Ride to the Reef

 Normally I would walk to the reef but I end up taking the road route and got the bike right down into the Dell. Getting back out was another matter. It was just easier to walk it back up.  Back at the reef I was talking to a passerby who had never swam out but I could tell wanted to try it.  How cold, does it swirl around, can you get caught on anything?   He has observed birds sitting on each mound at low tide trying to pick off fish.  Now this is a new development. Another sign that the reef is working to attract fish. On this swim I did see more fish than ever before and some bigger ones as well. The plants and sponges are coming on also.  This swim needs to be timed for the higher tides. The fisheries guys said it should have been sited in deeper water.

just poking their heads out

Fisheries Dept

I wanted to try combining a bike ride with a snorkel swim. I tried this some yar ago but it was a bit bulky as I had a backpack as well as a snorkel pack hanging around, all while trying to keep the bike in a straight line.  This time I was more efficient with only the snorkel pack but I put a small hand towel in there as well.  I cycled around to another old pole line that I have never properly swum.  This time there was another problem as the whole lane was crowded with canoes as an outdoors class was being held.  Kids have way more fun than when I went to school.  We had concrete and one handball court yadayada. I got back on the bike and moved around to the reef area.  There were two fisheries guys patrolling the shore line, taking photos, taking notes and taking prisoners.  Is there a problem officer? Yes we are looking for illegal drainage flowing down that could effect the clams, oysters and mussels. I did not tell them about the huge oyster I had in the pocket of my budgie smugglers. I plucked it off the sea floor right near there.  What are the odds of grabbing seafood from the ocean and there are two fisheries guys waiting on the shore.  When I got home I found I had shocking shucking skills and not the right knife so I threw it out. One time we took a shell back to our hotel room but it had a fish still inside.  The room stank the next day.

shucks

canoe slalom

Canon Ball Garden

 This would have to be the best conditions I have experienced for a few years. The only thing missing was fish although there was another big ray today.  I went out further than yesterday and just floated on the surface. You could spend more time checking out the contents of each pole but I seem to want to move on. The ray was hiding beneath the foliage of one of the poles.  He was too big to hide and decided to move off in a fairly lazy fashion. I branched out from the poles crossing some open water on my way backin. The sea floor always has something going on. I found this cluster of balls and the further I looked the more they stretched into the wet yonder. 

More Rays

 Yesterday was sponges, today its rays although there were still a lot of sponges. The calmness continues even with a slight Northerly that gave the water a small chop.  The water clarity remains excellent and one thing about low tide means that if you are out of swim practise you can get further along the pole line and still stand up. I did go another 50 metres passed that point and I found a large ray snoozing on the bottom. The outline of its body shape was perfect and the bulging back ridges protruded in the middle. That was about as far as I went against the breeze, at least it pushed me back to shore.

low low tide

                                                                          sleepy ray

Sponges

 Not the eating kind also heard of someone sponging off others but never quite knew where that came from. These are the underwater always saturated kind.  I finally got in for a snorkel as all the conditions were ripe for the fussy swimmer. This was the first one for a month. The clarity was so good shadows were cast on the sea floor.  There was a lot of fish but miniscule versions of them.  The thing that got my attention were the sponges and their water holes eg breathing holes.  These will have a name that escapes me but in the absence of fish they are where the colour is. I am hoping for another swim if the conditions hold.

Poisoning the Pavement

 We are due for a few dry days here so I spent at least an hour pumping and splurging 5 or 6 litres of poison into the paver cracks and crevices. This has not been done for some months and a forest was sprouting in the cracks. I was able to pull quite a few trees out by the roots before hand. I find a bit of a back ache is induced as it seems you have to stoop to get more accurate with the spray nozzle. Also the watering system sprays onto the pavers but I should get almost 24 hours of drying time before that. 

before

Dollar Bucks

 Kaia needed some distraction while her older sister went to TimeZone for party time. It is not long before she is immersed in whatever is nearby. Jigsaw puzzles seem to be all the go at the moment and she knows how to match colours and turn the pieces to fit. When the indoors gets stuffy then there is always the trampoline and if Nanna gets on there then even better. We used bikes, scooters and roller skates and it doesn't seem to matter if it is round and round the same ground, as long as we are watching, it all works.