The last Riverboat Postman

Just north of Sydney, an hour from my door by foot and train, is the incredible Hawkesbury River. There the thickly forested islands and peninsulas rise out of the water and are a haven of indigenous flora and fauna. The area is somewhat reminiscent of Asia, and it is there that I can find the greenery and bluery I miss so much living in Ashfield. Transport costs just $13.60 at peak hour for a day return and $9.40 off peak.Well worth it, I must tell you.

I propose a trip at peak hour so that you can get there by 09h00. That way you can catch Australia's Last Riverboat Postman at 09h30 (Mondays to Fridays) for a four hour excursion through the Hawkesbury delivering post and some supplies to the otherwise unreachable islands and forested peninsulas. Unfortunately the Riverboat Postman is not cheap as an experience, but I think it's worth it. I hear the area and stories of it's inhabitants have been captured in the Australian movie, the Oyster Catcher, but I have yet to see it. The boat trip is a step back in time, and comes complete with a cup of tea and a very ordinary biscuit. The tea, though, is served with great pride by a chap who will tell you the story of how he learnt to make a great cup of tea from his mum. At each stop, the boat pulls up to the shore to be met by someone sending mail and receiving mail. Some of these people look as if they haven't left the Hawkesbury in a while - and I'd have to admit that some reminded me of forest gnomes. And if you're lucky you'll see a dog or two coming down to the short with a human. The dog waits patiently, and gets a daily biscuit. Unfortunately it shows. There's not much space to run around on the thickly forested shoreline, and there are dense forests right to the edge of the water. The daily biscuit combined with a lack of exercise could be the start of Jenny Craig's programme for dogs.

It's good to catch the train to arrive by 09h00 to be at the Brooklyn Wharf, right next to the train station to get your ticket and secure a good place on the boat. The upper deck is a great vantage point - complete with plastic chairs and serious sun. You'll need a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses. Downstairs, inside, you'll find shade and large windows and a supply of things to keep kids happy (books, crayons - well, they were there the last time I went). It's best to  book as sometimes travelers fill the boat, and sometimes school children going to camp at Milson Island.

Don't say you weren't warned about the stairs at the Hawkesbury River station - a huge flight of steps gets you off the platform and another gets you down to the water level. The 360 degree view from the top of the stairs is worth the climb! And you'll spot huge pelicans perched precariously on bollards and local residents arriving at the Brooklyn wharf in tinnies, complete with a dog each!

Lunch can be fish and chips at one of the local restaurants in Brooklyn where you disembark, and if you feel up to it a 25 minute walk along the road towards the highway will get you to the Brooklyn on Hawkesbury Apartments. An old convent has been converted into a number of apartments that are surprisingly inexpensive to hire, and seriously fun. One of the apartments is in the old church itself and is whacky, to say the least. There there is a pool overlooking the water, and lots of kookaburras, corellas, cockatoos and other birds. The marina is right in front of the apartments, and most have a view over the water. Three minutes back towards Brooklyn on foot you can hire tinnies. I've done that a few times which gets one up close and personal with the huge jellyfish that the Riverboat Postman bumps up against each day on it's trip around the bays.

I once came across a woman who told me that her grandmother had been dropped at the Convent during the second world war at the age of seven with her little sister, then five. They were left there as their parents had fallen on hard times, and they didn't know if and when they would be collected. Apparently two years later their parents managed to take them back. That story remains has added some texture to my holiday experiences at the converted convent, I must say.

The apartments are self-catering as there are no places to eat nearby, other than in Brooklyn itself. A 25 minute walk back to the village at night is sometimes more exercise than one wants after chilling out for the afternoon at the pool. Instead a bbq outside the apartment seems a much better option. Of course you could choose to take a car to the Hawkesbury and that would give you a bit more freedom to move around - especially if you have more time. Mooney Mooney and Woy Woy are nearby, and both offer some eating options.

So my proposal is:
Between 07h30 and 08h00: Take a train to Hawkesbury River with either a day return or a single ticket if coming back the next day.
09h00: Arrive at Hawkesbury River and buy a ticket for the Riverboat Postman
09h30: Board the boat for the trip through the Hawkesbury
13h30: Lunch in Brooklyn
14h30: a walk along the path around the area to the right of the boat mooring, at the level of the water, to where the boats launch and the pelicans gather
15h00: Go up the steps on the way back to what could be called a low promontory. Look out for bush turkeys and take in the views through the Eucalypts. There's a clean public loo up there
15h30: Walk down the hill towards the place where you boarded the Riverboat Postman, take a few steps to your right and pop into the water for a swim, safely behind the jelly-fish netting
16h00: Walk to the Hawkesbury Apartments (25 minutes) on the main road back towards the highway and book in for the night. Relax, have a swim, prepare the BBQ and enjoy!

Next day take a tinny out for a couple of hours before making your way back. There. That's my idea of two days of heaven. Hope you think so too.

See where you can catch the Riverboat Postman   Map

A Road Trip in New South Wales

Starting off, heading north.

We were all packed and ready to go. Early. We'd got ourselves organised so the last day or two could be to complete work. On the Thursday before our planned Saturday departure I went to my obstetrician for a routine check-up. She'd given me the go-ahead to travel. However, things had changed since I last saw her, and the H1N1 threat had worsened. A locked cabin for a few hours on the way to Vanuatu was not her idea of a worthwhile risk for a 5 and a half month pregnant woman.

Some heavy decision-making followed. I had a deadline for the Friday and didn't have time to change tack.... Francis stepped in. We agreed to let the Vanuatu holiday go for now, and take a road trip north. He contacted the insurance people, and I got back to work.

Less than 48 hours later our suitcases had been re-packed with warm clothes, we'd thrown in some food and we set out on our Northern NSW road trip. It wasn't Vanuatu, but it was Australia, and we were to discover some of the lovelier places within a seven hour drive of our home.

For those not in the know, New South Wales is not a small place. It covers and area of 801,600 square kilometers (about two thirds of the size of South Africa or nearly four times the size of Great Britain) and has 780 national parks. The Great Dividing Range runs the length of the State from Victoria in the south to Queensland in the north, with the highest mountains reaching above 1000m. Most Australians live within 50km of the coast and in areas outside of cities, most Australians live even closer to the coast. The vast hinterland is not an area I am at all familiar with, but I hear that people manage the harsh lifestyle and the vast distances.

We set off North on Saturday morning the 1st of August. The short version is that we shuffled back and forth up and down the Great Dividing Range and the coast for just over a week. We saw some fantastic scenery. Lots of what I was seeking and what I like to call Bluery and Greenery. And animals - my first koala in the wild, whales (including getting involved in an exciting binocular search with national parks staff to find a whale that had become entangled in some fishing line and a bouy), porpoises, dolphins, black cockatoos, domestic dogs, a wallaby, some fenced-in kangaroos, a dead wombat or two, and a lot of non-city folk.

We stayed in some funky accommodations, most of which I can recommend and which I have a list of if anyone needs it:

• Saturday and Sunday: Bellingen (a great mountain town on the gorgeous Belliger river, and home of a great music festival, headlined this year by the famous South African musician Hugh Masekela who I am going to see in October)
• Monday and Tuesday: Woolgoolga (yes, all the t-shirts say 'where on earth is Woolgoolga', and most people just fondly call it Whoopi. It's just north of Coff's Harbour and has a good whale watching headland)
• Wednesday: Dorrigo (a mountain town, at almost 1000m altitude)
• Thursday: Armidale (a University town reminiscent of Pretoria)
• Friday and Saturday: Tea Gardens (the twin town of Hawks Nest on the Myall waterways just north of Nelsons Bay, and my idea of heaven - I'd be happy to go back holiday after holiday after holiday)
• Sunday: back home.

We traveled 1850km. The highlight was in Tea Gardens. We'd read a local book that said that if we went to the top of the bridge between Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest at 9.30pm we'd see dolphins playing in below. This seemed a bit too specific, and perhaps a touch implausible. But we dutifully drove to the bridge (embarrassing as we realised it was just 200 m away, but it was cold out!) and walked up to the top. It was freezing. We heard a large splash, and could not quite place it as the river is way too far upstream for waves. There, in the disturbed water, was a large dolphin surfing on it's back. It was fantastic - fully visible in the street light from the bridge. Then, after a cold wait, we saw two more dolphins, and another. We shivered and watched, and they came and went in through the light and the bridge shallows. We headed for our accommodation to to rug up some more, but it was too cold to get back out.

The next night we thought we might be a bit late. We put on loads on clothes and in our best imitation of Michelin Men walked to the bridge and took up our vantage points, Francis on one pavement and me on the other. And there they were - three dolphins. A very large mum and her juvenile (we later heard it was probably Nicky, a well known matriarch in the area). She was teaching her young one to fish. They dashed in and out of the well lit shallow waters, and disappeared for up to ten minutes at a time. It was magical, just magical. When the dolphins wer elsewhere we entertained ourselves watching silent pelicans paddling by on the nightly fishing expedition, and some rather haunting black swans whose red beaks gave them away against the shadows.

It was a great nine days, and an incredible realisation that there are places just three hours from Sydney that are at least as gorgeous as Knysna in South Africa, my usual holiday haunt (which is five hours from Cape Town). I can imagine us taking our little Spud there, to the Myall lakes area at Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest, many times in the future. And nine days with Francis was just the best start to August - good company, good conversation and spontaneous travel decisions.

For pics of the trip on Picasa, click here