Mollymook 2012: north to south

The report will come tomorrow but in the meantime, here are some photos of our South Coast adventure which culminated in the Mollymook ocean swim.

North Mollymook

Before the swim: registered and ready at South Mollymook

There was very little surf but surfers are an optimistic lot

Another glorious coastal retreat is under constant threat from developers

Spanner and I drove to Newcastle yesterday and on the way I made him stop at Catherine Hill Bay.

Not many people know about Catherine Hill Bay (CHB) - except the lucky locals. Oh, and the developers who want to carve up the land and allow 600 homes to be built there. Is this a big deal? You should have a geek at the rampant f'ugly residential development along the Australian coastline and you'll realise it is.

Gawd, a stroll along the sand from Broadbeach to Burleigh on the Qld Gold Coast highlights row upon row of gaudy, tawdry and tasteless mansions. Some of these houses could be mistaken for RSL clubs except they're bigger and uglier (if that's possible).

Head down the NSW South Coast for the light and sleazy versions that are slapped up almost overnight on acreage that used to be remnant forest or dairy cattle land.  

CHB is unusual because it is one of the few remaining examples of an 'intact Australian company town', which features the fibro and timber miners' cottages built to house the workers when the town's jetty was used to load coal.

I don't much about the town's heritage but I do know it's a special place that has managed to escape the claws of developers because of the vigilance of its residents, determined to save CHB from becoming another soulless beachside 'burb.

You can get involved in the fight by joining the Friends of  Catherine Hill Bay http://www.catherinehillbay.org.au/save_the_bay_campaign/save_the_bay_campaign.htm#

Back to the swim. Spanner sat in the car and figured out how to use the iPod (sad, isn't it?) while I threw myself into an icy Pacific Ocean. The air temp was around 28 but I reckon the water was more like 17. Brrrrrrrr. I then took some snaps of the jetty, which the locals are also fighting to save from demolition. It is not only historically significant but also a work of art that must be preserved for future generations. 

Ocean swimming story in The Sydney Morning Herald and we're off to do Gerringong on Sunday

Today's edition of The Sydney Morning Herald has a story on 'the allure of ocean swimming' in its summer supplement. The story is first and foremost a plug for The Cole Classic on February 6, which is sponsored by Fairfax - which owns SMH.

However, it's not a bad read and does have some interesting observations from die-hard ocean swimmers. It also warns people about the sport's inherent risks, including my worst-case scenario - swimming into a pack of bluebottles.

And it points out that ocean swimming is becoming hugely popular and poses the question: will this affect the camaraderie in the sport? The journalist asks this at least twice, but never gets around to finding an answer. (This is just me niggling. But, if you set up a premise for a story, shouldn't you then follow it up?)

And here's me just niggling again. The man behind http://www.oceanswims.com/ Paul Ellercamp is interviewed for the story. Funny that, I thought he was deadset against the commercialisation of The Cole Classic, with its exhorbitant entry fee and raft of prohibitive OH&S rules that have led to the swim being re-routed to and from the calm waters of Shelly Beach, rather than finishing at the surf beach South Steyne, since Fairfax took control two seasons back. Ellercamp could've talked about camaraderie in relation to The Cole Classic!

I guess any publicity is good publicity... Here's the link, if you're interested: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/fitness/swell-of-surf-swimmers-20110106-19hmy.html

There's a swim at North Bondi this Sunday, but The Hiss and I are heading to the South Coast, where we plan to enter the Gerringong swim with Davo. It depends on the weather (raining today in Sydney) and, more importantly, ocean conditions. I hear this can be a challenging course. At the moment I'm up for it, but at the moment I'm dry and warm as toast and about to have a cuppa.

Have a good weekend.

Photo: The surf at South Steyne was deemed to be too rough for the organisers of last year's Cole Classic, who redirected the swim back to its starting point, Shelly Beach.

This weekend is the Mollymook Ocean Swim

Tomorrow morning Miss Hissy and I head to the South Coast for the weekend.

I can't begin to tell you how good the thought of leaving Sydney makes me feel. My back is suddenly much better and my head isn't so fuzzy. I smile when I think about the journey and more over the destination.

I love the drive south, down through Wollongong (bypassing Stanwell Park, where I swam two weeks ago) and on to the outskirts of the seaside town of Kiama, where I try to ignore the urban sprawl that has spread like an ugly rash over what was once a verdant, rural landscape (that's progress for you).

Miss Hissy and I then follow the tradition of most travellers heading south. We take a break at the tourist village of Berry on the Princes Highway, where I buy a flat white and The Hiss consumes some sticky, creamy confection that would clog up any older person's vital organs.

We arrive at the coastal holiday town of Mollymook, just out of Ulladulla, in time for lunch (usually at Pilgrims cafe in Milton - YUMMMY).

Mollymook beach is beautiful. It's a little over 2 kilometres in length. I know, because this weekend will be the fourth (?) time I've swum from north to south Mollymook in the annual ocean swim.

I've ranted on in previous blogs about last year's treacherous conditions. Fingers crossed that Sunday is sunny and the surf is less angry than it was last weekend. On Monday night a man drowned at a beach near Port Kembla (just south of Wollongong). The ocean is like a wild animal. It can look benign, but you should never trust it, always respect it and never think you can tame it.

But enough of this cliche-riddled bumph. I'm off to pack - which means chucking whatever's lying around into a bag.

Have a good weekend - I'll be back on Monday.

(I took this pic at Narawallee Beach in 2009, when The Hiss and her cousin Little Prince had a surfing lesson with former world champion, Pam Burridge)

Not that I like to brag... Mollymook ocean swim part 2

See this pic? It was taken by Mr Ocean Swims during the Mollymook 2009 Ocean Classic. As he comments on his website, this is what it was like for the 175 swimmers who completed the 2km event.

Un-bloody-real! If I had seen this photo before the swim I never would have done it.

And in my last blog on this very swim I wrote about my swimming mate. Turns out she's 67 years old. Gawd blimey! What a woman. She is my hero.

He he he... just one more thing, Davo beat me into the beach but I beat him on handicap!

For more info and feedback on the Mollymook Beach swim and ocean swimming in general (and specific) go to the bible - http://www.oceanswims.com/
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