Best. Walk. Ever. | Sunday, July 30, 2006 |
Winter is exacting a frightful toll on the local beaches. Some days there are barely 20 people in the water. This morning however, the sun was up, the sky and sea a deep blue and as they say here, it's all good.
We went for a walk. Up over the hill to Freshwater beach (Freshie), all the way along to the pool, clambered around the rocks to the south end of Curl Curl (South Curly) before walking to the end - logically enough, North Curl Curl.
Until now, Freshie has my pick of the local beaches, but the North Curly has taken it by some margin. A large stream/small river deep enough to launch a surf boat from and 100ft cliffs at the end trapping the morning sun and bouncing it onto large flat rocks where I was making like a lizard and basking in my shorts and tshirt (remember, this is winter) made it quite the place to be on a sunny Sunday morning.
Rather than walking back along the beach we came back along the coast road so we could gaze at the flash beach front houses. Without drama we arrived back just above Freshwater in time to watch a Whale go garrity out in the sea. Much tail thumping, spout blowing and frolicking around while distant, still perfectly clear. Even from the shore, they (or it) looked much more energetic that the group we saw last week while on the boat.
Now, in my opinion, seeing whales from a vessel whose express reason for being out is to spot those barnacley critters is one thing. Being able to watch them after a gentle morning stoll is quite something else.
It's going to be a long time until I get a better morning walk than that. I was so amazed that I failed to shout, even once, "Thar she blows". It was that good.
We went for a walk. Up over the hill to Freshwater beach (Freshie), all the way along to the pool, clambered around the rocks to the south end of Curl Curl (South Curly) before walking to the end - logically enough, North Curl Curl.
Until now, Freshie has my pick of the local beaches, but the North Curly has taken it by some margin. A large stream/small river deep enough to launch a surf boat from and 100ft cliffs at the end trapping the morning sun and bouncing it onto large flat rocks where I was making like a lizard and basking in my shorts and tshirt (remember, this is winter) made it quite the place to be on a sunny Sunday morning.
Rather than walking back along the beach we came back along the coast road so we could gaze at the flash beach front houses. Without drama we arrived back just above Freshwater in time to watch a Whale go garrity out in the sea. Much tail thumping, spout blowing and frolicking around while distant, still perfectly clear. Even from the shore, they (or it) looked much more energetic that the group we saw last week while on the boat.
Now, in my opinion, seeing whales from a vessel whose express reason for being out is to spot those barnacley critters is one thing. Being able to watch them after a gentle morning stoll is quite something else.
It's going to be a long time until I get a better morning walk than that. I was so amazed that I failed to shout, even once, "Thar she blows". It was that good.
