Australia
Tips, Trips, and Stories From Our Travels
Whale Watching – Sydney
On Saturday, I took the ferry from Manly to the CBD (Central Business District) of Sydney with some friends and we walked to Darling Harbour. We had booked a 3 hour Whale Watching tour on a two level medium sized ship called Bubbles. It rained in the morning and the...
Bangor West – Rock Climbing
Bangor West - Rock Climbing Bangor West is an area located just west of Cronulla to the south of Sydney. It is a small crag but does have 101 routes according the The Crag with 64% of these being sport routes, 28% trad, 4% bouldering, and 1% top rope. The routes...
Berowra Rock Climbing
Berowra Rock Climbing Berowra, an Aboriginal word meaning "place of many winds," is a suburb located about 40 kilometers north of Sydney. Surrounded by lush parks, it is nestled between Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park to the east and Berowra Valley National Park to...
Cabbage Tree Bay #6 – Australian Giant Cuttlefish – Incredible Mating Ritual
As you may know from reading this blog, one of my favorite sea creatures is the Giant Australian Cuttlefish, Sepia apama. These magical creatures, have a lineage that dates back to the Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the...
Cabbage Tree Bay Snorkeling #5 (Red Morwong, Sea Mullet, Yellow Scad, Little Pied Cormorant, etc.)
Today, the sky was grey and cloudy and rain showers fell intermittently, sometimes lightly and other times in heavy droplets that bounced off the balcony table and back into the air. The ocean was unusually calm making surfing futile, but it seemed perfect for...
Eastern Water Dragons!
Australia is renowned for its unique wildlife, and one of these unusual creatures is the Eastern Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii). They are known to inhabit the cliffs and bushes along the walkway to Shelley beach near Manly but I almost never see them out and...
Cabbage Tree Bay Snorkeling #4 – Port Jackson Sharks!
Yesterday was windy but the ocean had almost no swell so the waves were relatively small and blown out. Surfing wasn't a great option so I grabbed my wetsuit and snorkel mask and went for a snorkel in Cabbage Tree Bay. The sky was cheerful, mostly clear and sunny...
Cabbage Tree Bay Snorkeling #3 (Green Moray, Estuary Catfish, Fiddler Ray, etc.)
The last few days have made for quite interesting snorkeling and I saw a couple creatures I have never seen before. I compressed the three days into one short 35 second video clip and added captions to indicate the various fish, eel, rays, etc. Check out the video...
Underwater Aliens: The Giant Cuttlefish
Some sea creatures are so unusual and otherworldly that they seem like aliens and you would hardly believe they existed if you didn't witness them with your own eyes. Here are a few insane facts about one such creature, The Giant Cuttlefish: Enigmatic...
Cabbage Tree Bay Snorkeling #2 – Comb Jellies, Sergeant Baker, and More
Since snorkeling here is quite good, it seems likely that I will make an abundance of snorkeling posts. For this reason, I will be numbering them as well as dating them. Generally speaking, I tend to snorkel on days when there is limited surf and the water is calm...
Cabbage Tree Bay Snorkeling #1, Shelley Beach, NSW, Australia
Cabbage Tree Bay is an excellent snorkeling spot just between Manly beach and Shelley beach.
Manly, NSW Australia
The Manly-Freshwater-Curl Curl area is one of my favorite places in the whole world. Manly itself is a small beachside suburb located in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia. The coastline is stunning and the community is vibrant and fitness oriented. ...
