25th and 26th Oct, Careel bay, Pittwater

As there was strong winds forecast for later in the day we had an early start from Manly to make the 15 mile trip up the coast to Pittwater. We have arranged a mooring buoy in Careel Bay which is going to be Newtsvilles new home.
It was a slow motor with the wind too close to sail and tide against us. The sky was very grey and as we rounded the headland at the entrance to the bay it started torrential raining and thunder and lightning! We made our way into the bay with reduced visibility and had to avoid a sea plane!
We motor around the bay looking for our buoy - no. 64. We found 62 and 63 and then realised that another boat was on 64 so we were told to pick up a different buoy. About half an hour later as we were starting to dry off we heard voices outside. It was the owner of the buoy we were on needing us to move - we were directed to a different buoy and werent asked to move again.
During the night the forecast southerly came in and it was a wet and windy night.

In the morning we had to pack our bags to go to our hotel in the city centre. The weather was still horrible and we ended up with alot of bags (all covered in bin bags to ensure they stayed dry on the trip ashore) so we decided to get a taxi to the city rather than the bus.We got picked up by the marina launch boat and said goodbye to Newt.
We are now settled into our hotel room for 2 weeks. We are still looking for an apartment and have to buy jonny a suit before he starts work in a week.

As we have now left the boat and are at the end of our trip we will only update the website periodically. We love hearing from people about our trip and are happy to answer any questions so please keep in touch.

Love Kate, Jonny and Newtsville

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24th Oct, Manly, Sydney

An early start this morning to go and pick up our hire car. We had a busy day looking at apartments and found some that were more what we were looking for than on Thurs. Still not found the right one but will keep looking.
We had a quiet night on the boat.

23rd Oct, Manly, Sydney

We moved Newt up to Manly today which is the area we are hoping to rent a house in.
We had a busy day ashore getting our bank cards, doing internet jobs and researching houses to visit tomorrow.
After a brief trip back to the boat we headed back ashore for dinner with Lauren and Andy. We met them when they were crew on White Hawk. We had a great evening with them on their balcony overlooking the harbour. We met their house mate John and Nick (also crew on White Hawk) came round as well.

22nd Oct, Sydney, Australia

We set the alarm for 7am to get up and move the boat as we were now anchored in the channel and wanted time to set the anchor in the new location before we headed off for the day. We motored over to Balls Head Bay and dropped the anchor and after speaking to another boat in the bay we were happy.
We walked up to the nearby train station to met the Relocation agent that PWC provided for us. We were spending the day looking at apartments. We visited 7 apartments - some good, some ok and some horrible!! A couple were nice but not quite right so we will keep looking. Apartments are moving really fast at the moment and hopefully we will be able to sort something out for when we move out of our PWC hotel.
As we were finishing dinner Jaime and Lisa from a local boat came over to say hello. We spent a nice evening talking to them - they are off to America in a couple of weeks to buy a boat and sail it back to Australia.

21st Oct, Sydney Harbour

A busy first day in Sydney and a first for Newtsville!
After breakfast and showers we headed ashore. We needed to go to the chandlery which was a couple of bays away. When we left the UK we replaced our mast head lights with LED lights which have been great - bright but low power usage. Unfortunately as we have traveled across the Pacific the anchor light had started to fail and by the time we got to Tonga it wasn't worth putting on. When we contacted the manufacturer they said that when we got to Sydney they would be happy to exchange it under warranty. After walking for 45 mins we were worried that when we got to the chandlery the manufacturer wouldn't have e mailed and they wouldn't know what we were talking about but they had the bulb waiting for us.
We got the bus back to the city centre and went to the Aquarium to meet John and Monica for lunch. John and Monica are cruising friends of Jonny's parents. John had been delivering a boat across the Pacific but our paths hadn't crossed and now they were in Sydney visiting their daughter. They took us for a lovely lunch at an Italian restaurant on Darling Harbour and then came back to the boat for a drink.
After a big lunch we didn't feel we needed any dinner so we settled down to watch a dvd. Jonny happened to glance out of the hatch and noticed that we were nearly touching the boat behind us. For the first time since we left the UK we had dragged our anchor. It was just going dark so we had a quick motor around but decided where we had been was the best spot so decided to try again. After watching the boat for a while we seemed to be holding so went to carry on watching the dvd. A large gust came through the anchor and when we looked out we realised that we had dragged again. We picked up the anchor and moved to a spot that meant we were slightly in the channel but by now it was dark and we thought we could move first thing in the morning. We watched the rest of the dvd and went to bed with the anchor alarm set but we seemed to be holding.
I was abit nervous about going to sleep but was dozing lightly at around midnight when i heard a banging on the hull. I jumped out of bed thinking we had dragged again and went to look. I could see a canoe banging against Newts hull but no one in it. I shouted to Jonny to come up when i heard this voice in the water. One of the guys off a nearby boat had tried to kayak out to his boat and had tipped it over and couldnt get back in. I lowered our swimming ladder and shouted for Jonny again. The young lad was fully clothed and absolutely soaking. He had lost his phone and wallet. He used our bathroom - leaving a wet trail through the boat and then Jonny gave him a lift to his boat in our dinghy.
By 1am we were back in bed and had a good nights sleep!!

21st Oct AM, Sydney Harbour

We arrived at the harbour entrance as it was coming light and motored through the harbour past the opera house and under the bridge. We are now anchored in Blackwattle Bay near the fish market and Darling Harbour.
It was an amazing feeling to have arrived and to be sailing in the harbour.

20th Oct, Coffs Harbour to Sydney

We had a great day sailing.
In Niue we saw whales breaching on the horizon and in Tonga we saw them swimming past the boat however this is the first time we have seen them breaching and tail slapping reasonably close to the boat. It was amazing to see.
In the evening we took down the main and sailed overnight under the genoa to ensure we arrived at the harbour at first light. At times even with just the genoa up we were doing 7 knots due to the current!!

19th Oct, Coffs Harbour to Sydney

After a lazy morning we left the marina again at lunchtime. Today we had the light headwinds and a much calmer sea.
We made good progress motor sailing down the coast doing 7 knots with the current.
We should be in Sydney first light on wed morning.

24hr run: 146 n/m

18th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

After a walk round the market and having Scott, Bonito and then Jane and Matt, Lissa over for coffee we headed out into the harbour.
The weather forecast had said that we would have light headwinds so we decided to leave and motor overnight to get going on our trip to Sydney. Outside the harbour the winds were much stronger than forecast and the sea was huge. After 1/2 an hour pounding into the wind and sea at 3 knots we turned back to Coffs.
As we didnt have a marina key anymore we spent the afternoon on the boat. Jane and Matt came over to find out why we were back!!
An early night ready to head off again tomorrow!!

17th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

We spent the day getting ready to leave tomorrow – we went to the supermarket to get some fresh food and then filled up the water tanks.
Matt and Jayne, Lissa, came over to say hello whilst we were cooking tea so we invited them for a drink after dinner. We had a great evening with them. They are a similar age to us and have spent the last 6 months sailing the Australia east coast. They are thinking about going further so were keen to hear our experiences.
They are heading down to Sydney on their way back to Victoria so hopefully we will cross paths again there.
The weather looks good tomorrow to do the final 250 miles (48 hours) down to Sydney. We will hopefully be sailing under the Harbour Bridge on Tue morning!!

16th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

Today was a day for boat jobs – the saloon cushions got a scrub and Jonny went up the mast to tidy up the padding on the spreaders.

15th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

We walked out to Aldi this morning as there was a steam cleaner and toaster on offer. The saloon covers have been getting abit grubby recently and thought a steam cleaner would be useful. We normally walk to the mall and get the bus back but by the time we had finished in Aldi it was half an hour til the bus so we decided to walk back with the steam cleaner (no toasters left!!).
After lunch back at the boat we tested the steam cleaner but it didnt seem to have the right attachements for upholstery cleaning - never mind apparently Jonny can use it to clean the engine!!
Jonny went on 'Slippery When Wet' to do the Twilight race and had a good time (apart from a little collision!!) - finishing 2nd on the water.

14th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

We walked out to the mall this morning to do some clothes shopping. After a walk round the mall and a stop at the supermarket we got the bus back to the boat.
After a late lunch we had a lazy afternoon on the boat.

13th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

We looked at the weather first thing and decided we weren't happy with the system coming through – we have still got plenty of time to get down to Sydney so we decided not to risk it. The weather at the weekend looks like a better option but we will have to see what happens as the week progresses (the weather info is normally only accurate for about the first 4 days so the weekend is a bit too far away).
We decided to have a lazy day on the boat as since we left Fiji we have been going non stop with a 5 day passage to New Caledonia, 4 days in Noumea fixing the engine mounts and then a 7 day passage to Australia and since we arrived here we have been busy doing jobs.
We did a load of washing as the wind had finally died enough to peg it out on the boat
and then I spent the afternoon reading my book. Jonny spent the afternoon on the internet researching the best option for transferring some of our money from the UK to Australia. By the end of the afternoon we were glad that we hadn't left as the wind was back up – although as it was now from a different direction it was a warm wind compared to the cold wind we have had since we arrived.

12th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

As we had been in Coffs longer than planned we decided to look into opening a bank account.
We walked into town – we had both decided to wear our deck shoes as it was a 3km walk and both regretted it by the time we got to town with huge blisters – back to flip flops!!
We visited the 4 main banks and got all the information before deciding which one to go with. We now have a bank account sorted ready for when we have some money to put in it!!
Back at Newt we looked at the weather and debated whether to leave tomorrow for a 160 mile trip to Port Stephens. The weather for tomorrow looked ok but as we would be approaching Port Stephens a weather system with 35 knot wind was also approaching and it would be tight time wise whether we made it into Port Stephens before it hit – we decided to wait and look in the morning to see how the system was developing and moving.

11th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

The plan today was to go to the nearby markets. However as we were having breakfast we heard one of the local boats saying they were dressing their boat so we thought we would offer them our bunting for the day – it was the start of the sailing season and they were having a sail by the end of the jetty.
They encouraged us to bring Newt out but we are in a tight berth so they invited us on their boat "Slippery when Wet." The 'sail past' was scheduled for 10.30 so we headed out into harbour about 10.15 and motored round in the harbour with 4 other boats. By 11am Pete decided we needed some beers so we went along side the wharf and Jonny, Kathy and I held the boat off whilst Pete dashed to the bottle shop.
Stocked up with alcohol we headed bac k into the harbour where the other boats had started a small race so we decided to motor along with them.
By midday Pete and Kathys grand daughter, Chloe was starting to feel seasick so we headed back into the marina and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking 3 bottles of champagne and too many beers.
By the time Chloes parents came to pick her up at 4pm and we headed back to Newt we had a very quiet and early night!

10th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

This morning we got the bus into town to go to a book swap shop – we took about 12 books we didn't want and ended up with 5 we did!!
After a quick supermarket shop we were back at the boat for lunch.
After lunch we walked to a nearby surf outlet shop and found some new shorts for me – my favourite ones from the UK that I have practically lived in had to go in the bin in Noumea as they had holes in the bottom!!

9th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

I was very excited to be going to the hair dressers this morning for the first time since Panama. It was great to have some style cut back into my hair – not that I will be wearing it down much!!
Before lunch we went for a walk up Mutton Bird Island to see if we could see any whales however the sea was too big to see very much. We were glad we were safely in the marina and not trying to arrive today as there was a huge swell in the harbour.
After lunch Jonny went for a walk to find a new filter for our drinking water and I had a much needed siesta – 2 nights of windy weather meant I hadn't slept much.

8th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

A busy day of jobs…
We put the clothes in the washing machine on the way to the showers and retrieved them on the way back to hang up on the boat. Unfortunately the strong wind had other ideas and we decided we would be chasing clothes around the marina if we hung them up and the guy on the motor boat offered us his tumble dryer.
Jonny started doing his job … fixing the water pump, fixing the back toilet pump and fixing the leak from the anchor windlass whilst I kept an eye on our clothes and look for our duvet which we had hidden away in the Caribbean.
The duvet was in need of a wash before we could use it and the tumble dryer on the boat behind us was taking a while so I took the washing anfd the duvet back to the launderette and used the big tumble dryers and wash and dried the duvet.
Whilst I was doing this Jonny decided as it was so cold last night he would have a look at the diesel heater – it was working in the UK but we were getting exhaust fumes in the boat – not a great idea!!
We got the washing done and Jonny got the heater working so we went to the supermarket to get some supplies and then on the way back went to customs to check on the status of our Tiki man wooden carving from Tonga. The Tiki man had been taken by customs because he had some 'bore' holes in it indicating that it possibly had creatures living in it. The customs man had taken him to put in the freezer until quarantine could look at it. Quarantine were happy that if anything was in there it was dead and we could take Tiki man back to the boat to de frost with the advice if we found any saw dust near it to put it back in the freezer!!
Back at the boat Jonny added extra lines and fenders as it was blowing around 40 knots and we were in for a windy night.

7th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

A breakfast treat of bacon sandwiches was a good start to the day.
We walked into the town of Coffs Harbour today to try and find a mobile phone. We explored the shops and watched some of the buskers that were in town for the Buskers Festival before getting the bus back.
We had a relaxing afternoon on the boat doing internet and admin jobs before an early tea, dvd and bed.

6th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia

Despite a lot of cruising rumours to the contrary the check in was straight forward and the officials were very friendly and helpful.
From the customs berth we moved to a berth in the marina and went for much needed showers and bought a burger for lunch.
We decided to get the bus to a nearby mall for the afternoon and had a fun afternoon exploring the shops.
A supermarket in the mall meant that we could have some fresh meat for tea however the bottle of champagne in the fridge to celebrate our arrival was left unopened as we were too tired!!

New Cal to Australia Day 6

We have arrived!! We arrived at 08:30 local time - making it a 6 day and 30 min trip from New Cal (872 miles). The last 24 hours were mixed. Some sailing, then the wind died, so we motored through the night. We had a huge squall with lots of lightening at around 2am. We got the East Australian Current for a large part of the night adding 2 knots to our boat speed. We are currently at anchor in Coffs Harbour awaiting customs to invite us into the marina for official clearance.
It seems so strange to be in Australia - its the end of the trip in a way - I know we still have 250 miles to go down to Sydney, but this will be our last clearance - 21 countries visited since we left the UK! We've logged over 15,750 miles thus far and the trip down to Sydney will take it over the 16,000 mile threshold - not bad in 15 months!
We'll write more later, but first some sleep and a beer (I may go and find a kangaroo too - just because we're 'down under mate'!)

New Cal to Australia - Day 5

A day without motoring!! The wind filled in from the SSW so we were close hauled, and then backed to the S. Quite strong but nice to be doing good speeds. During the night we had some big squalls but still kept the speed up (with heavily reefed sails!). As it came light the wind was dropping off, but we were still sailing along. The seas have been quite big which has been a bit unpleasant - but we are excited as we should make landfall in about 24 hours!!! (Kate has made Strawberry Crumble in celebration to eat with our last carton of custard (which would get removed by quarantine in Oz anyway!)).
24 Hour Run: 152 n/m
Total Distance Run: 720 n/m
Distance to Run: 141 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 4

Finally - some sailing! The wind started off a nice 10 - 15 knots from the N and gradually increased during the day. By the evening we had a reefed genoa and reefed main and making 7.5 knots on average! It lasted until around 2am when a dark cloud appeared which took the wind, swung it SW (on the nose!) blasted strong winds, thunder, lightening and rain, and then disappeared leaving no wind! We motored until first light when the wind tracked around to the South and filled in between 15 and 20 knots!
24 Hour Run: 149 n/m
Total Distance Run: 568 n/m
Distance to Run: 292 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 3

Another windless day - we motored all day and night in flat calm seas. The wind started to swing around to the N during the night but was flukey in strength. It finally filled in at first light and engine went off! Making steady progress.
24 Hour Run: 136 n/m
Total Run: 429 n/m
Distance to Run: 441 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 2

The wind finally swung more into the South and we could turn the engine off. We had a great sail with winds around the 15 knot mark and good boat speed. The sea was a little lumpy but nothing too bad. We held good wind all day and into the night. We started to see the wind veer more the east during the night and by midnight it had swung to the NE and died completely. Engine back on and we motored over glassy seas for the rest of the night.
24 Hour Run: 140n/m
Run to date: 283 n/m
Distance to Run: 577 n/m

New Cal to Australia Day 1

After an early night and a long sleep we awoke early and started doing the final jobs (washing up etc!). We pulled the anchor up at 8am and left Noumea bay. There is a large reef around the bottom of New Caledonia and it took us until 11am to clear the reef and start the deep water sailing. Unfortunately the wind was quite tight (SSW) and a little too tight for Newtsville's downwind genoa, so we motor sailed for the first 24 hours. It was a cold night and the seas were a little lumpy at first but seemed to calm down as dawn broke.
24 Hour Run: 143 n/m
Distance to Run: 715 n/m