Travel Feature: Clarence River, Northern NSW

Jacarandas, prawns & purple passages

The lush green countryside resembles a landscape painting, portly cows waddle along grassy banks dotted with blooming jacarandas, as historic towns and grand old estates offer visual diversion. Big river cruising on the Clarence, the biggest river on the Eastern seaboard of Australia, is an experience not to be missed, as I discovered this time last year when I joined a convoy of Riviera cruisers for the annual Jacaranda Experience.

Organised by R Marine Coomera and, in particular, Keith Hansen and cohorts, the Jacaranda Experience is a 90nm cruise in company from the Gold Coast to Yamba, followed by a big-river adventure to Grafton for the Jacaranda Festival, which is Australia's oldest family floral festival.

WHAT BETTER EXCUSE?
We arrived at the Riviera factory to find our boat, a preloved 40 with twin 480hp Cummins turbo diesel engines, waiting at the dock. The engines had been checked, there was a full load of 1800 litres of diesel aboard, and the water gauge reads full. All that was left was to provision from the local supermarkets. But what comes to mind when you think of Yamba? Prawns, of course. The biggest fishing fleet in NSW resides there, so I leave room in the fridge.

It's all aboard for the briefing at Southport Yacht Club the night before our departure, with 20 Riviera flybridge cruisers rafted up to the marina.

There are two 39s, our loan 40, several 42s, 47s, 51s and the 56 Investigator IV with Ian Reynolds, 79, aboard and about to embark on a 9000nm circumnavigation of Australia.

We are given a 30-page Experience Guide with, among other things, tidal and navigational directions to our marina berth in Yamba. We will be leaving the Gold Coast Seaway in single file at a civilised hour the next morning.

Radio skeds will be held two hourly on VHF Channel 10 from the boat Bung Ho, which becomes the butt of some jokes. 

THE COASTAL CRUISE
Fortunately, the seas were steely calm under the leaden skies when we swing south and settle into a 20 to 23-knot cruise with my partner at the helm and my 10-month old crew, Summer, in my arms.

According to approximations, the flotilla is burning about 3000 litres of diesel every hour. But thanks to local knowledge, we are guided in and around near-shore points of interest on a fascinating sightseeing tour to Yamba. Previously, I have made good the passage much farther out to sea.

At Point Danger - so named by Cook who was nearly shipwrecked here - we scoot just behind the mouth of the Tweed River, adjust our clocks to NSW daylight savings time, and pass inside the Danger Reefs, Guy Rock and through the Giants Causeway between the mainland and Cook Island, which lies just 500m offshore. It's a straight run down Dreamtime Beach and Wommin Bay to Cudgen Headland (where Cook almost ran aground again, hence his naming of Mount Warning to the west). The next bite is all beaches, as I have noted while peering out the window of a 737 flying into Coolangatta.

In the distance, we soon spot Australia's most easterly point. If not the prominent lighthouse atop towering Cape Byron, then the lush green hills in the hinterland signpost Byron Bay, which is 28nm or a little over an hour's fast cruising south of Tweed Heads. We sneak inside Julian Rocks, a little over a nautical mile offshore, and find humpbacks cavorting off the bow.

The next point of interest is Lennox Head, where ritzy looking abodes fight for the views. Then comes Ballina, where the bar for the Richmond River requires calm seas. Providing the tide is flooding, you can range inside and up the river for 40nm to Lismore. A journey for another day.

There are only 10m of water under the keel as we pass close to North and South Riordan Shoals between Ballina and Evans Head. I would usually stay well east of North Evans and South Evan reefs, where waves can be seen breaking, but we sneak through the inside passage for a look-see. The reefs are marked by a red sector light at Evans Head, meaning you should continue east at night until you strike the white sector. Not that I'm one for night cruising with so many whales about.

In beaming sunshine, we continue excitedly to our port of call, Yamba/Iluka, which lies 35nm south of Ballina. The tide is flooding across the bar, but it is one of the safest in NSW and negotiated by 5000-tonne ships carrying sugar or supplies to Lord Howe Island. A feeling of exhilaration washes over us as we pick up the leads through the southern wall, dart around Dart Island and idle into Yamba Marina.

YAMBA AND ILUKA
Yamba Marina is part owned by the first female around-the-world sailor, aka First Lady, Kay Cottee, who has a studio worth visiting with stirring paintings and bronze sculptures. In its present form, the marina is an honest amenity with a restaurant/café that surprises with its excellent grub, 90 floating berths, a 36-tonne travel lift, 32-tonne shiplift, dry storage, moorings, sailmaker, boatbuilder, mechanical services, chandlery, fuel, pump out, hire boats and commercial and retail outlets.

NSW Lands Minister, Tony Kelly, announced signing a three-year deal between his department and Yamba Marina late last year to investigate the redevelopment of the amenity and the adjoining site currently licensed to the Clarence River Fishermen's Co-operative. Speaking of which, we trip over ourselves getting to the fish co-op. Four kilos of fresh ocean prawns soon grace the fridge, a dozen sublime oysters are devoured on deck, and I buy a huge fresh fillet of flathead that weighs more than a kilo. Such are the rewards for the 4.5-hour voyage.

A short climb the next morning takes me to the historic Yamba lighthouse on Clarence Head. Views extend across the river mouth and out to sea and to Turners and Yamba beaches below, where locals bodysurf and ride boards. But to the west the Clarence can be seen snaking away into the distance. Ironically, Matthew Flinders failed to realise there was a river here, yet the Clarence is said to carry a greater volume of water annually than any other river in Australia!

Across the way is Iluka, with another fleet of trawlers, another fisherman's co-operative, doubtless more fine crustaceans and some courtesy moorings. In fact, between Yamba and Iluka one could lose themselves for a week without venturing any farther afield. Yet a big river is always a source of adventure and festivities beckon at the Jacaranda Festival. The fleet refuels and eventually it's onwards and upwards...

THE BIG RIVER
Rather than risk running aground, R-Marine Coomera, who organise this great soiree, engages the services of a local fishing-boat captain to lead the way upriver. Not that the Clarence is tricky to navigate. It is generally deep and well marked by beacons. Follow that most elementary of river cruising rules: stick to the outside of the bends. And set a track on the GPS chartplotter so you can follow your route back home come night or day.

From Yamba, cruising at a languid eight to 10kts, we reach Grafton in four hours, clocking up about 80nm for the round trip back to the river mouth. Given more time and a flood tide there's plenty to discover off the main channel. Yamba Shores Tavern (visit www.yambashorestavern.com.au) has casual berthing at a pontoon, cold beer and a bottle shop, apparently top grub and a courtesy bus. Crystal Waters canal estate alongside offers shopping and, I have heard, mud crabs abound in the back channels.

Cruising author Alan Lucas adds that the sandy beach at the southern end of Freeburn Island is a delightful protected anchorage. Providing the tide is high you can sneak up Freeburn Island Channel and connect back with the main river. On the opposite bank above Iluka, North Arm takes in the Esk River and a string of islands that characterise the Clarence. Not that you notice them, they are low lying, and most of the adjoining channels and creeks aren't navigable by anything but a tinnie.

Not long after Yamba, several sets of leads direct us around Freeburn and Palmers Islands. The latter has a ritzy homestead fronted by fat pelicans and cheery cormorants. And there's the reason why - prawn farms, signposted by the water sprays aerating their surface. Yamba prawns are NSW's greatest aquaculture success.

There are tinnies anchored off the caravan park along the next bend where I spot the first flowering jacaranda behind a stone breakwall popular with anglers. A massive ship berthed outside the hideous Harwood sugar mill takes us aback as the river turns brown. We pass under the Harwood Bridge without drama. There's 8.5m clearance at high water, but the bridge can be opened for taller yachts with a day's notice - phone bridge operator, Craig Knox, on (02) 6682 8388.

We do a highland jig at the Scottish township of Maclean, where there's a public pontoon a short walk from Clarence River Seafoods. By all accounts, it's quite some experience wandering around the Gaelic streets festooned with tartans. You can visit Walters Butchers for a haggis, the local baker for a bap, and the Maclean Cellars for pure malt. More than a century old, the Maclean Highland Gathering in Easter is a drawcard.

Another set of leads takes us past the the mouth of South Arm, which separates Woodford Island from the mainland. South Arm is supposed to be navigable, though the bridge at its downstream end has a height of just 4.6m.

Enter upstream near Brushgrove and you'll find a height of 7.60m under Wingfield Bridge. There are amenities along South Arm including a pub at Brushgrove that, along with the adjoining Coldstream River, deserve further investigation in a fast tender at least.

Above Maclean, a set of leads directs you away from the mouth of the shallow Broadwater, a giant puddle off the main channel perfect for bird watching in a kayak. Then we hit the car ferry at Lawrence - actually we avoid it by giving way when its lights are flashing orange -where there's a charming riverside park with picnic facilities and a deep hole famous for producing flathead of reptilian proportions. Just as suddenly the river shallows. We slip by a series of port markers in just a few metres of water and hug the southern shore to avoid a submerged reef (soundings in Cruising the NSW Coast by Alan Lucas) near an old butter factory shaped like, well, a pound of butter.

The second car ferry on the river is above Brushgrove, but then the township of Ulmarra beckons. You can't miss the fetching period settlement with its collection of old antique shops. Apparently, the pub really rocks on a Saturday night, which might explain why some visiting yachties are swinging on the anchor well away from the public jetty.

Sadly, a tight schedule precludes a visit to Ulmarra and we slip past nearby Elizabeth Island as well, weaving through rafts of water hyacinth, idling under the signature bridge at Grafton, and wasting no time partaking in raft-ups. Platters of seafood and gourmet grub are delivered to our boats, there's a fireworks display at night, followed by plenty of well-earned sleep.

Grafton's annual Jacaranda Festival commands attention for the next few days of shorebound adventure. It's a real country town with great markets, purple cakes just for the festival and a parade. A few bends above the town, the Rogan Bridge with just two metres of clearance prevents further headway for most cruising boats. But who cares when there's so much adventure along the Clarence River.

We return to Harwood for a send off in the local pub complete with a Scott dressed in a kilt playing the bagpipes between drinks. Anchors are weighed in the wee hours for a bleary-eyed voyage back to Yamba. I note internet and phone reception for the length of the river, so one could work and play here. Though ours was a fleeting visit, the king of the northern rivers casts its spell. Make sure you visit when you're next cruising north or south.

» AT-A-GLANCE Clarence River, Northern NSW

WHERE: The Clarence is situated in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, some 90nm from the Gold Coast and 310nm north of Sydney. The Big River meanders for 430km from its source near the Queensland border, boasts a catchment of 22,600 square kilometres, and has 102 islands including Woodford, the largest river island in the Southern Hemisphere and the only river island with its own mountain range.

WHY: The Clarence is one of the best boating waterways in the country. In fact, as far as big river adventures go, it holds the mantle after traditional destinations like the Murray all but dry up at the hands of drought. Rainfall is plentiful, the countryside lush, and the sleepy townships dotting the riverside set a languid mood and pace. The mix of escapism and amenities makes for a perfect few weeks adventure.

The twin towns of Yamba and Iluka inside the river mouth beckon as family-friendly ports of call. The former has a terrific marina (29° 26' 09" S, 153° 20' 57" E). Visit www.yambamarina.com.au With the biggest fishing fleet in NSW, Yamba's seafood is to die for. Stock up before tackling the river to Grafton. Iluka is a quieter place to swing on the anchor before a kid-friendly beach.

WHEN: The annual Jacaranda Festival in Grafton in late October (visit www.jacarandafestival.org.au) is a great time to visit the Clarence, as is the Maclean Highland Festival in April 10 and11 next year (visit www.macleanhighlandgathering.com.au).

CRUISING TIPS: Large ships cross the deep Yamba bar and use the river as a jumping off point for supplying Lord Howe Island, as well as transporting sugar and agricultural goods. Thus, the bar is deep and generally easy going. But as with most bars, avoid crossing it on the run-out tide and during strong onshore winds or during low-pressure systems. Visit www.maritime.nsw.gov.au for its new bar-cam, which was being installed at the time of writing.

Deep water makes for easy navigation along the Clarence all the way to Grafton, with the only tricky part just above Lawrence, where there's about two metres of water. Tackle it on the flood tide. Other hurdles include Harwood Bridge where there's 8.5m clearance at high water, though the bridge can be opened for taller yachts with a day's notice - phone bridge operator, Craig Knox, on (02) 6682 8388. Give way to car ferries at Lawrence and Brushgrove when their lights are flashing orange. At Grafton, the bridge has a clearance of 7.9m and no tidal variance, though floods aren't unusual. Above Grafton, the Rogan Bridge has a clearance of just two metres.

RESOURCES: Cruising the NSW Coast by Alan Lucas; NSW Maritime Boating Map 2B; Riverboats of the Clarence by Stuart Lee; From Rivertree to the Sea by Don Peck and Marion Cooney; Clarence River Tourism, visit www.clarencetourism.com