CENTRAL COAST - Terrigal - surf - 25 December 2009

NE swell with a bit of size near Terrigal surfclub. It was actually better in than it looked. The waves were fun, smooth and lumpy.

CENTRAL COAST - Tuggerah Lake - The Entrance - kayak - 24 december 2009

Started on the north side of the Entrance bridge. Paddled down the channel to the bridge and criss-crossed to the south side. Paddled wide due the shallowness of the water. Eventually, paddled around the far island in the lake and back and around the island near the old fishing cooperative and then down the channel to the bridge.

A lot of bird life within a short distance of man made environment was a bit of a constrast. Quite often fish would leap from the water.

time: 2 1/2 hours

CENTRAL COAST - Bateau Bay to Crackneck - HIKE - 20 december 2009

Cloudy and cool temperature day. Good for a walk.

Parked at south end of Bateau Bay. Walk down the ramp or stairs and on to the beach. The bay is partially sheltered and good for a swim though it is unpatrolled.

Walking south there is a large shore platform from the edge of the beach to Crackneck Point. Along the way there are shallow pools of water and even mangroves at one spot. The cliff background is densely vegetated with native and weed growth.

Birdlife varied with crows, seagulls and other sea birds. Molluscs clump in species groups along the surface of the rock platform and mix together in the watery crevices.

 

There are floaters of iron oxide amongst the sandstone which shows the development of pools in various stages. This has developed into interesting formations of sandstone similiar to a maze at the northern end of the rock shelf.

grade: easy, flat

warnings: best 3 hours either side of low tide, rock platform is very slippery in parts.

Europe and Morocco - 1979

Travelled for year in Europe and Morocco. Not many photos as they were stolen towards the end of the trip.

Flew from Australia to Rome. Wandered around for a few days visiting sites.

Flew to Agadir in Morocco. Spend about a month in Tarazut in fishing hut surfing. Then travelled around Morocco for a month seeing deserts, towns, gorges and mountains.

Ferry to Cadis in Spain then travelled through Spain for a month visiting lots of towns and cities.

Stopped at Laborde france for about 8 weeks. relaxing, surfing and having a good time.

Continued through France to England and caught up with friends and had a great time.

Next was Den Haag, Holland, catching up with friends and having a good time.

Across West Germany then to Berlin. A great fun city. Train to Poland and wandering around the country.

Ferry to Sweden then following the west coast to Norway.

Returning from Norway due to snow through Sweden, Denmark, West Germany and visiting friends again in Holland.

Down to Biarittz for a month staying in a studio near the beach, surfing.

Trains and ferry to Marrakech, Morocco then bus over to Agadir and surfing for a month or so.

Got a lift to the Belgium border then more lifts to Den Haag before flyong to Australia.

Great trip which was a blur of culture, fun, friendships and parties.

India - Manali - 1986

Manali is a hill town in India. there are two towns some distance from each other - new and old manali. Old Manali is old and looks very poor. travelled around the area for a week or so.

Interesting place to people watch.

 

 

India - Dharamsala - 1986

Dharasala is a hill town in India. It is the home town for the Dali Lama and many other Tibetian refugees. The town has a Tiben feel with Tibetian restaurants.

It is a great place to relax and meet people from all parts of the world.

India - Gulmarg - 1986

Gulmarg is a mountain town in Kashmir. It has a ski resort.

the place was covered in snow and was very cold. The clouds were so close the electricity could be felt in the air. Some locals were walking around in bare feet on the snow and ice!!!

Very pretty but the close thunder and lightning added a serreal affect to it all.

India - Pahalagam - 1986

Pahalagam is a small town within a beautiful mountain valley in Kashmir. The hills are covered in trees and the road north leads off to more villages and the snow capped mountains.

Wandered around the area for a week. Great place. Loved it!!

India - Srinagar - 1986

A very steep bus ride from New Dehli and into Kashmir. Srinagar is a spread out town aaround the south end of the Dal Lake. Houseboats are moored in the lake with mountain backdrops. Very pretty. Stayed in a houseboat for a few days but the sellers coming to the boat were regular and persistent. Moved into hotel by the lake shores. The lake flooded while there and so needed a boat to get into and out of the hotel.

The food was great and very different to the rest of India. Lots of nuts and dried fruit.

The big attraction was boating on the lake and its tributaries. Cycled around a reasonable section of the lake and visited lots of gardens.

India - Pushkar - 1986

Pushkar is an amazing town in Rajastan, India. the town surrounds one side of a holy lake which is clean and filled with fish. Monkeys jump across the houses. Early mornings and afternoons, the sounds of drums greets or farewells the day. The backdrop is very arid land dotted with separated hills with a temple on top.

A great place to relax.

Nepal - 1986

Flew from Sri Lanka to Nepal. Spend a month enjoying the countryside. Spent a week in Chitwan and rode elephants and by foot into national park. Saw white rhinos and crocs but no tiger. Maybe that was okay seeing we were on foot.

Sri Lanka - 1985/1986

Stayed in Sri lanka for a month. The weather and surf were great. Met lots of people and had a great time.

Thailand - Bangkok - 1985

Stopped in Bangkok for a few days. Always so humid and hot.