A different week

A week of hanging around on above cliffs watching the local wildlife including whales, turtles, dolphins, fish, hawks, sea eagles and waves.

.... attacked my the worlds largest cockroach ....

... discovering a colony of the rare sleeping bag bats ....

... and going for a paddle in the winter sunshine.

Close to home

It was great to be able to sneak in a quick paddle close to home between school holiday taxi commitments.

After travelling all over Qld and living on tropical islands for six months, paddling at Redcliffe was also good enough for Ben Southall of "Best job in the world" fame. We are lucky to be able to paddle in such  great locations and conditions in the middle of winter and so close to home.

Latest on the BP oil spill

Some fun in the surf

The forecast 20-25kts and 2m seas on a 2m swell didn't eventuate but there were some fun, clean waves to be had on the Gold Coast yesterday.

Click here to see the video.

Back on the bike

After a few weeks off the bike with injury, its good to get back on ... even if was only urban.

Dirt next week.

New boat.

The new Nordkapp LV has arrived ... and how sweet it is.
... and its name?

Yeti .... of course  ;-))

Mountains of sea

Image: Brett Costello

Congratulations to Jessica Watson for her round the world sailing accomplishment. Certainly an extraordinary feat.

SnowGaz

Still waiting for the boat so time to delve into the past again. This time its a couple of images from many cross country skiing and snow camping trips that I did in the 80's and 90's .... no, not the 1880's as the beard and woollen clothing might suggest.

Had some great trips, some lasting up to 10 days out in the snow with 3 trips taking in the summit of Mt Jagungal.  There was some weather to die for and some that you could die in, if not careful. We had to dig the tents and even the huts out more than a few times.

Friendships forged on such trips remain strong as everyone needed to work well together to survive in a really harsh environment carrying everything on your back.

Nebo revisited

Today was the first Gap Ck/Mt Nebo ride of the year for me and will be the first of many training rides for the Epic 100km mountain bike race in August. It was the standard route today with about 50km and 1,500m of vertical gain. The halfway point is the great cafe at Mt Nebo ... if you like a big coffee, ask for an "Abyss".

The weather was great, track good and always a great laugh riding with mates from the Wednesday morning crew.

Upgradeitis

A common problem amongst the mountain biking fraternity, I have now found upgradeitis to be very much alive in the sea kayak community as well. As try as hard as we can, it is difficult from eyeing off another's boat/bike and not getting kayak or bike envy .... or is it just that everybody likes new toys.

As others have also mused in their rationalisation of catching upgradeitis, I will also argue that there is a perfectly rational reason to get a new kayak. (imagine serious music playing .... like in Schindlers List)  The  kayak that I have just sold was a perfectly good kayak, in fact it was a great carbon/kevlar, Canadian made, excellent expedition kayak for me .... but it was too big for me unless I put on a lot of weight or am carry a weeks worth of water. It was kind of a Kombi of kayaks, well made, well designed and very capable.

BUT, I needed something that put a smile on my face on day paddles, something that would stretch my skills and maybe even scare me a little. SO, as I have rationally argued, I have on order what could be seen as more a sports car of kayaks .... like a Porsche vs Kombi.

Behold below, the Valley Nordkapp LV .... shortly coming to a beach near you.  :-)

15 minutes of fame

Easter 1985 - I was walking south from Dead Horse Gap to the Old Tin Mines through some tall mountain ash trees when we stopped to talk with a couple of other walkers. One of them said to me, "Hey, aren't you the guy on the cover of Wild?".

Puffing my chest out a little and trying not to seem too pleased at being recognised, I replied, "Yes, I am" .... to which he said, "I thought so .... I recognised the shorts."  It was clear that my 15 minutes of fame was over before it had even started as my shorts were more famous than I.

And yes, that is me a quarter of a century ago with more hair and a little less weight. There have been many great adventures in the outdoors for me since then .... and I am happy to note that I am still out there enjoying new adventures.

What do these 3 have in common?

What do the three men below all have in common?

A man with a can - pink spray paint to be exact:

A man with a dog:

A mountain biker without a bike:

Answer: They were all on top of Mt Maroon on Easter Saturday.

The man with the can, spray painted the wrong way up with his can of fluro pink paint which upset the park rangers no end as now they have to scrub it off with wire brushes.

The man with the dog wasn't quite sure where he was going but both man and dog seemed to be enjoying their walk.

The man without the bike was doing a bit of cross training. Of all three, he was the only one not to harm the national park environment that day.

Playing in boats

photo: Eddie Safarik

The weekend was spent playing in boats on the Maroochy River. There were lots of friends with lots of boats to try out. The photo shows Brian catching some swell on the bar .... he enjoyed the wave. Its good to live in Qld where the water is always warm.

New bike

Unfortunately, I didn't get a new bike but Dave did ... and we all looked on in awe as he stood out from the crowd. ;-)  Good ride this morning with a good crew, good chat and good trails. There were still a few muddy spots but finally Daisy has started to dry out after all the rain.

Signed up for the Epic later this year so something to get motivated about and out on the dirt again. Floody signed up as well and can't wait for his new Epic jersey ... no white to turn a lighter shade of brown.

Bicycle race

 

It was bicycle week this week and there were people on bikes everywhere. This morning there was the Mt Cootha Challenge but there was also the Daisy Hill Summer Series where hardman Dean0 was racing and so were Dave and daughter. Everyone was a winner.

Dam the rain

So much for this being the year of the bike :-(   ... the rain has made it very difficult to hit the dirt on the mountain bike. On the bright side though, the dams in SE Qld are almost completely full which made for good paddling at Wivenhoe Dam on the weekend. Lawn right down to the waters edge and beyond, no sharks ;-)  and great company.

Gone underground

Went underground today, in fact, underground underwater. How? As part of the Clem7 fun run. There are not many places in Qld that you can go on a 10km run without worry about sunburn. The photo above is at the deepest point of the tunnel ... maybe they should do something about the water before the cars drive through. ;-)   All good fun though with 5,000 close friends.

Wed ride turns four

 

The Wednesday morning ride at Daisy turned four today with about a dozen riders out enjoying the fine but hot and humid morning. Its a testament to the riders who frequent the forest on Wednesday morning that the ride has lasted for as long as it has with  no more organisation than "see you there". A great bunch of guys/gals to spend a few hours on the singletrack with each week. 

When is a commute not a commute?

When is a commute not a commute? 
Answer: When you end up in hospital.

Although I have enjoyed(?) the services of the Qld Ambulance before, it was not me today but another commuter going over the bars of his bicycle. Looked liked a broken shoulder - so should be ok to ride again in a few weeks/months. This was the second time this year I have come across this type of accident on the way to work (and its only Feb).

Be careful out there, bitumen can bite.

The Tweed

After last week's deluge it was great to see the sun out on the Tweed Coast. Kayaking and watching wild dolphins enjoy themselves in the surf were the order of the day.