Saturday 27th May 2017
Another stunning day at Iluka ! It seems
that the two boats that planned to leave yesterday are definitely going this
morning. The motor boat Isa Lei 11 is deemed to be repaired after sheared
coupling bolts have been replaced. No-one is really sure why they failed, but
they are hopeful they will get to Hervey Bay, the boats new home.
Isa Lei 11 on her way
Their Faithful Companion "Truant"
Their companion, Truant, is once again
ready to go, and has his sail up before they leave.This time they did not
return, so hopefully all is well.
Todays adventure is a ferry ride across to
Yamba for a good look around. It is about a 20 minute walk to the ferry
terminal and we need to get ashore and secure our dinghy at the floating jetty
in front of the pub.
The Ferry arriving at Iluka
Departure time is 10.15am, and we were
there right on time, along with quite a few others accompanying us on the trip.
What a great way to go to Yamba. We go
through the hole in Moriarty’s Wall and around Dart Island, past the Yamba
marina arriving at the Yamba Wharf, which is just at the Western end of the
caravan park.
The ferry passes the outside of Iluka Bay but you can see how calm it is inside the bay
Crossing the river to Yamba looking towards the heads
Through the hole in Moriarty's Wall
As we rounded Dart Island, this large "stinkboat" was heading out from Yamba Marina in a pretty low tide
As we passed the Yamba marina. we are surprised to see how full it is, although we had heard that some of the permanents from Coffs Harbour moved here when the Coffs Harbour marina was so badly damaged a few years ago. Iluka looks like the place to be.
Walking into town, not a lot has changed,
but there seems to be a bit more activity in town. We walked through the modest
shopping centre and up Beach Road to the coast.
The scenery is still stunning, particularly
on such a clear sunny day.
Yamba Ocean Pool
Yamba beach, surf club in the foreground and the Pacific Hotel on the hill
You can’t go to Yamba without visiting the
Pacific Hotel, where we had lunch. There can’t be too many Hotels with a view
like this.
The next ferry back to Iluka is at 1.45pm,
so we have plenty of time to walk out to the lighthouse, and down the hill to
the southern breakwall, where we walked right out to the end to see how the bar
looks like a few hours off low tide.
Yamba Lighthouse
Looking across Turners Beach from the breakwall towards the lighthouse
Looks like there is a seagulls meeting on Turners Beach
There is a bit of a low tide break in the heads but it is very tame
It was then a brisk walk back along the
riverside to meet the ferry back to Iluka, once again with many of the
passengers we came across with plus a surprising number heading to Iluka for a
few hours.
The trip back is at low tide, so gives a
different perspective on the shallow areas, and we were also treated to a
diversion through Iluka Bay, which took us right past Mica at anchor.
Ferry rides are always good, but this one
is really worth doing.
Arriving back at The Iluka Ferry Terminal
We learned that tomorrow they have a live
music cruise which goes up to Harwood and back for a few hours over lunch time.
That’s tomorrow’s plan sorted.
Dinner on board tonight after a most
enjoyable day around Yamba and on the water getting there and back.
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