Various

The tribe has undertaken lots of varied paddling in recent weeks - out to sea, along the coast, up to the farthest ends of middle harbour.

This was a lovely local scene yesterday evening as the setting sun illuminated all of the rich colour in the cliffs on the harbour-side of North Head ...

At Bluefish Point last night a southward moving humpback whale crested the surface within 20 metres of our kayaks.

And yet another startled silver flying fish skipped away from us - they seem to be back in full force this season.

Kayaking and snorkelling

 

It is great to have our full tribe back on the sea together again ...

 

 

The air was heavy with the powerfully evocative smell of bushfire smoke as we paddled up the north shore.

Some hours of paddling later we had a very memorable snorkel in a shallow bay that revealed a small submerged cave with at least fifteen large crayfish tucked away beneath its ledge. The image below shows just some of the crays that made the journey home with us in our kayaks ...

 

And this is just one of the many meals that followed ...

 

 

Crayfish stir fried with ginger and shallots, fresh chilli, crushed garlic and coriander. Squeezed lime juice and slices of fresh mango as accompaniments.

How's that for kayak food sourced from our backyard?

And, jumping back in chronology a little, this was how the day began with a glossy seal pup leaping beside our kayaks on the way out through the Heads ...

If we thought that it was difficult to capture such a fast moving seal by photo then we had no chance with recording the silvery flying fish that later skipped into startled flight out at sea.

Another great day in our kayaks.

Mid-weeker

 

16 or so kms after work ...

South to RNP

This morning we paddled south from Cronulla to the beautiful cliffs and beaches of the Royal National Park. And back.

The photo above was taken on the way back.

Highlights:

> The sea standing up and pitching itself across bomboras - dangerous traps for the unwary or distracted paddler
> Snorkelling over a rock platform full of cray and abalone hidey-holes
> Reddy-brown wallabies wondering what we are doing on their beach
> The east-coast heathland flora in bloom ...

 Setting up the sail for an easy return journey with the sou-easter.

Mid-week paddling

For the last couple of months we've been slipping in an additional mid-week paddle, either in the morning or evening. It's important to do this to build up and maintain paddle fitness - and it's very enjoyable too.

We've been paddling up to 20 kms into the night - down the Harbour,out the Heads, along the coastline and back. The photo above is just off Shelly Beach / Manly.

North West Solitary Island

How to convey this beautiful day at sea?

After just a handful of paddle strokes from the shore at Arawarra, a big green turtle broke the surface with its pleasantly speckled face. It then dived directly towards me and with a few gentle arcs of its large Rayban-like fins it was momentarily beneath my hull and then gone. Beautiful thing! If that had been the end of my day I would have been very pleased.

Soon afterwards an incredible experience ... twelve Humpback whales emerged within just a few kilometres of one another - adults and calves playing at the sea's surface. Their deep groans and higher frequency singing clearly audible to me in my kayak. A couple of spectacular full-body leaps into the sky escaped my camera's shutter but I managed to record a gluttony of images at close range.

And as if that was not enough for one day, I threw a lure over the stern while under sail back to the coast from North West Solitary Island and picked up dinner - a Bonito tuna (ok not so amazing) and a sweet Kingfish - the prize of the sea, in my little fishing book. 

In the photo below you can just see South Solitary Island (at left) and South West Solitary Island (at right).

A few years ago I paddled out to South Solitary and I was in two minds earlier this morning about going there again today. I was fortunate that I chose to paddle to North West Solitary and in doing so intersected with this stream of whales.

Below is North West Solitary Island ... no where near as spectacular as South Solitary Island with its elegant lighthouse but still, NWSI is a nice sea peak to aim for when paddling off the east coast.

Dinner was caught on a lure while sailing back to the coast ...

Kingfish and Bonito ... eaten as sashimi with Wasabi and soy (left) and slivers of Jalapeno (right).

Little video from this morning ...

Wandering north

Wandering along the coast, 500 Kms north of Sydney. 

Short paddle to Long Reef

This morning we paddled up to Long Reef and back before most of Sydney had woken up.

Highlights ...

> paddling down the harbour under starlight

> seeing a brilliant orange ball of firey sun climb over the horizon while out at sea

> knocking off 35kms and feeling like we could turn around do it all again.

 Long Reef

The brilliant cliffs of North Head ...

South to Wedding Cake and back

This was a very enjoyable paddle in crystal clear conditions, starting from various points well inside Sydney Harbour and then south along the cliff line to Wedding Cake Island and back.

Highlights ...

> a massive swarm of very large Australian Salmon streaming under our hulls in full hunt mode, demolishing bait fish with flocks of gulls plunging into the surface maelstrom. We caught two very large bull-headed Salmon - which were returned to the sea.

> a delightful tailwind which propelled us home.

> being on a sunny sea ...

Travelling south

Stunning cliffs.

Wedding Cake

The swell rises between Wedding Cake and South Coogee.



Varg

Bruce Stannard's recent article on the replica construction of Varg.

This city of 5 million ...

... fortunately retains significant endemic bushland and peaceful places to enjoy it.

Near Bantry Bay.

Reflected light from the water's surface was dancing like a seasprite upon the surface interior of this cave.