we were not quite as sheltered as we had been on the other shore.

True North on a mooring at Huskisson

We went ashore and took a walk up the shoreline on a very well made paved walking track.  By the time we returned back to True North the wind had died and we had a very calm night on the mooring.

Twilight at Huskisson


The next morning we motored down to the south shore of Jervis Bay and moored at Scottish Rocks.  We took the dinghy in to a nearby launch ramp and went for a nice 7km walk along the cliffs and then back through gum tree forest.

Andrew taking shelter in a split gum tree



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Russell

Image
 It was finally time to head to civilisation and leave the islands behind for a few days.  We sailed the short distance to Russell where we could find good shelter from a forecast strong wind.  We dropped anchor outside a large mooring field filled with yachts.  That evening we took the dinghy into the Russell Yacht Club dock and had a very good roast pork dinner at the club.   The next day we headed over to the Russell town dock in the dinghy to see the picturesque town and then take a hike up to the flagpole above town.  The flagpole is a very famous site in New Zealand because it was built as a signal flag by the British but the Māori kept cutting it down because they were unhappy with their treatment by the British.  These events caused a long war between the Māori and British.  When peace finally came the Māori cut a large tree, carried it up the hill and replanted the flagpole symbolising the peace between the groups. A poinsettia in a garde...
Read more

Binalong Bay / Bay of Fires Hike

Image
 Its our second day at Binalong Bay and we are still waiting for better winds to head south. Andrew and I decided to get off the boat and for a hike around the point between Binalong Bay and Lady Barron.  The walk ended up being about 15 kilometres with shoreline views, many woodland micro climates, beaches, boardwalks, dirt tracks, paved roads and even sidewalks. The map of our hiking route.  The distance is a little short because I forgot to turn on the tracker for a bit at the start of the hike  🙄 We were able to take the dinghy to a good dock in a very protected little man made harbour.  The hike started on the waterfront trail right at the dock. True North at anchor taken from the dinghy dock The hiking trail started right from the dinghy dock and headed around the point. After we rounded the point we were walking along the entrance to the river that leads to the town of Lady Barron.  We had planned to visit Lady Barron but when I called the volunteer...
Read more

Motuarohia Island

Image
 We had a very short passage from Paradise Bay to our next anchorage off Motuarohia Island.  This island has a very short hike up to some World War II lookout ruins and then continuing on to a lookout platform.  The other attraction is a saltwater tidal lagoon which has a snorkeling trail.  The lagoon was almost dry when we visited because it was low tide at that time. Andrew at the lookout viewing platform The view from the platform - the island in the background was our previous anchorage The trees were laden with mosses
Read more