Oceania
(cc)
Had an excellent (wish it were typical!) day last weekend – started with a dive at 6:30, breakfast on the terrace overlooking the ocean by 9, surfing by 11:00, a paddle out to Creepy Point before returning to the beach and nothing much after that.
I was invited to dive with Derek, Vince, and Justin – we had met last year on a dive down in Jervis Bay (excellent diving! which had included a swim-through a narrow tunnel and cave). This morning we were diving off of Shelley Beach near Manly (northern beach where Hunter and I are living). I couldn’t remember the last time I had gotten up before dawn for fun and adventure – it felt great! Especially since as As a novice diver, this was going to be my first shore dive – which isn’t any more complicated other than one has to don all one’s equipment (wet suit aka “wettie,” air tank and weight belt) and walk to the entry point (fins in hand). That was by far the hardest part of the entire day – we had about 150 meters to walk – and I could barely go uphill. The entry was fairly easy since the swell was small – a few strategic moves on large submerged rocks got us out to deep water. The highlights of the dive were two huge cuttle fish (about 3 feet long and spectacular) and several Weedy Sea Dragons (or Seedy Weed Dragons as I kept saying). These creatures are amazing – they look literally like the dragons in storybooks, but without claws – they have the head of a sea horse, but with leafy-looking appendages and a very long tail – they are other-worldly to say the least – and about 12 inches long – and they just hover down around the sea weed.
the weedy seadragon (common in the Sydney waters):
cuttlefish (related to the octopus and squid) are fascinating to watch as they change color and texture to camoflage:
Towards the end of the dive we cruised by an underwater motorcycle – conveniently propped up for photo-opts I would imagine. I find that diving challenges one’s visual perception – often I’m not quite sure what I’m seeing, but something catches my eye that seems different or odd – and that’s when one discovers a camouflaged animal or plant encrusted motorcycle. We exited at the now bustling Shelley beach where it was all but deserted when we entered the ocean other than two lovers watching the sun-rise.
After a quick rinse at the beach shower, we were off (slowly and lumbering) to change at the car and get a bite to eat nearby. By 11, I had rendezvous with Hunter for a surf session (piddly waves), but the water was lovely, so we got in anyway and eventually paddled about 500 meters out across to Creepy Point (our name for the heads that wrap the south end of Manly and Shelley). Creepy Point’s a tricky surf spot – and there were excellent longboarding waves to be had, but alas, our boards are too short – we need to add to our stock soon…….but it was fun to paddle out and check out the spot. Mighty shallow……pick your spot to wipe out carefully – rocky boulder bottom. We paddled out further - around to the open-ocean side of the point there were two grommets (i.e. kids) riding a short, heavy wave on their body boards – they had guts, those groms, as the wave emptied out on a rock shelf and exposed rocks – and they had scaled down the rock bluff to get there in the first place - did their moms know they were out here?? “hey mum, we’re going to Manly beach for a surf, righty-o?”…..likely story. I’m sure I’ve used that line before, too….
Had an excellent (wish it were typical!) day last weekend – started with a dive at 6:30, breakfast on the terrace overlooking the ocean by 9, surfing by 11:00, a paddle out to Creepy Point before returning to the beach and nothing much after that.
I was invited to dive with Derek, Vince, and Justin – we had met last year on a dive down in Jervis Bay (excellent diving! which had included a swim-through a narrow tunnel and cave). This morning we were diving off of Shelley Beach near Manly (northern beach where Hunter and I are living). I couldn’t remember the last time I had gotten up before dawn for fun and adventure – it felt great! Especially since as As a novice diver, this was going to be my first shore dive – which isn’t any more complicated other than one has to don all one’s equipment (wet suit aka “wettie,” air tank and weight belt) and walk to the entry point (fins in hand). That was by far the hardest part of the entire day – we had about 150 meters to walk – and I could barely go uphill. The entry was fairly easy since the swell was small – a few strategic moves on large submerged rocks got us out to deep water. The highlights of the dive were two huge cuttle fish (about 3 feet long and spectacular) and several Weedy Sea Dragons (or Seedy Weed Dragons as I kept saying). These creatures are amazing – they look literally like the dragons in storybooks, but without claws – they have the head of a sea horse, but with leafy-looking appendages and a very long tail – they are other-worldly to say the least – and about 12 inches long – and they just hover down around the sea weed.
the weedy seadragon (common in the Sydney waters):
cuttlefish (related to the octopus and squid) are fascinating to watch as they change color and texture to camoflage:
Towards the end of the dive we cruised by an underwater motorcycle – conveniently propped up for photo-opts I would imagine. I find that diving challenges one’s visual perception – often I’m not quite sure what I’m seeing, but something catches my eye that seems different or odd – and that’s when one discovers a camouflaged animal or plant encrusted motorcycle. We exited at the now bustling Shelley beach where it was all but deserted when we entered the ocean other than two lovers watching the sun-rise.
After a quick rinse at the beach shower, we were off (slowly and lumbering) to change at the car and get a bite to eat nearby. By 11, I had rendezvous with Hunter for a surf session (piddly waves), but the water was lovely, so we got in anyway and eventually paddled about 500 meters out across to Creepy Point (our name for the heads that wrap the south end of Manly and Shelley). Creepy Point’s a tricky surf spot – and there were excellent longboarding waves to be had, but alas, our boards are too short – we need to add to our stock soon…….but it was fun to paddle out and check out the spot. Mighty shallow……pick your spot to wipe out carefully – rocky boulder bottom. We paddled out further - around to the open-ocean side of the point there were two grommets (i.e. kids) riding a short, heavy wave on their body boards – they had guts, those groms, as the wave emptied out on a rock shelf and exposed rocks – and they had scaled down the rock bluff to get there in the first place - did their moms know they were out here?? “hey mum, we’re going to Manly beach for a surf, righty-o?”…..likely story. I’m sure I’ve used that line before, too….
posted by Hunter Williams at 12:49 PM
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