SURFING, XMAS PARTIES AND PREP, SNORKEL AND KAYAKING - 13 DECEMBER 2017

8 December 2017

I had a surf check along a number of beaches and ended up having a good time at Shelly Beach. There was a nice left and a great left at times.

On one left, I took off late nearly made it, hit a chop and took a punishing wipeout.

Next, Kara and I were off to a Christmas luncheon. Great food and some interesting stories were told.

We drove to the mall, met up with Chloe and bought Christmas decorations under Kara's supervision.

Back home and the decorating started.

9 December 2017

I woke tired and sore this morning. Probably due to yesterday's hard surf fall.

I ended up having an ocean swim at Terrigal Haven, coffee and ran into Ken.

Later in the afternoon, Jacinta and I drove down to Sydney for a reunion with old time house mates. It was a fun night with good food and company, a lot of laughs and secret Santa presents.

10 December 2017

We had stayed down in Sydney for the night and had breakfast at 'The Shed' in Centennial Park with some of the reunion attendees.

Finally, drove home and had an easy afternoon.

11 December 2017

An early surf check but the tide needed to be higher.

A kayak at Wamberal Lagoon. I saw a number of bird species - swamphens, cormorants, black swans, ducks, plovers, white faced herons. The dragonflies were in abundance and very colourful.

I paddled along the creek at the northern end of the lagoon. So quiet and still. the water was very reflective and the water as also clear.

A stop at Terrigal Haven on the way home for a cappa on the beach and an ocean swim.

Back home to heaps of chores.

12 December 2017

A small, fun and okay surf at North Avoca this morning. Most of the time there was just two of us out. The water was warmer and very clear.

Back home to a lot of moving furniture, etc around. All big jobs. Sweating profusely by the end of it.

13 December 2017

A middle of the day snorkel at Terrigal Haven.

The visibility wasn't the best but I did sight a number of sea creatures - huge catfish, jellyfish and different types of fish. The water was much warmer.

SYDNEY - SEALIFE AQUARIUM - 31 DECEMBER 2015

One of my Christmas presents from my daughters was a snorkel with the sharks at Sealife Aquarium in Sydney.


Surprisingly, it was a traffic free drive to Sydney, just a little over an hour.

We walked around Darling Harbour admiring the ocean and cityscape views. Looking across from the Darling Harbour area and the various buildings and developments I was looking into my mind's eye when I fished there as a kid sitting on coal covered pontoons.

At Sealife, the entry line was very long. When I attracted an attendant,  I was whisked to the front of the line as the snorkeling was a priority entry. I handed in forms and waited for about 10 minutes for the tour.

The tour was pretty good. It started with showing us the tank from above and explaining about the animals we would be up close and personal. Interesting facts!

Down in the belly of the complex, we donned our snorkeling gear and walked a short distance to the tank. We were in a glass enclosure inside the glass enclosure of the fishes and sharks. All very safe.

The snorkel was about 1/2 hour. There were many creatures in the tank which guided by the tank at various intervals - leopard sharks, black tip reef sharks, sting rays,  sword sharks and a host of smaller and larger fish. It was pretty exciting though it would have been better to be in the tank with the sharks.

Later. we wandered around the other attractions of Sealife. I was impressed with the jellyfish, penguins and the walkways through and under the shark tanks.

We then had a great lunch admiring the harbor views then back home.

Excellent day. :)

INDONESIA - BALI - BALIAN - 28 August to 2 September, 2014 - 'THE GEORGE, THE CHOOK AND THE SCOTT'

Info

Ayu’s fan room – 150 000R

My Journey

I was happy with my passport back. I decided to head back to my favourite bali spot – Balian – for surfing, chatting and relaxing.

-

I settled into Ayu’s guesthouse in a fan room – 150 000R. I caught up during the day with Scotty, Chooka, Daniel and Marty, who were here on my last stay. I met Russ from England and walking down the road, I past George, who I knew since high school. We sat down and chatted for a while. It was good to see him as George is a nice guy!

I had heaps of good, over-head waves everyday for the whole of my stay on the lefts, outside and inside rights with the last day being the best but plagued with red stinging jellyfish.

On one day, I had a long walk down to the far right point. The waves looked so good but difficult to in and out of he water. Definitely, need a surfing buddy and booties.

INDONESIA - BALI - NUSA PENIDA - 23 to 26 August 2014 - 'CLOSE TO BALI 30 YEARS AGO'

INFO

Penida Gardens Hotel – 250 000R – fan okay
Motorbike - 60 000R
the gallery – nusa penida – 081999887205 or 087860330551 Namaste bungalows – jalan raya sakti crystal bay  – imam lalu – contact@namaste-bungalows.com - +62 (o)81917933418 – www.namaste-bungalows.com

MY JOURNEY

I left Legian being picked up by a shuttle bus and dropped at the Nusa Penida ticket office at Sanur. From there I walked to the beach and the boat landing area. I ate at a warung while waiting. The boat landed on the beach and there was a massive crowd boarding. They were mainly Indonesians going to a ceremony on the island.

The trip was calm and the locals going to the ceremony were very friendly and inquisitive. The boat landed at Sampalan, Nusa Penida. I got an ojek to look at the hotels. I liked the look of Penida Gardens. I settled in and organised a motorbike.

I drove along the coast towards Crystal Bay. It was an easy fun ride with little traffic but a lot of pot holes. At Crystal Bay, I put my gear into a warung and had a couple of snorkels. The water was so clear and calm and the coral and fish were plentiful. I walked around the bay over dry reefs and cliffs faces. It was awesome scenery!

That night, it was Putu’s birthday. He was the manager of the hotel. All the guests went to the party which was ½ hour drive away. There was cake and beer but no food. It started off as a food fight, then beers, then cake, then beers and then entertainment – limbo rock, guitar, singing and various games. The people were nice – Putu, the Irish couple, the Italian couple, the Basque girls and the Spanish guy, Putu’s friends and Miss Banyuwangi . The names of everyone eluded me except Marko the Italian guy.

What a great first day!

The next day, I chatted with the Italian couple and Irish couple at breakfast.

Later, I went a long ride to, over and around the mountains then down to crystal bay. The journey was so good being filled with friendly locals, deserted roads, villages, getting lost and pretty mountain and coastal scenery.

 At Crystal bay, the surf had changed from yesterday. It was wild and treacherous. The outside island in the middle of the bay had 3 metre waves rolling around either of it then crashing together in a spectacular display of water awesomeness.

I had a careful swim near shore. The waves and rips were deadly. Later, about 15 minutes after I left I was told that a Indonesian guy drowned where I was swimming by the warung lady the next day.

On the ride back I pulled into Namaste Bungalows, which wasn’t far from Crystal Bay. It had nice rooms, good food, a pool and a pretty rural location.

Further along the road, I stopped at The Gallery Coffee House, which also has good food. Over the next few days, I stopped here for a friendly chat with Mike, the owner, his daughter, who is a concept architect, her daughter and other visitors. It is a really good place to sit and enjoy life. Nice people!

The following day, I was on the bike again for a long, long ride along east coast and inland. Once again the scenery was pretty and the people friendly.

The next day, I had a snorkel at Toyapakeh in the morning. This place was really pretty with neat and clean warungs lining the white sand beach. There were many boats and a headland. This looked like a better place to stay than Sampalan. The snorkelling was okay but the stinging red jellyfish came in with the tide and I was out as fast as I could. On shore, I met five friendly ladies from Paris who were on a tour of the island. We chatted for a while in French/English.

I rode back to the hotel, paid my bill and caught an ojek it to my return boat to mainland Bali.

CENTRAL COAST - Toowoon Bay - snorkel - 29 january 2011

Another brilliant day.

Drove to Toowoon Bay for a snorkel.

I was only in the water a few minutes when a large wrasse came into view. I followed it for quite a awhile enjoying the smaller fish around it as well. There were a lot of different types of fish. \I'll have to work out which is which but without getting technical some were the colour of the seaweed and others were striped.

I snorkeled out through the rocky reef and guided along the peaceful channel between the beach and the island. There were a lot of jelly fish and then blue bottles. And there were a lot of them! I don't know how I didn't get stung. One was wrapped around my arm but no sting! Weird!

Generally, it was fun. Especially, not being stung.

CENTRAL COAST - Terrigal - beach to haven - snorkle - 24 October 2009

The weather is warmer and the surf small. What to do? Under the water. Amazingly, just past the rock pool i came across a manta ray.