Tag Archives: Snorkelling

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Destinations, Family Happy Snaps, Photography, Travel Journal

Day 357: Kurrajong

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Sunday, 25 May 2014

Nath attempted to wake me during the night, 5 times telling me that it was raining asking if there was anything going to get wet. I never heard him, but then a few minutes later woke to the rain on the roof. We jumped up to make sure that everything that needed to be was undercover. We climbed back into bed and I checked the time: 12.35am.

This morning the sun was up and all of the clouds gone. There wasn’t much water in the buckets we put under the awning for collection, so we didn’t get a great deal of rain. A light shower; enough to be a pain and get us out of bed in the middle of the night! It was breezy but the sun warm. We started the day with pancakes and a cuppa, yum!

Mid-morning Nath headed down to find Hendrix who had made some more friends further along the camp. He met their dad Mark from Melbourne and they are on the road for a year. We then wrangled Nath from his chat so we could head out in the tinny for a snorkel. Poppy stayed in camp to look after Elokin and Hendrix as they didn’t want to go. We headed south to find some turtles to snorkel with. We putted into the area and dropped anchor. It was only about a metre and a half deep and the visibility was great. The current was reasonably strong but we kicked against it. We saw 2 turtles, an octopus, a lion fish, a school of big spangled emperor and I also caught the tail of a big shark. From the look of it, I believe it was a tiger shark. After being in the water for over an hour, we were cold and needed to get out of the water.

On our way back to camp, we saw a few beautiful looking bombies that we will snorkel another day. We also saw a tiger shark, and I believe it was the one I saw in the water, which was about 20 metres from a couple of snorkelers, so we thought we would politely let them know. They opted to get out of the water, but we did scare him away with the boat. Right near him we found a massive bull ray and circling around him was a huge cobia. Guess what rule we broke this morning? We didn’t have any fishing gear in the boat, and we were kicking ourselves! He also had a few big golden trevally with him. After seeing him twice, we decided to boot-scoot home to grab some rods and then fly back to find him again. Of course, we didn’t see him or the tiger shark again, so we let the snorkelers know that it was gone and we would be hanging around if they wanted to get back in the water and we would let them know if we saw it again. We did see two big Tawny Nurse sharks which was cool for Nanny to see. We also tried get the big Spangled Emperor’s up with a popper and a squidgy, but all I managed to coax up were 3 black-tip reef sharks and Nath caught one very small Charlie court.

On our way back to camp we saw fins coming towards us. It was a small pod of 4 dolphins. 1 looked like it was injured as its fin was lop-sided and he looked to be swimming a bit funny. There was also a black-tip reef shark following them which made us think that perhaps it had taken a swipe at it, but that would be a bit odd we thought. This dolphin was the friendliest and was the one that came over to us in the tinny. It turned side on and looked right at us, this was when we worked out that it was fine and just has a funny fin. Nath took this opportunity to get into his snorkelling gear and get in the water with it. He loves friendly dolphins, so calling Nanny and I crazy for just sitting in the boat and not thinking of getting in the water, he slid out of the boat and in with the dolphin. Personally I think the dolphin was more interested in the boat as it went away, got the other dolphins and came back to us in the boat. I called out to Nath to come over near the boat as they were in front of us. So he did and swam with them for a while until they had had enough and left. We then followed them and again they came to us and played at the bow. I could nearly touch them they were so close. It was amazing!

Back at camp we enjoyed lunch and then in the afternoon Nath put silicone around the roof support poles as we think that is where we are leaking when it rains, and Nanny and I went for a walk to get reception and found an echidna. We got really close to it and I got some photos. Echidna’s have very cute faces.

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Destinations, Family Happy Snaps, Photography, Travel Journal

Day 355: Kurrajong

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Friday, 23 May 2014                                                                                                       155kms

It was another perfect morning in paradise. Nanny and Poppy were off to town to get some supplies, so we decided not to let the millpond conditions slip by and headed out in the tinny. On the way south to Pilgramunna and the opening to the ocean, Hendrix spotted a dolphin fin. Then there were more, and they were playing, so we cruised slowly over to them and then killed the motor. We drifted around watching this pod of dolphins teaching the young to jump and spin and tail slap and lay on their backs. It was insanely awesome. I was kicking myself for not having my big camera with us, but made use of the phone and videoed them and took some photos. Elokin also got a few photos on her camera too.

We then left them and headed for the opening. Just inside the lagoon Nath spotted a tall shark fin sticking out of the water. The depth was shallow so this monster shark would have had to have his belly scraping along the coral. We never got close enough to see what he was, but Nath suspects a hammerhead shark given the long dorsal fin.

Out in the Indian Ocean we trolled along the back of the reef, heading north. The water was so still and the visibility so good that we could see the bottom 20-30 metres down. We trolled up to South Mandu where we saw what we think to have been 3 or so marlin when we stopped to flick a popper around. Being such curious creatures I saw the fins come for my popper and follow it towards the boat as I retrieved it. Again, they kept a wide berth so we couldn’t make a visual confirmation that that is what they were, other than the dorsal and tail fin. We then turned west and headed to some deeper water before trolling south. We saw fish chopping up but again couldn’t get anything to take a lure. As we were cruising along I looked down and could see the bottom again. Then I saw a school of fish so we stopped to throw the popper around again. Moments after stopping we looked down and could count 5 sharks circling under us. With no chance of bringing a fish to the surface now, we continued on towards the opening at Pilgramunna.

Once back in the lagoon we headed south towards the point to try to find some bombies Nath spotted the other day to go for a snorkel. The water was so clear we could see everything below us. We found a Tawny Nurse shark sleeping under a bombie, schools of fish and tonnes of coral.

Eventually we located the bombies we were looking for and dropped anchor at the first two. Nath and I jumped in for a look while Elokin and Hendrix waited in the boat. Nath found a big wobbegong under one of them. He was very cool.

We then got back in the boat and cruised over to the next bombie. Elokin and Hendrix decided they wanted to join us this time so while they were getting ready we got into the water to have a look around. Under this bombie Nath found a Barramundi Cod and a big painted sweetlip. Both Elokin and Hendrix practised going down to touch the bottom which was about 4 metres deep. We were so proud of both of them for doing so well. Nath then got them to go and practise next to the bombie and have a look under it. They both got to see the barramundi cod and another massive fish that we are not sure what it was, but it was huge. Both Hendrix and Elokin did so well diving to the bottom. They have become little fish themselves. Elokin was going deep enough for it to start to hurt her ears!

We then got back in the tinny, although the water was warmer than out, and headed for the next bombie. Hendrix and I sat this one out as I was too cold and he didn’t want to go in, but Elokin was keen to go with Nath. They saw a white tip reef shark sleeping under the bombie. Then Hendrix and I saw the pod of dolphins from this morning coming towards us. We let Nath and Elokin know and they swam towards us and the dolphins. At one stage all 7 dolphins lined up in a row about 20 metres from the boat heading right towards us. It was so cool. Unfortunately the visibility here wasn’t very good so Nath and El couldn’t see them. They stayed in the water chasing after them for a bit until Nath called it and they returned to the boat.

We then returned to camp for a late lunch at 4pm of bacon and egg sandwiches. Just before we sat down to eat Nanny and Poppy returned from big day in town. They had had a nice lunch and also enjoyed the view from the lighthouse.

In the evening Poppy and Nath went to the beach to have a fish. Poppy caught a dart and kept it for bait for tomorrow. The man next to Poppy caught an emperor, too small to keep, and then had a huge shark fin coming right towards him on the beach like a scene out of Jaws. Nath thinks it was the same Hammerhead shark that we saw this morning. Pretty scary!

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Family Happy Snaps, Photography, Travel Journal

Day 354: Kurrajong

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Thursday, 22 May 2014                                                                                                   36kms

There was a slight breeze this morning when we woke, not quite as good as the report said yesterday afternoon. After some breakfast and organisation we headed in the car to Turquoise Bay to snorkel the drift. The lagoon was very calm with not a ripple in the water, and the current looked to be light. We put our things down, grabbed our snorkelling gear and waded into the water. The water was a little fresh, but once in, we got used to it. The visibility was good and immediately I saw a small Charlie Court cod sitting next to a piece of coral. I stuck the GoPro in his face and he stood firm and opened his mouth. We had a bit of a Mexican stand-off, but I ended up winning and he backed up. I wasn’t trying to disturb him, but the current was floating me closer to him, so I guess he thought it best to give up and swim off a little. I decided I wouldn’t bother him anymore and let him return to his coral home and swam away to find something else to swim with. The next thing I found was an octopus sitting in some staghorn coral. He was brown to start with, but as he tucked himself back into the coral he turned white. I left him alone and continued on to follow Nanny and Poppy and get a video of them snorkelling over the coral. Some of the cool things they saw were a black-tip reef shark, which Nanny chased after; a big cod, an octopus, a stingray, lots of sweetlip, staghorn coral and lots of parrotfish. I then tried to catch up to Nath and our children, but they were long gone and down the other end of the drift. They saw parrotfish, a school of longtom, a coral cave that “Gill” went into and a little crab that looked like a rock. On my drift I saw lots of fish, a blue-spotted fantail ray munching on the sandy bottom, huge parrotfish, and a big Moorish Idol.

After our drift, we returned to camp for lunch before heading back to Oyster Stacks in the afternoon for another snorkel. This time Poppy stayed in camp while the rest of us went. Oyster Stacks was brilliant as always. It is still my favourite land-based snorkelling spot. There was very little current, next to no swell, zero wind chop and good visibility. All in all, a great day for it. At the first stack we saw a huge school of painted sweetlip, buff bream and Nath also spotted a huge Mangrove Jack in amongst them. We then went to the next stack before I took Elokin to find Nemo as she was still wanting to see him here. I found the anemone rather easily, as we had found it many times before. There lots of “nemo” fish today and they were out and about and not so scared of humans for a change. They are actually tomato anemonefish. From there we headed south to the third stack and Nanny saw her first big blue starfish. Nath and Nanny swam through a school of dart which was very cool. At the forth stack, Hendrix lost one of fins as the strap came off so in an over-reaction, he pulled his mask and snorkel off too. I found the strap and Nath had to try to tread water over the shallow reef to assist him in getting his gear back on. In the end he swam to find a patch of sand to stand on to get Hendrix sorted as it was just too hard to not damage the coral and stay afloat. We then headed back to the forth stack as Nath wanted me to video him swimming through it, as every other time we have been here the conditions haven’t been as good and he hasn’t been able to do it since 3 ½ years ago, the very first time we were here. After that we continued south over the coral and found a school of convict surgeonfish to swim with. On the way to the pebbly beach Nanny saw an octopus and watched it change colour, so she was stoked!

After another fantastic snorkel we headed back to camp.

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Destinations, Landscapes, Photography, Travel Journal

Day 352: Kurrajong

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Tuesday, 20 May 2014

It was another beautiful morning that we woke to today. Nanny, Nath, Hendrix, Elokin and I headed out in the tinny for a morning snorkel over a couple of bombies not far from camp to the south. The visibility was okay but the water was still a bit green looking. The bombies themselves were not overly big in height and about the size of two patrols side by side each. They were brain coral covered in a vibrant green and dull brown moss. Through the cracks and holes of them were anemone with clown fish and anemone fish. Lots of different kinds of Nemo! Through one hole Nath found a massive bluebone with its vibrant blue stripes. It was very cool to see. I also found a lion fish out from the bombie doing a dance. I swam right up to it with the GoPro and videoed it as it swam back under a gap in the coral and disappeared. Nanny got to see it so that is fantastic! There were lots of other fish cruising around too, black damsels, a couple of big unicorn fish, 3 “Gill” Moorish idol, black eel-tail catfish, black and white humbugsplus many more. Nath was off yonder so I got Nanny’s attention and headed over to him. He had found a white and brown spotted eel hiding in a small weedy covered bombie. He was very cool and opened his mouth in protest when the GoPro was put near him.

We then went back to the boat and headed north, past Bloodwood Creek which is now open to the lagoon, up to South Mandu. As we got close to Bloodwood Creek the water went from crystal clear to so murky it looked like iced coffee as there is a lot of silt floating around in the water. Once we got to the sanctuary of Mandu it cleared up again and we could see the coral and fish as we cruised over the top of them. The coral looked pretty impressive and a nice place to have a snorkel on another day. We were a bit surprised with the amount of fish we didn’t see from above. It looks rather fished out considering it is a sanctuary zone. Once we were out of the zone heading south again I trolled my popper. Two fish had a go at it, but I didn’t catch anything which was disappointing.

Back at camp we ate the bread rolls Nath had baked and they were delicious and cooked to perfection. We were wondering how they would turn out as we hadn’t done rolls in the weber before, but I think we will be doing more of them. After sitting around letting our food go down, the 5 of us headed back out in the boat again.

This time we headed south past Pilgramunna to some staghorn coral out from the point. The current was ripping through but we fought against it. The staghorn coral had vibrant blue ends and hundreds of fish living amongst it. I found the biggest empty complete clam shell I have ever seen. It was massive! I also saw a couple of fish I hadn’t seen before, one brown and white anemone fish and a fish that looked like 2 joined together. The front half was a smooth silvery white and the back half was a thicker brown bumpy scaled, with a bright yellow tail. It was very bizarre. Elokin and I also found another eel, the same colour as the one from this morning, but half out from his hiding spot. I think he liked the red flashing light on the front of the GoPro as he seemed to want to come towards it. I kept El and me a safe distance from it while we waited for Nath, Hendrix and Nanny to arrive to check it out. Nath was braver than me and took the GoPro in close to it. I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to eels and even more so snakes. It was a very nice place to snorkel. The visibility is probably the best we have had since we arrived at Kurrajong and here there were more fish to see. Awesome!

Tonight after dinner, Nath, Hendrix and Poppy went and caught crabs for bait. Poppy also attempted to fish off the beach, but got snagged and lost the lot. He gave up after one cast.

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Destinations, Family Happy Snaps, Photography, Travel Journal

Day 351: Kurrajong

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Monday, 19 May 2014

We were up just after sunrise to enjoy a crisp morning. After a morning cuppa and breakfast, Nath and Poppy headed to the beach with a fishing rod each. Neither of them caught anything but that wasn’t all that surprising. Nanny went for a walk around the campground and up to North Kurrajong before making her way back to us. I cleaned up and when everyone was back, we got ourselves organised, and headed out in the tinny.

Nath pushed us off the beach and we headed south towards Pilgramunna and the bombies we had snorkelled around last year. Out in front of Pilgramunna, we found a pod of dolphins so I jumped in and attempted to snorkel with them. They wouldn’t come near me and although I could hear their calls, I couldn’t see them and gave up. I did find some nice coral in deeper water to snorkel over so Nath threw in the anchor and they all got in. Both Nath and I also swam with a rather cruisey turtle. There was a couple of big bombies around and lying on the sand next to one I spotted a decent size shark. Nath saw that he was a white tip reefy about 1.5 metres long, but we woke him from his slumber and he took off over the bombie. I decided it best not to tell Nanny who was with us at the time as I didn’t want her freaking out. As she started heading off in the same direction as the shark I called out to her that I was cold and heading back to the boat, which was true, but I also had an ulterior motive. We all headed back to the boat then and once safely on board, we told her about the shark. Now to my surprise Nanny said that she would have liked to have seen it, so next time I see one, I will be sure to let her know.

We then pulled up the anchor and headed for the drift here at Pilgramunna. On the way Nath found a few bombies that he wanted to snorkel around so he jumped in followed by Nanny and Poppy with the intentions of swimming to shore. I stayed in the tinny with Elokin and Hendrix and attempted to catch lunch, unsuccessfully. They had another great snorkel and I picked them up from the beach. We then decided it was time for lunch and headed home.

After a quick bite to eat, Nath, Poppy and Hendrix headed out in the tinny again as it was a cracking day. This time they headed outside the reef to go fishing. Nanny and Elokin played a couple of games of connect four, followed by book reading.

Nath and Poppy returned victorious. Poppy had caught a small trevally and a red throat, both kept for dinner. They then had a double hook up, the Spanish mackerel were on. Poppy hauled in his which was about a metre long but yet again, Nath’s got sharked and he lost another of his lures. This time Nath was rather furious at the sharks. They kept the Spaniard for dinner and to share around the campground and headed back to camp.

After Nath cleaned and cut up the Spanish mackerel I took a couple of pieces out for us to have with the other fish for dinner and went two camps down to give the couple there the remaining fish. The man had torn his ligaments in his shoulder a week ago so he was unable go to fishing, so he was very thankful for the feed. Obviously it was a lot of fish, so they shared it out so that lots of camps got a feed of mackerel tonight. It was nice that a couple of other people that had received the fish came by and said thanks and that it was delicious. It is nice to know the fish is appreciated as normally we would have thrown him back. We enjoyed fish and chips for dinner and then Nath cooked a loaf of bread plus 8 rolls while I made blueberry muffins. It was quite late when we finally got to bed as we had to wait for them all to cool down before we could pack them away. I nearly fell asleep in my chair so we called it quits and put them away still slightly warm. Oh well.

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Destinations, Family Happy Snaps, Landscapes, Our Rig, Photography

Day 350: Kurrajong

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Sunday, 18 May 2014                                                                                                     6.0kms

We were greeted with another beautiful Ningaloo morning, not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky and the gorgeous calm, turquoise water. Nath decided it was a great boating day and took the tinny with Nanny, Poppy and Hendrix down to Pilgramunna to launch. They then headed out through the reef as it was such a cracking day and went fishing. There was very little swell so the seas were calm.

Elokin and I stayed in camp and cleaned up a bit before enjoying each other’s company playing games and reading. Elokin got a new book from Nanny and Poppy when they arrived, so she started reading it to me. I quite enjoyed what she read to me and she is becoming a very good reader. I also took her to the beach to have a look at how good it was out there and El went for a swim. We didn’t stay down there long as we didn’t have the sunscreen and it was almost midday so we would get cooked.

When the fisher people returned, there was no fish with them. Poppy and Hendrix brought the car back and Nanny and Nath brought the boat to the beach and put it at anchor. Nath had hooked a good fish but with a bit of line confusion happening, it got sharked and the fish was no more. Hendrix saw it and said it was a purple fish, but he was the only person to see it in the water. They did see lots of sharks and Nath spotted a whale. He wasn’t sure what kind, but from the description of the fin and black streamlined body, we are thinking a false killer whale, so that is pretty exciting.

After a late lunch of crunchy squid salad with crispy noodles, we headed straight out from camp in the tinny towards the reef to go for a snorkel. It was rather shallow and the visibility still wasn’t great. We had a great time anyway. This was Nanny’s 2nd snorkel and she loved it. By the end she had got the hang of it and calmed down to actually enjoy what she was seeing. Now you must understand, Nanny doesn’t put her head in the water to swim, and if she is going under to wet her hair, she has to hold her nose as she has never learnt to blow air out of it. So to be able to breathe through her snorkel and have her face in the water is amazing. I am very proud of her, in fact we all are. Nath and I found heaps of broken fishing line wrapped around coral. We attempted to untangle it and free the coral from its mess, but it was way too hard. I couldn’t even find the ends of them to see if they had a good lure on the bottom of them.

After snorkelling for over an hour we climbed back into the boat and headed back to camp to get dinner organised as it was already 4.30pm.

I had to find my jeans tonight to go with my jumper as the air was quite cold. There were millions of stars and they were bright. When Nath and I went to check on the boat, one star to the west had a reflection right across the water to shore like the moon normally has. I was impressed.

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.

Across Australia Trip, Animals, Destinations, Family Happy Snaps, Photography, Travel Journal

Day 349: Kurrajong

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Saturday, 17 May 2014                                                                                                  6.0kms

We woke to a beautiful autumn morning and a glass off over Ningaloo. Poppy and Nath to the boat down to Pilgramunna to launch and then headed out past the reef. We said goodbye to Stewart, Natalie, Charlie and Izzy as they are heading north today. Nanny, Elokin, Hendrix and I then went for a walk south along the beach and then over the rocks. I found a lure washed in and took it with me to give to Nath as he always wants lures that have washed into shore. We then walked back to camp over the dunes and through the bush.

Just as we had made a cuppa and lunch, the boys walked in from the beach. They had left the tinny at anchor. Poppy had caught 3 Spanish mackerel, the first one being over a metre. Nice! He was very pleased with himself. That was the only one to be brought into the boat, the second got off next to it and the 3rd took the lure and ran off with all of the 50 pound braid off Nath’s Stradic spool. Gone! Oops.

After lunch Nanny went with Nath to bring the tinny back out of the water at Pilgramunna and return to camp.

The afternoon saw us all in for a snorkel straight off the beach at camp. This was Nanny’s first ever snorkel! We saw a cuttlefish (a first for us) and Nath found a crayfish. I looked over and thought Poppy was stuck under the bombie. He had his legs flipping around out of the water over the top of the bombie, his belly against the bombie and his head and shoulders under it, all the while wiggling about and thrusting his legs around. I went into panic mode and started to go for him to grab him. At this point I was still trying to work out where to grab him and what I would do if he was wedged under there like I thought he was. I was terrified to be honest. The seconds passed and finally he freed himself and popped up to the surface to gasp for air, saying “The bloody crayfish. I couldn’t quite grab him”. He hadn’t been stuck at all, to my relief; he was under there trying to grab dinner! Later back at camp, he told me that next time I see him like that to grab him and shove him further under so he can grab it. I told him next time I see him like that I am running the other way, or I am not going to snorkel anywhere near him. I still see the flashback image and it freaks me out.

There were lots of soft corals which was really cool to see. Up until now, I haven’t seen any, so that was awesome. The visibility was pretty crappy, but what can we expect after all of the rain we received. It will eventually settle and be great again, just not right now. We also saw a big cod, maybe two and a feeding frenzy of surgeon fish that I floated through. The whole snorkel was shallow and we were able to stand on the sand the entire time.

 

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.