CENTRAL COAST - North Entrance - windsurf - 27 November 2010

The north east wind was looking strong but once out past the second bouy, it was ferocious. Great flat water and wind-chop waves further out.

There were a few big wipeouts and a lot of sailing very close to the cameraman.

Sailors were Lance, Mark, Todd and Peter.

The video has a number of spilt scenes and slow motion footage of to-close-to the cameraman shots.

CENTRAL COAST - Copacabana - snorkel - 27 November 2010

The northern end of Copacabana was protected and off shore in the north east wing. The snorkelling looked inviting.

Generally, the water was clear with a small swell. It was fun looking at the bottom where i've surfed a few times. Shallow in parts, rocks jutting upwards and an irregular bottom.

Water was very cold.

CENTRAL COAST - Bateau Bay - snorkel - 26 November 2010

The NE wind was increasing so i tried a snorkel at Bateau Bay. It was protected from the wind but the water was a little churned up. Plus not using a snorkel made snorkelling difficult. Funny that!

CENTRAL COAST - Canton Beach - windsurf - 19 November 2010

The wind was from south east and looking good. There were about five of us out. fun day!

AUSTRALIA - Dunn Swamp - HIKE/KAYAK - November 2010

 

I spent three days camping on own at Dunn Swamp near Rylstone, NSW.

The swamp is really a small dam. The water backs up between a narrow gorge of sandstone rocks that look pagoda-like.

 

There are two good kayak trips - up or down river. The up river trip becomes very narrow and in parts is difficult to make headway due to the reeds and overhanging brush. The kayak down river leads past tall reed areas and tall sandstone cliffs. The early morning sun reflects the golden hue of freshly broken slabs of sandstone plus the morning mist and stillness leads to mirror like reflections. The trip ends in the buoys protecting watercraft from venturing to close to the dam edge. It is a long way to the bottom of the dam wall.

 

There are two main walks with some side tracks. Both follow the river to a degree. The upriver walk passes through swampy areas and very dry bush. It eventually leads to a gauging station for the river. Side tracks lead to a picnic area and various rock formations. the second walk leads down river and passes through amazing rock formations and steep climbs to the top of the cliffs that line the river in parts. The track leads to the dam (weir) and thee long cave, which is really a long overhang of rock that can be walked under. At an earlier stage of the track, their is a side track to pagoda hill which is a fun steep rock scramble. the views at the top are excellent.

The camping was very quiet and the night silent. One needs to bring water and there are toilets only provided.

 

While here i saw heaps of wildlife - various birds, insects, goannas, kangaroos, possums, spiders and turtles.

The most noticeable aspect of the place is the sense of quietness and peacefulness.

CENTRAL COAST - Wamberal - surf - 20 October 2010

This was a fun surf. A crew of older dudes in the water - jeckle, pest, me, glenn, daniel, geoff, ironman - all having a good laugh.

The video was fun to make and produce into a movie. Played with splitting the screen and slow motion fall offs plus out of the water action.

CENTRAL COAST - Wamberal - SURF - 14 October 2010

A small clean fun day. Only four of us out... well for awhile anyway. the crowd appeared but the waves disappeared. such is life!

Had fun with the go pro camera attached to the board.

AUSTRALIA - QUEENSLAND - O'Reillys Rainforest Resort and Morans Falls - HIKE - October 2010

O'Reilly's Rainforest Resort and Moran Falls are in the Lamington National Park, Queensland.

O'Reilly's has an excellent walk through the rainforest and gardens. The walk through the rainforest is on platforms which rise into the tree canopy. At one point there is a tree ladder which takes you to the top of a huge tree and a great view of the surrounding forest and valley and the scenery below.

The walk branches off into a created garden with a variety of signposted plants.

Morans Falls is a two hour walk starting about a kilometre from O'Reillys. The track is easy through rainforest which becomes denser near the falls. The view of the falls is excellent and continuing onwards the track leads over the creek that feeds the falls and onwards further leads to valley views on the other side of the falls. It is also easy to follow the flat rocks lining the creek.

While photographing the canopy above me, i didn't notice the snake coiled on the path. luckily, i did before i stepped on it. I jumped back like a ninja to avoid it. Still, it was interesting and i observed the snake for quite a while before it slid off.

AUSTRALIA - QUEENSLAND - Tallebudgera Creek - Kayak - october 2010

The bridge across the creek is a good place to start a kayak due to easy parking and a creek beach.

I was surprised with this kayak not quite knowing what to expect. The beach start is fun with a strong current, followed by paddling under a heavily used bridge. Either side of the creek has white sand beaches with barnacled rocks in the murky shallow waters.

Once past the urban area, the sounds of traffic are lost to the sounds of the bird life. The creek becomes mangrove along its banks.

I stopped for awhile at a small sand island in the centre of the river.

AUSTRALIA - QUEENSLAND - Burleigh Heads National Park - october 2010

 

The headkland at Burleigh Heads is a national park.

The walk is easy and diverses into a number of directions.

The coastline is pretty and there are greaat views along the shoreline of the north and south of the gold coast. These views contrast strongly when looking at the skyline of buildings representing Surfers Paradise while within a few metres of this view point is a male brush turkey attending to his nest.

AUSTRALIA - QUEENSLAND - Burleigh Heads - Surf - October 2010

There were waves all week but they varied in quality. The week started off with small and bumpy waves to large smooth barrels by the end of the stay. The crowds were huge all week no matter the conditions or time of day.

On the last day, when the surf was at its best so were the surfers in the water. Droppins seemed to be taken as a part of what happens. I didn't bother to surf it but i enjoyed watching.