It was finally time to get moving again and our first destination was to be Recherche Bay for Christmas. We left for Recherche Bay about mid morning sailing away from Cygnet for possible the last time. For the past 10 months Cygnet had been like a home to us we had been either anchored or moored somewhere out in its bay and had gotten to know quite a few of the locals. But finally it was time to uproot and once again get sailing. Recherche Bay was only about 27nm away and that day we had the perfect wind to sail most of that distance. However it was as we were passing the islands and reefs that protect the entrance to Recherche Bay that the wind decided to die out. This left us with little choice but to start the engine not wanting to drift onto a reef or end up in an area of breaking waves.
This wasn’t our first trip into Recherche Bay and there was one bay that we really wanted to anchor in which had been full the last time we were there. It was a rather small bay called the Waterhole, the entrance was barely 100m wide and the whole bay only 300m long. But it was a beautiful little bay to spend the night in, and the best part was that we had the whole place to ourselves, surprising given the time of year. We were nestled in the valley of two hills with towering trees right down to the waters edge, the calls of birds echoing into the night. Knowing that the weather was only going to allow us to stay in this bay for that first night we decided to launch the dinghy and row ashore before dinner for a quick exploration. First we had a lovely row around our small bay before pulling the dinghy up the somewhat rocky shore. However that’s about as far as we got, with no formal walks around this bay the forest was quite dense and impenetrable after only a few meters. So deciding to quit while we were ahead we decided to retreat back to the boat.
The following morning we moved Allagai to the main anchorage area in the larger bay of Cockle Creek. As mentioned before we had been here in the in the past but that was at the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic and had arrived the day the National Parks were closing, preventing us from exploring the area. So this time we were keen to go ashore and actually explore the place. Multiple short walks originated from this spot and we were excited to complete as many as possible while we were here. Therefore with that in mind as soon as Allagai was settled in her new anchorage we once again launched the dinghy and went ashore. We were expecting the wind to pick up that afternoon so had wanted to go for a walk before it arrived.
Once ashore we decided on the shortest walk available which went from the Cockle Creek camp-ground along the coast to a Whale sculpture located on the first point, Adams Point. However it was only a relatively short 1km walk so we decided to keep going, continuing along the next beach hoping to get to Fishers Point which was about 3km away. That day we had a relatively clear sky which gave us stunning views not only of the water but of the mountains in the distance. However it was while walking along this beach that we noticed the wind had started to pick up. Deciding to play it safe because we knew it was meant to come in a little strong we decided to cut our walk short and head back to the boat.
We arrived back on Allagai at the same time as the wind and so spent the rest of that day and most of the next relaxing on board waiting out the wind. However the wind finally abated in the early hours of that next day and for once the weather was in our favour, as it was Christmas morning. We woke up on Christmas to glassy flat blue water, clear skies and no wind, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. For Christmas lunch we had bought a stuffed turkey roll and had decided we were going to cook it a little differently this year. With the new BBQ on the back rail we had thought this would cook our roast lunch perfectly. Thankfully we were right and were extremely happy with the performance of our little BBQ, it worked perfectly cooking the turkey and all our vegetables. The previous year we had used the pressure cooker, which did the job fine but left everything a little steamed and soggy instead of roasted.
After lunch we decided that before continuing onto dessert we would take a short walk ashore and walk off a little bit of the food we had just eaten. So feeling rather full we climbed into the dinghy and rowed ourselves ashore. This time we decided to walk along the beach to reach the whale statue allowing us to admire the scenery better. This was another pleasant walk with the mountains in the distance offering a stunning backdrop to a beautiful day.
However it wasn’t long before we were back on the boat, enjoying our Christmas pudding and realising that another Christmas was just about over and that it was time to start making plans for our next move. We wanted to be in Hobart to once again witness the New Years fireworks, having thoroughly enjoyed last years show. This meant that following our relaxing stay in Recherche Bay we would be sailing off the next day, aiming for Hobart.