Winter on the shores of the ocean at Apollo Bay is a time of open fires, strong winds, big seas, cold fronts, cold oceans, cold swims and driving rain. It’s a wonderful season to be in this wild and remote part of the world.
Winter Ocean Swimming at Marengo
I woke up to blue skies, a light offshore wind and no swell this morning. I measured the sea temperature at Marengo at 11°C. On July 6 I measured it at the same spot at 14°C. Late August is typically when the ocean is coldest at Apollo Bay. I have never measured it below 11°C here and in recent years it has not dipped below 12° in winter.
A perfect day for a solo swim at Marengo with my iPhone 8 in its trusty waterproof housing.
Looking north from the little bay at the southern end of the beach at Mounts Bay (Marengo). These big skies and vast ocean seascapes are easy to take for granted. But so too is the other world just below the surface of the ocean. So I decided to swim around and take some photos underwater of the beauty I regularly swim over. Most of the seabed inside Little Henty Reef is clean sand without any seaweed. But along the shore of the mainland (Hayley Point) there is rock shelf which supports an abundance of kelp and seaweed and all sorts of marine life. The fringe around Little Henty Reef a couple of hundred metres offshore is the same. If you are interested in seeing underwater photos taken around Little Henty Reef see these two previous posts of mine: https://southernoceanblog.com/2020/06/30/winter-swim-around-little-henty-reef/ and https://southernoceanblog.com/2020/01/13/my-first-underwater-look-at-little-henty-reef/The rock shelf surrounding Hayley Point extends well below the high tide mark. The rocky areas underwater or in the tidal zone are covered with limpets, barnacles, seaweed and sponges of all sorts. We often see fish in this environment. Hayley Point and a glimpse of the the underwater zone between the rock shelf and the clear sandy seabed in the middle of the small bay. Underwater gardens fringing the reefs. Only a few metres north of where the previous three underwater shots were taken the seabed of the little bay looks like this. It’s not all perfectly flat, and there are channels and significant contours when you get offshore a bit towards Little Henty Reef, especially at the southern end of the reef. The colour of the water varies on a bright sunny day according to whether the sun is ahead of, beside or behind me when I take the shot. I enjoy swimming over these sandy seabeds disappearing into the distance when the water is so clear. Currents here can sometimes give swimmers the same experience.After 40 minutes in the water I was heading back to the beach when I came across these two swimmers. Headstands and duck dives are a critical part of the ocean swimmer’s repertoire, especially duck dives (for diving under breaking waves when swimming out to deeper water beyond the surf zone). Semi-synchronised swimming.Hayley Point in the background, and some of the Marengo residential area. Duck diving. After warming up with a few duck dives and headstands, the swimmers headed north between Little Henty Reef and the shore for a distance of 500m or so and back. Jenny just entering the water – another experienced local ocean swimmer.Looking south towards Hayley Point and the two low lying reefs of Little Henty Reef.There was tiny but clean swell breaking at times in the little bay which, combined with the bright sunlight and clear water, set the scene for yet another shot of mine of a breaking wave from underwater. The dark area on the sand is the temporary shadow of the more opaque whitewater on the breaking wave.
Solo Swim at Marengo
My friends and I have all had a lot of solo swims at this beach. Even if the swell and currents are a deterrent to going outside the little bay, there is usually the opportunity to do laps of between 100m and 300m parallel to the beach depending on the tide and swell. This day, my 1000m was done as 4 x 250. I was pleased with my almost 2:00/100m (20mins per km) average pace. For no particular reason, 2:00/100m is a pace benchmark for me, and reaching or beating it always puts a smile on my face. But the great thing about ocean swimming in this part of the world is that with the watch left at home, swimming always bring joy anyway, regardless of the pace.
A Harbour Swim at Apollo Bay
When both Marengo and the bay at Apollo Bay are either not safe or not suitable for swimming, the local harbour offers an alternative. I have swum here when it was rough with a howling northerly coming straight in the harbour mouth. I have often swum here when big easterly seas pound the local beaches, as the eastern side of the harbour water is calm in such conditions in the lee of the breakwater. I have swum here when it was so dirty from dredging that the visibility was zero and the dirt clung to my face and wetsuit after I had left the water. I have swum here when it was dirty because it was rough. On one such swim, in relatively shallow water, I encountered one of the large resident stingrays. We gave each other a fright. Stingrays are not uncommon in the harbour. Finally, I have swum here in the black of night, during a 100 day challenge for which I had to swim at least 1000m every day for 100 days. The only option on one particular day was the harbour after dark. That was not an enjoyable swim and I have no plans to repeat it.
But the day these photos were taken, the harbour was picture perfect. The water was clear, calm and various shades of blue and green. It may have looked like a tropical paradise, but the water temp was 12°C and the air temp less. But it was still a very pleasant swim.
This pole is a convenient turn point for a 300m lap along the north-south breakwater.Clean and clear water on a day like this. Our 300m salt water lap pool. A very acceptable plan B when the bay and Marengo are not suitable for a swim. But it is best swum on a high tide so that the shallows along the breakwater are deep enough for swimming.
Lorne Pier after Sunset
The sun had set as I was driving through Lorne, and the fading light on a layer of cumulus cloud on the eastern horizon beyond the Lorne pier demanded a few photos.
A black and white version and a version with variation of the actual pastel colours. An experiment I won’t persist with.
The next two shots have are the colours I saw. These photos vary in the number of surfers present, and in the inclusion of the tree and headland on the right in the second image. I like these, and if I were submitting them to a surfing magazine, there is no doubt the paddling surfers would add to the appeal of the picture.
But this image was my final choice. I like the balance of the opposing lines of the small wave and the jetty, and the clouds were also a little more detailed and vibrant here than in some of the other shots I took. I like the simplicity of the shot. It has very few elements.
Early Evening Storm Cloud over Bass Strait
I was driving down the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay and saw this cumulo-nimbus cloud off-shore in Bass Strait near Hutt Gully (between Anglesea and Aireys Inlet). The cloud was sufficiently well developed to warrant a shot, and the rainbow in the falling rain beneath the cloud capped it off. The ocean is a powerful presence vital to the shot, but its relative calmness mean it’s not a distracting presence. I have piloted light aircraft past such clouds many times, a bit too close a few times, and right through the middle of one in the dark on only one occasion. The cumulonimbus cloud has long fascinated me. Majesty and awesome power on a huge scale. My account of my flight through an active thunderstorm at night appears in an earlier post on this blog, under the sub-heading ‘The June 1978 Flight’. Here’s the link to that post: https://southernoceanblog.com/2020/01/20/whiskey-india-lima-a-flying-reminiscence-or-two/
The Coastal Eucalypt Forest
Pristine coastal eucalyptus forest breathing. This valley was at St George River, just west of Lorne. The air was moist and there had been recent heavy rain. There was no wind, but this mist was floating slowly through the treetops and fading as it did so, like a sigh.
Great photos produced by your little iPhone and housing! Not always easy to get clear conditions and a nice contrast of seaweed and water surface.
I’m getting to the finishing stages of by book now, and my designer will no doubt need a few extra photo options to fill spaces. I’ve downloaded one of your harbour seal photos, and also have one of your shell photos you took too which I could use, but also thinking one of these seaweed photos could be potentially useful too (screen shots from your article).
Could you make these two available for me to use for the “Seaweed Coast” section as well?
I hope your keeping well, sounds like you are fit enough!
I’m happy for you to use those photos. You might like to look at an earlier post of mine published late last year, which contained some clearer and possibly more interesting shots than the underwater shots in this post. See: https://southernoceanblog.com/2019/12/28/beauty-beneath-the-surface/ These were taken in the rock pools on the rock platform at Browns Creek, on a day when the water was even clearer than it was at Marengo last Saturday.
Please bear in mind that these underwater shots are merely JPEGs and therefore lack the quality of the RAW images taken on my Nikon. That said, if you’d like the images you mentioned in the best resolution I have, I’d be happy to provide them. This would probably be better than a screen shot.
I’m swimming in the ocean here virtually every day and enjoying it as always. Stay well in FNQ.
South 
All of the photos are nice, but the underwater ones are superb. Great shots and thank you for sharing them with us.
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Hi John,
Great photos produced by your little iPhone and housing! Not always easy to get clear conditions and a nice contrast of seaweed and water surface.
I’m getting to the finishing stages of by book now, and my designer will no doubt need a few extra photo options to fill spaces. I’ve downloaded one of your harbour seal photos, and also have one of your shell photos you took too which I could use, but also thinking one of these seaweed photos could be potentially useful too (screen shots from your article).
Could you make these two available for me to use for the “Seaweed Coast” section as well?
I hope your keeping well, sounds like you are fit enough!
Regards
Tim Godfrey Ph Mb +61(0)439776332 http://www.atolleditions.com.au
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Hi Tim,
I’m happy for you to use those photos. You might like to look at an earlier post of mine published late last year, which contained some clearer and possibly more interesting shots than the underwater shots in this post. See: https://southernoceanblog.com/2019/12/28/beauty-beneath-the-surface/ These were taken in the rock pools on the rock platform at Browns Creek, on a day when the water was even clearer than it was at Marengo last Saturday.
Please bear in mind that these underwater shots are merely JPEGs and therefore lack the quality of the RAW images taken on my Nikon. That said, if you’d like the images you mentioned in the best resolution I have, I’d be happy to provide them. This would probably be better than a screen shot.
I’m swimming in the ocean here virtually every day and enjoying it as always. Stay well in FNQ.
Cheers,
John
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