South to Yamba

 We departed from the Gold Coast Seaway at around 12:30PM heading for Ballina.  The winds were blowing from the south at 20 to 25 knots so we would have to beat against them all the way south.  After reaching the ocean through the Gold Coast Seaway we made a very long tack out to sea to reach the East Australia Current which flows south at up to 4 knots.once we tacked, the current increased out speed over ground to around 9 knots which would have us arrive at Ballina well before dawn.  I have never crossed the Ballina River Bar and would not attempt it at night so we continued further south down the coast to Yamba on the Clarence River.  I have visited Yamba several times so was not concerned with the bar crossing which went uneventfully.

Beating to Ballina / Yamba in 20+ knots.  We have a double reefed mainsail and partially reefed Genoa.

We arrived at Yamba mid afternoon and fought u- on our sleep in the very comfortable anchorage.  The next day we took the dinghy across the river to the town of Illuka where we took a very pleasant 10.5 km walk through their World Heritage Site rainforest reserve.  We tried to video call with my parents while on the walk but quickly lost cellular signal on the phone.  Once we reached the bluff lookout at the ocean end of the walk we regained cellular connectivity and could share out adventure with my parents in Canada.

Elk Horn and Birds Nest Ferns clinging to the tree trunks were very prevalent in the rainforest.  Elk Horn shown in this picture

Andrew showing the spores on the back of the Birds Nest Fern leaves

After our hike we wandered through town, purchased a couple slushy drinks then went to the bakery to pickup a couple meat pies for lunch back at True North.  We departed the dinghy dock and went by Sarisha a yacht owned by friends I have met several times over the last 4 years.  My friends were aboard Sarisha and invited Andrew and I aboard to catch-up.  We spent a lovely couple of hours telling each other of our exploits since we last met and then headed back to True North.

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