Thursday, February 26, 2015

 

Climbs at the Bay

Put a small bear next to an interesting tall object and the bear will inevitably try to climb it. It is even better when the objects are not ones that have been climbed by the bear before. Here are three of the things that I, along with my cobbers Scruffy and Milkshake, found to climb during our weekend at Bateman's Bay. Just outside our cabin there was a palm tree. It looked tall to me but Dad could reach up to the base of the fronds. This was a fairly easy climb, but it had one potential problem. The ease of the climb was due to the fact that the old fronds had been cut off and that left stubs of stem that were almost like steps. Scruff and I could almost walk up like on stairs, but Milky's short legs made it harder for her. The problem was that the cut ends of the fronds had split into hundreds of sharp splinters. That wasn't a problem for us critters, but Dad got lots of jabs and scratches when he found us and hauled us back inside. In the park by the river was a strange seat. It was a plank that was set into a rock that looked like some strange bird's head. Not a difficult climb for our experienced crew. The other climb, that only I was game to try, was up the side of a highway patrol car. I always wanted to have my photo taken on one of these, and I am sure the policeman wouldn't mind. And the best thing about climbing things at the coast; they put you well out of reach of those pesky crabs.

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

 

Postcard From Near The Pole

Guess what; I got special mail today. A postcard from Aunty Lib & Unka Ray. Not just an ordinary postcard from somewhere everybody goes. This one was posted from Port Lockroy, one of the most southern post offices on Earth. Aunty Lib & Unka Ray were on a cruise to Antarctica and took spectacular pictures of icebergs and whales. Naturally, they didn't get to the South Pole but the edge of the ice is close enough. The advantage of having globe-trotting (or in Unka Ray's case, globe-tottering) friends is that you get pictures of places that you may never get to. I don't think the Oldies will ever take me to Antarctica. Actually, this card is not of a place but of a critter. It is a small Adelie penguin chick who has got far too wet for comfort and looks really cranky about it. Mum says that it is a good picture of what happens when small critters don't do what they are told, and it shows just why she won't let me go swimming. The small inserts are bits of the letter side. They show the postmark and the stamp with Adelie penguins on it. I hope the little guy grows up to be one of these handsome, mischievous birds.

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Friday, February 13, 2015

 

Beaches Near "The Bay"

Here are three of the beaches we visited during our weekend at Bateman's Bay. They are quite different from each other. The top left photo shows Tomakin Bay in the foreground and the long sweep of Broulee beach and Broulee Island in the background. These beaches are good for kids, the waves are usually fairly calm because the rock reef protects Tomakin beach and the island protects Broulee. For big surfing waves, visit the beach in the top right photo. This is Barling's Beach, just to the north of Tomakin. In fact, the top pictures were taken from the lookout at Melville Point; one to the south, one to the north. The bottom pictures are of Guerilla Bay. This is one of the best places for snorkeling on the south coast. As you can see, it is totally protected by headlands; safe for beginners and even the Oldies can enter and leave the water without much trouble. I thought the signpost at the road junction had a spelling mistake and I was looking for large apes in the forest. Dad explained what a guerilla was and I looked for terrorists but the only fighting I saw was an argument about who got to the last car park spot first.

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

 

Cabin at the Bay

Last weekend we headed off for a break away from Canberra. We went to the closest bit of coast, Bateman's Bay. It is only a 2 hour drive from home. We stayed in a large cabin at the Coach House Marina Resort. It was a good spot to stay because the small critters, i.e. Scruffy, Milkshake and me, had places where we could just sit and watch the boats. Our cabin was right next to the exit from the boat ramp pool, so we could see lots of boats from the veranda rail. For a closer look we could just move to the concrete block fence. I tried to take photos of some interesting boats, but they moved too fast and trees got in the road. No crabs got anywhere near us this time; just as well for them as Scruff and I are now experienced small crab wranglers. Mind you, some fuss was caused by a couple of large Bush Cockroaches that came in one night and barely escaped the Wrath-of-Mum (that means that Dad was too slow to catch and dispatch them). We had brilliant weather and visited many beaches. The south coast beaches are among the best in the world and I will post some photos of some of them tomorrow.

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