Hiking - 2019 06 - Larapinta Trail (part 2)

Day 7 - 30.8km

Had a great sleep after the fire last night and got packed fairly early. Before I could get away I had some of the campers that shared the fire last night offer me a hot drink to start the day. I had already finished my hot milo and had a bit of ground to cover so I thanked them but got moving.  

Another relatively flat day today. Which meant immediately heading down into a creek bed and then a 30 ish meter climb. Honestly though the hills today were few and far between and gentle grades when you hit them. Even the saddle which was near 100m climb was smooth.  

Passed a few westbounders before lunch. They had stayed at a half way point I planned for lunch. They confirmed the trail was pretty gentle, but still rocky. Rock Gully wasnt anything special but a good place to get water from the tank and stop for lunch. 

Mid afternoon my feet were getting a little sore as I came across Ghost Gum Flats. Another trail camp (no water or shelter.) There was a nice platform though so I took a load off to lay down for a while. With the chilling wind I lasted under 10min before needing to move on, or break out the sleeping bag... If you were looking for a shorter day out of Ellery this would be the place to camp though.  

By 330 I was strolling into the Hugh Gorge shelter. Not a bad effort considering the amount of people I'd been told were completing this section in the dark. One other hiker here with a pretty cool hammock setup hanging from the shelter rafters. A guided group wandered in just over an hour or so later too. They had a group camp 800m away. Some were looking pretty battered but they had good things to say, mostly about their upcoming evening meal.

Day 8 - 25.3km  

I'm glad I was doing a 'shorter' day today because section 5 is HARD. Beautiful and fun, but hard. Of the 15k section I would say less that 2km of it is trail. The rest is rocky ridges or creek beds. Creeks were either really loose sand or big rock hopping sections. Little in between.  

You couldn't get a good rhythm going because every stride had to be altered shorter or longer for your next solid footing. If you were lucky to have one. The ground was uneven through all of it too so your foot was always landing at a weird angle. Gave me a few hot spots I had to stop and tape before they became blisters. 

It definitely wasn't lacking in scenery though. Razor back ridge and Hugh Gully were amazing sites to see. I can definitely feel why people think the rangers got the distance on this section wrong because when I was finished it felt a hell of a lot longer than 15km...  

After the rocky horror show that was section 5 the next 8k seemed easier but the ~550m climb to Brinkley Buff sure took me longer after fatigue set in from the morning. Every big rock looked so inviting for a sit down and I'm not ashamed to admit there were quite a few sits on the way up. Amazing views from here too and a great spot to camp. Worth the water carry. Also a good opportunity for phone service and a chance to check in.

There was another hiker up here just doing a two day section but it was good to have company and a chat. They had done some amazing travel around the world so it was good trading stories. Fairy lights in the tent was a bit fancy but looked really good against the starry night.

Day 9 - 11.3km

Heading mostly down to Standley you follow the ridge line for a while and roller coaster a little. There are a few little up bits but nothing that significant. Down the bottom it's back to traversing along a river bed with loose rock underfoot until you come out near the Chasm access road and follow it for a few hundred meters.  

Got into Standley well before lunch so I paid for camping and was told to setup on the lush grass. Grass! Upon closer inspection it was only about 80% grass and 20% bindies... but I still managed to find a good level spot on grass-ish. Over to the cafe for a roast pork roll and then onto the Chasm for the midday showing.  

Packed with people but after a few prompts from some other photographers enough people got the idea and got out of the way. At least for a moment...  

Back to camp for a shower, a bit of a wash of the clothes, sorting out my food box for the next few days and an otherwise lazy afternoon off. Camping came with 10min of super slow free wifi, not quite enough for blogspam part 1 to upload.   

Noticed hiker hunger starting to kick into gear so bought a sausage roll for an arvo snack while charging phone near the kiosk. Had a Bacon and Egg burger for dinner, enjoyed the communal fire for a little while but was still in bed by 8.

Day 10 - 28.1km

After spending 10min getting bindies out of my ground sheet (I mustn't have had as good a look as I thought yesterday) it was time to get back on trail. Straight into the hills. Nothing as high as previous days but what they lacked in height they made up for in steepness. Lots of steps to get those leg muscles pumping.  

Over the hills it was time to go down some gullies. Paths carved out over eons by water were surprisingly easy to navigate. Some parts requiring the tiniest of scrambles to get past.  

This section was pretty badly hit by the fire as well, in one valley all you could see was black. Passed by quite a few people heading west. One was a group of 10 being encouraged along by a guide. S3 is only a small section (13.6k) so I made it to the next shelter before 1130 but decided to stop for a long lunch anyway. 

Still pretty windy (though yesterday was a reprieve) but it has warmed up a little allowing me to relax at lunch without needing to reach for a jumper. The remaining 9 ish k into section 2 for the day fell fairly quickly making me think about pushing past my planned camp. Toilets, even drop ones, are a decent luxury on a hike. 

The flies at Mulga Camp were worse than anywhere else on trail by 10 fold. Perhaps the worst I've had them in my life. Ultimately I decided to move on figuring they couldn't be any worse. I was right, at least they weren't worse. I had a good backdrop for camp though and it's not too hard digging your own hole...  

Day 11 - 24.5km

Section 2 hasn't been all that exciting. Out of the main ranges the views have petered off and the trail is more surrounded by grasslands. There are still some pretty spots though like Bond Gap. 

The trail continues on with little change all the way to Simpsons Gap. Passed a few hikers still fresh from Alice excited for what's ahead. Simpsons Gap was pretty busy, short walk from a bitumen road access. There is also a 'Mobile Hotspot' here I was able to use to book accom in Alice for the day I get back to town. 

After a long siesta luckily in the shade, with the temp reaching 36°c (97°f) in the sun, I set off on the first part of S1. With the heat now in full swing there's definitely a lot more lizards scurrying off under bushes. Also saw my first snake of the trail. Was a tiny little guy but i couldn't identify him and knowing theres some fairly venomous ones in these parts so I gave him a wide birth.  

There was a decent hill which allowed for a few views back to the range I've mostly left behind as well as glimpses of Alice Springs. Mid-afternoon heat was still pretty scorching so I found reprieve at the Scorpian Pools. Not much water but tall enough cliffs to allow me to rest in the shade.  

From my rest spot it was only another 3.5k to Wallaby Gap, my last camp spot for the trail. The busiest trail (hike in only) camp I've had too, 6 other hikers just starting their journey. Other sites were busier but those had vehicle access.  

Day 12 - 16.9km  

The final day started pretty easy with everyone talking about their goals. Most planned just Simpsons Gap, a conservative ~10k but probably a good idea when it's hot and you're just starting out. One pair hiking out were worried about their gas consumption so I was able to leave them with my 1/2 full canister. Can't fly home with it anyway. 

I made a good time out of camp probably my earliest so far this hike. On the trail by 730. Night was pretty warm, sleeping bag half unzipped and no liner or base layers needed. Luckily the day didn't seem as hot as the night. Flies were very active again but a slight breeze kept them mostly to manageable levels.  

First up, after the hill to get there, was traversing along a great spine for at least a k. Section 1 redeeming itself.

A few more ups and downs before eventually crossing the rail line and heading under The Stuart highway bridge. It wasn't too long before I reached the telegraph station and the official end of the Larapinta hike.  

Enjoyed a cold coke at the kiosk there and sat in the shade in the park a little while before getting on my way again. Taking the 'River Walk' into town which is a bike/walking path that follows along the Todd. All in all a pleasant little ending.  

Got to the backpackers and the chick at the desk immediately asked if I had done 'The Trail' and when I confirmed said I could go straight through to have a shower and she'd check me in later. I'm not sure who was happier with that idea, but she didn't have to say it twice.  

Showered and into 'Town Clothes' I hit up Alice for lunch. Have to sort my pack so its suitable for flying home but for now it's in the luggage storage room, don't think I need to inflict that on roommates...  Going to try find a Steak for dinner.   

Time to relax and start thinking about the next adventure. Stay safe and happy trails.

Hiking - 2019 04 - Cooloola Great Walk

The Cooloola walk had been on my list for a while so when URGQ dive club was having a trip in the area and my parents were going up to help with Kristina and Emma it was easy to convince them to also help out as my shuttle service. Logistics for the walk otherwise aren't great. It's a long way by road end to end or you need to drive up the beach, with low tide, to park a car at either end of the ~100km walk.

As luck would have it I hurt my back after all the lifts were sorted with some over enthusiastic gardening. Fortunately with a lot of stretching and a trip to the physio it was good enough to start. Easy drive up with minimal traffic. Easter was last weekend so most people were camping then instead. The moment we hopped out of the car at the trail head there was a swarm of mozzies. We quickly got a token trail monument shot and then I got moving to escape the horde.


There's not much out there that motivates me to hike faster than 50+ mosquitoes flying after me. So the first km dropped quick. A lot of the trail is low lying wetlands so there was constantly water over the trail. Deepest one was a few inches short of my knee.


It wasn't too long before I had broken onto the beach. With the nice sea breeze keeping the mozzies at bay. On the incoming tide there was still plenty of nice hard sand to walk on. I wouldn't want to do this stretch at high tide, would make for much slower going.

Along the beach I caught up to a horse riding group probably from the resort that's near the start of the walk. I was surprised how slow they were trotting along probably only 3kph. A slow walking pace. Just off the beach near the vehicle access I had a look for mum/dad at the air down area (where I thought they would have parked waiting on the tide) but they must have pulled into the camp grounds so I kept moving.


The trail has been pretty exposed so far (not counting the fully exposed beach) so sunscreen is a must and a nice wide brim hat highly recommended. There are a few spots with some tree cover which is nice. It's a bit hot in the sun but the breeze and shady sections are keeping it fairly pleasant temp wise.

Fairly easy run up to Mt Seawah, the highest point for the day at a staggering 124m ASL, it's a short 150m side track but has some pretty good views south towards Noosa and west over Lake Cootharaba.


Fairly easy elevation beyond that, staying around the same height. There is a spot not too far of Seawah with better views north. Double Island Point looks a really long away from here.....

Made it into camp by 1330. One of the drawbacks of set location for camps, especially when solo, is getting to camp too early. They have a communal area with log seats and small tables so at least I was able to have a sit there with some tree shade. Water tanks and a drop toilet are pretty handy too. 

A pair of hikers showed up just after 330pm and another solo hiker just after them so I had some company for dinner. Before the sun was completely down the mozzies were back in force so everyone decided it was a good idea to hide in our tents. I finally decided to try to get to sleep around 7.


It started to rain about 3am, which meant a wet packup. With the exception of sharp rocks or pointy prickles there not much worse for camping than wet sand. As a great man once said; It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Luckily there was a short reprieve in the down pour so I packed up and got moving just after 7.

Made it almost 3km before the rain caught up to me. Only showers though so not too bad. Kept it nice and cool at least. There is plenty of Midyim berries on this stretch too which made for good snacking. Some pretty nice coloured sands as well.


It wasn't too much further before the sand dunes and scrub gave way to tall eucalyptus forest. Lots of strangler vines too. It was a nice change and despite the bigger drops from leaves the misty rain was kept at bay.


Breaking through the forest and back to the sandy dunes it was time to cross the Cooloola sand patch. Lots of warning signs and compass bearings to get safely across 1km of sand. Seems a bit over the top I wonder how many people have actually lost their way. Good views though.



I should probably be thankful for the drizzling rain. I imagine the crossing would be a lot harder with dry loose sand and the blazing sun. As it was it didn't feel too bad and my shoes barely dug in. Just the other side I stopped off for smoko in the trees but 5min of sitting in the rain got me moving again.

Off down the hill to eventually meet up with the Noosa river. Great spot for a swim, especially because I was already wet. I decided to push on to camp though, not too much further up the river.


Made it to camp just before lunch. Still raining. I hid under the roof of the water tank for a little while until there was a brief break in the showers. Not stopped mind you but really light. Got everything setup without a moment to spare before the real rain set in again. Took the opportunity to eat some lunch then jump in for a swin. Pretty high bank near camp though. Annoying to get in and out.

Started to get cold so went back to the tent to hide again and change into thermals to get warm around 3. The pair of hikers heading north (the solo one was SOBO) hadn't made it here yet. They were still having breakfast when I left but must have decided to have a long lunch too.


With the rain still going I stayed in my tent for dinner so I didn't get to see the other hikers. It got dark pretty fast after the sun went down so I tried to get to sleep. Unfortunately my pillow seemed to have developed a leak. Didn't take long to find it but it was a split seam, near impossible to patch. I tried anyway and managed to have it stay semi inflated for ~20min but gave up. Shoved my puffy jacket into my beanie to use as a pillow for tonight.

The rain finally let up around midnight. My tent has seen a lot of use and I think it's due for a seam seal again. Small drips of water pooling where the fly meets the mesh. My shorts copped a bit of it and my sleeping bag got slightly wet but everything else was mostly dry.

Got away from camp just before 7. Shirt still damp from yesterday, shorts from the leaky tent and shoes/socks still wet too. That worked out ok and the next k or so from camp was through marshland so the shoes got soaked again anyway.  Path was fairly overgrown and water was thick in the branches. So it felt like it was still raining! At least the sun is out today. 


Made it to the next camp just before 10am and stopped to fill water. There is a lake another 600m on that I headed to for lunch. I was expecting a sand lake but it was more a grass lake with difficult access so I found a sunny spot just past to have lunch. Laid out my tent and sleeping bag to dry off and stopped for a long lunch. Was nice to kick off the wet shoes as well.

I compressed 2 sections today, to make it to rainbow in time for a lift home. Seems fitting to do a 36km day on my 36th birthday. Some great trail in this section. Lots of forest and breaks into sub-tropical rainforest. Finally made it to the campgrounds for the day just before 4pm to be greeted by some fellow hikers. They had been a day in front of me before today.



The people at camp were a pretty good crew and it was nice to have some company for dinner. Just as I was finishing cooking another hiker showed up, they left Carlo just after lunch and this was their first overnight hike. Pack about twice as big as mine and after some introductions he mentioned that the whole way in he was thinking of what he should have left behind. I think we've all been there...

It started to rain again in the wee hours of the morning. Just before 6 there seemed to be a break so I quickly packed to avoid packing in the rain. Seems that was unnecessary though as after I got back on trail all I could see was blue skies.

I didn't mind the early start though it's good to be moving in the golden hour and watch the sun start to filter through the trees. It also meant that I got to spend extra time at Poona Lake. Just as beautiful as Lake Mackenzie on Fraser and not another soul here.

It was a bit cold as the sun was only just reaching the far bank but I took the time to have a quick (very quick in and out) dip. I relaxed on the shore of the lake for a good 1/2 hour before deciding I should get a move on to catch my ride at the Carlo sand blow. Still a good 2 hours away.

Just before 10 I broke out into the full sunshine on the sand blow. Parents were meeting me at the deck at 1030 so I loosened my shoes and enjoyed a nice sit down while I waited. They showed up right on time and we went down to Rainbow. I had an outside shower (beach shower) so I didn't stink up their car on the way home and a nice burger for lunch before saying goodbye to the sand (until clean up time.....) and heading home.

Another Great! Walk, done and dusted.

Diving - 2015 03 - NSW Coast

Quick Stats;
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.