Hawkesbury River

Rolling on the river

Was it the bracing shower under the waterfall at Refuge Bay, the sunset over the mountains at Pumpkin Point, the lunch of blue swimmer crabs we caught in our hoop nets in Berowra, or was it the chilli-salt squid we bought from the local kiosk in Hardy's Bay? From the salt to the fresh water, we completed the journey and, what's more, had the bush setting all to ourselves.

Our Hawkesbury River adventure had all that and more. Just 40km from the Sydney CBD, the Hawkesbury is one of the biggest and best rivers in Australia to cruise by motorboat. It's also one of the most accessible for the boating masses; yet don't mistake access for overdevelopment...far from it.

Surrounded by at least seven national parks including Ku-ring-gai Chase, Bouddi, Brisbane Water, Dharug, Muogamarra, Yengo and Cattai, the Hawkesbury is navigable for more than 100km from its entrance in Broken Bay to the road bridge at Windsor. En route, you can swing by tributaries including Berowra, Cowan, Mangrove, Mooney Mooney and Marramarra Creeks. But the river itself is a great journey, cutting through flood plains, gorges and passing historic towns such as Brooklyn, Spencer, Wisemans Ferry and Windsor.

Deep, protected and accommodating, the river is a snap to navigate. Bar the car ferries, which you must give way to, and the bridges at Brooklyn that prevent yachts heading any further upstream, there are no major hazards. And like all the best cruising grounds, there are amenities: first-class marinas, fetching kiosks, to fine dining, supermarkets, pubs and more.

You won't be lost for ideas. Catch your own fish or crabs, carve a path on a pair of waterskis or wakeboard, paddle a kayak, bushwalk, swim and hangout. It's all here, written about and lauded in accounts of happy Hawkesbury holidays dating way back to 1895 and relived by us after a forecast few weeks of windy weather. It is also a great sanctuary in a storm.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Before leaving Sydney Harbour we stocked the family 42-footer with everything we might need for a big river adventure: plenty of food and drinks, kayaks, fishing rods, crab traps, John and Jocelyn Powell's Cruising Guide to the Hawkesbury River, Cowan, Broken Bay and Pittwater, and, of course, Alan Lucas' Cruising the NSW Coast, plus paper charts and the NSW Maritime waterproof boating maps of the area (see cruising guide notes for details).

An uneventful but scenic hour cruising north from Sydney on the ocean road and we were at the mouth of the Hawkesbury. Immediately to port is Pittwater, where we spend the first night onboard moored to the Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay. For us as members, the diesel is well priced, the water on tap, and the bacon and egg rolls pretty decent. Fuelled, we cast the lines.

Our plan is to make our first stop at Wisemans Ferry, about 70km upstream. The tides are 2.5 hours later at Wisemans Ferry than Fort Denison and, by good design, we ride the incoming tide, saving fuel and giving us an extra knot of boat speed. Not that there's any rush. As self-appointed chief navigator and tour guide, I spread the cruising guides out in the bridge, sprawl out on the convertible lounge/daybed, and call the navigation marks and places of interest along the way.

From Pittwater, we round West Head and pass Flint and Steel Reef where, as ever, a flotilla of trailerboats are fishing at anchor. We fight the urge to turn to port and escape up Cowan Creek and, instead, continue up to the Hawkesbury. Juno Point is marked by more boats and anglers hoping to catch a jewfish of proportions. In case you didn't know, the Hawkesbury is one of the only places in the world where anglers can catch a jewie weighing 30kg or more. Of course, fish of one-tenth that size are more common but the monsters are taken each and every year.

The first town of note is Brooklyn. There are courtesy moorings and the marina has cheap fuel, a supermarket and bottle shop, a restaurant and a couple of cafes doing eat-in or takeaway fish and chips, among other things. Traditionally, our Christmases were always spent devouring a sack of Sydney rock oysters bought from Brooklyn. Then stocks were wiped by QX disease in 2004. Happily, about 15 of the 50 farmers are back up and growing oysters, though they are more likely to be the Pacific variety rather than native Sydney rock.

Opposite Brooklyn is Dangar Island (mind the no-wash zone), where island dwellers enjoy the carefree existence and where you'll find a café on its northern side. Next, one must head under the Brooklyn rail and road bridges, both of which are famous fishing spots. The rail bridge has a height of 11.8m and the road bridge 11.5m - so for those with yachts whose mast is taller than the road bridge height, your journey ends here. (Never fear: Cowan Creek accommodates boats of all sizes including the boutique cruise ship Orion during its east coast voyage each year. More on it later).

We sail past Mullet and Mooney Mooney Creeks, the latter is home to the Mooney Mooney Club - phone (02) 9985 9244 - formerly the Worker's Club, which is accessible by boat and famous for its seafood feasts. Then comes Muogamarra Point, surely one of the best spots on the Hawkesbury to enjoy the stunning sunsets as the river snakes its way west through the sandstone escarpments and timeless landscape. Wonderful!

We give Berowra Creek, whose wide mouth is now alongside, the cold shoulder as a thorough research trip is planned for later. Next, Pumpkin Point, a majestic setting that is at once as crabby as it is fishy. We stop here on the way home to enjoy the scenery and catch some crustaceans with great success. Meantime, onwards and upwards to the historic town of Spencer, at the entrance of Mangrove Creek, offers great exploring.

You can anchor off the wharf here, take the tender to shore and visit the Dunkirk Hotel, which is nothing more than a tree opposite the general store where locals sip cold beers in the shade. Incidentally, you can catch a ride on weekdays from Brooklyn with the Riverboat Postman - phone (02) 9985 7566 - a fetching ferry that delivers mail and other supplies to the isolated homes and communities along the Hawkesbury. Spencer is the last stop for the River Postman, but not for us.

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH
After Spencer, the river narrows and passes through a rocky gorge before spilling out into Haycock Reach, which is a decent anchorage. A couple of trawlers are eking out a living at Sentry Box Reach, where there's a horse stud. Next is Singleton's Mill, a long disused wheat-loading area. I continue my commentary: the old boatbuilding facility at Laughtondale dates back to the 1840s; Trollope Reach is named after an English novelist (not after my better half who has refused to shave since we left Sydney); while the white picket fence over there, just beyond Hazel Dell, marks Wisemans Ferry Cemetery where Solomon Wiseman and other early settlers are buried. You can anchor near the stone retaining wall and take the tender to shore.

Clearly, the water is turning brackish, the mangroves are starting to thin out, and holiday parks and rural homesteads with some inviting sandy beaches become common. Three hours (at fast-idle) after we set off from Pittwater, a car ferry crossing the river tells us we're at Wisemans Ferry. We claim one of the two or three public moorings near the golf course and head to shore after phoning Able Houseboats, who kindly loan their jetty.

It's just a short stroll up the hill into the township of Wisemans Ferry where we pay our respects to the bronze statue of Solomon Wiseman, who started the river ferry in around 1826. Then, where better, the local pub. Wisemans Ferry Inn is a quaint sandstone establishment where the beer is cold and the locals are hairy. We also find a supermarket, bakery, service station and more.

We amble back to our boat, noting the entrance to the MacDonald River on the far side, which ranges up to St Albans and the Settlers Arms, another great pub. Sadly, it's too shallow for our boat but would be a great spot to explore by kayak or tinnie. A mullet jumps behind the transom as we make plans for tomorrow. Destination Windsor, via the Colo River, which, says a Wisemans local, is a must-see.

WINDSOR CAN WAIT
We rise with the sun, drop the mooring line and set off for Windsor. Just upstream are more horses, another car ferry at the mouth of Webbs Creek and many more ski parks. At one of them I watch a family unpack for their holiday. Along with the car, ski boat and tents, they assemble a barbecue, banana chairs, outdoor setting for six, washing line, dog kennel, picket fence and mailbox. Okay, I lied about the mailbox, but here the holidaymakers come well equipped.

So too the ski parks. Del Rio Aquatic Club which has a golf course, horse riding, licensed bistro, public mooring and decent landing wharf, allows you to go ashore for a meal and use the facilities. Other parks have ice, fuel and limited supplies. Between the ski parks are rural properties where, at one point, I spot cows wading up to their udders around the bulrushes. The grass is green and lush and, such is the contentedness of those cows, they don't even give us a cursory glance.

The same rich alluvial soil was used as far back as the late 1700s by our earliest settlers to grow crops for the famine-ravaged colony at Port Jackson and, more than two centuries on, the Hawkesbury continues to supply agricultural produce to much of Sydney and the state. But there is evidence of indigenous occupation 14,000 years prior to the arrival of the settlers. That's my last history lesson and the skipper says hooray.

The river narrows here and there, but is generally deep (up to 20m on the sounder) as we forge ahead, sticking to the outside of the bends just to make sure, and following the channel markers. Beware the car ferries and, most definitely, the aptly named Skeleton Rocks off Paradise Point.

About two hours after Wisemans Ferry we reach Lower Portland and the Colo River, which is marked by a bridge spanning the entrance. The Colo is fairly narrow but the water is several metres deep at least to the first bend where we anchor off a high rock wall. The surface is glassy, there's not a soul in sight, and we take the tender well upstream before deciding we could keep going for days. P>

It's here, after a year of work, that the Hawkesbury works its magic on us and, after only a couple of nights, we're so relaxed that we decide to go no farther. The barbecue is put to good use, books are read, the stars are watched, and the birds are virtually the only sounds we hear. Windsor can wait. We have found our little slice of nirvana.

BACK TO BEROWRA
We eventually cruise back to Pumpkin Point where we drop anchor under the towering hills, deploy crab traps and are rewarded with several fat blue swimmers and another typically calm night aboard. In the morning, we take a tender ride into the Pumpkin Creek, stumble on a fisherman's humpy and note the creek seems to go on forever. In fact, it ranges up to some old farming lands, but we retreat well before that for fear of vanishing in the mangroves.

A first: freshly cooked blue swimmer crabs for breakfast. Hey, it works at holiday time. Then comes Berowra Creek, which is more like a river, though the entrance opposite Bar Point has just a few metres of water at low tide. At Sunny Corner on Berowra Waters you'll find the iconic Peat's Bite restaurant, which is accessible by boat or seaplane and famous for the five course ($110 per head) long lunch. There's accommodation on site for landlubbers and berths for boats.

About as far upstream as you can go, alongside the car ferry, is Berowra Waters Marina which has fuel, water, ice, bait and tackle, a restaurant, café, kayaks and tinnies for hire. Opposite is a supermarket and grog shop. If you're after fine dining, Berowra Waters Inn is relaunching itself and should be worth a visit this summer.

But it's the bit in between, the waterway itself, that's often overlooked as a boating destination. We spend days luxuriating in the protected anchorages, splashing off the sandy beaches, fishing and crabbing. Behind Bar Island is Marramarra Creek, which you can explore in a small boat all the way beyond the oyster leases to an old orange orchard that yields in winter and a little known campground.

We pick up a mooring in Joe Craft's Bay, a lovely anchorage opposite Half-Moon Bay where there are more public moorings. At low tide, an inviting sandy beach and sandbank emerge from the calm creek. We swim and fudge about the flats. The crab nets yield another load of blue swimmers, though the muddies remain elusive. Flathead are reeled in on rods and life is grand, indeed.

COWAN CREEK
Sated, we eventually return to one of my favourite playgrounds, Cowan Creek. If you're only going to visit one tributary of the Hawkesbury make it Cowan Creek. There are at least 20 beautiful protected bays, all with deep water and stunning scenery, over 50 public moorings and loads of private ones that you can use when their owners are absent, and unique features peculiar to each anchorage: freshwater waterfalls, a sandy beach, a bushwalk to a lookout or swimming hole, resident goannas, and more.

Unlike the Hawkesbury River proper, which is brown, the water in Cowan Creek is clear and bound by undeveloped national parks. And while Cowan Creek abounds with natural beauty there are first class marinas, restaurants and other amenities including boat ramps. There's even a barge at Refuge Bay where you can dump your rubbish and recycling.

We spend our first night on a public mooring at Cottage Rock, where at low tide a gold sand beach and two spring fed waterfalls that deserve closer inspection. We pass another day in America Bay where we make it about halfway up the dry creek bed to another waterfall before an onslaught of bullants sends us packing. But in Refuge Bay the fresh water falls from such a height you get a free massage and shower.

Another day, another waterfall, this time at Castle Lagoon. Then there's Yeomans Bay with a freshwater swimming hole beyond the first rockpool in the southernmost creek and high up on the escarpment. On the way back, pump yabbies and cast a line for flathead or bream. Easy.

However, picnic ashore at Hallets Beach and you're likely to attract the resident goanna, if not the young lovers who fly in by seaplane for a picnic under a designer beach umbrella. Still, it's a great beach and big enough for a decent game of cricket.

Days pass slowly while we leap from one bay to another, trying to work out which is our favourite. Of course, it's impossible to choose. Jerusalem and Pinta Bays are great morning anchorages, while Yeomans is beautiful at sunset and close to Cottage Point where there's a quaint kiosk and fine dining at Cottage Point Inn. In nearby Smiths Creek, there's no TV, mobile or internet reception. So we entertain ourselves catching fish, daydreaming and kayaking up the creek that winds its way for miles to a chorus of cicadas.

Around the bend, Akuna Bay in Coal and Candle Creek offers coffee and papers at d'Albora Marina. There is a restaurant, cafe, general store, fuel, water and ice, and often jazz or other events on weekends.

More days and nights are spent in Lords, Cotton Tree and Waratah Bays where, midweek, there are no crowds. Instead, we shower on deck and watch eagles swoop on unsuspecting fish. Heritage-listed Bobbin Head Marina, once home of the Halvorsen hire boats, has a café doing breakfasts and water on tap, which we need.

Then comes Patonga - we take the tender to shore for fish and chips - and Brisbane Water, also known as the northern arm of the Hawkesbury. Enter at high tide, crossing Little Box Head Bar (don lifejackets per NSW Maritime regulations) and make sure of the navigation markers as the channels are narrow.

Hardys Bay is the pick. There are two public moorings, a public wharf and some great eateries including Yum Yum, NW6 and the Old Kilcare Store (with Blue Tongue beer on tap) and moreish chilli salt squid with nam jim dressing from the Hardys Bay Fish and Chip Co.

The days are a blur now but the experience unforgettable. From the headwaters to the sea and throughout the creeks and tributaries, the Hawkesbury is a boating mecca where you can lose yourself for days, weeks and longer, leave your boat and cab it back home in less than an hour. As Huckleberry Finn would surely tell you: there's nothing like a big river to sooth the soul and satisfy your adventurous spirit.

Cruising Guide to the Hawkesbury River

RESOURCES

AMENITIES

GENERAL

RESOURCES

AMENITIES