Tag: sunset

A week kayaking in Palawan, Part 2

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What makes a trip? The scenery, the weather, of course. But gorgeous scenery abound. At the end of the day though, it’s the fuzzy, warm feeling that you get when you look back. Feelings borne from the company we keep.

There’s TS, a grandfather of four, but more fit and strong than I could ever be. He’s always the first ready in the mornings to push off, having packed away his gear and stashed his tent back into his kayak when everyone else is still struggling to get back into damp clothes. There’s Shoe, kind hearted and generous, and always with a ready laugh. There’s Chelsea, a casual kayaker by her own reckoning but who chose to come on this expedition as her one crazy thing to do a year (her previous adventures include joining a whale shark research program in the Maldives for two weeks, learning free diving, and running the NYC marathon). There’s Scott, a contract teacher at one of the top secondary schools in Singapore but who also spends half of the year kayaking the lakes in his native Canada. Then there are the guides Huey and Rey, cool as cucumbers and super chill with their laid back attitudes. Nonetheless, they run an efficient operation – even as we kick back at the end of the day to rest our tired bodies from the day’s kayaking, they are in the background quietly ensuring that our meals get delivered, along with treats such as bottles of Filipino brandy, rum, and beer.

So it was we laughed through a lovely week with this crew.

Day five: The day we hit the famous El Nido Islands

Ever since we went diving in Tubbataha Reef in 2017, the Palawan islands held my attention. At the Puerto Princessa airport where we landed, billboards touting the crystal green waters of these karst islands captivated me. So when we found out that Kayak Asia was organizing a week long kayaking and camping trip here, we did not hesitate to sign up.

The scenery did not disappoint. There’s a magical beauty to these imposing limestone monoliths that rise vertically from the ocean floor. Over millenia, the waves have eroded away the bottoms, so we could seek shelter from the sun under their overhanging roofs.

Our lunch spot. Photo credit: Shoe
  • Kayaking Palawan Philippines. Photo credit: Huey
  • Jeff – kayaking Palawan, Philippines. Photo credit: Huey
  • One of the many lagoons in Palawan. Photo credit: Huey
  • Jeff and I kayaking. Photo credit: Huey
  • TS kayaking. Photo credit: Huey
  • Shoe kayaking. Photo credit: Huey

After a long day on the water, we were looking forward to land and stretch our legs. But first, another surf landing. A milder one, but it’s all about the timing, and this time, the waves got the better of Jeff.

  • Jeff surfing into the beach where we were going to set up tent
  • Jeff capsizing trying to surf into the beach where we were going to set up tent

Most of the beaches this side of Palawan are owned by private families. So private, it’s impossible to contact them beforehand to ask for permission to camp. But they’re usually looked after by solitary caretakers in tidy little shacks on the island, and these caretakers are usually willing to let us beach for a night. Otherwise, it can be quite a lonely existence. One caretaker we met subsisted on instant noodles and sardines nearly every meal, and sometimes went without speaking to anyone else for months at a time.

Another bit of stunningly pristine beach to camp at
Photo credit: Rey
I do love those high clouds
The long tail boat in the background was delivering our dinner. The chef’s one of the best we’ve had this entire trip, and each day we eagerly looked forward to his meals.
Dinner delivered on a surfboard

Day six: Another day exploring the Palawan Islands

The sun was back out today, which was awesome since the light cut right through the waters all the way to the bottom of the sea bed. The coral reefs in Palawan are very healthy, which is heartening to see, though we expected to see much more fish. Still, we did spot turtles along our paddles, and in the water, I did see a sting ray, and a banded sea snake, amongst the usual colorful reef fish. No sharks, though Shoe thought she might have spotted a dugong on the surface.

Photo credit: Rey
Setting up camp right on the beach again

Day seven: Last full day on the water

I slept so well with the fly sheet propped open. The air was crisp and cool, with a gentle breeze, and we awoke to another stunning sunrise. Our last day of camping, and our last full day on the water.

We passed the so called Secret Lagoon today, one of the dozens of must-see tourist attractions in El Nido. There must have been at least a dozen long tail boats parked at the entrance of the lagoon, and a few dozen people snorkeling in the water in their bright orange vests. We steered well clear of them, but happily gravitated to the boat man peddling ice cream in his kayak. What a treat on such a warm day, and right before we squared our shoulders and braced ourselves navigating a narrow passage out of the circle of monoliths into the wind.

Photo credit: Shoe
Photo credit: Rey
The waters of Palawan are stunningly clear. If we weren’t in sea kayaks, but the more accessible inflatables, we’d have jumped in and out multiple times just to get a better peak at the paradise underwater

It took us a while to find our accommodation of the evening, because it was tucked away around the lip of the peninsula. From the outside, the place looked rustic, unassuming. And my comfort level wasn’t boosted when we pulled up into the swampy beach and had to get out of the kayak into murky waters. Almost immediately, I let out a yelp. I’d gotten stung by a jellyfish. It hurt. To their credit, the elderly lady of the establishment heard my groans of pain and rushed over with a liter bottle of vinegar water that she proceeded to generously pour down my shin. Scott joined me – he’d also gotten stung.

Photo credit: Shoe

But the place was in fact lovely, with beautifully polished teak floors and doors (that TS wanted to buy and ship home!). And the rooms were palatial. We took up all their available rooms and had the entire place to ourselves. It was a beautiful spot to lounge around after we’d all cleaned up to drink some rum and watch the sun set.

Our private accommodation – private because we literally took up all their available 6 rooms
Our private accommodations on our penultimate night in Palawan, Philippines. Photo credit: TSL

Day eight: the day we powered without stopping to the end

And then, it was the last day already. The last 15 km stretch. If we thought we’d take it easy, Huey had other plans. He decided to power through the entire distance without stopping. I had trouble keeping up with the front pack the first half hour, until my right shoulder warmed up and I got into the rhythm. But by then, Huey and TS were mere specks in the distance. I had hustle to keep Scott and Shoe in my sights, lest I lose visual of them as well. We’d given all our bags for Chelsea to take with her via boat back to El Nido, as day was technically an optional paddling day, so I had no phone or compass with me. Jeff and Rey hung back, content to enjoy their last times on the water. But it was a fun paddle, after I’d properly warmed up, and I kept marveling at how clear the waters were.

Before we knew it, and way before Chelsea and the boat with our luggage arrived, we’d already reached our resort. Time to get properly cleaned up and plunge back into the connected world with our phones.

After a week of pristine island hopping, it was a little jarring to be thrust back into “civilization”, or in this case, the town of El Nido, filled with souvenir stores, massage salons, and bars.

A week paddling in the Calamian Islands – Linapacan and Palawan, Part 1

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Second last night of our weeklong trip: We just had a final 15 km to go – easy peasy, compared to the other 25-30 km days we’ve had in some epic conditions. However, our rash guards were starting to smell ripe, despite our best attempts to rinse them out to dry every night. And most of us were suffering from awful itches from sandfly bites. On top of that, I’d just experienced my first jellyfish sting across my right shin, which left a souvenir of a couple horizontal lashes. And my abrasion from where my spray skirt and back rest rubbed against my lower back burnt, and hurt every time I so much moved my back.

Maybe Chelsea had the right idea after all, to opt out that last leg of kayaking and enjoy a leisurely boat ride to El Nido.

But, as we begun reminiscing about the highlights, TS commented, once those itches and sores fade away, you’ll just remember the good bits. Never truer words.

Day one: The day we travelled

Our day started at midnight essentially, at Changi Airport, where we gathered to fly the first leg over to Clark. Here’s a tip – if you’ve never traveled to the Philippines before, you need to show a return ticket; otherwise the airline would not let you fly. We did have return fare, but our guide Huey, who was already in the Philippines, hadn’t provided us the details, and they were on a separate airline. We also couldn’t reach Huey, due to his wifi connection issues, and so at the last minute, bought a throwaway one way ticket back from Manila for one of our crew, who had not yet been to the Philippines on her new passport. At least the fares were cheap.

Anyway, long day. We got a bit of shuteye on the flight and landed bright and early in Clark at 6am. Met up with our guides Huey and Rey, then caught another flight out to Coron. There, we had lunch before we embarked on a long tail boat for what the boatman optimistically called a 4-hour ride to our starting point, Bongalisian Island.

It ended up being a 6-hour journey on hard wooden benches. We were soaked by the spray within minutes of pushing off. But the long travel had worn us down, and we all napped most of that time away.

We sputtered into view of the island right at sunset, but the tide was low and getting lower, and 100m from shore, the bow struck reef. The storage compartment below started to take in water, but given that we were grounded on the reef, there wasn’t a need to panic. The chef continued to cook our dinner at the stern, while we lowered our kayaks into the water and ferried our gear across to land.

We arrived at our first night of camping at dusk, and pitched our tents in the dark
It’s so nice to sit and stare up at the night sky again, although we didn’t linger too long by the beach, no thanks to the relentless sandflies.

Camping – I awoke in the middle of the night to scratching by my head, which was positioned by the tent door so I could get the maximum breeze. Shone my flashlight out, and I let out a small, involuntary yelp when I saw a rat. Ugh. Ok I get that we got plenty of rodents in Australia when we camped too – but they were the cute pademelons and wallaby varieties! Just as I started to drift off again, I heard more scratching at the corner of the tent and saw my camp mug fall. This time I let out a blood curling scream that woke up the entire camp. Oops! But the rat was still only outside, thank goodness.

Day two: The day I got scared of the waves

The sky was a deep azure blue when we pushed off, a beautiful day. There was a strong steady wind in the air though, 20-30 km/h. Huey pointed at an island in the distance and bade us towards it. My hat soon flew off though, and I spent a precious few minutes paddling in circles, trying to retrieve it in the ever steepening waves. By the time I had it firmly stuffed back onto my head, the others in their single kayaks were already small specks in the distance.

The waves got progressively larger. They were parallel to my boat and I stubbornly stuck to course since it provided the shortest distance to the tip of the island we were going to round. But they made me nervous, and my blood pounded when several smacked me in the shoulder, sending my laden craft wobbling. Jeff gave up the route decided to tack closer to shore, which might have been a smarter idea – except that it meant a longer time in those churning waters.

Eventually, I made it unscathed to Huey, who calmed my nerves by promising me that these boats were long enough to withstand waves up to 5 feet. As it turned out, the others, even though they had had more sea kayaking experience, were also similarly somewhat unnerved; that comforted me. 🙂

Exploring a quiet channel out of the winds. Photo credit: Jeff
Photo credit: Huey

The rest of the day’s paddling was calmer; in fact, that first crossing was still the singular most nerve-wracking experience I had on the water, ever. But it was a long day getting to our camping spot of the night, for we had to battle strong headwinds to get there.

Photo credit: Rey

We made it with light to spare though, and leisurely put up our tents right on the soft sand to enjoy the maximum breeze. We’d chosen this island because, although it was a pain getting to because of the headwinds, had no sandflies, vs. our option B, which was downwind but had a reputation for sandflies.

As luck would have it though, by the time we settled in for the night, the wind had picked up even more, and as we drifted off the sleep, it started to pull out our tent pegs, sending the fly sheets slapping ferociously against the tents. It was impossible to sleep. One by one, we gave up and moved our tents inland to the shelter of trees. Initially, Jeff and I resisted, and I reinforced the tent pegs by weighting them down with piles of coral and rock. No matter. The wind was so gusty and strong that it ripped them all out. We’d the front flap of the fly pulled back to get some breeze, but the wind blasted us with sand through the tent netting. I zipped the fly back down, and sweltered in the heat until a particularly strong gust of wind flattened the front of the tent, and then the sides down. It was impossible. We fled then for the safety of the trees, and there, with the fly cover completely off, I fell asleep immediately.

Day three: The day of the long crossing

Sunrise the next morning – TS’s tent was the only one standing on the beach, but note how the winds lift the fly sheet.

This was a mixed accommodation trip – meaning we camped out some nights, and slept at resorts the other nights. To maximize our time on the water, and guarantee good meals, our guides Huey and Rey arranged for caterers across the islands to cook our meals. Typically, a caterer would provide our dinner – sumptuous fresh dishes of seafood (fish / prawns / squid), vegetables (stir fried or pickled cucumber and tomato salads), meat (chick / pork adobe or beef redang), fruit (mango / orange / pineapple / watermelon). The same caterer, if not staying on the same island as us, would then return at breakfast to provide us hot breakfast and packed lunch to go.

It was a great arrangement, and we always looked forward to each meal. Our group favorite – eggplant omelette with pancakes this particular morning. Totally hit the spot.

Huey displaying our lunch of grilled fish. Photo credit: Jeff

Today was our longest day so far. 30km – some of it against the wind, but most of it downwind this time. And initially, I struggled going downwind. It was absolutely exhausting and frustrating to try to keep my kayak pointed at the same direction, and I felt I was braking and steering my boat more than I was paddling.

Photo credit: Rey
Photo credit: Rey

In fact, I struggled most of the entire day, and only as we neared our final destination of the day – Dryft, our glamping accomodation – that the winds shifted against us, and for once I welcomed the headwinds. At least I didn’t feel like I was fighting the boat the entire time.

That evening though, the more seasoned pros let me in on the secret of how to surf waves. Rule number one: don’t fight the boat. Let it point in the direction where the wind is pushing it. As long as I can kind of keep it perpendicular to the waves, I won’t capsize. Rule number two: don’t fight the waves. Feel it lift the boat, then let it carry the boat down. Rule number three: this is the time to conserve your energy. There’s less of a need to paddle, but instead use the strokes to guide the boat down the face of the wave. I could not wait to try out these tips.

  • Enjoying a cold beer after that frustrating day on the water
  • Our beautiful glamping site
  • Ordering dinner
  • Our glamping tent
Dryft – only a 3-month old eco-glamping site. The place felt like paradise, and we felt so clean and refreshed after our cold showers, having not managed to rinse off the salt crusts for 3 days

Day four: The day of surf landings

Before we pushed off the next day, Chelsea, Jeff and I crossed the island to explore a shipwreck right off the tip. The general manager of our glamping resort, Andrew, assured us it was well worth the detour. And indeed it was! Not quite 50 m offshore and in shallow waters, the old fishing vessel was covered in corals and teeming with fish.

The winds had finally died down – but I was actually a little disappointed because I really wanted to put to practice the tips I’d learnt about surfing! Nonetheless, there were still lots of itty bitty waves to practice on, and I soon found myself grinning, as I glided and slid my way down one wave to the next. It felt so commonsensical, I couldn’t understand why I’d fought against the waves so much in the first place!

But we had other types of surfing to learn today too Рthe dreaded surf landings. These are tougher, and everyone got nervous when the normally blas̩ Huey had us raft up so he could properly brief us on what to do. Remove our spray skirt cover; put one leg outside the kayak; watch for a big set to go by first, then quickly paddle toward shore with a defensive brace. Right as the boat glides towards the sand, jump clear of the boat then drag it in before the next set of waves come.

Easier said than done. I got to shore with no hitch, but couldn’t quite manage to jump clear of the boat before a particularly nasty wave knocked me over and washed the kayak right over me. Oh well. Luckily, I’d secured my gear and didn’t lose anything, except my sponge.

Waiting for our lunch at the surf beach
Jeff getting ready to launch into the surf. Photo credit: Huey

At least getting out was easier. We had to punch our way out a series of waves, but we could see the waves and face them head on. I did get quite drenched though, and had to pump quite a bit of water out of my kayak.

Me punching out of the surf zone. Photo credit: Huey
TS taking a breather and enjoying the calm waves. Photo credit: Jeff

Coming into Nacpan Beach for our accommodation for the night at Huei’s Resort, Huey warned us to expect another surf landing. Happily though, the waves were teeny tiny, and the only troublesome bit was having to drag the heavy kayaks up a couple hundred meters to our huts.

Weekend in South Wales

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We visited South Wales this weekend. It’s incredible actually – after 2.5 weeks in the UK, this was the first rainy weekend we had. But the wet hardly dampened our moods; South Wales is incredibly beautiful and has coasts that rival that of its namesake, New South Wales in Australia.

Our base for the Saturday was at a bed and breakfast in the town of Swansea. After we arrived in the afternoon, we took a stroll through Singleton Park and the University of Swansea to the promenade where we picked our way across the wet flat banks of Swansea Bay towards Mumbles. It was low tide, and the beach seemed to stretch for miles; we could hardly see the finger of water beyond.

Walking the promenade, Swansea to Mumbles
Walking the promenade, Swansea to Mumbles

It was close to 6pm by the time we finished the walk, but daylight was for another 3.5 hours and the rain clouds had parted. So we picked up some sandwiches and drove to Three Cliffs for a hike to Pennard Castle.

It’s a stunning walk. We clambered across steep sand dunes to access the beach…

Hiking Three Cliffs, Gower Peninsula

…And up another series of sand dunes to get to the 12th century Pennard Castle, from where we were afforded a bird’s eye view of the entire Three Cliffs Bay.

Before the high tide completely covered our path back
Pennard Castle, Gower Peninsula
Pennard Castle, Gower Peninsula

We weren’t paying attention to the tides though. By the time we got back down to the beach, the fast rising waters had already covered most of the sand, completely blocking our path back to the carpark.

We approached a guy pulling along a fishing kayak on the opposite bank, to ask if there were an alternate path back – and also in hopes that he would give us a short lift back across the other side of the beach. While he didn’t offer the lift (ah well), he did point out a rather circuitous route back towards the castle ruins we had just clambered down from.

Hiking Gower Peninsula
Our high tide route back up to the car park from Three Cliffs Bay, through the woods

It was raining when we awoke on Sunday – drizzly with intermittent downpour. We kitted up and drove out to Rhossili Bay, reputed as the most beautiful bay in South Wales. Even in the mist and rain, it was stunning. Long, even sets of waves rolled into the bay below us, where dozens of surfers trekked down to surf.

During low tides, one could hike down to Worms Head, seen in the background in our photo below. But after our near mis-adventures the day before, and given that it was still mid-tide, we turned back around at the top of the cliff before the descend down.

Rhossili
View of Worms Head from Rhossili Bay

Driving back towards London, we stopped by Cardiff to visit Cardiff Castle. The site has stood through history from Roman times to the age of the Normans (when the keep was built) to the Victorian era where the sumptuously decorated rooms still stand, and then to WWII where the townsfolk of Cardiff sought refuge between the thick city walls during air raids.

Arab Room in Cardiff Castle
The stunning Arab Room in Cardiff Castle. At the top and centre of each stained glass window are crystal balls to better reflect the light streaming into the cosy room

Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle

Hiking and camping the Coastal Track in Royal National Park

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For our 6th wedding anniversary, and to check off Jeff’s bucket list, we went camping with some friends along the Coastal Track down at Royal National Park. This is a super popular hiking trail – with camping reservations booked out at least 3 months in advance. This was our third – or was it fourth?! – time trying our luck at hiking it. Previously, the weather had either been too stormy or too hot for us fair-weather folks to attempt it. Heh.

While the weather forecast appeared decent this time around, a recent bush fire had resulted in a 6.5km track closure between Wattamolla and Garie Beach, which meant that we had to car pool to get around the closed section. That turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise for me actually, since I need only lug my heavy pack for a much shorter distance. 🙂 I’ve been so focused on kayaking, I’ve lost any stamina I had in the first place for hiking. Good wake up call to start cross-training!

But Saturday was a beautiful day, with a nice steady breeze, and after we’d puffed our way over Thelma Head into our beautiful valley campsite at North Era, we changed into our swimmers and plunged into the waves to cool down.

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful end to the day really. The clouds gathered and thickened overhead, initially causing me to fret about having lugged my tripod for naught (since I wanted to shoot the stars), but they soaked up all the gorgeous hues of orange and pink and sunset.

 

And as the moon dipped below the horizon, the clouds did clear for a bit for the stars to come out to play. It was so relaxing and mediative to lie back on the soft grass to star up into the night sky, watching the stars pop out one by one.

I toyed with the idea of actually sleeping outside, under the stars. But when Lisa and I popped down to the beach to listen to the waves and play around with more long exposure photography, we noticed a band of lightning spread across the southern horizon at ever increasing intervals. I retreated back to the tent in the end, which turned out to be a wise decision because it did rain for a half hour right before sunrise (before the skies cleared again for what turned out to be a sweltering fall day).

March 2018 Royal National Park Weekend30.jpg
Lisa and I having some fun playing with long exposure shots on the beach; notice the light pollution in the background from Wollongong

Kayaking and Camping Weekend in Myall Lake

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Spring really is the best time to go camping. The campsites are still empty, the water is deserted, the darn mosquitoes and flies have not yet reared their ugly heads, and the weather is glorious. So it was this weekend up in Myall Lake, where Jeff and I escaped for a quiet camping getaway at Violet Hill Campground.

We arrived late in the afternoon, having gone searching for sharks on the Manly to Shelly swim in the morning (spied 5 Port Jacksons, score!). Just enough time to quickly set up camp and ease into the water for an evening paddle. The winds were relatively calm – until the sun set. Then it started howling. We beat a hasty retreat back to our campsite then, for a cold dinner of sandwiches and wine.

Having rested well – we were in our sleeping bags by 7pm! – it wasn’t hard to wake up at 445am for a pre-dawn paddle. Happily, the winds had completely died down by then. The Myall Lake system is enormous. In the prior evening’s paddle, we had briefly explored the outer edges of Boolambayte Lake; this morning, we pointed our boats east towards Myall Lake proper, rounding McGraths Island before going back to camp for a big hot breakfast.

Breakfast sorted and warmed up in the early morning sun, we headed out for another quick paddle, this time towards Two Mile Lake. There’s definitely a ton more that we could explore – in the books for another trip!

Short Getaway to Hamilton Island

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We were looking forward to breaking out our skis for a weekend in Queenstown, New Zealand, but couldn’t quite justify the cost for a short trip. So instead we looked northwards, to Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, where we could go snorkeling in the midst of winter without fear of jellyfish stings.

Great long weekend getaway. Our chalet rental came with a golf buggy, which we used to explore around the island. We were definitely grateful to drive it up and down the steep One Tree Hill peak multiple times over the course of our stay for the cheap $10 cocktails and the beautiful sunsets on the peak.

Puttering around Hamilton Island in our golf buggy

 

Moonlight over Passage Peak - Hamilton Island
Moonlight over Passage Peak – Hamilton Island

Our one grouse about staying on a resort island – limited and overly strict regulations on sport rental. There was a single kayak rental on the island (!!!), on the long Catseye Beach, but we were restricted to paddling within a 1km perimeter. Same with the catamaran rental. Gah. So we rented a dinghy instead to explore the nearby islands. Even then, we weren’t allowed to wander too far off, or even circumnavigate Hamilton Island. On hindsight, we should have brought our own kayaks. But hey, it was fun driving our own little dinghy.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the snorkeling leaves much to be desired around Hamilton Island. We’re not sure how much of that is due to Cyclone Debbie that ravaged the area in April, but there were barely any coral around, nor much fish to see. So we booked ourselves on a snorkeling tour to the Outer Barrier Reefs on a day trip. Happy to report that the reefs there are still really healthy and abundant, if not the most colorful. Tons of fishes.

Enjoying a stunning sunset atop One Tree Hill - Hamilton Island
Enjoying a stunning sunset atop One Tree Hill – Hamilton Island

 

Sunrise over Catseye Beach - Hamilton Island
Sunrise over Catseye Beach – Hamilton Island

Sunrise over Catseye Beach - Hamilton Island
Wading in the shallow waters at Catseye Beach, hoping to catch glimpse of turtles heading out for their early morning swim. Didn’t spy any, but we did spot plenty of crabs, an octopus, and some fish.

 

View atop Passage Peak - Hamilton Island
View atop Passage Peak

Full moon weekend in Kiama

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We were supposed to go camping in Kiama a couple of weeks ago with a bunch of friends. It was a new-moon weekend, perfect for astrophotography. Alas, I caught a cold at the last minute, so Jeff and I regrettably had to drop out. From the pictures, everyone else looked like they had a blast, so we had a huge case of FOMO. So this past weekend, we loaded our car with snorkel gear and kayaks, and drove down the coast.

It was swell. Although it was quite chilly out, snorkeling at Bushrangers Bay in Shellharbour was awesome. Right at the start of our snorkel, we spotted a giant cuttlefish – maybe a foot long. We followed it for quite a while, taking our fill of photographs and videos, then spied another resting by a clump of sea grass. We spotted 3 more cuttlefish by the time we got too cold to continue – plus a humongous Australian Short Tail Stingray gliding by below us.

Giant cuttlefish in Bushranger Bay, Shellharbour (photo by Jeff Fung)

We caught the sunset by the famed Cathedral Rock, where I crouched down in a teeny tiny nook between huge boulders, with the tide fast lapping at my feet. A couple was watching the colours (a bit too muted, alas) near us too, and Jeff ended up helping film the guy’s proposal. 🙂

In the deepening twilight, we spotted a pod of dolphins swimming the length of the beach just offshore.

After dinner, under the full moonlight, we ventured down to Bombo Quarry for a bit of exploration. Our mind was blown by how much light the camera could pick up. Even with just a couple of seconds’ exposure, everyone was lit up, almost as bright as day. Initially, I’d been a tad disappointed at not being able to take pictures of the milky way, but I think I’m a full moon convert now. Granted, the milky way isn’t as prominent under the full moon, but I love how everything else just jumps out.

And before heading back to Sydney and real life the next morning, we went for a bit of a paddle up the coast, squinting out in the horizon for those tell tale spots. No luck alas, even though we’d spied two active pods the day before. Can’t complain though, it was still a very awesome weekend. 😀

Easter Weekend – and Engagement Shoot – at Jervis Bay

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I can never remember that here in Australia, we get both Good Friday and the following Monday off. Back in the States, most companies don’t even observe Good Friday! But why question tradition, especially since it affords us more time to relax down in Jervis Bay? We took the opportunity also to take some engagement pictures for my cousin Calina and her soon-to-be-husband. Since they were pretty chill in terms of photography, and preferred candid and silhouette shots, I took it easy and just snapped pictures of us out and about enjoying the beach. Initially, I had hoped to take some underwater photography, but despite the sun, the weather was pretty brisk, so we wimped out, and contented with lounging on Hyams Beach and taking short strolls. 🙂

Jervis Bay sunset

Jervis Bay
Sunrise Saturday – not much color in the sky, but I loved the lines in the sand

 

Jervis Bay Sunrse
I loved watching the two fishermen in their bright yellow raincoats and their tiny little dinghy

 

We also explored the beaches in Booderee National Park – some, like Steamers Beach and Caves Beach, were exposed and had big surf; others like Murrays Beach was protected by the bay and had inviting calm waters. We hadn’t brought our kayaks along this trip, but Jeff and I can’t wait to go back to camp and paddle those waters.

 

On our last night in Jervis, we did manage to squeeze in a more formal engagement shoot. Although there was too much cloud cover, I reckon the effects we tried to go for weren’t half bad, and we even caught the moon rise.

Alas, it was too bad the two boys couldn’t rise out of bed Monday to join Calina and I at the beach for sunrise, for we were treated to a simply spectacular, albeit short, display of color. Calina was halfway down the beach jogging when the sky lit up though, so I had to content with a selfie. Haha.

Look back at 2016

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How is it mid-January 2017 already? In a blink of an eye, we’ve been in Sydney for 2 years already.

2016 seems to have just flown us by. It was a good year for us though: we got to explore a lot more of Sydney and its surrounds; I spent many a sunrise on the weekends up traipsing the Northern Beaches; and we also got in some international travel to New Zealand, Japan, Croatia and Singapore.

Quick month-by-month look back at some of our adventures, photographic and just plain-old-outdoor-fun.

January: Weekend exploring Birubi Beach and Anna Bay. This was one of the most spectacular beaches we’ve been to – miles and miles of pure sand. We lucked out with two evenings in a row of beautiful sunset light too.

 

February: Hunter Valley Pool Party Weekend. A group of us booked a house up near Hunter Valley for a weekend away. Good times of hanging out in the pool during the day, and lounging poolside at night to admire the stars.Hunter Valley Pool Party Weekend - Astro

 

March: Went skiing in Hokkaido for the first time. It was the tail end of the season, and the snow wasn’t the greatest. But we had fun, and some of the best food we had all year. Mmm the freshest and juiciest uni and roe.

Hokkaido Rusutsu Skiing

April: Popped down to Auckland for a short weekend getaway, and discovered the stunning redwood forest in Rotorua

North Island New Zealand April 2016-36

 

Also in April: we checked off visiting Uluru in the Northern Territories, and got to sleep under the night sky in swags for the first time.

Australia Northern Territories Portfolio-4501

 

May: Having re-acquired the taste for camping, we spent a weekend up in the Blue Mountains, where we visited the glow worm caves in Lithgow and checked off the Wentworth Falls hike

 

June: Vivid Sydney, and I went to Turimetta Beach for the first time. It’s another one of my favorite beaches in Sydney now, and one that I return to every so often for sunrises.

July: Quiet month in Sydney, exploring the waterways, on foot and on kayaks

August: Spent the weekend camping up in Myall Lakes. Such a serene spot

September: Scratched our diving itch with a one week liveaboard with friends in Croatia, followed by a few days along the coast

October: Hunter Valley Balloon Festival, more kayaking fun, and back up to Port Stephens and Anna Bay for a weekend getaway

November: Started training for the Overland Track in earnest, with weekend treks to Mount Kosciuszko and Kangaroo Valley

December: Time with family. Jeff’s family came in from wintry New York for Christmas, then Jeff and I met up with my brother in Tasmania to walk the Overland Track over the new year.

The family at Wamberal Beach

 

Can’t wait to see what 2017 will bring!