Diving

La Perouse

Accompanied Cameron and Brendan on their PADI Open Water Course through Frogdive in Guildford - instructor is Sean). Buddied up with Jim. Conditions were perfect - sunny and calm. Water warm (though some students thought it was cold). saw a groper, rays, wrasse, scalyfin, rock cod and nudibranchs.

Wetsuit, old hood, no gloves. Own 82 (with fill dating from last test in Sept 2003). Arctic, shot belt with all weights (a little heavy - remember to take out 3lbs for the wetsuit).

521

29 Dec 2007

La Perouse

Accompanied Cameron and Brendan on their PADI Open Water course. They looked relaxed and confident, even during drills like mask clearing and compass navigation. They're now qualified divers and looking forward to the next dive. 1 hour interval between dives.

Wetsuit, old hood, no gloves. Own 82 (with fill dating from last test in Sept 2003). Arctic, shot belt with all weights (a little heavy - remember to take out 3lbs for the wetsuit).

522

12 Jan 2008

Shiprock

Port Hacking

Left home around 8.15am aiming at high tide (Fort Denison) 10:35am. Took longer than expected at the shop, then misnavigated so arrived at the site at 10:44. Turned out to be bang on local high tide. We were joined by a fellow called Brendan who'd missed his group so he buddied up with Cameron. Poor vis meant we lost sight of them, and Brendan [our Brendan] was underweight with 18lbs, hence the short time (Cameron and Brendan #2 had more like 45 mins). But we did see leatherjacket, porcupinefish, old wives and two cute little cuttlefish.

Wet suit, Arctic, 82, ~18lbs lead. Hood, gloves were probably unnecessary - water warm. Boys hired wetsuits, tanks, BCs and weightbelts from Frogdive: ~$65 each.

523

18 Jan 2008

Fish Rock

South West Rocks

NSW North Coast

Shark Gutters and Aquarium. Met at Ship Rock Dive Centre at 7.30am. Others: Rickie (Scottish), Marjorie (French) plus Katherine, Ben, Patrick and Katherine's hubbie + Lochie. Bosun: Jon. Dive leaders Larry and Simon. Moored on Shark Gutters and formed a group with Rickie and Marjorie. led by Larry. Saw sharks as soon as we hit the bottom, at least 20 of them.Next highlight was a pair of clownfish defending their anemone. Colourful wrasse, stripey, bullseyes and other fish abounded. The water was blue, with vis around 20m. Ricky had to abort early (ears) and Marjorie later (low on air). Larry escorted Cameron and Brendan back to the line when their air ran low, and we then paid a quick visit to the "Aquarium", where a shark was visible behind a veil of stripey and bullseyes. Amazing.

Wet suit, Arctic, 82, 18lbs lead. No hood or gloves - stung by jellyfish on hands and ear.

524

18 Jan 2008

Fish Rock

South West Rocks

NSW North Coast

Unfortunately Cameron was too seasick to join us on this dive, and Ricky had to surface again with ear problems, so Larry escorted Brendan, Marjorie and myself into the cave. The entrance was white shell sand with sharks circling (including a humpbacked one). We kept to the right into the tunnel (sharks on the left) and up to the bubble cave, where Larry asked if we were happy to go further into the cave. All were, so we continued in past the veil of bullseyes. All over the rocks were little black sea cucumbers. At the end, Larry indicated we should look further in, and dozens of golden eyes gleamed back at us: crayfish, all clumped together. Beside them were a large, black ray and a wobbegong. Turning back, Brendan was attacked by a vicious scalyfin. Also saw moray eels, adult and juvenile (black/white), clownfish and batfish. Impressive.

Wet suit, Arctic, aluminium tank, 21lbs lead. No hood or gloves.

528

17 Jan 2009

Cape Solander

Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell

$7 park entrance. Overcast cleared ot a sunny afternoon. SE wind so white horses, but easy entrance over rocks. Around 1 hr after high tide. Drifted east in the ebb current and had an energetic fin back. Brendan found a cuttlefish early on, and after much searching we found a weedy sea dragon and took a few photos. Viz reasonably good. Enjoyable dive.

Dry suit (more like a damp suit), 21 lbs, 82 cu ft tank. u/w camera (housing containing cheap film camera). Brendan - my wetsuit, hired BC + tank + reg ($65) + new knife ($65).

529

18 Jan 2009

La Perouse

Warm Sydney summer day - everyone was at La Perouse so parking was very hard to find. Long walk in full kit up the road, over the bridge, down the steps, under the bridge to the right. Easy entrance to water - snorkelled out and descended to around 5m. Gradually found 7m then over weed down to 15m. Plenty of sponge gardens, nudibranchs (4 varieties), scalyfin, blennies and a decent-sized cuttlefish. No sea dragons. Tricky return with waves on rocks. Hiked back to car, quick change and back to Scuba Warehouse by 5.05pm (it closes at 4pm on Sundays). [Now closed all day Sunday]

Dry suit, 21 lbs (definitely too light!), 82, u/w camera again. Brendan - my wetsuit again, hired gear and the knife, which he lost.

530

25 Jan 2009

Shelly Beach

Manly

Took both Cameron and Brendan diving for the first time since South West Rocks a year ago. For the future, remember diving is a day-long activity. We left Scuba Warehouse around 12pm, Andrew's at 1pm and were in the water around 2pm. Out at 3pm and back to the dive shop (via Andrew's to pick up Alexander and Angus) at 4.20pm (they close at 4). Saw plenty of yellowtail, bullseyes, wrasse, scalyfin and a few big groper, plus a couple of cuttlefish and three wobbegongs. Single stingray at the end.

Dry suit, ~28lbs weight (2 belts), 82, camera, no gloves. With more weight I was warmer, but not drier. There must be a leak.

532

28 Mar 2010

Cape Solander

Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell

Some wave action. Poor vis at the surface; better below. Didn't find any weedy sea dragons, but Brendan found an octopus and Cameron a cuttlefish. Shoal of large, sleek fish with a yellow stripe along the sides. Took some photos demonstrating how green and murky it was. Must find some new sites.

Dry-type suit, 82 cu ft, Arctic, 2 weight belts. Hired BCs and weights from Abyss. Cameron wore my wetsuit and Brendan Andrew's.

539

30 Mar 2013

Shelly Beach

Manly

Refamiliarisation for the three of us, especially Brendan, who is off to Cairns on Thursday. Warm day, busy beach ("packed in like penguins", Brendan predicted), good conditions: calm and clear. Plenty of fish: groper, wrasse, scalyfin, leatherjacket, wobbegongs and stingrays. Angus, who was snorkelling, saw 5 small cuttlefish in formation. Air and water temperature both 22°C.

Dry suit, Arctic, hired aluminium tank, 25 lbs

540

31 Mar 2013

La Perouse

After a cloudy start to the day the weather came good and La Perouse was at its multicultural best. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot near an ice-cream van, where Cameron, Brendan and I kitted up while Alexander, Angus and Steph found a nearby beach for boules and boogieboarding. We walked down the hill, over the bridge, down the steps on the left and back under the bridge to a flat rock shelf popular with anglers. On submerging, I set a compass course to the left, ie anticlockwise round the island. The vis wasn't nearly as good as yesterday and we were glad of the torches to help stay in touch. Keeping the boulder slope to our left we contoured down to 14m. On the way we found a sizeable cuttlefish in a crevice, and several species of nudibranch, as well as scalyfin, morwong, wrasse, leatherjacket, goatfish, bullseyes and old wives. Towards the halfway mark we were joined by a groper who became an instant friend, sticing close to us, making eye contact and showing a keen interest in whatever we were looking at. Patches of sea urchin spines on the seabed provided clues as to his possible motivation for this friendly behaviour. Cameron and Brendan took their time and looked closer than I probably did, and were rewarded with sightings of small octopus and prawns that I missed. At 100 bar we turned around and followed a reciprocal course back to the entry point, past the same cuttlefish, picking up my dropped snorkel on the way. Exiting was straightforward except for the fishing line, but the owners of said line didn't seem too troubled, and helped disentangle us. Brendan was able to use his knife for its intended purpose. Afterwards I had a round trip to Manly to return the tanks and hire gear, while the others chilled on the beach. Evening meal at the Springwood Gardens Chinese restaurant for Angus' bithday. Air temperature 24°C; water 21°C.

Dry suit, Arctic, hired aluminum tank, 25 lbs

543

21 Dec 2013

Cape Solander

Round from Inscription Point, Kurnell