KU-RING-GAI NP - COWAN CREEK KAYAK - 9 APRIL 2016

A beautiful morning for a kayak.



I drove to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and parked at the junction of Cockle Creek and Cowan Creek.

The drive down the steep hill from the highway to the water was pretty. Bikes everywhere on the road. Luckily, they were going uphill and I was going down.

At the carpark, I was amazed with the amount of people there. Apparently, there was a huge cross country race on. As I was paddling along the creek, I had glimpses of runners in the bush.

I launched at Cockle Creek and paddled under a bridge and turned into Cowan Creek. The first sight was a massive marina with huge motor launches. It made me wonder how rich some people must be but then again all the boats were moored and only one space was empty so I guess they don't get to use them that much. It is simpler for me to be on the water but I'm on it a lot.

After the marina, nature dominated with mangroves and cliffs. The deep valley kept the creek sheltered from wind but allowed in the sunshine.

In one part, I was able to paddle amongst the trees and mangroves. It was a  surreal wonder world of reflection.

The creek ended in a jumble of rocks that I was able to navigate for a short distance.

On the return, I explored a small tributary which had an amazing waterfall. The water was pouring from the root system of a plant dangling in the air above the water. So pretty.

A pleasant 10.10 km kayak.

LANE COVE NATIONAL PARK - WEST PYMBLE MTB - 8 APRIL 2016

I was in Sydney today and had time for a bike ride.



I parked at Wallalong Crescent, West Pymble for access to Lane Cove National Park.

There was an entrance service road straight opposite to where I parked. I followed this and took the first turn on the left onto a track.

It was a fun ride with flat areas, descents and ascents. The descents and ascents were steep in parts and very eroded with a lot of large loose stones. I did well going downhill but some of the uphill was a bit too hard so I walked these sections.

It was quiet and pretty with some native flowers in bloom.

At one stage, I passed across a small shallow creek which was very pretty.

By the end of the 3km ride I was drenched in sweat.

A fun but hard at times ride.

PEBBLEY BEACH HIKE - 6 APRIL 2016

I drove back to the Norah head area to check the waves but the tide was very high on a low swell so no waves.


I looked over Soldiers beach for a short while then decided to walk along the rocks towards Pebbley Beach which was to the north of Soldiers Beach.

It was a pleasant short walk along a quiet white sand beach. The seas were rough being exposed to the northerly wind. The back drop of the beach was very tall sand dunes interspersed with vegetation on the slopes but thicker on the crest.

I wandered along the beach and  threw a stick for a dog to chase, walked along the edge of the waves and walked mainly on the soft sand to the rocks at the far northern end which was Norah head.

I climbed the sand dunes on leaving and followed a short path to the Soldiers Beach carpark.

I went back to sitting on the cliff overlooking Soldiers Beach. Still no waves yet.

SOLDIERS BEACH SURF - 5 APRIL 2016

A beautiful sunny warm morning. Hard to believe that it is nearly halfway through Autumn.

Surf hunting this morning. Finally, I found some okay waves at Soldiers Beach.

There were only a few surfers out on a right hand wave. It was fun and a couple of waves were alright. I had some trouble with the hamstring on one wave which was breaking hard and fast when I tried to turn the board harder into the face of the wave. I have to look into that problem tomorrow.

A beautiful morning and it was nice sitting on the cliff watching the waves after my surf.

SNAKE ISLAND KAYAK - 2 APRIL 2016

Just before the bridge at the Hawkesbury River heading towards Sydney , one can look down onto Mooney Mooney Creek. In the centre of the creek is a small island. I've looked at that island a few times thinking how pretty it looked in such a tranquil setting. Contrastingly, it is named Snake Island.

I parked at Mooney Mooney boat ramp and launched towards Snake Island. The morning was tranquil and the sun had just risen.

It was a nice paddle 'battling'  the currents under the Hawkesbury bridges, well, not really a battle but it was a little turbulent. There are three bridges - two for the motor way and one for the local traffic on the old Pacific Highway.

Passing the bridges, I paddled turned off the Hawkesbury River and into Mooney Mooney Creek. Mangroves, houses, cliffs and fishing type businesses dotted the shoreline.

I reached a point where I turned towards Snake Island. The island was small and an easy paddle around. There was a small sandy beach where I landed and explored the shoreline of the island. It was nice placing my sole imprint into the sand as I walked. I didn't venture inland as it was steep, rocky, no paths, thick with vegetation and probably covered in snakes. I worked at Milson Island which is not far from here and it had lots of snakes so I figured this place would as well.

Leaving Snake Island (I didn't see any snakes), I paddled to the east side of the Creek and followed it towards the Hawkesbury River and Spectacle Island. I had paddled around Spectacle Island before. It is very interesting with some small sandy beaches, mangroves, thick varied vegetation, mudflats and rocks. A large hill dominates the centre of the island with sandstone cliffs tumbling downwards towards the relatively flat shoreline.

I landed on Spectacle Island and walked along the shoreline of rocks and sand.

I continued onwards towards the bridges and the parking artea. On the way, I got stuck on the mudflats. I thought it was only a short distant to deeper water but it took ages pushing very slowly through the shallow water by hand. Still, it was good exercise. :)

A pleasant 8.61 km kayak with interesting features like bridges and two islands.

27th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY - 1 APRIL 2016

The first of April is our wedding anniversary. Today is the day of our 27th wedding anniversary.

Jacinta and I, drove around our favourite spots in Terrigal and Wamberal and took selfies. It was heaps of fun! :)

We passed the main thoroughfare in Terrigal and smelled food. It smelt good so we stopped and had dinner and a few beers at the Crown Plaza Terrigal beer garden. The food and beers were great.

Back home, we opened up a bottle of Moet and watched our wedding video while eating chocolate.

A nice fun celebration.

LONG JETTY CYCLE - 1 APRIL 2016

John and I went for a bike ride at Long Jetty.

This was john's first ride since his injury and he went well on the flats and eventually the small hill climbs.

It was a great morning with a few highlights :-

On peddling out on one of the piers there were seagulls and terns roosting on the railing all the way along. As we cycled along the pier, the seagulls flew off in a sort of formation to the left and the right. It looked pretty cool from my vantage point behind John.

We watched a teen girl doing all sorts of tricks on her bike in the bike park. Amazing to watch! She was so good but alas, the footage didn't turn out as I turned the go pro off rather than on. She said she had been practising for a few years and learned watching the older boys.

People saying hello and good morning as we cycled pass them.

Cycling along the piers. We met a young guy fishing at the end of one jetty. He had no luck fishing but he enjoyed the solitude and view.

A play in the two bike parks though I was wasn't near the young girls standard, I still had a good time and felt inspired to do better.

A fun bike ride.