Temp: Min 18°C, Max 22°C
Depth: Min 3m, Max 32m
Total dives: 13
This trip was organised by Gary "JNR" with the plan to take Diver 1, the clubs boat, down the coastline of Australia, starting at Nelsons Bay near New Castle and finishing off at Eden. Shout out also to Pete and Ash for towing the Boat and Compressor, respectively.
Thursday the 26th
I was grabbing a lift down with Pete and we were hoping to make out way around midday. To ensure everything was 100% for the long journey though Pete was doing some work to the trailer. This included replacing the brake pads. The task ended up being a little larger than expected and bleed into the afternoon. We ended up leaving Wishart around 2:30pm but when hooking up the trailer Pete noticed that the connector for the lights (7 pin round) had a bad connection, leaving the indicators/brake lights spotty at best. After stopping at a servo, which didn't have the part, it was decided to just hit up Supercheap and grab it there. Pulled off the old plug and fitted the new and finally hit the open road! at about 3:45pm... This meant we copped a bit of the school/work traffic heading down the coast, luckily it wasn't too heavy and didn't hold us up for too long. Just as we were passing the GC Cheryl called to let us know that her and Ash had just arrived at the first nights rest, Kempsey Show grounds. We informed them of our delayed start and said we'd call when closer.
Clear run after we got past Coolangatta without any hold ups. Quick stop at Ballina for dinner then off again. Just as we were pulling into Coffs we got another call from Ash to see how we were going, still ~1.5 hours out. So they decided to head to bed and gave us the combination for the lock on the front gates. We finally made it into the grounds at about 2310. Would have made it in sooner, but we were looking for a keypad on a main gate, not a combo lock... To top it off it had just started raining.
Less than a minute after arriving the Mozzies were out in force, so we quickly got ready for bed to escape them and the rain. Was getting late and seemed like too much effort to remove everything from the tray (my bed) so we just moved out the essentials and I squeezed into where I could. It looks a little cramped but wasn't bad for a night. Lots more room when everything was out. Not perfectly bug proof though, so I spent a few min squishing mozzies but eventually just put on some bushmans and fell asleep to the gentle hum of their wings.
Cramped conditions
Friday the 27th
As it was only a ~3.5 hour journey to Hawks Nest, on the northern side of Nelsons Bay, we had a slow morning. Set off around 9am and rolled into camp by midday. We had a couple of friendly Goannas hanging around camp, seeing if they could relieve us of any food. All of my stuff is in a space case (lots of wildlife encounters previously means I always have my food in a box with a latch) but there was a cooler bag lying about that was getting a lot of interest.
We started talking about lunch plans when we received a phone call from Lynn. Her and Lynton had gone to check out the beach where we were thinking of doing a launch tomorrow. Turns out the sand down here is incredibly soft and they ended up stuck in it. Rob and Pete went off to rescue them while I headed across the road for a pub lunch and to look at the beach out front. They wanted $22 for a pulled pork sandwich... so I ended up with fish and chips.
The Beach
Back at camp Rob was keen for a refreshing swim in the ocean, I settled for some bourbon refreshment instead. The last of the crew turned up about 2:30 and a few people went off to get supplies. BBQ dinner tonight and we talked about the plan for tomorrow, Diving! Beach launch seemed out of the question, but luckily there is a few ramps close.
Saturday the 28th
Early start today, one of the very few things I dislike about diving. Longer transit in the boat than expected, due to the ramp launch instead of directly onto the beach, but eventually made it to Broughton Island and had some great dives. Launched thr boat and tried to work out which way was out. Lots of people offering their opinion with opposing views. I asked everyone to "please be quiet" (may not be the direct quote) and let me just read the map, which had it's marker still pinned at the camp ground... Started going, while I was still arranging gear, and then we turned around and started heading the right way :o
Made it to the dive site in decent time, good conditions today. We jumped in the western side of the crevasse through looking glass island. There were quite a few (8~10) Grey Nurse sharks hanging about the entrance to the crack, including some small ones, not more than a meter long, which were cool to see. Bevan and I swam into the split in the island but there was some heavy surge so we pulled the pin just after what was apparently the 1/2 way point. Swimming along the western wall we found heaps of Nudi's and even some Shovel Nose Rays (? I think).
When the next lot of divers were down a charter dive boat rocked up and had a chat, suggest out next dive at some gutters near a beach. We circumnavigated the island but couldn't find where he suggested and fell back to our original plan, Spider Caves. Apparently a small honeycomb network. We dropped in on the mark but never did find the cave. I didn't mind the dive, lots of ridges and small walls and quite a bit of life to see. The next group decided to do the Split again, eastern side this time. The sun must have been in the right place as it shined through casting dancing light over the slit and the sharks there in. Came back saying it was a wonderful dive.
Back to camp and a few people went on compressor duty. We were having some trouble with the compressor cutting out frequently. After a lot of head scratching and fiddling with levels/tilt of the compressor someone worked out that there was very little oil in the motor. In the pre-trip check the oil for the air compressor had been checked and topped, but there is a separate oil for the compressor motor. Will have to remember that for next time! I also took the time to... umm... modify my new wetsuit. I often take a knife to them, to make ninor adjustments. This one lasted a full 2 dives before I did... which is pretty good for me. Last 5mm I had to modified the neck seal right after the first dive, on our surface interval, on a rocky boat, at sea, while I was still wearing it...
Sunday the 1st of March
Driving day today, heading to Jervis Bay. Wasn't going to be a long trip so we had a pretty easy pack up in the morning, which meant time for some bacon and eggs :) On the road by about 9:15. Ran into so pretty congested traffic at Newcastle. No idea if there was something on down hear but if this is the traffic on a standard Sunday I would absolutely hate anything near peak hour. Finally got around Sydney and on the Princess Highway.
At around 1pm we found ourselves in the middle of a pretty big storm, heaps of water/wind and a bit of lightning. We had an ok run down, but the north bound traffic (everyone heading home from the weekend I guess) was backed up for kilometres at every intersection/town area. Doesn't instil confidence as we'll be coming through at a similar time next week... We all eventually made it to camp and some of us filled the remainder of the tanks out the front of the camp grounds. Was bloody windy all afternoon and night. Weather reports saying 25-30k winds tonight... Prediction was for 20k easing to 10k late morning. Decision was made for a slightly later start and 3 single tank dives, plus a shore dive for those that want it.
Monday the 2nd of March
Work up to a brilliant* sun rise this morning (*did not seem brilliant in the morning) because the way the Hilux was parked pointing the back window directly where it came up... I cant even blame Pete because I'm the one who parked it yesterday! Going to have to rig up a towel or something for tomorrow. While last night we were planning a more leisurely morning, everyone seemed to be in a bit of a rush! All ready though so we headed around to Murrays Beach boat ramp, within the ACT area.
Beautiful place for a dive/launch. We were diving off the north end of Bowen Island, which is a little island about 2km from the ramp. We were really lucky because Gary and Michelle had organised to grab the GPS with all the sites off an operator down here. She was guiding a shore dive while we were doing our last boat dive. We had a chat to her too and she was really friendly and helpful identifying different sharks and male/female sea-dragons. If you're ever down here and want to go on a guided dive; Crest Diving, Jervis Bay should be your first stop.
The dives themselves were brilliant, pretty cold at 19c but so worth it, if only for the Weedy Sea-dragons! We also saw a massive 'Giant' Cuttlefish swimming about putting on a great show with changing colours. Lots of Nudi's some big Octopuses and a couple of Port Jackson Sharks. I was skipper for the middle dive and a lone seal came swimming by. It stayed around the general area surfacing from time to time when I was on the third dive. Apparently came within 20 or so meters from the boat. No-one was lucky enough to see it under water though, hopefully see them at Montague Island.
Weedy SeaDragon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGjmLGj7030
Putting on it's War paint
Back to the ramp to fill a few tanks etc then fuel up before getting back to camp. Michelle was going for a run so I decided to join her... First time I have gone for a run on a double dive day and with the holiday diet I only managed 6k, with 30sec walking breaks mixed in. Looking forward to yet another early start tomorrow so fairly early to bed.
Tuesday the 3rd of March
Trying out some slightly different sites today at Point Perpendicular. 1st up was 'Docks 1' known probably because the natural rock formation looks like it would be suitable for a dry dock. Absolutely stunning landscape dive. Not too much on the life front (though I saw a shovel nose ray, Port Jackson shark, Shrimps and other things) the highlight for me was definitely the area. Heaps of big walls, all pretty bare but still very impressive. Swim through and nooks and crannies you could get inside and have a look around. Cold water is starting to catch up with me though :o
Second dive was on the opposite point, Governers Head. Not as impressive as the first dive but similar landscape I spose. Lots more table top rock formations and not too much in the way of life. I did see a Moray Eel type I had never seen before though, which was great and made braving the cold worth it. It was Bronze/Gold and I saw a few. First one was swimming about too, which you usually only see rarely.
Ash and Cheryl stayed back to fill tanks (Compressor is on Ash's trailer and they had broken camp in the morning) thanks guys! Everyone else headed off to pack up and get ready to drive to Narooma. Just as we left the camp gates Pete got a call from Marine Rescue JB, they were a little upset as we were 30min past out check in time and apparently they had people looking for us. We're 100% sure we logged off as it even sparked another conversation with a fisherman who was at the ramp with us. Apparently they had Sue (from Crest Diving) look to see if we were still at the ramp, she called us up to joke about it and didn't have a very high opinion of the volunteers that manned the radio. They were only doing their job though and mistakes happen, they're doing an amazing service for everyone and I'd rather have them worried about looking for us over the alternative.
Short drive to Narooma and camp was set up quick. We went to go for a look at the Bar crossing, as apparently it's pretty notorious, but it was fairly flat. No wind and small swell. Lets hope that holds for tomorrow! There was also a seal sunning itself on one of the rock walls, good sign we'll see them tomorrow I hope.
Wednesday the 4th of March.
First day diving with the Seals! The plan was that part of the group did a double dive today, remainder doing shore dives, then swap for the next day. I wasn't too fussed on a shore dive so I offered to be skipper and surface watch on todays double. Narooma apparently has a 'nutritious bar' (I swear, every second bar in NSW is notorious...) but the weather was on our side and it was flat as a tack. Short 9k cruise out to Montague island and we were met with the *wonderful* aroma of seals.
All in for the first dive and everyone came back pretty happy. Friendly, inquisitive seals apparently made for some good kodak moments. For the second I drove around to the 'Shark Gutters' and the others dropped in for a drift dive towards the seals. Reports back included 'Bloody amazing' and 'best dive ever' so I guess this site was ok-ish.
While we were waiting for the last few to surface Marine Rescue put out the weather report, predicting Gale force (40+ knot) winds tomorrow... not great for those of us (inc myself) planned to be on tomorrows dive. However, because the conditions were so good now and having a surface watch non-diver made things much quicker we decided to fit in the second double dive today. We called ahead to Lynton and started to head back to the ramp.In the rush to don our life jackets (a mandatory requirement for the bar crossing) Ash got his pull cord stuck while reaching for a cord. It was actually pretty silent and as he was behind me on the boat I didn't realise what had happened until other people had started laughing. Good to know the Jackets work I guess! Ash must have just been product testing to ensure they were all still fully functional. If you need a jacket, don't grab #8 until they've had a chance to replace the pressure canister :p
Lynton and I got kitted up in a rush and we headed out again. Lynn was looking at some island tours but when she heard of the afternoon run she decided to jump on board to come out and see the seals as well. We first dropped in at the second site from the morning, the Shark Gutters. It wasn't long before we came across a huge Grey Nurse Shark, which set the mood for the dive. We came across a nice gutter that had at least 20+ Port Jackson Sharks lazing about which was great to see, but this was completely over shadowed by what came next. Fur Seals. The colony was probably 100 strong (that we could see from the surface) and we had them ducking and weaving all around us for at least 20min at one point we must have had about 15-20 swirling around in sight. Absolutely beautiful. To top it off the temp was about 22c, which is a good 3 degrees warmer than the past few days! Second dive was back over at the NZ colony... the Kiwi seals seems quite a bit less active. Bobbing around on the surface, or just sunning themselves on a rock. There were two cute little pups though but we didn't see them swimming around. Then as an added bonus for the day, when we were pulling the boat out there was a decent sized Octopus walking around the boat ramp. Little bugger is pretty lucky he didn't get run over by a boat trailer.
Went to the Golf Club for dinner for a reasonable meal and when we got back to camp it wasn't long before everyone headed to bed. I know we've been having early mornings, but it seems I'm the only one that doesn't adhere to a strict 8pm bed time...
Thursday the 5th of March
Because of the bad weather (and the cancellation of the planned dive today) we had a nice casual pack-up, which meant another Bacon and Eggs breakfast. After all was done we hit the road once again, this time heading for Eden. Cruisy drive down and we were set up at Eden just after 12. Windy as all buggery down here too, gusts easily exceeding the 40kn. Bay looks likes a dogs breakfast, rough as guts and white-caps all over. Even some of the inlet rivers had white caps the wind was that strong. Definitely no diving here today.
Some went off to explore the Killer Whale Museum in town but I opted for a quiet afternoon at camp... well a windy afternoon at camp... but I had beer so that was ok. The gusts of wind actually blew my laptop 1/2 way across the table while I was grabbing another beer. Caught it before it went off the edge, but only barely. Communal BBQ dinner tonight made for a good time and we taught Laura some Australian phrases to included into her native Italian tongue, not many of which she'd want to use around the work place though...
Friday the 6th of March
Wind was going to blow up in the arvo again so we made for an early boat launch. Laura has had enough diving, so out in the boat with 7 for a double dive. I put in the marks for the Tasmin Hauler, one of 2 Tug boats that sunk just off shore. It was a fairly deep dive, 30m on the sand and as the wheel house had toppled over not much above about 22m. This made for a fairly short dive as we all ran out of deco time. There was also surprisingly little life growing over it, though apparently it had been down there a while. Still swimming though it was pretty cool, still in pretty good condition. There were some pretty inquisitive Moray eels that came out a little bit to check out my camera and the huge propeller was cool to see. Surprisingly warm too at about 21c
For the second dive we headed over to the Navy's Jety, just inside the bay. Quite a bit shallower, at 12m max. The first 5min I wasn't very impressed, we headed to the bay side and the pillars underneath didn't show much growth. It was also closer to 18-19c over here... /shiver. Just after we poked out heads out from under we came across a Crayfish graveyard, must have been at least 50 cray shells all cut open and dumped. Probably under the kitchen window when a Ship is moored up. After that we started spotting heaps of stuff. You couldn't pick a 1m² of sand without seeing an Octopus, there was plenty of nudi and crabs that weren't anywhere near as cowardly as the ones back in Brisbane. Wasn't long before we came across a discarded coil of some steel wire. I was busy taking pictures of these baby crays, no more than 2-3 inches long... if that, when Gary signalled for my attention and pointed out a Sea Horse! Then a Second one! On the way back we probably saw at least another 10 including a bright yellow one sitting in some weedy stuff. Circling a pylon for the safety stop there was another 2 at just the right depth, so compared to normal blue water safety stops this one was great. There were also loads upon loads of mussels around and a 50 piece limit, though there was discussion whether it was per person or per vessel... either way we ended up with a very decent haul....
There was another dive close (<100m away) that's normally done as a shore dive. As we still had a bit of air in out tanks we decided to do a blow off dive and have a look for more weedy seadragons that were meant to be about. Jumped in and it was only 3-5m deep, 15min later without seeing much (few rays and 2 Port Jackson sharks) we were just about ready to pack it in when Gary found one weaving through the kelp. It was very camera shy though and the only semi-decent photo I grabbed of it was when it was hiding it's face behind a kelp leaf!
Because of the 3rd dive we were probably a little later than we expected to be and the wind had picked up significantly. It was kinda weird though, the water didn't have any big waves, just fairly choppy. Every little bit of spray kicked up came straight for us though. Cold, Chilling Wind and Constantly being drenched by spray made for an uncomfortable (all be it short) ride back.
Back to camp and the exciting task of filling tanks once again. The pull cord snapped trying to start... so when fixing that I put my bourbon down next to the compressor... finally got the cord fixed and started completely forgetting about my drink, half of it gone before Robbo saved what was left. Ran well the rest of the afternoon though. Last run for the compressor (diving tomorrow, but will fill tanks back in Brisbane.)
Mussels were prepared a variety of ways but I think Pete's with the Wine and Cream were the clear winners.
Saturday the 7th of March
Last day of Diving :o It feels like that's about right though, these cold dives are certainly more work than warm water dives like Palau. Working your own boat (and not having DMs do most of the heavy lifting) probably makes a slight difference as well. Bevan vollied to drive today so we're now down to six divers. It makes for a shorter day with a surface watch too which is nice. We headed for the Henry Bolte first, deep again which made for another shorter dive. A lot more fish life on this wreck, it was definitely broken up a lot more but over all I think it was a better dive than the Tasmin Hauler. Amazing the difference in life though, when the 2 are only separated by 100m of water and sand.
Second dive was just another 400m south at a spot called Jacko's Cave. Brilliant 5-10m wall that lead to a huge overhang with a long cave at the back. Along the way we saw another nice cuttlefish hiding in a hole, it was very shy and ducked back into the hole when approached. The cave itself had a pretty big entrance but quickly because quite shallow (Cave hight, not water depth) sort of a wedge shape, maintained a decent width but the roof and floor came to almost meet each other. Gary and I went all the way to the end where we could see the light on the other side, but it shrunk to probably 400mm so we wouldn't have much chop getting through. Even taking gear off it would have made a tight squeeze. So we turned and went out. Followed back along the wall a bit checking some kelp for more Weedy dragons, to no avail.
We shot off the wall where we thought the boat should be, but were unable to find the anchor rope. Never the less we did our safety stop, blue water, and kept swimming along. I knew exactly how far off the wall it was, but thought we must have been too short, despite swimming further than I thought. Eventually surfaced to see the boat ~100m behind us... Turns out the anchor had dragged and the boat had been repositioned! No wonder we couldn't find it.
As that was the end of the diving we all had the afternoon off, opting to fill tanks upon return to Brisbane. Whine cheese and Mussels consumed made the arvo fly by. One last dinner all together at the Fishing Club (typical RSL type meals) and most people were off to bed early in preparation for the start of the big drive home tomorrow! Pete and I are aiming for just north of Newcastle.
Sunday the 8th of March
Time for the long drive home... Was happy with my gear as it was mostly dry. Enough to pack away for 2 days at least. Got away by 730 and decided to go via Canberra rather than back up the Princess. Made really good time so when we hit Newcastle so we decided to push on a bit. Ended up just the other side of Tamworth at a rest stop at around and pulled up for the night.
Monday the 9th of March
Up and away by 6am this morning, decided to get breakfast on the road. Rolled into Tenterfield at smoko and home before 1pm.
Another great trip and all the driving has reminded me how much I love it. Brother is putting together a Simpson Desert trip for June/July this year... might even be motivated enough to get he Jeep back up to spec and join him! Stay tuned.
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