On 4^th May at dawn we crossed the bar into the Clarence River, in calm conditions, and anchored off the town of Yamba about a third of the way between Brisbane and Sydney

The entrance bar is notorious, and we were pleased the mild weather had held for us, as a few days later when the wind was F4/5 we watched the breakers roaring across the river mouth.

The small town of Yamba is a popular tourist destination, with a small marina, a busy fishing fleet, & a convenient public jetty. The town has two areas, the east peninsula with the beach and harbour with boutique shops & bars and the western area with waterfront houses on inlets and general stores.

The Clarence river is navigaable by yacht for 40nm to the bridges at Grafton. So working the tides again we headed upstream, here the tidal range is about 1metre and hopefully would give us enough clearance in the shallow areas. There is a lifting bridge at Harwood 10 nm upstream, which lifts on request with 24 hours notice at a time agreed. Before reaching the bridge we passed several creeks and islands, including Palmer Island, which had beautiful homes fronting the river on large plots, some displaying unfriendly notices.

Just after the bridge is the small town of Maclean. There are 2 small town pontoons which are available for visitors for 24 hours, with water and electricity. We opted to drop the hook and check the depths at the pontoon for a subsequent visit. Maclean is known as the Scottish town, and spreads up the hillside behind the river to a lookout which gives 360 views of the Clarence valley. There are over 200 electricity poles painted with different tartans round the town, and the school uniform is the Maclean Hunting tartan.