BOUDDI NP STROM LOOKOUT TRACKS MTB - 30 MARCH 2016

I checked a few beaches for a surf but the tide was low and at most beaches the waves were closing out.

I went to plan b which was a bike ride. I drove to Bouddi National Park and parked at the carpark at the top of Maitland Bay Drive.


I peddled in the direction of the Strom Lookout. The track was wide as it also is a rarely used service road.

On the left, I noticed a small track and followed it. It was windy and fun and a little damp from the recent rains. It ended at a culvert that ran beneath the road. Water was running out of the drain and into a small pool which flowed a short distance to a cascade over a sheer drop. I inched towards the edge but it was certainly an intimating drop. The mosquitoes at this stop were horrendous so I didn't stay long.

I back tracked and followed the main trail. I came across another track which meandered narrowly for a short distance before rejoining the trail. Half way along this track there was another track that lead downhill. I will have to try this one next time I'm here.

I followed the trail till the end then backtracked to the Strom lookout turnoff. This was a short track that ended in a fenced lookout area with a vista over Brisbane Water from Hardy's Bay to Ettalong.

A fun 2.84 km ride with side tracks and not fun mosquitoes.

AVOCA LAGOON KAYAK - 29 MARCH 2016

The weather was cloudy with the possibility of rain.


I pick up John and we went to Avoca Lagoon for a kayak. john is currently recovering from a leg injury also. he dropped an angle grinder on his leg... pretty gruesome injury... anyway this was his first kayak for a long time.

It was very still on the lagoon and a very pleasant reflective kayak. A few birds around - peahens, egrets and ducks - but it was mainly the quietness that was so appealing. Spent a bit of time watching the fruit bat colony.

The return paddle was in light rain... pretty. 2.13 km.

John's leg was fine.

We had coffee at Terrigal Haven and I suggested a bike ride next!

TERRIGAL HAVEN SNORKEL - 27 MARCH 2016

A short drive to Terrigal Haven and a snorkel.


The water was still warm. The visibility was poor with a lot of sand movement at times.

The highlights were a fleeting stingray, crab skittering across the sand and various fish .

It was pleasant in the water and it was nice sitting in the sun warming up after the snorkel.

Back home for a big breakfast and an Easter egg pig out. Way too much chocolate but I love it.

BEROWRA CREEK KAYAK - 26 MARCH 2016

Berowra Creek is about an hour drive from home, so hoping for a quiet start I drove off in the dark and reached Berowra by first light.


It took awhile to find a parking and launching place. The tide was low and there was a big drop from road to water and most of the access points were on private land. Luckily, I found a spot though it was very slippery on the rocks leading down to the water's edge.

I paddled past some small marinas and reached the Berowa Ferry. I had to wait till the ferry passed and the cables of the ferry were underwater before I could paddle past... no drama.

After a short distance, I paddled around a bend and there were no more boats or houses just mangroves and still reflective water.

The paddle was for 3 hours plus. The best parts were the small tributaries.

One was narrow and ended in a dripping waterfall. I wandered around carefully on the slippery rocks.

Another tributary went under a walking track bridge and ended when the water was too shallow for the kayak. I paddled back to the bridge and walked around the area and onto the bridge which was a part of the Great North Walk. There was a very pretty saltmarsh on one side of the creek that was dotted with spider webs on the top of the tall reeds.

Another tributary was bounded on one side by sheer cliffs with huge sandstone overhangs that overlapped the creek. One day they will fall but not today. Further along the creek, were some rock obstacles to paddle around with the creek finally ending for me in a tumbling spread of body size rocks. The sunlight was filtering through the trees and highlighted certain rocks and vegetation in the bushy area.

It was a hard 10 km kayak as I was paddling against the tides in both directions. Still, it wasn't that hard.

KINCUMBA MOUNTAIN MTB - 25 MARCH 2016

A lazy day today.

Checked the surf but it was messy and I thought looking elsewhere would be a waste of time,
chatted with a few friends at the beach and had coffee at the Terrigal Haven Beach.

Not much enthusiasm but cometh the late afternoon, I felt an urge for a bike ride.

Off to Kincumba Mountain for a ride.

I haven't been for a few weeks as I have been concentrating on improving my surfing so it was a hard going...muscles burning on the grinds, breathing like I was a bellow and sweating profusely... a fun ride :)

KILLCARE, NORTH AVOCA, PEARL AND OCEAN BEACH SURF - 24 MARCH 2016

This morning, I checked out a few other beaches.

First stop was North Avoca but it was a bit messy and big.

The second stop was Ocean Beach which  I thought would be too small today. It was small but the waves did not have much shape with the low tide.

I drove on towards Pearl Beach, which doesn't really get surfable waves but the café has good coffee. I brought a coffee and did a soft sand walk on the beach towards the rockpool. The soft sand is suppose to be good for building up my hamstring strength.

It was nice and quiet walking along the beach.

I drove back to Ocean Beach and surf a very small right hand sand bank. It was a nice wave but there weren't too many of them.

A nice start to the day. :)

Later, my daughter and I had lunch and coffee at Killcare Beach café. Such a nice view across the beach with good food.

We watched a young guy surfing on what looked like close out waves to me but he just kept getting the most amazing barrels I've seen in a long time... a barrel master.

OCEAN BEACH SURF - 23 MARCH 2016

I drove over to Blue Bay looking for waves but it was crowded and getting more crowded.

It was a bit of a drive but over to Ocean Beach I went.

Amazing a lot of sand was gone from the beach. Usually, I walk down the sandy path to the beach but at the moment there is a very steep drop of about three metres to the beach proper.

The waves were small, about 1/2 metre but there was a nice right hand wave bank with one SUP on it.

The waves were fun and some went quite a distance with nice shape. There were heaps of waves to catch but eventually, the waves petered out to very small and in I went.

Another fun day in the water.

BLUE BAY SURF - 22 MARCH 2016

Blue Bay, I find is usually crowded to very crowded. This morning, I was so surprised to see no one on the inside of the reef break.

There was a nice wave bubbling over the rocks. It was especially better when the waves broke a little wide as these waves had more size to them.

I had a fun surf and was pretty happy as I was able to cut across the face of the waves better and even give a little extra push when needed.

TOOWOON BAY HIKE - 21 MARCH 2016

The last few days have been very wet so I didn't get a chance to do anything special.

The rain eased today and I took the opportunity to look around for some waves to surf. No luck with the surf but I did have a pleasant quiet walk along the beach at Toowoon Bay.

The sand was soft and wet, the waves broke lightly on the shore, the sun flickered across the ocean and all was quiet except the sound of the wind and waves breaking.

A nice start to the day.

OCEAN BEACH SURF - 17 MARCH 2016

First try at surfing in the waves since the hammy injury...2 months ago.

It was so nice to be in the water with my board.

I was a little apprehensive. Actually, I was a lot apprehensive but I paddled out and brushed aside my fear of retearing the hammy.

It felt so good when I pushed myself and tried a little bit more. In the end, I could sit on my board, paddle out, duck dive, paddle over and through waves, paddle on to waves, slide down the board to avoid a dump on the closeouts and cut across the wave. I was lying down the whole time as standing up wasn't really a go on the small but dumping waves.

I got out feeling good and tired.

No photos just feelings.

TOOWOON BAY SNORKEL - 13 MARCH 2016

A clear sky sunny morning.


Down to Toowoon bay for a snorkel.

The tide was low. I walked out to the sand point of the beach and plonk myself down on the beach. The narrow stretch of water between the beach and the rock island had a small, sheltered channel running between the two.

I snorkeled in the channel. the water was shallow and clear though visibility decreased on the ends of the channel.

There were lots of fish, the seaweed swayed with the currents and the light flickered in endless patterns on the sand and rock base of the channel. All very pretty and clear like being in a filtered fish tank.

A pretty and fun snorkel followed by a soft sand walk and coffee.

KARIONG MTB - 12 MARCH 2016

A foggy morning.

I drove to Kariong for some fun cross country tracks.

It was a great morning. Some tracks were a little overgrown with some very hard spiky bushes. Other spots were open sandstone with tuffs of vegetation growing in patches over the rocks. In addition, the sandstone formed some great shapes like sand under the ocean.

The views were blanketed with fog giving an eerie appearance especially at the drop offs of the sandstone escarpment.

At the end of one track, I came across a group of glossy black cockatoos. I think these are an endangered species in the wild.

A enjoyable 6.69km ride.

KATANDRA RESERVE WATERMAN HIKE - 11 MARCH 2016

It was a cloudy and warm morning. Time for a hike.


I drove to Katandra Road and parked in the picnic area. the track was easy but a lot of dried leaves made it slippery in places.

The track at one stage descended steeply and wound its way briefly through dark rainforest. It was silent except for the crunch of leaves underfoot and the call of birds.

Next stop, was the Seymour Pond. The pond is small surrounded by dry rainforest and filled with waterplants. It was tranquil to gaze upon it for awhile.

I followed the track around the pond through dried rainforest. All was very quiet. Along the way there were glimpses of the trickle of water that fed the pond. This trickle disappeared at times going under the rocks.

Back to the pond and the sun was appearing. I only had time for a short walk so I had to back track rather than continue further afield.

A quiet and pleasant hike.

AVOCA LAGOON KAYAK - FOGGY MORNING - 10 MARCH 2016

A foggy morning covering the sea and land.

Over to Avoca Lagoon for a kayak.

The water was glassy and mist shrouded. I paddled towards the ocean end to start and the fog covered the ocean and beach but there was still visibility.

Deeper into lagoon towards the west the fog was thicker and it was amazing seeing a shade of white that turned into a group of pelicans as I paddled closer. It was fun as everything seemed like a surprise as it came into view.

The lagoon was very shallow, so I was very restricted to where I could paddle. I have always considered the lagoon better when full with water but I must admit it was fun paddling in the very low water. The shallowness lead to channels of water between places where I normally would paddled. Such a different perspective. The erosion around the shoreline was visible showing undermining to sometimes to a metre in depth.

There were  a lot of birds this morning as well - coromorants, ducks, black swans, swamp hens, pelicans and some other bird I have yet to identify.

A fun misty 2.55 km kayak.

KINCUMBA MOUNTAIN MTB - 9 MARCH 2016

Time to try a harder track to ride.

Up to Kincumba Mountain and off I went on the long new track.

It was so much fun riding with no problems from the hamstring - hard pedal up the grinds, some speed downhill and comfort on the bumps.

A fun ride and I was covered in perspiration at the end. Yahoo :)