It was a dark and stormy night... well it will be anyway. I'm on Bribie Island after the long crossing from the south end of Moreton Island. Mooloolaba tomorrow if the southerly still blows.

I've been told that the juicy green leaves are edible.

Pigface flowers in late afternoon light will always catch the eye.

Camp tonight is on the far southern tip of Moreton Island. You can see Amity Point on North Straddie over the channel to the south. The tide was ripping out and exposing shallow sand shoals as I crossed late this afternoon.

"Chief Navigator, come here please... your services are no longer required." A wreck off Dunwich, North Straddie.

Tomorrow I'll push on to the top of North Stradbroke Island or maybe the south of Moreton Island. It should be relaxing as I wind around the channels and skim over the shallows dodging turtles and whatnot.

More sand patterns. This one has me intrigued. How does a little lump of wood (object in photo) make tracks like this?

Cross current patterns in the sand.

The ugly: enough said.

The beautiful: bone in roots.

I'm back the water after five wonderful days on the Gold Coast. Pity about the soccer last night but at least I won't be stressing about finding TV screens at midnight anymore. My thanks to Sarah and Jess for letting me stay on the couch and watch World Cup to my hearts content. After such a long pause with good company it was difficult to leave this morning. I've come up behind the shelter of N and S Stradbroke Island to camp in the sandy mudgroves.

But without rain there could only be bows, and that wouldn't make a very good photo. This is just after rounding Point Danger (glad that one's out of the way) and my first tentative strokes in Queensland waters. An auspicious beginning to the sunshine state. I continued up to the Goldcoast Seaway near Seaworld and came into the shelter of Broadwater. I'll be drying out here for the weekend before punching along inside the islands to the Sunshine Coast. Gosh they give happy names to things around here.

Surfers Paradise looked more like Gotham City today. Plenty more rain after a lumpy exit of the Tweed River bar this morning.

It's been another wet day with visibility poor at times. A few interesting moments around Kingscliffe where a couple of reefs were breaking off the point. When the rain is hammering down everything looks like it could be breaking.

This squadron of gannets ambushed a school of fish and bombed away relentlessly. Casualties: fish- 243, gannets- 0.

If one of these boys hits at the wrong time it's goodnight Andrew. Well I'd tip over and have to start again anyway. As it was I timed it well and headed north.

Small chunky tubes were banging in this morning.

Once zipped up in the tent my world turns blue! I always try to find driftwood to line the verandah. I get testy when sand sticks to everything.

I've pulled in north of Byron Bay (distant headland) to give me a headstart for tomorrow's paddle to Tweed River.

Julian Rocks out to sea just past Cape Byron. That means I'm around the eastern-most point of mainland Australia. A guy in Ballina tried to convince me that Flat Rock (north of Ballina) is further east at low tide but I'm dubious.

Brad and Isobella (pictured) are keeping me company in the laundry. Isobella donated a roll of cotton to mend my carry bag so I forked out for a ride in the dryer. Not really! I didn't have the coins.

The breakwall is perfect to get a feel for the conditions in the water. As a rule of thumb, it's always bigger out there than it looks. On the near point there was a jet ski towing in some local boardriders. Chunky. I'm watching the soccer tonight and laying low tomorrow. My hat and sunglasses were washed off deck this afternoon (don't ask) so I'm shopping tomorrow.

This is the river mouth. Just in case you didn't read the first sign they put up another one... 5 meters away. The dark skies are a result of a very damp trough hanging around the coast. I'm in the laundry of the caravan park to escape the tent for a while.

The local council take their public liability seriously. The only activities recommended are sitting and pointing. The river (not in photo) is breaking randomly but nothing serious. The swell has dropped noticeably from yesterday.

Perched on the grassy bank this morning I avoided the mud by sliding down this rough boat ramp, faster than anticipated but graceful throughout. With the tide running my way I raced down to Ballina before lunch.

The Pacific Highway runs along the other side of the river and on this side there are not many gaps in the mangroves. I wonder why they are called mangroves anyway? Mudgroves would be more appropriate. Judging by the pile of dung I trod in there were cows in the vicinity.

That's a concrete wall just before the bridge. It was an easy drag around it to plop back in the water on the other side. Soon after this the river joins the much bigger Richmond River that runs out at Ballina.

The Evan's River was as expected, flat and shallow. The bird-life was prominent with waders, divers, snatchers, hoppers and floaters all present.

Goanna Headland near Evans Head (tonight's camp) wasn't quite there but another big swell is due to hit tomorrow. The river bar I came over this afternoon will probably be messy with the new swell so I'm planning to go up the Evans River to join the Richmond River and float down to Ballina. I'm looking forward to my inland excursion but unsure of what obstacles might arise. Still, I'd rather lug the boat up a few shallows and splash around in the mud than negotiate Ballina bar in 8ft surf. Just thinking about it makes me go pale. Will report tomorrow if possible.

There are still good waves to be had on the tail end of last weekend's southerly swell. Green Point was pitching out nicely. All the surfers were further out at Angourie point.

Barnacles on the turtle shell. I thought he was dead and went back for breakfast. A guy drove along the beach, stopped, lifted it back into the water and drove on. Apparently it was just in need of rescue. This made me feel very guilty and stupid. It looked dead.

Waking up at Sandon I found this turtle (loggerhead?) washed up. I've been seeing them frequently in the water, this one is only about 0.5m wide but some are much bigger.

Warm days and clear, cold nights form much condensation. The tent fly is as wet in the mornings as if it had rained.

The evening light has been sublime lately.

Some crabs have more time than others to form their balls. This fella made a dashing statement that I couldn't ignore.

This was so long ago I've forgotten where it was... three days... umm... Sandon Bluff. Yep, that's it. I pulled in late and found these exquisite little sand balls on the intertidal zone. Some little crab makes them. They are about 5mm diameter if you're struggling for scale.

Convenient parking facilities at Arrawarra caravan park. It was good to be back on the water after a few very lazy days at Coffs. Conditions are perfect with a fresh southerly wind and a decaying south swell. How good was the soccer last night. Guus, Guus, Guus. I watched it with three Poms and a Seth Efrican. An emotional rollercoaster!

Coffs Harbouring

Welcome rain for the region is tumbling down with no end in sight. That said, when you're amongst low, dark rain clouds you can never see very far. I made a dash from the tent to the camp kitchen for a change of scenery and was thoroughly drenched. Nearly dry now. All the batteries are charged back up and I'm enjoying the luxury of a chair under a high ceiling. I love a rainy day. Just found another great weather site (http://www.coastalwatch.com/swell/forecastMain.aspx?page=sfforecasts&location=20) which is really just more of the same with different graphics. Better graphics I'd say. Zooming around Google Earth has also been fun. The resolution on some of the coast is getting better. It's good to have a real look at places I plan to land. Going north from here those places are; Arrawarra Headland, Sandon Bluff, Woody Head, Evans Head, Byron Bay, Tweed River and Goldcoast Seaway. There are a few long days amongst that lot but with a solid swell expected for most of the week I'll need all the protection on offer. We'll see how it goes. Won't be leaving here until the wind and swell ease back a little and Australia has disposed of Japan in the Cup. Tuesday.

But this afternoon went right off! A pair of Humpies (please correct me if I'm wrong) followed me through the gap between Korff Island and the breakwater at Coffs Harbour. Tail whacks, snorkel blasts, under the boat dives, what a treat. An awesome creature, so darned BIG.

Whale time! I cornered this little sucker with water still dripping from sunglasses this morning. Yes, blurry, it happens when water is still dripping from stuff.

The beachbreak at Valla beach this morning posed little problem. I busted on out there on a record first attempt. Then things got interesting...

Exiting Hat Head through the creek on the way to Valla Beach which is between Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour. What a way to start the day.

My stretching paid off as I spun around emu-style to snap a rear view of Hat Head. It's wonderfully protected from the SE swell and a little creek leads right up to the camping ground. It's been another wet and cold day with wild views of storm clouds sweeping seaward.

You can see that there's still a good swell spinning off from the weekend low. It's being topped up by a local SSE wind swell too. This is Crescent Head today. I saw another shark today, that makes 3 in 3 days! After nearly 3 months without a sighting I think something's going on. Perhaps a regional conference?

It got ugly coming into Port Macquarie last night. Spills and thrills galore, but I'll save it for the next newsletter.

Home for tonight. I saw a shark today too. It was a little Hammerhead, about 1.5m probably. I saw it from 10m away and it seemed unaware of me approaching until it was only 2m to my right. It bolted behind me and then turned and charged back towards the rudder before disappearing. It was clearly a juvenile (more head than hammer) and never posed a threat.

Back on the high seas today as I floated up from Forster to Crowdy Head (pic). Can you see the dolphins in the foreground? There was a huge pod all surfing the pointbreak as I came around the corner.

Today I continued on to Forster/Tuncurry. Dolphins everywhere except when I pulled the camera out. Truly! I paddled up the entrance with the tide and found a caravan park. A deep 'East Coast Low' is menacing the coast tomorrow so I'll stay put for at least a day. I've just eaten a bakery and feel a little ill. Go the Bombers tonight.

I kept burning up the coast past Seal Rocks (beautiful coast) to camp at Charlotte Head. The sign said no camping to ANYONE except homeless sea kayakers. Lucky.

Looks like the growth rings of a tree doesn't it. I trawled through the whole five things I still remember from my geology degree and came up with: sedimentary and brown. Seal Rocks area.