CENTRAL COAST - 17 TO 23 DECEMBER 2022

 

17 DECEMBER

A hike around the tracks at Kincumba Mountain with Jacinta. It looked like it could rain, and we did get a light shower during our walk. We followed a number of tracks; some Jacinta hadn't done before. It was very quiet for the whole hike.

That evening, we had a dinner at a Terrigal restaurant to celebrate Kara’s graduation. The food was great though the weather was a bit chilly ... for December!

19 DECEMBER

I had a mountain bike ride at Kincumba Mountain on a number of the summit tracks.

20 DECEMBER

A bike and hike to the last waterfall on Tank Creek in Brisbane Water National Park.

This was a longish ride and a very rough hike. The bike ride was on the trails that lead to Rocky Ponds. It was fun due to some good downhills on a rough surface. there was a need to be aware of fist sized stones.  

The hike started on an obscure track on the right just before reaching Tank Creek. The track followed a 'dry' creek, and it was heavily eroded and overgrown in sections. I followed it until I reached the last waterfall on Tank Creek. There were views of the Hawkesbury River from here. The waterfall dropped in a number of drops. I hiked along the creek coming across lots of waterfalls, cascades, areas of flat rock and dark pools of water. It was worth the effort.

On the return journey, my bike derailer broke and I had to scooter the bike 4km back to the van.

I drove home via the bike shop 'Bikeworkx'. The workshop was closed till January. I checked anyway and they decided to fix it. It was ready by the afternoon. Unlucky but lucky day.

22 DECEMBER

A surf at Wamberal Beach. A small crowd of friends with good lefts and rights. The rip was a bit strong and overall, it was fun.

23 DECEMBER

A surf at Wamberal Beach. The tide was very high and not much was happening but just on the peak of high tide it started to break, and I had about twenty minutes of okay waves on my own.

Afterwards, had a snorkel at Terrigal Haven. A nice surprise with a lot of fish, two large catfish and a small shark. When I got out of the water Jacinta had arrived with coffee. The perfect morning.

STINGRAYS, CATFISH AND TURTLE - 7 DECEMBER 2018

The surf wasn't encouraging this morning but a snorkel seemed worthwhile after sighting a turtle yesterday while swimming.




I waded out into the water on the Haven Beach and it was a bit chilly.

The visibility wasn't the best with a lot of sand particles obscuring vision. BUT it was a good sighting day. There were a lot of larger fish blending in with the sandy bottom but they skittered off very quickly from me.

After a short time, I spotted a small stingray. I followed it for awhile and three other small ones later. While I was following one of the smaller rays a very large ray suddenly swam directly under me. If I could jump I would have. Anyway, I followed the larger ray for a while but keeping my distance.

Later, I came across a large and small greenish catfish. They both undulated amongst the rocks slowly so they were easy to follow.

I was just about to finish when I spied a turtle. I very excited and followed it from above and below. Finally, it had enough of me and left me behind with a big smile.

It was such a great snorkel even though the visibility was poor. I was very cold though but warmed up with a coffee and a long sit in the sun.

A good morning.

AVOCA LAGOON KAYAK AND TERRIGAL ROCKS SNORKEL - 11 NOVEMBER 2016

The morning looked pleasant and north but there were some dark storm clouds coming from the south.

We had a heavy downpour of rain yesterday so I thought Avoca Lagoon might be more filled with water.

Well, the level was still the same as it has been for the last month. I guess that the water was absorbed into ground rather than runoff to the waterways.

It was still a quiet and glassy kayak but the low water made most areas to shallow for paddling.

There was a little rain from the storm clouds but it was soon over.

Later, I had a fun small surf at Wamberal Beach.

Later still, I went to the Haven with Kara and I went for a snorkel around the rocks at Terrigal rockpool while she baked.

The water had warmed up so I did the snorkel in boardshorts only.

I came across three huge catfish that were feeding under a rock ledge. When they were amongst the seaweed they were very well camouflaged.