Beach Report No 722

 I went across with a range of gear, including snorkel, put, towel and rubbish bags so I had everything covered.  First off I noticed a fair few lion's mane jellies were back, so no snorkel swim for me.  I got out the shot and got into a session which I hadn't done for a while.  I was working up to longer throws and checking where my feet were landing so did not observe the impact point. The shot was buried. Now this has happened before and you go and uncover it. I spent 5 minutes scrabbling around and could not locate it. I'd lost the shot.  I went to sit in the water for a bit and took two steps and brushed it with my foot. I knew it would not be deep but this was way out of the zone.  I went for a wade rather than a swim and picked up some rubbish along the way as well.  Those jellies give me the wellies.

two poo bags and small plastics

the East side could be a spot out of the Westerly wind

A Grave in the Woods

 This is another book where I have gone looking for a writer that I have not read.  Not sure if I will return either.  Yes there were bodies but it was an old war grave and how they got there was worked out half way thru so for the rest of the book its like "now what do we do?"  A limp sideline develops which doesn't seem to go anywhere.  It's more like a travel brochure, as the Scotsman author now living in France, seems more concerned with describing the scenery than anything else.  The part I got into was the submarine pens at La Rochelle. One of the bodies was a submariner and we have toured that U-boat base. The Germans loved concrete.

Bird Flew

 I got a few videos going from the last week. The bikes from yesterday are online already and everyone will want to know that the tube repair worked, however I still need a spare. I scoured the tire for the source of the pin hole and I found the tiniest piece of wire. You can't help bad luck. The other videos feature the local bird life. In Lorne you discourage the cockys as they tear into everything. There are far more cockatoos in Drysdale like a 1,000 and it they ever decide to chew a house, it wouldn't last long.  The other one I took was back here.  I think this bird is a Harrier and has certainly been on patrol. 

Wire thru the Tire

Cadel Ride

 Last year was too hot this year was cooler. We rode to the closest intersection of the race from our place which was about 12km away but 20km into the course. I estimated our time for 12km would be similar to their time for 20km in order to get there before they do. It worked so that we had five minutes to spare and were able to get a good corner position. I tried slowing the speed down for the below clip.  Getting up close is good but brief.  We went back to watch the finish on TV however in the excitement I rode back without my helmet. So a second trip was needed to retrieve it!  

Tudor Pro training two days ago

Under the peleton sign

Swim Plan b

I was heading off with Debbie for a ride when I felt my back tire was completely flat. I sent her on her way while I tried to sort this out as there was no spare in the seat pouch. These must be in the other bike currently at Willie. I got the wheel off and the tire out without any finger or elbow trouble. The hole was the tiniest pin prick that could be heard and felt on the cheek.  The under water trick confirmed it. I patched it and set the pressure at 60psi and an hour later it had lost none. So the test will be riding. In the meantime it happened to be high tide however the water clarity seemed good near the shore but deeper it got the greener and darker further out. I went in anyway and did get to find my first Banjo Ray this year. Hooray, they are still around but so are the Lion's Mane jellies.  I found an article which does warn of getting a welt that can last three days. Also the tendrils can simply breakoff but still give you a sting if you swam into a loose one floating around.  In the ocean these jellies can be a metre across but in this Bay I think the sting is less of a problem.

ParaGliders

We were entertained by paragliders buzzing this way and that and one lady landed on the beach in front of us then gathered up her silks and trudged all the way back up to do it all over again. Next time around we asked her why she wasn't landing up top. She does not have the skill set to negotiate the nearby trees. Her licence to fly is only six months old and needs more practise. There is a lot of gear including radio for ground to air comms. We saw her again up top where she showed us some videos she took thru her glasses while cruising along.  Cool stuff.

Lorne Exit

 We paid for the hotel cooked breakfast on the last day.  I would give it a bare pass. We have had many other better efforts but we are talking 4 star not 5.  We called into the SouthSide beach on the way back mindful that Debbie had a PBK meeting at 5pm.  We had lunch there on a good beach day being 25° and a mild breeze.  The beaches here are spectacular and the most famous is Bells next door.  There are new roads and roundabouts and the back blocks of Torquay are awash with housing estates, better there than the Bellarine. I have some videos to check in the next few days.

Jarosite Cliffs

washed up ash

Point Addis