Day 2 - Hunter River, Prince Frederick Harbour to Rothsay Water - 12 June

Most of the twenty passengers were up about seven having a cuppa on the fresco deck at the back of the boat. The day was sunny and we could see for miles. The mooring of the boat at Hunter River was a good one as it was calm for our first overnight stay. The crew started motoring at seven thirty and took the boat out of Prince Frederick Harbour out into the sea before darting back into Careening Bay which is in the southern part of Nelson Bay. The sea was quite choppy but all the passengers are doing well and there is no sea-sickness. Many are on ginger tablets. I have taken maximum precautions against seasickness with Avomine tablets, ginger tablets and a bandaid over my navel! Given the motoring out of Prince Frederick Harbour was a bit rough and I didn’t feel sick then one of or all three of my seasickness precautions are working!
After passing many islands we arrived at Careening Bay which is in the southern part of Nelson Bay. We got into the tender and made the short walk up the beach to the very large boab tree with “HMC Mermaid 1820” carved into it. This tree which is estimated to be between five and six hundred years old was marked by Australian-born Phillip Parker King when his cutter was careened for sixteen days. The hull needed repair as did much of the ship’s external workings where iron nails had rusted out.
The cabin we are in on our boat is called “Mermaid”.
When we returned to Odyssey, Amber, the chef, had lunch ready and most of us ate on the fresco deck to take in the views as we motored along. Once again we had stunning views of the red-faced cliffs and the turquoise sea.
In the late afternoon we anchored at Rothsay Waters which is a sheltered spot. We all climbed into the tender and spent a couple of hours fishing in deep water under the cliff’s edges. As soon as we put our lines into the water the fish started biting. It was a lot of fun. Henk caught five fish, Harry two, Mum two and me one. A wide range of fish were caught especially a fish called Fingerprint. Amber will serve the fish for tomorrow night‘s dinner.