Bart Bear's Blog

There are loads of nice beaches north of Cairns. My favourite is Palm Cove. As the name suggests, there are lots of palm trees planted along the shoreline. Across the road near the beach are lots of cafes/restaurants and apartments. The beach is long, sandy and kept clean. You can see from Double Island almost right down to Cairns. Nice sand, calm water, warm day, so you may be wondering why there is nobody actually in the water. Dad showed me why. The sign he held me up to has warnings about marine stingers, including box jellyfish and irukandji. A sting from either of those can be fatal. There are also lots of other stinging jellyfish that don't kill you, just make you feel like you have been worked over by a maniac swinging a whip coated with acid. Stinger season is October to May so sensible swimmers head for the Barrier Reef, which is far enough offshore to be clear of the stingers, or just swim in resort pools. Oh yes, there is also the possibility of meeting a salt-water crocodile - that is not something to wish for. Some of you will remember that, despite my wish to surf and snorkel, Mum will not let me get wet. She has no trouble keeping me out of the sea when we visit beaches north of the Tropic of Capricorn in summer!!
 

Labels: animals, beach, Cairns

Continuing with our coastal drives around Oahu with Kirk, here are some images of the north coast. The first is the "other side" of Ka'ena Point (see 2 posts back). Once again, the road ends in a rough carpark near a large seabird sanctuary. Second is Dillingham airfield. At the time of the Pearl Harbour attack this was one of the small airstrips where P-40 fighters were deployed away from the major airfields, and was one of the few places where US fighters managed to take off and attack the Japanese raiders. Today it is mostly used for skydiving and glider operations. We always have lunch at Hali'ewa Joe's when we are in Oahu. While the Oldies sample the local fodder, I sit on the lanai rail where I can watch the boats in the marina and kids on their way to the beach. At the north-eastern point of Oahu is Turtle Bay resort, one of the top ones on the island. Rather than having an expensive lunch there, Kirk took us to a pretty beach for a picnic. This had great spots for small bears to rest in the shade and watch birds and dolphins. Of course the north shore is best known for the huge surf that surfers come from all over the world to try. Well, that sort of surf is seasonal and this was not the season. As you can see, in all of our photos from this last holiday the surf was nothing spectacular. I mean, just look at the last image; that is the beach at the fabled Banzai Pipeline where the dangerous waves can be as tall as 6 metres. That day it was flat as a tack and not a surfer in sight.

Labels: beach, Hawaii

Here's some more of the photos that Mum got from the rather dirty window of our aircraft on the day we flew to Maui. The top 3 are a series of Honolulu and Waikiki. First shows from the Kewalo Basin Marina to the Ala Wai Boat Harbour. The lagoon in the centre is the Ala Moana beach park. The twin towers just behind the boat harbour are The Prince, our favourite hotel. The next two show from here to the end of Waikiki beach. In my opinion, these beaches are not anywhere as good as Aussie beaches. The bottom three show some of the extinct volcanoes that made the island of Oahu. First shows the region from Diamond Head to Hanauma Bay and Koko Head. Next is the crater of Diamond Head. Final is Hanauma Bay and Koko Head. It is worth spending some time on Google Earth exploring the fantastic landscape of Oahu and the other Hawaiian Islands. Even better is to have Oldies like mine that take you there.

Labels: beach, Hawaii, volcano

Whenever we are traveling near the coast, we try to check out as many beaches as time allows. Here are some from our trip down to see Unka Mark and Aunty Vicki. The first photo is across the mouth of Bateman's Bay. Canberrans just call it "The Bay". It is just 1.5 hours drive from Canberra. There are lots of beaches around the bay, some shallow and calm, just great for kids. The second photo is Wimbie beach. The islands in the background are the Tollgates. These mark the entry to the bay, and have colonies of Little Penguins, shearwaters and petrels living on them. Third is the lagoon at the southern end of Narooma Surf Beach. This beach has good surf and spectacular rock formations at each end. The lagoon usually has lots of seabirds in it, but they mush have known I was coming and flew away. We stayed at the Seahorse Inn in Boydtown. This inn was built in the 1840s to service whalers, but was abandoned when the owner went bankrupt. It was renovated in the 1930s and the 50s and is a great place to stay. It is right on the beachfront and the beach is long and wide. Milkshake, Scruffy and I spent hours on this beach. We found a small shrub where we could hide and watch for whales and birds. We also hunted along the tide line for pretty shells and any interesting flotsam that the waves had bought in. A sharp lookout for monster crabs was kept, but none were sighted. I love our beaches, they are bigger and better than any I have seen during my travels around the Pacific islands.

Labels: beach, Eden, New South Wales, south coast

Here's more images from our trip along the windward (east) coast of Oahu. The beaches along this coast are on narrow strips of land hemmed in by the steep mountain ranges to the west. The first image is of Kaupo beach near Waimanalo. If you look closely you can just see Makapuu lighthouse in the distance. The two islands are about 1 Km offshore. The larger one is Manana Island, also called Rabbit island. The island is on old volcanic cone with 2 craters. Evidently some people see it as the shape of a rabbit's head; I don't. Rabbits were here in plague numbers in the 20th century. The owner of Waimanalo plantation introduced them in the 1880s as a captive food source but they almost destroyed the ecosystem and were eradicated in the 1990s. The island is an important seabird breeding ground. The smaller island is Kaohikaipu, also an important bird colony. Near the northern end of the windward coast is Laie Point, where the lower 2 photos were taken. You can get to some spectacular rock formations and cliffs on this part of the coast if you are a fit hiker, but even my Oldies found some pretty stuff. A fit youngster could spend weeks exploring this coast. The surf is usually calm and the beaches protected by reefs, but around the corner onto the north coast things change - that's where the legendary surf rolls in.

Labels: beach, Hawaii

This small bear loves beaches, even though Mum won't let me get wet! Here's a few of the ones close to Honolulu. The first one is about 10 minutes walk from Prince Waikiki, where we stayed. It is part of the Ala Moana Beach Park. The beach is protected from big waves by breakwaters, so it is a nice calm area for kids and scaredy-cats to swim at. The second one is just north of Hanauma Bay (see 5 posts back). The beach is inside a reef, so the waves are pretty small. It is a nice sandy beach, so its name is actually Sandy Beach (I thought only Australians used names like that). The bottom two are of islands a bit further north along the Kamehameha Highway that runs up the east side of Oahu. The closest one is Mokoli'i. Because of its shape it is also called Chinese Hat. Left of Mokoli'i is the crater on Kaneohe Head. Far left in the distance are the Mokumanu Islands. The sandy part of the beach here at Kualoa Regional Park is quite narrow and waves come right up to the grass most of the time so the best place I could find to watch the fish was on this stump of a dead coconut tree. Fortunately, I didn't fall into the water before Mum saw where I was.

Labels: beach, Hawaii

It seems that the Oldies are always thirsty when they are holidaying in a warm climate. Hawaii was no exception. They visited just about every bar along the beach at Waikiki. Here are photos of 4 of them. The top two are of our favourite relaxing place, House Without a Key at Halekulane. This has a low wall between it and the sea but has good views along the beach if you walk up to the wall. Given the variety of great cocktails, I didn't do much walking. The small photo on the second row is from the Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian. You can see the whole sweep of Waikiki beach from here, and the people-watching is entertaining to say the least. The other middle one is the Beach Bar at Moana Surfrider. The bar is shaded by a large banyan tree. The hotel architecture is magnificent and I will post photos of it soon. The panorama is the outside area of the Barefoot Bar at Dukes. This has great views, the cocktails are fine, the food is tasty and there is often live music. The only drawback is that the inside bar area is so crowded and noisy that the music was completely drowned out while we were there unless you sit close to the stage in the hot Sun. For a de-stressing afternoon the beach bars of Waikiki are the best; and there are some others left for me (sorry, the Oldies) to sample when I can talk the Oldies into another trip.

Labels: beach, Hawaii

After busy days exploring Oahu we looked for a place where we could relax with food, cocktails and real live Hawaiian music. We soon found that the perfect place was at the Halekulani hotel, right on the beach at Waikiki. Every evening, for several hours around dinner time, there was a different musical group and hula dancer/s performing. Hawaiian music is beautiful and the Hawaiian version of Hula is as well. Both tell the stories of these fabled islands. You don't have to stay at the hotel to attend, you just book in for dinner at the famous "House Without a Key" restaurant and pick a spot on the outside area with a good view of the stage. The hotel opened in 1907. It was originally called the "Hau Tree" after that beautiful tree which was blown over in a hurricane but just refuses to die. The name "Halekulani" means "House Worthy of Heaven" and evenings there were certainly heavenly. It is the setting for the first Charlie Chan novel (same name as the restaurant) - Dad read the novel and had fun finding out how the Waikiki and Honolulu of today match or don't match the novel. You can guess what the highlight of the evenings was for him.

Labels: beach, concerts, Hawaii

This is Hanauma Bay on the southeast coast of Oahu. It is one of the prettiest bays that this small bear has ever seen, so much so that I escaped the family photo by hiding behind the wall so that I could concentrate on the scenery. The bay is actually inside the crater of one of the last of the volcanoes that built Oahu. It is around 32,000 years since the volcano died and since then erosion by wind, rain and waves has cut an opening into the ocean side and the crater flooded. Since the earliest Polynesian settlers arrived in Hawaii the bay has been a recreational area, sometimes restricted to use by Hawaiian royalty only. Today it is one of the most popular beaches in Hawaii, so popular that visitor numbers are strictly controlled to protect the coral reef. The snorkeling here is some of the best in the Hawaiian islands. If you want to visit the bay you have to get there early as the gates close as soon as the carpark is full. The beach is closed on Tuesdays, to give the fish a break from the tourists. You have to watch a short film on the care and conservation of the reef before you can go down to the beach. Of course, many film scenes have been shot here; look for the bay in just about any film or TV series with a Hawiian theme (even old Elvis movies). We didn't get down to the beach this time because we were aiming to see every pretty spot on the east and north coasts, but maybe next time (I am not finished with Hawaii).

Labels: beach, Hawaii

On our day trip along the east coast of Oahu we were fortunate to see one of the most endangered animals in the world. Our guide, Kirk, spotted this Hawaiian Monk Seal sun-baking on the sand at Aukai Beach, Hauula. There are only about 1,200 of these Monk seals left and most of them live on the more northern islands of Hawaii, so we were excited to see this guy. Monk seals don't have external ears and they can't fold their hind flippers under their body to use as "legs" like most seals can. They get their name from their fat body and a head that looks like it is covered by a hood, like the caricature of medieval monks. There is another species of Monk Seal in the Mediterranean, and there was another in the Caribbean but is now extinct. While we were in Hawaii a couple of thugs stabbed a Monk seal to death; locals were keen to knife the thugs. Aukai beach is a typical east coast beach - fairly calm water behind a protecting reef, fine sandy beach with parkland, houses right behind the sand and no high-rise buildings as yet. Add those 3 palm trees and you have the classic tropical beach picture.

Labels: animals, beach, Hawaii

Every morning during our stay at Prince Waikiki, I could hardly wait for the Oldies to wake up and open the curtains and window. There was always lots to see, particularly on the water. Surfers were out there even before there was enough light to get pictures. They would not do that in Australia because sharks are usually feeding at dawn and dusk; I guess they (the sharks) are not as hungry at Waikiki. Also getting an early start were the outrigger canoe crews. I really liked watching them because occasionally they would get the timing wrong and the wave would win and leave them upside down and terribly embarrassed. The waves at Waikiki are usually small and fun to tackle. The canal near the marina is a training ground (maybe that should be training pool) for sailing beginners. There was usually a few of these brightly coloured sails there and occasional gentle collisions and accidents. Further out to sea there were usually a few ships waiting their turn to enter Honolulu harbour. This strange looking one came through every couple of days. I guess it is a container ship with a solid cover over the cargo, but it is a new type for me. I gladly stayed at the window while the Oldies were out exploring the shops, the view was always interesting.

Labels: beach, boats, Hawaii

Wherever you are along Waikiki beach you can see the walls of Diamond Head. During the day the changing angles of sunlight make the walls seem to glow with different colours. This is one of the craters that were part of the huge series of volcanic eruptions that made the island of Oahu. Diamond Head is one of the youngest, formed about 450,000 years ago. Its Hawaiian name is Le'ahi (Tuna fin). It got its English name because some sailors, early in the 19th century, thought that the calcite crystals they found here were diamonds. The crater is a National Park and you enter it through a tunnel. A small military area is restricted. We didn't go in and hike to the lookout, the Oldies are not that fit any more, but we did drive all around it. If you look carefully just across the road on the middle right of the last image (from a brochure) you can see a small lighthouse. Of course we stopped there; pictures tomorrow.

Labels: beach, Hawaii

Labels: beach, boats, Canberra, Hawaii

One of the favourite beach suburbs of Perth is Cottesloe. As you can see from the first photo, it is just north of Fremantle. This photo was taken from a headland at the southern end of the long sandy strip of the beach. On the headland I noticed a strange-looking structure and headed down a convenient path to see what it was. If I had been tall enough to read the signpost at the start of the path I would have seen that this is the Cottesloe Bicentenary Sundial. It is very different to the small garden sundials you often see. It is actually two sundials, a morning one and an afternoon one. The big limestone ramps are gnomons, which throw their shadow onto the curved brass strips. These strips are engraved with time markers. The curvy markings show the difference needed to correct the time shown by the shadow to Western Australian Standard Time, which is set at Kalgoorlie, 4.3 degrees east of Cottesloe (click on the photo for a larger view). We were there at 3:17 pm and the sundial and Dad's watch agreed on the time. This sundial is similar to the giant 18th century ones at Jaipur in India. The beach? Well, it's not bad, but in my opinion we have much better ones in the eastern states.

Labels: astronomy, beach, Western Australia

What a lousy week we have had. Mum was carted off to hospital last Sunday night in extreme pain. She has only just been released as an outpatient and will have to be back for lots of more tests this week. I am a bit annoyed because she went to hospital in an ambulance and the paramedics didn't invite me to ride with them. Anyhow, with Mum in one hospital and Dad having cancer treatment in another one I have been really busy looking after the house. Now a really cold snap has hit Canberra and the rest of south-east Australia and it's wet and miserable outside. I hope that it brings snow so I can make my first snowbear. Cold, wet weather makes me wish I was back on one of the nice beaches that my travels have taken me to. These two are on the Isle of Pines. They are close to the pier where the ship's boats let passengers ashore. The top one is Kanumera Bay and it has a good patch of fringing reef for snorkelling. The little island at the far end of the beach is a sacred place and visitors aren't allowed to set foot on it. The bottom beach is at Kuto Bay. This is a good beach for kids as it has a nice sandy bottom, not rocky like at Kanumera. You can see "Radiance of the Seas" moored in the background, and the pier is just off the left side of the image. The tree was good climbing for a small bear.

Labels: beach, boats, cruising, Noumea

I just love arriving at a place that I have never been before. Our cruise on "Radiance of the Seas" took us to the Isle of Pines and I was looking forward to seeing it because it is Unka Ray and Aunty Libby's favourite Pacific island. The pines which the island is named after are tall, thin and dark. I will put up some photos of them soon (actually, you can see two of them in the background of the beach picture). We were up on the top deck early in the morning to see the ship arrive and to watch the passengers unload. We usually wait for the "mad rush" of people who feel that they have to be on the first few tenders to get off before we disembark. The water is too shallow for the ship to dock at the pier, so we all had to go ashore on the ship's tenders. These small lifeboats carry 100 passengers, and it is pretty cramped when they have a full load. You get onto them from a gangway on deck 2, just above the waterline. The door is a bit low for tall people, but my cute height-challenged Mum can forget about the sign. One of the first things that I do on a new island is to check out the beaches, usually from a spot that is out of the reach of crabs. The beach in this picture is the closest one to the pier. You can see the pier and one of the tenders in the background. Later in the day when the clouds cleared this beach was packed with swimmers, but I was off exploring the rest of the island.

Labels: beach, boats, crabs, cruising, Noumea

The day before we sailed off to Noumea, we had lunch at one of Sydney's best ressertorraornttz (I just can't spell restaurant). It is at one of the best-known of the world's beaches - Bondi. The eatery is attached to the Bondi Icebergs Club and has spectacular views over the beach. Actually, Mum thought she was booking us into the Bistro, which is cheap club-type food, but when we got there we found that we were actually booked into the non-cheap high-class place. So the Oldies decided that a 5-star lunch would be a good thing to do.  While they were demolishing some incredible fodder, I sat quietly on the patio with a glass of the good white stuff and watched the action on the beach and in the ocean. The Icebergs are a club of people who swim every day of the year, including mid-winter, except when the sea is so rough that the pool is unsafe. The super-storm that hit Sydney early this week stopped them for a couple of days, but you can see some of them in the pool in the first image. There are usually surfers, both board and body, in the water. This day had good sets of waves coming in and you can spot surfers as well. Bondi is a good beach, but Dad says that the NSW north coast beaches are better and Mum prefers Manly. I think they may be just a wee bit biased; I like Bondi.

Labels: beach, New South Wales, Sydney

On the north side of Bateman's Bay there is a perfect beach for small bears and kids. It is at a village called Cullendulla. The sea here is usually calm, no big waves to tumble small people around. It is shallow for a fair way out, so learner swimmers have no troubles. The beach is long, wide and flat. The sand is fine and makes great castles. There are even rocky headlands at the ends of the beach with good snorkeling for Oldies. And no sign of crabs at all while I was there. Now. if only I was allowed to get wet, this would be the perfect beach for me.

Labels: Bateman's Bay, beach, crabs, New South Wales

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.

Labels: Bateman's Bay, beach, New South Wales, south coast

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.

Labels: Bateman's Bay, beach, boats, crabs, New South Wales, south coast