Sunday 12th February

Six thirty – a late G & T time for us. 

We are moored in a most beautiful bay, Fame Cove, in the vast and wonderful waterways of Port Stephens.

We left Nelson Bay this morning, hoping that our friends on Plan Four will be able to join us tomorrow.  On our way here we stopped a couple of times, to check out the lie of the land.  So to speak… We picked up a mooring in Salamander Bay and toyed with the idea of going ashore to a twice-monthly market.  Yes…no…no… Next stop was Lemon Tree Passage, where we tied up to a small slim floating jetty, full of keen fishing people.  There was a wooden swimming jetty alongside, where a small but dedicated group of boys ran and jumped into the water all day.  Delighted shrieks every single time.  Every now and then another group of potential swimmers/jumpers/divers would saunter up the jetty, bikini-clad, to check out the sea.  Yes….no…no… The boys had it all to themselves.

Lemon Tree Passage was lovely.  More of a retirement town than Nelson Bay.  We went into the small chandlery where the people were excessively friendly and helpful.  I had spent the morning, as we cruised along the lovely waterway, embarking on a major project on 2XS – bringing the BBQ back to it former shiny glory.  The woman in the chandlery was very sympathetic and sold me some fine wet-dry sandpaper, which might work on the blackened hotplate.  But what she recommended above all other cleaning products was bicarb soda and white vinegar, which is what Leanne from Plan Four had suggested as well.

But how to get to the supermarket?  The general store next door turned out to be an ex general store, bereft of goods.  Mrs Chandlery said we could easily ride our bikes to Coles – fifteen minutes at the most, she said.  Otherwise, we could ring a certain number and a “hire car" would take us to the Tilligerry RSL Club for $2 each.  We could have a drink there and then sneak out to Coles, a few hundred metres away.  This sounded like a good plan, and within minutes we were in the “hire car” with an elderly, talkative driver.  It was a beautiful drive through lovely, peaceful forest, which should have been, but wasn’t, heaving with koalas.  It was quite a long way – we would never have done it in fifteen minutes, on our bikes, in the heat.  We were very grateful for our “hire car” avec chauffeur.

Not so grateful for the Tilligerry RSL Club, where we were honour bound  to stay for a drink, if not lunch.  Not lunch, we decided, quite swiftly, after taking in the gloomy atmosphere.  I think the architect who designed this building must have found it hard to create something quite so dark and miserable, in such beautiful green surroundings.  The RSL Club in Laurieton, in stark contrast, is smart and bright and attractive, in spite of being infested, as are all of the clubs, with gambling machines (aka Work Of The Devil.)

We drank our beer/lemon squash and crept out the back door to walk to the supermarket, alongside a nice little river full of birds and splashy fish.  We stocked up on – yes – bicarb soda and white vinegar and scouring pads, along with a few nice things like nectarines and baby spinach and went back to the dreary club for another drink before calling our chauffeur to take us back to Lemon Tree Passage.

We had noticed an enticing little fish and chips shop not far from the boat.  Flathead and chips for $9.80 – never mind that it was 3.00, too late for lunch, too early for dinner.  It was a delightful mid-afternoon meal whatever one likes to call it.  Other than a few biscuits and cheese we won’t need to eat again until tomorrow.

We arrived in lovely Fame Cove around 4.30 and tied up to one of the sturdy free moorings.  I sent a happy few minutes smearing bicarb and vinegar paste all over the BBQ then retired with a cup of tea for a brief but satisfying nap on the couch.  When I woke, it was still very warm and sunny and the brown water of the bay looked most enticing so I popped in and swam around the boat, which improved my health and disposition immensely.  Not good to be so sleepy and sluggish so early in the evening…