KINCUMBA MOUINTAIN MTB - 26 FEBRUARY 2017

Yesterday, I had not too early surf at North Avoca.

The ocean was smooth and there were a few okay rights and lefts breaking. I was lucky in that there was a strong rip and it kept pulling the crowd down the beach away from the peaks during the lull in the waves.

Afterwards, I met Jacinta for a cappuccino at the haven.

The rest of the day it was raining pretty heavily at times so I did a number of inside tasks that I had been saving for a rainy day.

This morning the waves were messy with a strong onshore wind but the rain had stopped and it was a pretty sunrise.

I had a 4.54 km mountain bike ride on the tracks at Kincumba Mountain.


It was heaps of fun and seemed so easy after the much harder ride I had the other day at Ourimbah.

I met Jacinta for coffee and headed home while she had a walk around the haven.

The rest of the day was doing home tasks.

We are getting the fence replaced so I needed to adjust one of the retaining walls in our yard. Our home is on a sloping block and over the years I have built a number of retaining walls to hold the soil to grow plants or have paved sitting areas.

OURIMBAH MTB - 24 FEBRUARY 2017

Yesterday, I had a swim and short walk at Toowoon Bay.

Today, I had a mountain bike ride at Ourimbah mountain bike tracks.

This has the best tracks in the area. It was a long ride with downhills, climbs and a variety of terrains.

Best to just some up the highlights:

An undulating start that reaches a drop that was certainly a bit beyond me to make it through without major breakages. Luckily, there was a more forgiving track to the side.

The rollercoaster was long with speed. A few drops made it so you couldn't get too cocky.

The graveyard was a series of turns through trees.

The magic carpet was up, down, close to boulders and rocks and a few manmade challenges.

It was such a good 7.98 km ride.

Covered in sweat, I drove to the haven for an ocean swim.

Nice start to the day.

BOUDDI NP COASTAL HIKE - 22 FEBRUARY 2017

A morning sunrise at North Avoca then over to Copacabana for a surf check. Both were looking smooth but no quality in the waves.


I continued onwards to Putty Beach in Bouddi National Park.

I walked along the beach watching the small waves break and foam white for a short distance up the sand till their energy was spent and they backwashed to add to the size of the next wave. And so it continued.

At the end of the beach I climbed the stairs to the top of the headland and followed the track and raised path to the next beach. I was a pleasant walk with:

coastal views towards Sydney
sheer cliffs
waves crashing into and over the rocks
tessellating sandstone
bird call
and wooden stairs

I spent a bit of time sitting on a rock at the end of the beach watching the waves break over the sand and the rocks with an expansive coastal background. All very pretty and serene.

After the hike, I had an ocean swim at Terrigal Haven with a cappuccino

About mid morning, my daughter and her bird went to Killcare swim for a swim and lunch. Archibald, her bird was the star of the afternoon show, as usual.

NORTH AVOCA SUNRISE/SURF AND LITTLE BAY HIKE - 21 FEBRUARY 2017

I was down at North Avoca beach this morning to watch the sun rise.

The surf looked okay but I only stayed out a short while as it really wasn't too good.

I drove around to Bouddi National Park and had a hike down to Little bay then a hike around the rocks.


The walk down to the beach was easy and uneventful. At the small camping area there were a number of tents. This is about the first time I've seen anyone camping there. It is a such a good spot with ocean views and tranquility.

I walked along the short beach then the along the rocks at the northern side. It was a pretty walk and a number of times I just sat and watched the world do its thing.

Highlights included:

towering cliffs with heaps of broken rocks at the base.

waves crashing into the cliff face and along the rocky shore platform

the ocean twinkling with the sunrise

lots of small reflective rockpools

small shellfish clinging in groups to the rocks

piles of balancing rocks that were human made

the sound of the ocean

A pretty 2.43 km hike.

MIX - 15 TO 20 FEBRUARY 2017

This post is about a week catch up. So much happening in small ways that take up a lot of time...

Last Thursday

I had the best bike ride yet at Bouddi National Park on the Turkey and NW Ridge tracks. There was about three sections that I found were a little daunting and I tended to ride slowly through them or walk. On this day, I was feeling confident and in control of the bike. I didn't speed through these sections but I rode through at a good pace and didn't have any problems. Of course now, I might be getting a bit cocky and so the next ride might have a big fall.

The weather was still very hot so I had an ocean swim at Terrigal Haven after the ride.

I managed to get some more fun time in the mid afternoon and had a small but fun surf on okay waves at North Avoca.

Early last year, I ripped my right hamstring off the bone while surfing and it has taken over a year to get my surfing back to normal. Surfing at the moment feels so good and I feel my surfing is improving with each surf. Hopefully, we will be able to get to the Indonesian waves this year.

Friday

The wind was getting stronger and the waves a bit messy but there was an okay wave at Terrigal Beach. It doesn't break well there often but on this day there were some fun waves if you were waiting in the right place.

To explain the last statement further for non surfers - waves usually start to break in the one place and then break following the sand bank or reef. At Terrigal Beach the starting point is a bit random as the sand banks are continually shifting with the tide, waves and current. So there is an element of luck that you are waiting in the right spot.

On Saturday

I drove down to Canberra (4 1/2 hours) to visit long time friend Mark. Mark had recently undergone extensive surgery after a bicycle accident in a road race. It was good to catch up and see first hand that he was relatively okay.

I drove Mark around visiting his work business, walking around the multicultural festival, walked the dogs and had coffee in a cool outdoor restaurant.

The festival was so good. There was great music and displays and people to talk to from various parts of the world. I had a good chats with people from Indonesia and Morocco. I went to Morocco twice nearly 40 years ago. Times have changed but it was a nice trip down memory lane.

On Sunday

I came back early from Mark's and spent the day recovering from the drive and doing weekend house chores.

Today

I checked the surf at dawn and was rewarded with really good long running waves at North Avoca.

With a smile on my dial, I then drove to Sydney for a hearing appointment.

WOY WOY KAYAK - 14 FEBRUARY 2017

The wind was blowing from the east and the surf was looking a little messy especially with the low tide.

I drove to Woy Woy for a kayak.


The sun was rising amongst the cloud cover, peeping through when possible. The water had a oily smooth look to it with the overall scene in varying shades of contrasting greys.

I followed the channel towards the east and from then on I circumnavigated Pelican Island and back into the channel.

Some of the highlights:

Small white sand beaches with no footprints.

Many waterbirds in flight and foraging amongst the shallows.

The mangroves blooming in small orange flowers.

Old barges moored in the channel.

Piers with just enough clearance to paddle under.

The wake of passing boats sending the water rippling and the kayak bobbing.

A jellyfish struggling in the shallow waterweed water.

A sandy coloured stingray gliding over the top of the dark green seaweed.

A pretty 3.88 km kayak.

THE ENTRANCE KAYAK, TERRIGAL HAVEN SWIMS AND BIRDIE AND NORTH AVOCA BEACH SURFING - 13 FEBRUARY 2017

Well this is a bit of a catch up. It has been extremely hot here the last few days and by the evening I was too sunned out of it to write anything. A few cold beers, a light dinner and sleep.

9th February



A kayak at The Entrance. I started in the channel and paddled towards and under the road bridge. The tide was nearing high and was flowing very strongly against me. I followed the edge of the water passing under a pier and saying hello to a few people who were walking the path above me.

When I finally turned about, the current took me very quickly back to the bridge. Hardly any paddling, just mainly steering. I stopped at a sand bar in the middle of the estuary to watch the birds at play.

I went under the bridge and due to the high tide was able to paddle close to the islands. Lots of birds and fish in the water. I circumnavigated three of the islands then followed the channel back to the start.

A fun and pretty 3.74 km kayak.

10th February

An ocean swim today.

11th February

I had an early surf at Wamberal which last about 10 minutes. It just wasn't fun. I got out and drove north to Munmorah SCA and had a really fun surf on 1metre rights and lefts. I stayed in the water for ages and it was very hot. I actually stayed out too long on such a blistering day and later I developed a splitting headache that lasted all evening.

12th February

Another fun surf but this time at North Avoca Beach. Nice rights and the occasional left. I stayed in the water a long time again even though I still had a bit of a headache and the sun was once again relentless but it was so much fun and there were only a few guys out so there were a lot of waves to catch.

Later, Jacinta and I had dinner on the boardwalk at The Entrance. After such a hot day it seemed like a good idea to watch the waves with a sea breeze to cool us down. But the clouds gathered, the wind increased and it started to rain... on to plan B - eat and drink in the van.

13th February


The wind was up and the surf was messy in the morning. I watched the sun rise at North Avoca, had a swim and a walk at the Haven then caught up with a mate to chat and have a coffee. The rest of the day was spent on house chores that I was now capable of doing with the cooler weather.

WINNIE BAY HIKE - 8 FEBRUARY 2017

Yesterday, I had an a ocean swim at Terrigal Haven wearing goggles and snorkel.

The water looked clear but there was a lot of small plankton in the water which made it difficult for the camera to focus. There were a lot of fish about, the highlight being a large groper.

Today, it was still raining lightly at dawn but looked like it was a going to clear soon.


I drove to Captain Lookout at Copacabana and followed the track to Winnie Bay.

It was a very wet hike as the vegetation was thick along the track and dripping with raindrops. My shoes and pants were drenched by the time I got to the open area of Winnie Bay.

The walk was great as it followed the cliff edge until it dropped towards the bay below. There were lots of short turnoffs that lead to the cliff edge with expansive ocean views and dizzying drops to the ocean and rocks below.

It was a slow hike going down as there was an abundance of Golden Orb Weaver spiders along the side of the track and a number of times across thee track. I had to carefully remove an edge of the web so that the web was moved to side of the track. I watched one of thee orb weavers deal with a prey that had entangled itself in its sticky web.

Winnie Bay was a light pebbly beach with rock platforms stretching out from the base of the cliffs. The waves were crashing in a rough and random manner on the shore edge. I enjoyed walking on the flat rocks and watching the crabs scuttle away on my approach.

A wet but good 2.87 km hike.

I met two police officers at the lookout at the end. There was no problems but they part of there run was to check lookouts and large water storage tanks for vandalism and other indiscretions.

I had a short ocean swim at Terrigal haven before heading home.

Later in the afternoon, I went to the movies to see 'Resident Evil'. It was non stop action all the way. :)