CENTRAL COAST - 12 TO 18 FEBRUARY 2021

 14 February

Because of covid restrictions and our daughters being away we had a quiet Christmas.

Today was for us Christmas Day but in February. We hadn’t put the Christmas decorations and tree away so the home had a festive feel to it. The girls were home and their boyfriends too. Jacinta sister and husband were here. In addition, my long time friend and his wife were there to join us for a long lunch.

We started we drinks and progressed to lunch which was massive and tasty. Next were the Secret Santa presents which Kara organised. The final part was the family Christmas presents. Everyone was happy with the food, drinks and presents.

15 February

A surf check revealed poor quality waves as the wind was strong and getting stronger.

A windsurf day! I arrived at Canton Beach on Tuggerah Lake and Graham was rigging up. Before long, I was rigged and in the water with the 5m sail. It was an awesome session with strong constant wind. I managed a few small chop jumps and had a couple of wipe outs gybing in the strong winds. A fun day.

17 February

A surf check of North Avoca Beach. The surf was poor and the beach was covered in bluebottles.

I loaded in the kayak and headed over to Woy Woy. It was nice paddle along the channel and around Pelican Island and the oyster farms. The tide was low exposing the farms and adding a couple of kilometres onto the paddle. There were only a few birds about maybe because it was a little windy. I watched a pair of Sooty Oyster Catchers and a white faced heron that was foraging for food in the shallows.

18 February

An east wind this morning.

I rang mark and we drove over to Blackwall Mountain for a mountain bike ride. We got to the top for a great view over Ettalong, unfortunately to the east a rain squall was moving in. We just started the downhill when the rain it us. We continued and had wet fun exploring the tracks and with two downhill rides along some heavily eroded tracks. We were drenched by the end of the session.

Back home and the rain cleared … for the rest of the afternoon. haha

CENTRAL COAST - 5 TO 11 FEBRUARY 2021

 

5 February

A morning surf at Wamberal Beach. It wasn’t really good but there was the odd just okay wave. Spot (Mark B) paddled out. We had some fun until the blue bottles (stingers) move in with the increasing wind. Mark got stung.

We had coffee and breakfast.

Back home doing jobs until the wind increased more. I rang Mark who was keen to check out the windsurfing conditions. We drove to Monday Street and Peal Street. I rigged up at the latter and had my first windsurf at Budgewoi Lake. Well, it wasn’t too successful but I did have a few good runs and gybes. More downhaul need and mast placement on the boards needs to be further up.

On the way back we checked out North Entrance on Tuggerah Lake. That looked heaps better. Next NE wind, I’ll try there.

6 February

A lazy morning then Mark and I drove over to Brisbane Water National Park and rode some of the tracks at Warrah trig on the mountain bikes. Lots of fun – we did the PMG track fast and a few other tracks. The spider webs and orb weavers on the webs were a laugh when we swapped places taking the lead.

Afterwards, we had coffee and breakfast on Pearl Beach.

8 February

A trip to Sydney for a medical appointment. Checked out Cooks River while I was waiting.

9 February

A sunrise check of the surf at Wamberal Beach. The sunrise was nice but the surf looked ordinary.

Back home and I unloaded the windsurfing gear and replaced it with the kayak gear. A pleasant paddle around Avoca Lagoon – a little bit of cloud in front of  the rising sun, families of ducks, black swans, superb fairy wrens, a kangaroo and a odd coloured stick just under the surface of the water that turned out to be an unimpressed eel. Part of the foreshore of the lagoon was close temporary while council and Newcastle University were conducting a study of endangered green and golden bell frogs.

10 February

A morning surf check at North Avoca Beach – not much quality … again.

A mountain bike ride on Kincumba Mountain. No one around and the tracks were firm. Focused mainly on control and direction after a few tips from Mark. Towards the end, I surprised a wallaby feeding at the side of a track. J

11 February

Poor surf once again – them’s the breaks J

A mountain bike ride at Brisbane water National Park to Rocky Ponds. A great ride with some fun downhill runs. The tracks/trail were firm with some puddles of water. In sections, there were a lot of loose fist size rocks – a bit of a hazard. I stopped along the way to take photos of birds and flowers. The ponds were pretty. No one was there. I wandered around the bush and waded through the water.

CENTRAL COAST - 30 JANUARY TO 4 FEBRUARY 2021

 30 January

A light rain. I had ordered a new SUP paddle online and it was time to try it out.  I took the SUP out at Terrigal Lagoon. I paddled up to the golf course end and circled the small island. I returned with a detour under the bridge at Willoughby Road. At the end of the ride my legs were a bit numb. Next time, a bit of stretching before finishing. The new paddle was heaps better than the old one.

31 January

A morning surf at Wamberal Beach. I paddled out with Steve. The surf was okay, the waves a little infrequent and there was a strong wind. I was lucky and had about four good waves and a number of okay waves.

The wind increased through the morning. Time for a windsurf. The wind was a strong southerly. I started with the 5m sail but switched to the 6.3 m sail as the wind decreased. The new sail was a pick tricky to rig and I had to make a number of adjustments in the water. It was nice to catch up with windsurfing friends – Lisa, Lance, Craig, Peter, Michael. Need a better mast for the sail.

2 February

A trip to Sydney this morning with Kara.

First stop was to drop off Kara’s baby dusky lori at the pet cargo at Sydney domestic airport. She had a buyer for the bird from Cairns in North Queensland.

We had some time to kill so we drove over to La Perouse, had breakfast at The Boathouse and wandered around the shoreline of Bare Island.

Next stop was WSS boards at Manly as I needed some windsurfing items. I brought some downhaul rope, a new mast for the new sail and a new harness. I also had the universal joint replaced on my mast base. Keen to try out the new harness and the new mast in the new sail.

3 February

A morning surf check but there wasn’t much quality.

Back at home, we were visited by a pair of rainbow lorikeets roosting on the deck chair waiting for breakfast.

Too much excitement, so we took off for a hike at Girrakool. The recent rain gave the bush a fresh look. We walked the loop in an anticlockwise direction for a change. The first waterfall was flowing with a reasonable amount of water. It looked very pretty and we spent a bit of time there enjoying the falls.

There were a lot of flowers in bloom as well.

4 February

A morning surf check at North Avoca Beach and Wamberal Beach but once again not much quality.

We spent the day pottering around the house getting lots of small jobs finished or sort of finished.

Later, I had a swim at Terrigal Haven. The water was nice but the visibility under the water was very poor.

CENTRAL COAST - 22 TO 28 JANUARY 2021

 22 January

A morning surf check while watching the sunrise at North Avoca Beach

A  SUP ride on Avoca Lagoon with a fixed paddle. So much better. Haha! I paddled around the island and watched the sun peaking over the beach.

Later Jacinta and I had coffee on the beach at Terrigal Haven.

23 January

A SUP ride on Terrigal Lagoon. The balance is improving. Trying to get more power out of my paddle strokes.

24 January

A surf at North Avoca Beach. There were some okay waves though it was a bit random. There were only a few surfers out.

Later that day, I had a surprise visit from Mark B (Spot) and later still, we had a fun mountain bike ride at Kincumba Mountain.

25 January

A surf at North Avoca Beach. The waves were just okay.

Coffee at Terrigal Haven after the surf with Jacinta.

26 January

A bit of a disaster windsurfing day at Peel Street. Luckily, Peter was there and was able to help me through a few problems – my new 2^nd hand delta fin needed a lot of adjustment, my new sail was a little difficult to rig and the mast was the wrong size. I finally got in the water but had to return as the universal joint had snapped. I did learn a lot though J

27 January

A windsurf at Canton Beach. The wind was a smooth southerly and I used a 5m sail. Heaps of fun with off and on rain. Lance, Peter and Graham were also sailing.