Clovelly beach the morning of the night before Christmas: happiness is seeing the resident groper

WHEN I woke up at 5am today and looked out the window, my first impulse was to crawl back to bed.

It wasn't yet dawn and there were clouds about.

But I'd promised The Hiss we'd do 6am squad at Clovelly beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Driving through Sydney is stressful at the best of times. But today we cruised from the north-west to the east without incident. It's double demerit points because of the holidays and the coppers were out and about - we saw the flashing lights and one poor driver handing over his licence.Whoa. A hefty fine and lots of points gone in one fell swoop.

I stuck like glue to the speed limit  and we still made it to the Clovelly beach carpark by 5.45, just in time to watch the sun rise.

Bee-u-difull.

Mr Mild Mannered, who has his own swimming blog, regretted not having his camera handy. Here's a link to his blog: http://greginthewater.wordpress.com/ It's nowhere as fun as this one. He works in the public service. That's gotta do something strange to your brain.

Quite a crowd turned up for squad. Some were going for a run with our coach Mr Mean and then doing a shorter swim of ins and outs, but The Hiss and I were there for the splish splash. As was Mr Mild Mannered, who I'm sure is a good sport who can cop a ribbing..?

The air temperature, even at dawn, felt warmish. Mr Mild Mannered said it was 23 degrees. (god, now I'm quoting him. This will give his ego a boost - it probably needs a little stroking since he's spent more than 20 years working for the government).

Fortunately, the water temp was gorgeous too. I'd say 21 degrees though we swam through currents that were 1 degree or more cooler.

Clovelly is a bay that is more European tame than Antipodean wild. Here's a pic I lifted from a useful website to which I will provide the link: http://randwickcitytourism.com.au/sights/clovellybay.html

However, this morning there was a huge amount of chop out towards the breakwater. I get email updates from Beachwatch - lots of Sydney beaches - north, east and south, are closed today because of dangerous conditions.

Of course, Tamarama, around the corner from Clovelly, is closed (it's hardly ever open). And so is the other nearby beach, Bronte.

Our squad group, led by a very nice bloke in hot pink shorts, did a series of ins-and-outs. We ran into the water from the beach and swam to the first ladder on the left and then across to the first ladder on the right and then back in to the shore.

Then we swam to the second ladder on the left and across to the second ladder on the right before heading back in to shore.

There are four sets of ladders at Clovelly, so we did the ins and outs from ladders' one to four in a clockwise direction, and then from ladders' four to one in an anti-clockwise direction.

The tide was going out and there were strong currents running out to the ocean on the left and right hand sides of the bay. The current in the middle ran back into the beach.  

There was some weed on the beach and the water clarity wasn't as crystal clear as it can be. Still, we all spotted fish and the resident groper. That made The Hiss happy. And there's nothing better than a Happy Miss Hissy Fit.

I think that groper makes everyone who sees him happy. He's a stunning indigo blue, which more than makes up for his morose expression. He lolls around on the ocean floor seemingly oblivious to the curious swimmers gawking down at him all day.   

When we left the beach at 7.30am the sun was in burning mode. I reckon it's around 32 degrees this afternoon.

After I finish this blog I have to make two salads for Christmas lunch tomorrow. Thank goodness we're not having Christmas here this year. Hallelujah!

I wish everyone who passes by a Merry Christmas. If Christmas isn't your thing, have a nice day and try to get to the beach!


XXXXXXXXOOOOOOOO

Bondi to Bronte ocean swim 2011: a bugger of a swim but worth it in the end

If the day had started the way it ended I wouldn't have done the Bondi to Bronte swim. But this morning the sun was out and the surf was, according to www.seabreeze.com.au .8 of a metre. I thought, 'I can do this.'

Before: Bondi around 8.30am

I arrived early at Bondi - that's the trick to getting a parking spot. The wind was already blowing in at 8am and the surf was mimimal. I think it's kind of cute that even when there's barely a wave, the boys on their boards are already out there... wishin' and hopin' for the curly ones to arrive. Hope springs eternal for the old farts with their long boards (because at that age, size does matter).

I'm going off topic! The water temperature was supposedly 18.2 degrees. I'll get back to that later.

With the swim scheduled to start at 9.30, I was worried the Southerly buster was going to kick in with a vengeance and shove up the wave height. That turned out not to be so much of an issue compared to the challenging conditions it caused out the back of the break.

Bronte after the swim

The swim started slap-bang in the middle of Bondi Beach and we headed towards New Zealand before taking a sharp right at Mackenzie's Point.

Bear with me as I indulge in a stream of consciousness in order to sum up the swim: up and down and up and back down and up again swallow some ocean and swallow some more and someone's kicked me and I hate this no I love it but how can I when I'm drowning I'm tired I'm cold yo ho heave ho and up the swell we go and now we slide back down again yo ho heave swallow more water ho... 

Once I made it to Mackenzie's I turned right with the mob and travelled south past Mackenzie's Bay (apparently, it's a nice place to take your dog and have a dip when the conditions are mild) and then past the notorious Tamarama Beach. I didn't see a whole lot of beach action because I breathe to the left. I tried to breathe right but I'm useless at it.

Coming into Bronte, I followed the stream of coloured caps and swam over a few people and had a few swim over me. I accidentally clipped some bloke in a black cap (I think black means 'fast wanker') who was swimming aggressively - a man thing. I didn't mean to hit him but he just charged over me like I wasn't there. That's ocean swimming and I guess you've got to cop the biff occasionally.

I got into the beach okay but I was pretty stuffed as I ran up the sand. There was lots of aluminium foil being wrapped around some of those swimmers who couldn't manage the cooler water temperatures.

Coming in at Bronte: can you see the aluminium?

By the time I found my bag among the thousands of others that had been transported from Bondi and dumped on the grass in a big disorderly heap at Bronte, I was bloody freezing. The weather had turned nasty and I felt sorry for the swimmers still coming in.      

An ambulance, siren blaring, was wending its way towards Bronte as I walked back towards Bondi. I suspect it was going to pick up some poor person with a severe case of hypothermia.

Did I enjoy this swim? There were moments of absolute joy before I got sick and tired in the swell. No matter. On a perfect day the Bondi to Bronte swim is a beautiful journey along a magnificent coastline (even though I didn't get to see much of it). I was out in the open ocean, swimming in cool clear water to a different destination. I don't think you can ask for anything more. 

PS: My guts are full of ocean. Not a good feeling.
PPS: My mum just called and said it is the coldest day in Sydney in December in more than 40 years. The thermometer here at home puts it at 16 degrees. You call this summer?

After: Bondi at lunchtime. Brrr...

Sculpture by the Sea 2011 and a snorkel at Gordons Bay for good measure

It could be somewhere in Europe but it's not: Gordons Bay

Just because I'm sick as a dog doesn't mean I can't stuff myself with paracetamol and join my mates Ms Onyabike and Mrs Snorkel for a frolic by the sea.

It was Mrs Snorkel's idea to go to Gordons Bay, which is around the corner from Clovelly beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs. On a good day at Gordons Bay punters can catch glimpses of wobbegongs and blue gropers. On Monday the water was so clear you could see all the way to the ocean floor - even as far out as the open sea. 

It was chilly but the experience of snorkelling is, as Ms Onyabike noted, theraputic. This is because, when wearing the snorkel and goggles, you become conscious of the sound of your breathing. It's all you hear - the deep regular 'in' and 'out' of your own breath as your eyes scan the scene below for - anything! 

In my former posts, I've written about my talent for scaring away marine life. My theory is that a sonar warning* is relayed to the creatures of the deep that alerts them to my presence in the immediate vicinity. This sends them scurrying under the nearest big rocks to avoid my curious gaze.

And so it was on Monday. Mrs Snorkel bobbed to the surface and removed her mouthpiece to proclaim: "I've never seen it so quiet down there. I haven't seen anything yet."

IT'S BECAUSE OF MOI. I could never get a job with Trawler Men.

I did manage to spot a few obliging anemone (maybe it's because they're stuck to the rocks and can't go anywhere), one ray (pretending to be sand), a herd of tiny zebra fish and another fish that looked like he was wearing khaki (obviously camouflage).  

The only two real gripes I have with Gordons Bay is that no one tells you about the litter washed up on the beach. And that some arsehole has put out lobster pots when I'm sure this little part of the world is a marine wildlife reserve. But hey, that's Australia. You can never escape that sense of entitlement that has become so much a part of the Aussie makeup (that's a whole other post).

Everything including the bathroom sink

On a lighter note... afterwards we basked for a moment in the sun before heading around to Tamarama Beach to view the  Sculpture by the Sea 2011 exhibition, which features sculptures all the way along the coastal walk to Bondi Beach. 

Inside the tyre turtle was a cubby house filled with bric-a-brac

I've popped in some of the more creative sculptures in this incredible annual event that now has offshoots around the globe in countries such as Denmark (due in part, I think, to Australian-born Princess Mary).

Easter Island meets Tamarama Beach

Later we cooled off at Tamarama, a narrow beach renowned for its semi-permanent rip.  

Mrs Snorkel and Ms Onyabike with the vacationing Buddha, who is wearing shorts and thongs

*I suspect there is a sea creature on watch who has in its possession an identikit photo of me kitted out in full snorkelling gear. Not fair.