Sydney to Port Stephens: the week within a day of home

Board at Rose Bay after lunch and cruise past the Opera House and under the Bridge before anyone has unpacked. Then east to Store Beach, the quiet one inside North Head that you can only reach by water, for the first swim and the first night at anchor with the city lights across the Harbour.

• The Opera House and the Bridge from the water
• Store Beach, boat access only
• The first night at anchor inside the Heads

A day the Harbour rewards: Shark Island for the picnic, Watsons Bay and the Gap for a walk, Taronga from the water, and the toys in at Athol Bay. Lunch at Catalina in Rose Bay, which we book for you, then back on board for sunset from the water, the best seat in the city.

• Shark Island picnic, Athol Bay for the toys
• Lunch at Catalina, booked by us
• Sunset from the water

Out through the Heads after breakfast, up the northern beaches with Manly, Dee Why and Narrabeen going by, and into Pittwater by lunch. Down to The Basin for the beach picnic and the wallabies on the grass behind it, then across to Palm Beach: walk up to Barrenjoey lighthouse for the view, lunch at The Boathouse, and sunset drinks at Jonah's above Whale Beach if the group wants a table on the cliff.

• The northern beaches from the sea
• The Basin picnic, wallabies behind the beach
• Barrenjoey lighthouse walk
• The Boathouse and Jonah's, both booked by us

A night in Pittwater, then the Hawkesbury, which is just around the bay. Oysters from the river on deck for breakfast, then up Cowan Creek to Refuge Bay: a waterfall on the beach, bush to the waterline and nobody else. The water is flat, so it is the day for the tender, the paddleboards and the water toys, a walk ashore, and a quiet night at anchor.

• Hawkesbury oysters for breakfast
• Refuge Bay and its waterfall
• Flat water for the toys and the tender
• Bush to the water's edge, almost no one else

A proper passage day. Out of Broken Bay early, past the Central Coast and Newcastle with lunch under way, and into Port Stephens mid-afternoon with the dolphins meeting the boat at the heads as they do most days. Anchor off Shoal Bay with the bay flat behind Tomaree Head and the first evening swim in the clearest water of the week.

• Six hours of coast, whales from June to November
• Dolphins at the heads
• Shoal Bay at anchor

Morning with the resident bottlenose dolphins from the tender, a hundred and forty of them living in the bay. Then across to Stockton Bight for the sand dunes, thirty kilometres of them: sandboarding, quad bikes or just the walk to the top. Dinner at Rick Stein at Bannisters, which is the table everyone wants and which we hold for you.

• The resident dolphins from the tender
• Stockton Bight dunes
• Dinner at Rick Stein at Bannisters

Out to Broughton Island for the day: a national park with no one on it, grey nurse sharks on the point for divers, fairy penguins at dusk and a beach the colour of the Whitsundays. Back into the bay for the last night, dinner on board, and the fishing lines out if the group is keen.

• Broughton Island, empty
• Grey nurse sharks for divers
• The last dinner on board

The long day home, breakfast and lunch under way and the Heads by late afternoon with the city in front of you. Or the quicker version: the yacht drops you in Newcastle after breakfast, a car has you in Sydney in two hours, and she comes home on her own.

• The Heads from the sea, late afternoon
• Or Newcastle and a car, and keep the morning