On friday after class we all piled in Sir Commodore Norington and drove NW to Nelson Bay for a girl's beach day. I had also heard there was great snorkeling there and ended up buying some fins and a snorkel when we got there. Next to the dive shop was this little pet store, and per usual I wandered in to take a gander at all the animals inside. There were TONS of birds: finches, cockatiels, rosellas, canaries, you name it so this naturally got me very excited.
There were also some really cute puppies that we all had to hold and pose with. After unsuccessfully trying to hold a finch the size of a peep, I decided it was the end of my visit to the pet store and we all said goodbye to our puppies and piled back in the ComNor. We drove to this little beach next to the marina which reminded me a lot of the caribbean with its placid blue waters framed with the green landforms in the distance.
After setting up camp on the beach, I headed straight for the water with my snorkel, mask, and fins to check out what kind of obscure sea creatures this rumored snorkel hole had to offer. The first thing I noticed was the jellyfish I kept getting stung by. Not painful, just annoying. Like mosquito bites. But I did find lots of colorful fish and a Wobbegong, which is a type of bottom dwelling shark. Here's a picture, not one of mine, I wish.
While taking a break from the sea, I get word from a local that there is a marine reserve like a stone's throw away with even more fish.
So I get Brandi on board to come check out the snorkel situation at this other place, and as we are walking I see several unique points of interest one of which was one of the biggest spiders I've ever seen in the wild.
Imagine a gumball. Or a bouncy ball. That's how big it's abdomen was. Brandi was less than amused.
On the opposite side of the spectrum we spotted a... well, not really sure what to call it or what it's purpose was. For blogging's sake I'll call it a taco van. It was basically a huge white van with a little Mexican dude on the front with the words "Dirty Sanchez" and no other indication of what the function of the vehicle was. I don't think it was a food vendor van because who wants a taco from the "Dirty Sanchez?" Funny thing was we saw the guy who was driving it and he was obviously not Mexican, so we proceeded to pose with it as he watched with curiosity.
Okay, less about tacos and more about snorkeling. After we get in the water and we are immediately surrounded by shoals of fish, just circling us, which made me believe that they are regularly fed. We swam around for a while and saw lots and lots of fish. It was wonderful.
mine
Afterwords, Caitlin, Laura, Brandi, and I proceeded to go check out the marina. There were all sorts of ships there, fishing vessels, tour boats, and yachts. Caitlin and I wandered off for a bit and we found this mega pelican which kind of scared me because it kind of came out of no where.
On the way back to the beach, I see something in the distance. At first I think its seagulls. Then we walk closer.
Lo and behold... it's a bunch of bare eyed cockatoos. It was a flockatoos. Best day EVER!! I keep seeing birds like this and try tell the Australias "Do you have any idea how much people buy these for in the US??" Everyday birds like this just flying around like sparrows, crows, and seagulls. It's unbelievable.
So that ^ was Thursday. We missed Devin.
Now let's talk about Friday and Saturday.
We had been planning for the last few days on going to Stockton Dunes for a camp out. So I had packed my bag with a pair of sweat pants, a sweatshirt, and my bed rolled up and held together with my big yellow belt. Pedr picks us up from our house around 5, and all fifteen of us roll out (us and the boys in our matching white Commedores, and Pedr in his.. Tonka truck?) and head east to the dunes. After parking in a lot next to the trail, Pedr shuttles us all to the center of the dunes and we begin to set up camp. We brought 40 sausages (dinner and brekky), items to make Aussies'mores, which were different because they don't have graham crackers here.
Altogether our group consisted of: Laura, Lindsey, Cameron, Caitlin, Devin, Brandi, Daniel, Pedr, Jamie, Chris, Trenton, Brian, and myself. We spent most of the night playing around by the fire, making s'mores, getting sandy, eating sand, and enhancing social bonds. Towards the end of the night, many of us girls wandered off to bed, and three of the girls were sleeping in a tent. About a 1/2 hour after we all had lie down, we were awoken by the regular interval of Trenton yelling "HEY GIRLS IN THE TENT...SHUT UP!!!!" After this happened about 17 times I decided just to come back out to the fire because there was no chance of sleeping. 1:15am rolls around Jamie decided he wants to sleep in a hole in the sand, and proceeds to dig for 20 minutes. Then he decides that needs someone to cover him with all the sand he just dug up. So Chris and I (mainly Chris) cover him with sand just to make him go to bed. After everyone had settled down, I cuddled up to Brandi to stay warm because it got cold....fast.
Next morning we all awoke around 7AM and had... you guessed it... more sausages. In Australia instead of using buns, we just use a diagonal piece of bread around the sausage, usually with BBQ or tomato sauce (catsup) and its real good. Laura was our executive chef this weekend, and I was executive flashlight holder (at night, obviously, God is the flashlight holder during the day) But Laura also cooked up some flapjacks in the morning along with the sausage which was just a delightful breakfast before sandboarding.
SANDBOARDING!!!
After brekky, Pedr took us all out to the top of this massive dune, probably 5 stories tall and you could see everything in all directions. The perfect blue ocean to the east (supposedly chalk full of great whites) and nothing but sand to the west. Chris went first. Then it was my turn... I was very scared to jump off this sand face down this long steep stretch of sand. But after I made the initial leap all I could do what whoop and holler all the way down. The walk back up was another story. Two steps forward and one step back was the name of the game for some while, but was definitely worth it!
Camping on the dunes was such great fun and next week is HOLIDAY!!!!
Stay tuned.............
There were also some really cute puppies that we all had to hold and pose with. After unsuccessfully trying to hold a finch the size of a peep, I decided it was the end of my visit to the pet store and we all said goodbye to our puppies and piled back in the ComNor. We drove to this little beach next to the marina which reminded me a lot of the caribbean with its placid blue waters framed with the green landforms in the distance.
After setting up camp on the beach, I headed straight for the water with my snorkel, mask, and fins to check out what kind of obscure sea creatures this rumored snorkel hole had to offer. The first thing I noticed was the jellyfish I kept getting stung by. Not painful, just annoying. Like mosquito bites. But I did find lots of colorful fish and a Wobbegong, which is a type of bottom dwelling shark. Here's a picture, not one of mine, I wish. While taking a break from the sea, I get word from a local that there is a marine reserve like a stone's throw away with even more fish.
Imagine a gumball. Or a bouncy ball. That's how big it's abdomen was. Brandi was less than amused.
Okay, less about tacos and more about snorkeling. After we get in the water and we are immediately surrounded by shoals of fish, just circling us, which made me believe that they are regularly fed. We swam around for a while and saw lots and lots of fish. It was wonderful.
mine
On the way back to the beach, I see something in the distance. At first I think its seagulls. Then we walk closer. Lo and behold... it's a bunch of bare eyed cockatoos. It was a flockatoos. Best day EVER!! I keep seeing birds like this and try tell the Australias "Do you have any idea how much people buy these for in the US??" Everyday birds like this just flying around like sparrows, crows, and seagulls. It's unbelievable.
So that ^ was Thursday. We missed Devin.
Now let's talk about Friday and Saturday.
Altogether our group consisted of: Laura, Lindsey, Cameron, Caitlin, Devin, Brandi, Daniel, Pedr, Jamie, Chris, Trenton, Brian, and myself. We spent most of the night playing around by the fire, making s'mores, getting sandy, eating sand, and enhancing social bonds. Towards the end of the night, many of us girls wandered off to bed, and three of the girls were sleeping in a tent. About a 1/2 hour after we all had lie down, we were awoken by the regular interval of Trenton yelling "HEY GIRLS IN THE TENT...SHUT UP!!!!" After this happened about 17 times I decided just to come back out to the fire because there was no chance of sleeping. 1:15am rolls around Jamie decided he wants to sleep in a hole in the sand, and proceeds to dig for 20 minutes. Then he decides that needs someone to cover him with all the sand he just dug up. So Chris and I (mainly Chris) cover him with sand just to make him go to bed. After everyone had settled down, I cuddled up to Brandi to stay warm because it got cold....fast. 
Next morning we all awoke around 7AM and had... you guessed it... more sausages. In Australia instead of using buns, we just use a diagonal piece of bread around the sausage, usually with BBQ or tomato sauce (catsup) and its real good. Laura was our executive chef this weekend, and I was executive flashlight holder (at night, obviously, God is the flashlight holder during the day) But Laura also cooked up some flapjacks in the morning along with the sausage which was just a delightful breakfast before sandboarding.
SANDBOARDING!!!
Camping on the dunes was such great fun and next week is HOLIDAY!!!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment