A Quick Dip in Clovelly Pool

Saturday was little G's last full day in Sydney for a while so we had to concentrate all the usual excitement that you expect for a weekend into a super duper action packed Saturday.
Once again Sydney produced one of these absolutely amazing sunny late winter/early spring days with high blue sky and very comfortable mid twenties temperature - great guns! We decided to start the day by getting the wetsuits wet doing a bit of snorkeling. Walking towards good old Gordon's bay we realized that conditions were not exactly optimal and decided to relocate the snorkeling business to the neighboring Clovelly pool.

The fish in Clovelly pool are exceptional curious and very relaxed about having divers/snorkelers around, which also makes the pool one of the best places around Sydney to start training for an underwater photography career - do not know how well Mado pictures sell though :-D

The trick is to dive down and grab onto something solid like a rock and then stay still. The fish will move away because of the suspicious looking intruder, but curiosity or the fact that big fish eating generates lot of food particles in the water for smaller fish to eat, means that if you can just hold on for a while and wait you will be surrounded by underwater wildlife soon after. The variable in that statement is the amount of time you have to hold on before you get company. In Clovelly pool this is a matter of approximately 10 seconds, elsewhere it can be much much longer.

Little G showed some amazing acrobatic skill when it came to holding on and despite of the wetsuit being slightly on the tight side she managed to somehow hide a sufficient amount of air to stay down below well beyond the time needed to get a close encounter with the the fishes of the pool.

Highlight of the day was probably an octopus hiding under a rock. They are super intelligent creatures! As you can see on the picture, octopuses will utilize shells and rocks as a shield in front of them if they feel too exposed - convenient having 8 arms!

Picture is not best ever, it was taken quite deep down and there was not much light - I actually think I used the flash on this one. My old Olympus 725SW has done well for years - approaching 3 I think - but it might be up for an upgrade soon. It looks like the market for underwater P&S cameras has truly taken off and that there is actually a choice nowadays. www.dpreview.com has tested the contestants in a Waterproof Camera Group Test so next time we go snorkeling I might not be the only one taking pictures? :-)

Clovelly Bay Revisited

It is not that often we snorkel in Clovelly bay, guess it feels a bit less "natural" than the neighboring Gordon's bay due to the concrete walls. However, there is no doubt that it is excellent snorkeling and if the surf is really rough your best chance for some snorkeling in the Eastern suburbs is Clovelly ... or Little Bay, but that is another story ;-)

Saturday proved to be one of these absolutely amazing Sydney winter days that reminds you of a Danish summer equivalent. Surf was a bit rough though and while walking North for a bit of snorkeling I decided that I was probably more likely to get good visibility in Clovelly rather than anywhere else in walking distance.

Water temperature has started dropping fast and I should probably have brought my wetsuit ... guess I am getting soft :-) Well, cold water is clear water and despite some really rough conditions outside the protective walls of the bay I had some decent clear water to take pictures in.

I had made a serious beginner mistake when preparing for my snorkel! I had left my bag, clothes and apartment key(!) in what I expected to be safe distance from the water, approximately 5 meters away but still on the flat concrete, while I was in snorkeling the waves increased in strength and actually managed to flood the entire concrete area on the South side of the bay. While I was happily "whaling" around my bits and pieces where in imminent danger of being wash out to sea!

I realized all this when I came back to the spot where my stuff was supposed to be only finding wet concrete, instead all my stuff, including sour socks, shoes, my bag and a pair of knickers (luckily not as sour as the socks) was gently moved another meter inland up on a little rock into safety :-) How good is that? In some countries you cannot leave stuff unattended without it being stolen - in Australia people will save your gear when you recklessly put it at risk - Thank you! :-)

Snorkeling The Wild Waters of Gordon's Bay

Finally back in Sydney the gang was up for a bit of water sport. Excellent opportunity to test if the wetsuit would still fit or if the gnocchi meals had slimmed me down a size or two. Happy to announce that the suit was as nice and tight as ever and made swimming around in the 20 degrees hot/cold water a joy.

Snorkeling Gordon's bay during winter is very different from doing it during the 9 summer months that we are blessed with down here. It is quieter and it can be argued that the amount of light penetrating the surface is reduced. However water quality is amazing and you can easily expect double the visibility of what you get during a summer day afternoon.

As stated the quantity of wildlife seen is reduced when the water goes cold, but what you see is more exciting. We have yet to see the first Port Jackson sharks this winter, but we were very lucky to get some intimate interaction with a Giant Cuttlefish.

The usual Ludericks and a couple of rays were hanging around and even a dive school gave good views ... apart from algae attached to rocks, divers are probably the slowest moving life form in the water :-D

No doubt the Giant Cuttlefish was the highligt of the day .. only rivaled by the big breakfast consumed afterward at our new hangout on Coogee Bay Road.

Snorkeling in Gordon's bay

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