Snorkelling!
Trip Start
Jul 03, 2007
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5
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Trip End
Jul 10, 2007
Lord Howe Island,
Australia
Saturday, July 7, 2007
G:
Mandi coughed a lot during the night but apparently slept well. She had not taken a cold muti so woke a lot easier than normal. We had decided to go to snorkel, so borrowed wet suits from Ebb Tide, which we tried on in the privacy of our own room, then trudged down to Ned's beach with all our stuff.
M:
Didn't sleep as soundly because I hadn't taken anti-snot muti but woke feeling more alert than previous mornings. The day was lovely so we tested out the wetsuits, which fitted (thank God for stretchy neoprene!) and trotted down to Ned's Beach. The water was like glass. There was a woman at the hut who we asked to take a memorial photo and off we went to wrestle our flippers on in the shallows. Cold at first but not unbearable (water temperature was 17 deg) and in fact I tolerated the cold a lot better than Gray did
01 Two blimps in neoprene!
. I also tolerated having salt water up my nose and not being able to sniff or blow my nose or cough far better than I expected to - in fact it seemed to be very good for my cold. The wetsuits made us very buoyant - I felt as if I was floating with my bum and flippers right out of the water and had to consciously straighten my legs because I kept trying to make them froggy in order to feel that the flippers were actually in the water and not just splashing about uselessly on the surface!G:
Having stuffed ourselves into the neoprene, we looked rather like two black blimps as we waddled down to the sea. Mandi had asked a bystander to take our photo, as the kids would never believe us otherwise. Eventually with a great deal of flopping about in the shallows, we managed to get our masks sorted, and our flippers on.
M:
The experience was just breathtaking. I don't think I've snorkelled since I was 9 or 10 at Ramsgate, and then it was in a single big rock pool - amazing but not at all the experience of being in a big bay and being free to move from sandy bits to shallow coral to deep coral. And the fish! We saw hundreds and felt as if every one was a different species. They ranged from a tiny little stripy remora about an inch long to the giant kingfish (which are a lot less scary when you're in their element - and look quite kindly at you instead of stupidly) but with most in the 6" to 12" range I suppose
02 fish
. And so beautiful! Even the "ordinary" little silver ones are like beautiful jewellery in their own space, and the parrotfish and their various glittering relations are indescribable. And they appear quite unafraid. Some come close to check you out and then swim placidly on, others just cock an interested eye and ignore you as you pass over. Something that's quite nice is that they all fit in with the rhythm of the waves going in and out, and swim when the water is drawing them the way they want to go, and just hold when it's going the other way - and you can learn to do the same thing. It's like breathing - or perhaps being part of some big breathing creature.
As well as the fish, we saw some other amazing things - the coral and the seaweed go without saying, of course - some literally fluorescent - but also HUGE anemones and urchins - the latter the size of soccer balls (although it is hard to judge with the magnification of the mask.) A huge sea-slug about 18" long worming its way across a sandy bottom. A big blue-lipped clam with a wonderful wavy blue edge. A scorpion-fish (although it's not called that here) hanging on a coral-encrusted rock looking just like a fancy piece of stripy seaweed. A big starfish. Two little silver fish courting or building a nest or something that involved a lot of lying on their sides and looking lasciviously at one another. It was a wonderful experience and one I am particularly glad to have had
03 Feeding the fish
. It almost made me want to go up to the Great Barrier Reef.G:
Well, the whole experience was amazing, even from my blurred perspective, the coral was amazing, and the diversity of the fish life incredible. Wherever we looked there was something new. We seemed to see all the fish on the board from parrot fish to the firecracker that Mandi thought was a scorpion fish. We drifted up the shore and mingled with all the Kingfish that are hanging about for their next feed. They are so graceful and completely unafraid. It was wonderful! After over an hour we started to get cold so got out and stripped off the blubber. Mandi had cut her elbow on the coral and it was bleeding quite freely and got all over her T-shirt.
M:
I had cut my elbow on coral quite early on (thinking it was just a bump until Gray pointed it out) and dripped blood fairly dramatically on the hut floor afterwards - luckily there were no sharks out!! I reckon it'll be fine as it happened in nice clean salt water and bled freely which should have got rid of anything in the cut but Gray says gloomily that cuts in seawater always go vrot so we'll see.
G:
We then waded back in to feed the Kingfish with our bread. We were less apprehensive, but were still inclined to feed by throwing. With our last two slices, we moved up to the end of the beach, where we soon had a school of the little silver/brown fish wriggling about our feet, with three of the day-glo parrot fish making shy sorties in for food.
While we were snorkelling it had rained, so we were worried that our washing would get even wetter
04 smaller fish in the shallows
. It was drizzling when we got back to Ebbtide, so we stripped the line and draped the clothes all over our place.M:
While we were swimming we were surprised to discover that it was raining. It had been such a bright morning. So we went back in a bit of a hurry hoping to get our washing, which had actually been almost dry when we set out at 8am, before it was soaked again. I don't think the rain can have reached the top of the headland because it didn't feel much wetter. But we took it in and draped it all over the place and immediately the sun came out beautifully. But we've left it indoors if only to guarantee sunny weather!!
After showers and breakfast, we set off for a walk, stopping at Thompson's for three very expensive pocket packs of tissues - I could have bought a whole box for the same price (had I been willing to lug it about) and the tissues are really nasty and rough - I'd have done better to have brought a roll of not-very-good quality toilet paper! However.
G:
Fixed Mandi's elbow which had, at last, stopped bleeding and then headed down to the end of the island to do some walking. We were going to walk over the headland to North beach. Unfortunately, Mandi wasn't up to the climb - about 100m to the ridge, and the same back down to the beach
05 Kentia palm seeds
. We stopped about half way up and agreed that if there were less than 100 steps left then she would continue. I climbed the 260 steps up, then went back to tell her that she would never make it. She went back and I climbed up again, stopping on the way to feed a curious Currawong with bits of apple.M:
We were aiming to climb Mt Eliza because I really want to see some birds. It's past Milky Way where we ate last night (itself right at the end of one of the island roads) and starts out between a cow paddock and a pretty beach but soon passes into a very steep and rather slippery forest with endless steps. I got partway up but chickened out when I realized I'd have to keep going up, then go down to sea-level again, then all the way up even steeper - and then the whole thing in reverse!! I do so wish I didn't detest hill-climbing so much - either that or I wish Australians would learn about contour paths!!
So I came (sloooowly - very slippery!) down while Gray went on - in the event he never went up Mt Eliza either as he said the up and down to North Beach with the prospect of the return bout was as much as his knees could take. But I came down and found a nice bench with a good view of the jetty as there was some talk of the supply ship coming in on the 2pm high tide and I had been hoping to watch the activities. There was a bakkie with a family of anglers on the jetty, and a rubber ducky with four young surfers came in, but that was all the excitement.
G:
The path down the other side was even steeper, so I was grateful that she hadn't tried to make it. I came out on a pretty beach in a secluded bay. Walked to the end and back looking at pebbles and flotsam before considering going to the gulch
06 the lagoon from the wharf
. The path seemed to set out through a swamp, so I decided to give it a miss. Mt Elisa looked like hard work, so I set out to rejoin Mandi. Met last night's people at the picnic place. Chatted briefly, then set out. I pushed it back to the top of the hill in 13 minutes and was back at Settlement Beach in under 25. Found Mandi sitting on a bench next to the jetty hoping that the boat will come in - but it didn't.M:
At about 2:15, just as I was ready to move on, Gray arrived and we went and bought some supplies and the inevitable ice creams from Thompson's before wending our way home for tea. We did call Jen from a callbox on the way.
G:
We made our way home via Thompson's store where we got some meat and potatoes for supper. Ate our ice creams as we walked up to the call box where we phoned Jennie. She is packing to move into their place, and is rather excited. Apparently Jo bought them a bed.
Mandi and I spent the afternoon and evening reading quietly.
M:
In the end we snacked all afternoon and just had cheese and biks for supper.
