LATE JANUARY FUN - 31 JANUARY 2020

31 January 2020

Swim at The Haven.

30 January 2020

Snorkel at Toowoon Bay. Heaps of fish.

A new bird in our yard.

Spiders are proliferating.

29 January 2020

Nice day but surf very flat.

A morning ride at Kincumba Mountain along a few of the tracks. No one there, quiet, damp tracks, humid, misty and heaps of mosquitoes.

Surfed at The Bend, Terrigal with Ken. Some okay waves but the tide filled the waves quickly and it was 'all over red rover'.

A visit from Friend Chris for a few days.

28 January 2020

Visited the physio this morning. A few adjustments to the wrist brace and a discussion on possibility of surfing. We removed the metal bracing of the wrist strap.

Left the physio and drove straight down to The Bend on Terrigal Beach. Heaps of waves – some fast lefts and short but fun rights. The wrist hurt a bit but not enough to spoil the fun. After ¾ hour, I was tired but feeling so good.

26 January 2020

Cycled along the path at Umina/Ettalong Beaches.

It was very warm and humid. Such pretty views. Finished with a swim at Umina Beach after the ride.

25 January 2020

Cycled along the path at Tuggerah Lake, Long Jetty. Rode for a while on some short tracks where someone had made a few bike challenges… fun.

Wrist felt good but a bit awkward with the flat metal  that runs along the strapping. Hard to get a good grip on the handlebars.

CENTRAL COAST - ' SURF, MTB, BUSY' - 15 TO 19 NOVEMBER 2019

A very busy week with Jacinta's brother in hospital, bushfires and jobs at home to be done. I did get out for some fun ...

15 November

Ran into Ken at North Avoca while checking the surf. We hopped into my van and headed over to Umina Beach and had a small but fun surf then coffee at Ettalong waterfront. It is a scenic and relaxing place for a rest with a view.

Back to North Avoca where the surf was bigger and had a few nice waves.

18 November

A MTB along the beach at Umina then along the promenade. First bike ride in months.

19 November

Surf at North Avoca with Ken. Some okay waves and a bit of a crowd.

BULLS HILL AND QUARRY MTB - 10 MAY 2019

I started the day with a skin cancer check. All was good but still had a ‘burned off’ of a few possible problem areas.

A mountain bike ride at Brisbane Water National Park. 

I followed the Bulls Hill trail which had recently been groomed. I climbed a few rocks along the way for a better view over the hinterland. There were a number of trails that ended with views over Brisbane Water and Box Head.

I continued onwards towards the quarry.

It was fun riding over the corrugated rocks and rough tracks. I did a couple of rough sections that I had balked at previously with no worries.

I dropped down to Umina to catch up with some people I met in Bali last year. I was interested to hear their opinion of Sumba.

I met up with Kara at Erina Fair where we had coffee and a light snack.

WAMBERAL SURF, TERRIGAL HAVEN SWIM/SNORKEL AND OCEAN BEACH CYCLE - 11 NOVEMBER 2017

10 November 2017

I started the morning with a surf check of North Avoca and Wamberal beaches. The tide was low and the waves had poor shape but it was a beautiful day.

At Wamberal Beach, I ran into Simon and we had coffee at the Point Cafe. Rob turned up a little later. Rob, who was South African told me a lot of information on travelling through the south of Africa. Sounds like a great trip in the future.

At the end of the coffee/chat session the surf started to look a little better at Wamberal Beach. I decided on a surf and had a fun time surfing on some nice right and left waves in warm sunshine.

Later, Kara, Mr Archibald and I went to Terrigal Haven for a chat and sit in the sun. I also had a quick ocean swim.

11 November 2017



Jacinta and I drove to Ocean Beach, Umina for a bike ride along the beach. We parked at Umina surf club, walked the biked over the soft sand and had a fun time riding on the sand.

At the half way point, we stopped for coffee at Ettalong on foreshore. It was so pretty and we were joined by a few friendly pigeons and seagulls.

We finished the ride along the cycle foreshore path back to the van.

Later, Kara, Mr Archibald and I drove to the Haven for a sun sit. Kara and Mr A sat while I had a snorkel.  The visibility was okay but the sea as a pick rough and there wasn't much to look at. Still, the water was nice.

MOUNT ETTALONG HIKE - 10 SEPTEMBER 2017

Jacinta and I drove over to Mount Ettalong for a short hike.

There wasn't any flowers but there were a lot of birds to be heard but not seen.

Highlights of the hike included:

The distorted shapes of the trees due to a number of factors such as,  poor soils, large slabs of sandstone and salty air.

Great views towards the south over Pearl Beach, Lion Island and Broken Bay as well as view over Umina, The Box, Ettalong and Brisbane Water.

We walked to the top lookout first then meandered back taking short turnoff tracks. We sat for a while on an overhanging rock ledge and admired the view while soaking in the sunshine.

After the hike, we drove to Pearl Beach and had coffee on the beach then a snooze in the morning sun.

UMINA AND ETTALONG BEACHES MTB - 12 AUGUST 2016

This morning, a bike ride along Umina and Ettalong Beaches and foreshore.


The weather was perfect, the tide was low and the wind light.

It is such a good feeling riding along the beach on compact sand skirting the edge of the waves as they guide up the sand.

On the Ettalong side, small waves were breaking perfectly on the edge of the sand.

So many places to stop and admire the view.

An excellent 6.16 km ride.

MOUNT ETTALONG MTB - 25 MAY 2016

Another sunny morning. I drove to Umina to check the surf. It was pretty big so I continued to Patonga Beach. Patonga is very sheltered but I was interested to see how a big swell affected it. No effect but it was so pretty.

I stopped on the way back at Mount Ettalong.


It is a short ride being 1.8 km but it has some of the best views on the Central Coast. I tis a single wide track over dirt and sandstone leading to a lookout over Umina and Box Head. Along the way there are short side tracks to sandstone ledges giving amazing views of Pearl Beach and south to Sydney.

There were some amazing tree formations - growing over and between the rocks

The views were spectacular on the whole ride. Each stop gave a slightly different perspective.

The final view was across Umina nd Box Head. The sun was directly into the eyes but the view would be heaps better later in the day.

A fun ride.