CENTRAL COAST - 1 TO 7 JANUARY 2023

 

1 JANUARY

The start of a new year ... so much to see ... so much to do :)

An early morning mountain bike ride at Kincumba Mountain. It was eerily quiet and not a soul about.

After the ride, I had an ocean swim at Terrigal Haven. More humans here but still very quiet.

It was such a hot day. I had a second ocean swim in the afternoon to cool down.

2 JANUARY

A hike with Jacinta to Strom lookout at Bouddi National Park. We followed the tracks which was heaps better than the trail.

An ocean swim at Terrigal Haven. So many sights along the way – catfish, a large grouper and a manta ray. :)

4 JANUARY

A mountain bike at Rocky Point. The track has become a bit more challenging with higher drop offs and exposed tree roots.

After the ride, I had an ocean swim the Haven.

5 JANUARY

A windsurf at Canton Beach. The wind was howling and to start there was no one out on the water. I put up my smallest sail - 4.2metres - and the action was no stop for two hours. My gybing was very rusty but towards the end of the session it seemed better.

6 JANUARY

We had a trip to Sydney to see Jacinta's brother, Mark, who is in age care. Good to see the young fella.

7 JANUARY

A windsurf at Canton beach. The wind wasn't as strong as two days ago, so I used my 6.3  metre sail. I had a lot of problems with it last year but finally, I got it working well. It still needs a few more adjustments. A fun session. Bill, Paul, Graham and lance were also there. :)

CENTRAL COAST - 1 TO 10 JULY 2022

 

Torrential rain, ballistic winds, wild surf ... a lot of that happened. :) 

4 JULY

A walk around the haven with Jacinta.

7 JULY

A kayak at North Entrance on Tuggerah Lake.

A lot of water. Flooding over roads, parks and paths. The car park at North Entrance was okay and the water level was close to the edge of it. The fishing wharf was underwater. Bins, picnic tables and shelters were partially submerged. I kayak along the walking/bicycle path. An odd sensation paddling inside the railings of the foot bridges. The islands were no longer islands and I was able to paddle through the trees and undergrowth on what was normally dry land. The wind had increased from the south-west so it was a bit of a wet paddle with the occasional wave chop showering me 😊

Dinner at Chloe’s and Angus’s. Noice 😊

9 JULY

A hike along the Kanning Walk at Kincumba Mountain.

It was very wet. A lot of reflections in puddles of water and water dripping from moss covered boulders. So quiet!

10 July

Dinner with Johnny and Kara. Noice :)

CENTRAL COAST - 21 TO 26 MAY 2022

 21 MAY

A hike in Bouddi National Park along the Rocky Point Track with Jacinta.

This hike was along the tracks with a return along the trail. The tracks were quite eroded from the recent rains and muddy in spots. It made for a few obstacles to work around. The view at the lookout was superb over Hardy's Bay and surrounds. The return along the trail was easy as it is mainly along a dry service road.

24 MAY

A hike on the Cabbage Tree Track at Strickland State Forest with Jacinta.

A narrow up and down track that passes huge boulders, cliffs, soft ferns and cabbage trees. The track was muddy in parts. Watch out for the leeches!

26 MAY

A cycle from Long Jetty to The Entrance with Jacinta.

An easy cycle with great views over the lake. the tracks passes through parkland, picnic point and the lake foreshore.

CENTRAL COAST - 18 TO 24 OCTOBER 2021

 

OTHER – Painting Jacinta’s study

 

18 OCTOBER

A mountain bike ride on the Rocky Point tracks at Bouddi National Park.

The weather was perfect. The tracks were rutted a little deeper due to recent rain. It makes the ride a little less predictable. The view at the lookout was excellent. I followed the track back in the reverse direction. Much easier the other way J. There were some flannel flowers starting to bloom.

 

19 OCTOBER

A surf at Wamberal Beach with Ken.

We paddled out to ride an okay looking left but a right started to form up off the channel. The right got better and better. A few others paddled out and the waves lost their form. It was good fun while it lasted with heaps of waves.

 

20 OCTOBER

A walk around the Haven with Jacinta.

The crowd wasn’t too bad and I needed to get away from the inside painting. A couple of rounds of the paths and I felt better.

 

21 OCTOBER

A wander around North Avoca Point.

I bought a new camera yesterday. I tried it out on the point. The weather was perfect again but the surf wasn’t so good. It was nice walking around the rocks.

A trip to Sydney to visit Mark.

Back from the walk, we set off to visit Jacinta's brother in his age care facility. I haven’t been able to see him for about two years due to co-vid restrictions and his health. We went to a coffee shop and it was so good to see and chat with him again.

 

22 OCTOBER

A swamp wallaby at home.

In the backyard, slowly hopping around eating shoots of grass. NICE J

 

23 OCTOBER

A snorkel at Terrigal Haven.

It looked promising but the visibility was poor again. Still, it was fun with a huge school of whiting surrounding me and three large blue/green gropers.

Finished painting Jacinta’s study.

 

24 OCTOBER

A windsurf at Canton Beach, Tuggerah Lake.

The wind was looking good but it was changing direction as I was rigging up and so wasn’t too strong. The other guys were getting some good runs but I puttered along. I still haven’t got the new sail rigged right. I either couldn’t pick the wind up or hold it for long in the sail. I did enjoy videoing the other windsurfers. J

CENTRAL COAST - 14 TO 16 OCTOBER 2021

 

# I finished painting one bedroom – rain heavily most of the week

14 OCTOBER

A kayak along Piles Creek.

I launched along the banks of Moonie Moonie Creek from Karool Road. The sun was warm and there was a lazy feel to the air. I paddled under the bridge and towards Piles Creek. The beginning of the journey was mainly mangroves. After a while, the creek narrowed somewhat and it easy to see the walking track besides the creek amongst the ferns and trees. Towards the end the creek narrowed more and there were a number of large boulders in the water and along the shoreline. The final section was at the suspension bridge. Just after the bridge it wasn’t possible to paddle any further due the rocks. There were a lot of lizards lying in the sun on the boulders. They remain still as a statue until they just shot off like a rocket to shelter. A great kayak. PS It is best to do this creek and up creek on Moonie Moonie Creek about two hours either side of high tide.

16 OCTOBER 2021

A windsurfer at North Entrance.

An absolutely awesome day – strong west winds at 30 knots plus that didn’t ease off. The start of the run was in smooth deep water and into smooth shallow water. The further I went out onto the lake the rougher the water became with small chop waves. I managed a few chop jumps, controlled gybes in the rough sections and many floggings. It was heaps of fun.