Friday, September 16, 2005
september 17th
Yesterday was gray and rainy. Which is what makes this beautiful sunny day all the more wonderful! I decided that this was a day for a slow, easy morning followed by a ride and some exploring.
So, I woke up, had some breakfast, made some cookies, lounged around, then packed a few things in my backpack and set off, generally heading South.
My first big find was a mere 10 minutes from my house, and looked a little something like this:
.
It's called Malabrar Rock Pool, and the water temperature seemed just right. I strongly regretted not having my swimsuit. I took a look at a few tidepools then carried on, planning to come back soon to swim.
My next stop was at the northern end of Botany Bay National Park. There was a little boardwalk trail leading through a grove of banksia scrub. I saw a kookaburra sitting in a youngish gum tree and suddenly felt like I was really in AUSTRALIA, and really in another world. The upper branches of the gum trees danced gracefully in the breeze to bid me farewell as I returned to my bicycle.
I carried on, generally following the coast as closely as the roads would allow and soon enough came to a park and some sandy beaches with kitesurfers zooming across the waves. There was a little cafe selling fish and chips so I decided to get some to eat by the beach. I'm not sure exactly what alerted the seagulls, but I was swarmed as soon as I sat down. Since it was so windy, they could just hover above my head facing into the breeze - there were at least 20 birds and some of them were flying a foot or 2 above me. As I failed to drop anything, they slowly came down and settled around me on the beach, still keenly watching for a chance to dine. Eventually one of them decided he had some sort of claim on me and started to chase away all of the other birds, squaking loudly if a new one approached from the air. It was then I remembered that I had had a similar experience eating by a beach in Australia before, back on my bike trip. Then too I had had a seagull protector who took it upon himself to chase all of the other birds away. They can be very helpful, especially since they are so busy chasing the others that you end up without anyone eyeing your lunch at all. Many pictures of seagulls followed.
From lunch, I proceeded down the bay (it is Botany Bay I had started following) until I came to one of the many enormous seaside cemetaries I have noticed around town. This one seemed to be segregated with streetsigns pointing out Catholic and Anglican areas.
My last stop before turning back towards home (on an inland route this time) was the Botany Bay Port where you can follow a road out the peninsula for some pretty views around the bay.
I was surprised when I cut back to find that I was far closer to home than I expected to be, so here I am stopping in for a quick break and to pick up my swimsuit. A quick dip in the pool then it will be time for dinner, after which I am off to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my flatmate Kelly.
What a fantastic day!
ps. I have put some new pictures up in my gallery... and I do have a few others soon to come
So, I woke up, had some breakfast, made some cookies, lounged around, then packed a few things in my backpack and set off, generally heading South.
My first big find was a mere 10 minutes from my house, and looked a little something like this:
.It's called Malabrar Rock Pool, and the water temperature seemed just right. I strongly regretted not having my swimsuit. I took a look at a few tidepools then carried on, planning to come back soon to swim.
My next stop was at the northern end of Botany Bay National Park. There was a little boardwalk trail leading through a grove of banksia scrub. I saw a kookaburra sitting in a youngish gum tree and suddenly felt like I was really in AUSTRALIA, and really in another world. The upper branches of the gum trees danced gracefully in the breeze to bid me farewell as I returned to my bicycle.
I carried on, generally following the coast as closely as the roads would allow and soon enough came to a park and some sandy beaches with kitesurfers zooming across the waves. There was a little cafe selling fish and chips so I decided to get some to eat by the beach. I'm not sure exactly what alerted the seagulls, but I was swarmed as soon as I sat down. Since it was so windy, they could just hover above my head facing into the breeze - there were at least 20 birds and some of them were flying a foot or 2 above me. As I failed to drop anything, they slowly came down and settled around me on the beach, still keenly watching for a chance to dine. Eventually one of them decided he had some sort of claim on me and started to chase away all of the other birds, squaking loudly if a new one approached from the air. It was then I remembered that I had had a similar experience eating by a beach in Australia before, back on my bike trip. Then too I had had a seagull protector who took it upon himself to chase all of the other birds away. They can be very helpful, especially since they are so busy chasing the others that you end up without anyone eyeing your lunch at all. Many pictures of seagulls followed.
From lunch, I proceeded down the bay (it is Botany Bay I had started following) until I came to one of the many enormous seaside cemetaries I have noticed around town. This one seemed to be segregated with streetsigns pointing out Catholic and Anglican areas.
My last stop before turning back towards home (on an inland route this time) was the Botany Bay Port where you can follow a road out the peninsula for some pretty views around the bay.
I was surprised when I cut back to find that I was far closer to home than I expected to be, so here I am stopping in for a quick break and to pick up my swimsuit. A quick dip in the pool then it will be time for dinner, after which I am off to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my flatmate Kelly.
What a fantastic day!
ps. I have put some new pictures up in my gallery... and I do have a few others soon to come
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