Weighing anchor at first light we left Binalong Bay behind and set sail for Wineglass Bay and for once we had an absolutely uneventful trip. The day we sailed to Wineglass Bay we had light and variable winds, which wasn’t great for sailing, so we mostly motor sailed as we wanted to get in before dark. The distance we had to sail was about 60nm, meaning we had to maintain above 4kts to get there in daylight. We reached Wineglass just on sunset witnessing a stunning display as we sailed in. The setting sun reflected off the granite cliffs lining the channel into the bay causing the rocks to look an amazing array of yellows and oranges.
The night we arrived we decided to drop the anchor in the southern end of the bay due to the prevailing wind conditions. However this proved somewhat counter productive to the following days plans which was to do the famous Wineglass Bay lookout walk situated at the northern end of the bay. Knowing that the walk to the lookout required going up at lot of steps and feeling a little lazy we decided to use the dingy to motor to the northern end of the beach. This was fine for the the journey there, but the bay is about a mile wide and little did we know that our laziness was going to come back to bite us later.
When we first came into Wineglass Bay we were the only boat an didn’t see another soul, this led us to believe it was an isolated beach, similar to Refuge Cove. However the next morning when we went ashore it seemed like a completely different beach, I’ve never seen so many people outside of a city before. Landing the dingy on the beach we had to find a clear patch between the people, dodging walkers and sunbathers as we pulled the dingy out of the water. The northern end of the bay was also exposed to swell which meant careful planning so we didn’t get swamped on the way in and there was many eyes watching us if we got it wrong. Thankfully we had no dramas and successfully landed ashore without any embarrassing mishaps.
After securing the dingy we went to investigate the walk to the lookout which was when we found out just how may steps we’d have to climb. To get to the Wineglass Bay lookout we would had to ascend and then descend 1000 steps. That meant for us a total of 2000 steps which after finding that out we weren’t feeling quite so guilty about our dingy laziness. Climbing the steps wasn’t actually to bad, my legs were definitely protesting but again what shocked me more was just how busy the path was with hoards of people streaming past us in both directions. However the climb was worth it, when we reached the lookout we were greeted with a stunning aerial view of Wineglass Bay with Allagai anchored down the far end. However our enjoyment and awe was short lived. From our aerial view vantage point we could see an approaching wind line from the east and when it hit Allagai she proceeded to do a 180 and shockingly she started to move. Allagai’s anchor had come loose with the wind change and she was heading straight for the beach. There was absolutely nothing we could do, our adrenaline was pumping but with 1000 steps and a mile of beach between us and her we could only watch the event unfold. Thankfully just as were we’re about to start running the anchor seemed to reset and her drift towards the beach stopped. We breathed a sigh of relief but still decided it was time to turn around and return to the boat just in case she decided to drag again. We also knew that this wind change meant trouble for our return dingy trip. The wind was now blowing from the east and had the fetch of the entire channel which was creating wind chop that was increasing by the minute. By the time we got back to water level there was decent size waves breaking all along the beach turning the previously sedate shoreline into a surf beach. Getting the dingy past the breakers was tricky and we had an even bigger audience to perform in front of this time. Thankfully though we timed out exit perfectly and got past the surf without getting swamped but now we  had to content with the waves. That morning the bay had been glassy, flat water with barely a ripple but with the wind it had changed into a churning, confused messed. The trip back to Allagai was slow and the one mile back felt more like ten as we rode up and down each wave each time water splashing over the bow straight onto me. Finally though we made it back to Allagai and her blaring anchor alarms, us no worse wear from out rough dingy ride other then being a little wet. Once back on the boat we weighed anchor and moved Allagai back to her original position a safe distance from the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing feeling drained from that mornings scare.
The next day we mostly just relaxed on the boat only going for a short trip ashore that morning to check out a hikers camp behind the beach. But while we were ashore we found out that there was a walking trail to nearby Mt Amos, elevation 600m, which I read on the sign as 5km return. So we decided that the following day we would go for a morning walk, as we were due for another wind change that afternoon and didn’t want to repeat the previous days panic. The day of our walk we prepared ourselves with a big breakfast followed by packing a bag each with a water bottle and a few snacks. Once ashore we headed off for what we thought was a relatively short walk.
The walk to the peak of Mt Amos was truly amazing and one I later learned was highly recommended which after doing it I can see why. The walk was somewhat challenging just because you spent most of the walk going up an incline and towards the end scrambling over rocks and up boulders. But the scenery was spectacular the walk started at water level surrounded by scrub and sparse forest. Quickly though the landscape became more rocky, littered with large boulders and many stunning lookouts as we increased elevation. However it didn’t take us long to realise that this wasn’t going to be the easy 5km return short walk we had thought. But with the stunning views we were already getting we weren’t complaining as we could only imagine how good the view from the peak would be so we continued to push on. Finally though we saw the end when after about an hour we made it to the saddle. Leaving the forest behind and surrounded by low lying scrub and bushes we had a clear view of the rocky peak,although still long way in the distance. It was about two hours after we had set off that we made it to the peak and came to the realisation that the sign I’d read the day before must have said 5 hours not 5km. But we were not disappointed the view from the top of Mt Amos was amazing and in my opinion much better then that of the Wineglass Bay lookout. We felt we had truly achieved something as we’d worked to get the stunning view and had only seen two other groups of climbers that day and so we enjoyed having the peak to ourselves. The walk back to Allagai was long and slow, we had had a big breakfast and having thought the walk was only short had only packed a couple of snacks. However by the time we had reached the peak our big breakfast was far behind us and long gone especially after our strenuous initial climb so we were both feeling hungry. Between the two of us we had two muesli bars and less the half water bottle left each and a minimum of two hours before we’d be back on the boat. However despite our grumbling tummies and parched mouths we eventually made it back to Allagai our packs feeling very light at the end having ran out of food and water. We learnt a valuable lesson from that walk which was to read the signs properly and always take more supplies then necessary just in case a walk becomes longer then expected.
Unfortunately like all good things our stay in Wineglass Bay had to come to an end eventually, sooner then we would have liked (there was still other walks I’d wanted to do). The day after the great hike to Mt Amos we had to head off as the weather forecast was showing some nasty weather for a few days time. We decided that rather then spent another week (or more) in Wineglass Bay we’d keep moving because there was plenty of other cool spots we wanted to check out. Therefore onwards to Orford a small town with a decent shop and a good place to weather a storm.