peteg's blog

An after-work dip at Gordons Bay. Quite pleasant watching the clouds mount from the west while paddling lazily around. I somewhat regretted not wearing a wife-beater.

First non-wetsuit swim of the season, at Coogee. A moderate on-shore wind made for some fairly-hefty-by-Coogee standards waves, which proved my judgement to be quite rusty. The water was very pleasant once in, with a wife-beater, and the evening quite tranquil. Hopefully this sets the mold of after-work beach going.

Midday snorkel at Little Bay. The water was OK, with some cold patches and some of the largest (half-metre) surf I've seen there. I wouldn't have lasted five minutes without the spring suit. Visibility was poor and the fish were hiding from the relatively rough conditions. My timing was a bit off, it got hotter as the day progressed.

Mid-afternoon swim at Little Bay. They're getting serious about building houses in the makeshift carpark, adjacent to the golf course. Pretty soon the beach will be locals-only, due to limited parking. Saw a gazillion fish, including one with a cat-like face and a rippling skirt-like thing for getting around and the old small swordfish-like things. Loads of groper and mobile-seaweed-fish. Some days I wish I had a camera and some clue as to their names.

The water was warm enough in the bay (in a spring suit) but cold-ish past the rocks. The wind would've been painful without the suit, but didn't seem to hamper the best underwater visibility I've had this season.

Early-afternoon snorkel at Gordon's Bay. Saw some tiny groper, some middle-sized and small fish I can't name. A middling-sized one had horizontal fore-fins and was patterned almost identically to the seaweed. Purportedly 18 degrees in, quite comfortable in the spring suit. Warm to hot out, I'd say 27 degrees or more before the storm rolled in.

Mid-afternoon snorkel at Long Bay. Low visibility after all the recent rain, a little cold in but quite nice out. Saw some small gropers and other tiny fish I can't name.

Mid-afternoon swim at Long Bay after dropping Peodair off at the airport. Very quiet, some wind but little whitewater. Saw heaps of groper. The water was cold, bearable in a wetsuit out of the current coming in from the sea. Hot out, 33 degreees.

Midday snorkel at Gordons Bay. I lasted about 20 minutes in the spring suit. Saw some groper and a school of medium-sized silvery vertically-flat fish. The wind was picking up and the storm clouds rolling in...

First swim of the season, an early-afternoon snorkel at Little Bay. Loads of people were on the beach enjoying the 33-degree heat. The water was a bit cold, but not too bad once in, at least in a wetsuit and boots. Didn't see much, was content just to be back in salt water.

Early afternoon snorkel with Rob at Long Bay. We started at Little Bay but were put off by the relatively large surf and whitewater. Absolutely perfect day for it, cloudless and warm, modulo the idiots on their jetskis.

Continuing to make the most of my time in Sydney, I met up with Sarah at Coogee and headed over to Clovelly for a swim in some increasingly rough surf. The water was a perfect temperature and the clouds threatened but passed on by.

Brief early-afternoon dip at Gordon's Bay. Incredibly flat, would've been great to go snorkeling off the northern side.

Got to make the most of my time in Sydney... back to Coogee. Almost identical to yesterday.

Back to dear old flat-as Coogee for the first beach swim of the year. The crowd was fairly thin, the weather warm but pregnant with storm. The water was pleasant, the surf absent. In other words a fairly standard day.

Late morning snorkel with Rob. After the recent heavy storms the water was way too turbid to see anything, but my spring suit made it pleasant enough. Some fairly large waves.

Snorkeling with Rob at Little Bay, the old Prince Henry Hospital site now being turned into apartments. (We'd been to "Little Bay" before, but that was in fact Long Bay.) Very clear, not too cold (in a springsuit), some fish to see and loads of interesting rock formations. Lunch at Paris Seafood at La Parouse in what turned out to be a pleasant autumn afternoon.

Midday snorkelling attempt at Gordons Bay. A bit too rough and turbid to make out much, though the water was pleasant enough once in (at least in a spring suit).

Early afternoon paddle at Gordons Bay. Quite warm out of the water today too, at 24 degrees.

Morning snorkel at the north side of Gordons Bay with Sarah. I, wimpishly, broke out the wetsuit for the first time this season (in Sydney). It wasn't that necessary in the water but it did help immensely with the scoot in the windy shade back to the car. Once again, loads of fish and the weather was beautiful. It seems the blue gropers assemble just east of the ramp, out in the mouth of the bay.

Very brief snorkel off the north-eastern rocks at Gordons Bay in the early afternoon. The wind made the scamper up to the car pretty uncomfortable; the wetsuit would block it much better than a dripping wifebeater. Loads of fish again today, perhaps the most variation I've seen there yet.