Apollo Bay and the surrounding coast and hinterland are where I spend most of my time. These photos were all taken in February 2021 in the final weeks of summer. With the exception of the spectacle of the gas exploration rig being towed through Bass Strait south of Apollo Bay, these photos capture ordinary daily life on the west coast. Sometimes I go on a mission with the camera to capture big swell, whales, the Milky Way or whatever. Sometimes I just take a photo or two while doing other things.
Moonrise
Taken from the beach at the end of my street. This is a three-quarter full moon rising over Bass Strait. The full moon was a few nights earlier. The town is Skenes Creek and the bright white light is from a car on the Great Ocean Road with its headlights on high beam.Low tide with no wind or swell. The waning gibbous moon now higher above the horizon. Silver, white and dark blue replace the golden hues on display when the moon first appeared on the horizon.
Clouds
A cold front passing south of Little Henty Reef. This cloud reveals the wedge of cold air displacing the warmer moist air which rises to a height where the dew point is reached causing the water vapour to condense and form the line of cumulus cloud shown. There is a heavy rain shower just behind this advancing wedge of cold air. This was a classic cold front with a temperature drop and wind change around to the south-west immediately behind it.The same frontal cloud viewed from the edge of the Great Ocean Road, looking over the Barham River and Marengo. This band of cumulus at the leading edge of the front was very close to forming a roll cloud which can occur in these conditions. Early development of a cumulonimbus cloud south of Mounts Bay. This cloud evidences very strong vertical uplift, which is invariably accompanied by strong downdrafts. There is heavy rain beneath the middle of this cloud. This would be quite a turbulent cloud to fly through in an aeroplane. The underside of an actively developing cumulus cloud, viewed through a beach access track in the sand dunes on the back beach at Apollo Bay (Mounts Bay).This inviting turquoise ocean is on latitude 38° S.This photo was taken from the back deck of my house in Apollo Bay. It was taken late evening on a day when the wind had blown steadily from the east all day. Such air is moist and as night approaches, the air temperature drops and the moisture in the air which rises as the wind blows against the coastal hills condenses at lower and lower heights forming mist and low stratus cloud. The wind was light by this time, and the mist was slowly moving in and around the eucalypts. It was ethereal and peaceful.
Aire River Mouth
The Aire River mouth near the Glenaire Valley is a favourite spot of ours in all weather and seasons. On this still overcast morning Lizzie and I were the only people there. We spotted this strongly built male black wallaby in the dunes just watching us walk past him. He appeared to be interested in us rather than wary of us. We wondered if he’d had much or any prior human contact. Eventually after we had passed him, he hopped off in an unhurried fashion. The black wallaby is also known as a swamp wallaby. They are common in the Port Campbell National Park, the Bay of Islands Coastal Park and surrounding areas.
Port Campbell Ocean Swimming Race
I first entered this ocean swimming race in 2007. I missed the 2010 and 2015 swims, but in 2015 I did the Bay of Islands swim (a one-off as it turned out) instead of the Pt Campbell swim. In relation to the Bay of Islands swim, see the second part of my post at:
These 14 ocean swims were all in genuine (and sometimes challenging) ocean conditions in beautiful remote locations.
The course being setup – basically, out through the heads and back for a total distance of 1200m or more. There was a light but steady onshore wind and conditions were relatively calm inshore. Out beyond the jetty and the heads there was some swell. Near the outer turn buoys the view down the cliffs is always a spectacular treat and well worth whatever time it takes to stop out the back for a moment and enjoy it. The Garmin recorded my swim stats: 1350m at av pace 2:09/100m and stroke rate of 60spm. Stroke distance 1.57m per two arm cycle.
My swim wave was scheduled for 1020. Around 1000 I put my hat, sunglasses and car keys on the driver’s seat, shut the door, and went to open the back door. During that short walk the car doors auto-locked (a malfunction of some sort) and my wetsuit and goggles were in the car. I made the start line in time. That’s the short story. The next three paras contain the detail for those interested.
No time to get the RACV to attend. So I borrowed a coat hanger from the Surf Life Saving Club rooms and refashioned it in the standard way to hook and open an inside door handle after inserting the wire between the door edge and the door seal. I have done this on more than one occasion (usually on somebody else’s car). But those crafty Germans have designed a car door seal which cannot be entered in this way. It was now about 1005 and my fellow age group swimmers were gathering at the starting line on the beach.
So back to the SLSC at a brisker walking pace where I found the masonry brick shown in the picture. The rear quarter window seemed the obvious and cheapest way to gain entry. A gentle tap with the brick did nothing. After progressively harder whacks which were now attracting the bemused attention of unhelpful onlookers, the window finally shattered but the force used sent the brick and my arms through the new opening. My hands and forearms received numerous minor scratches from the sharp shards around the window frame. I ignored the tiny droplets of blood appearing on my minor scratches as there was now only about 10 minutes to my race start. I thought I was on the home run as I threaded my hand inside the window to unlock the doors using the inside back door handle. But pulling on the door handle did not unlock the doors! Swimming mates were now coming looking for me to tell my my race was being marshalled for the start. The coat hanger wire at full stretch would not reach diagonally across the car from rear left quarter window to the driver’s seat to get the key tantalisingly in full view but so far unreachable.
So back to the SLSC again. I found a broom and twisted an end of the coat hanger wire around its handle, fashioned a hook on the other end, and after a bit of angling with time running out fast I delicately hooked and retrieved the key. It was now approaching 1015. A quick change into my wetsuit (after shaking as many glass fragments off as I could with a quick shake), confirmed I had my cap, watch and earplugs and jogged to the start line and joined the milling swimmers just as the starter’s briefing finished. The starter’s gun was then fired. Not a problem.
It was a very enjoyable swim and I didn’t think once about the VW key saga while doing my 1350m.
Some of my long time ocean swimming friends from Apollo Bay at the finishing line, all wearing the big smile of a cold water ocean swimmer coming ashore. Clockwise from top left: Boo, Vicki and Michelle (third and fourth-place getters in their age group), Suzie (fastest of the Apollo Bay swimmers) and Jenny.
A beautiful location for an ocean swim. Boo coming ashore after her swim. The course buoys are still in place. The course was out on the right hand side of the bay, keeping the white then yellow buoys on the left, and back to shore down the jetty side of the bay keeping the buoys on the left. The tall orange buoys are the seaward turnpoint markers.
Apollo Bay swimmers striking a pose. Boo strolling up the finishers’ race and not looking at all exhausted after her swim. Mark, me and Keelan after the swim. Always a great day. I had ten friends swimming in this race.
The Ocean Onyx, gas exploration drilling rig
Drilling rigs on the open sea are a spectacle.
Apollo Bay harbour and bay in a moderate easterly. One of the tugs which was towing the rig can be seen near the horizon about a third of the way from the left edge of the image. The rig is out of frame. The Ocean Onyx, a gas exploration drilling rig being towed to an area 30-80 kms south of Port Campbell for gas exploration work. The rig was towed by two sizeable tug boats on very long lines and considerable distance apart from each other. The breakwater on the eastern side of the Apollo Bay harbour mouth.Apollo Bay harbour mouth. The start of the north-south rock wall on the eastern side of the harbour. Temporary addition to the skyline of yacht masts at Apollo Bay.
2 thoughts on “Moonrise and clouds over the sea, Aire River Mouth, Pt Campbell Ocean Swimming Race and Drilling Rig in Bass Strait”
Hi John.
I read this eclectic post while having my dinner tonight. It was a pasta dish, with dressed, multi-variety Waratah tomatoes on the side. A perfect match for your colourful February pictorial, for which I’ve donned the copy editor’s cap viz “Weatherman, Waterman, Window-Wrecker”.
Thanks for the warning before the relevant three paragraphs, which I ignored. Having had the benefit of the oral version, I still enjoyed the prose just as much. You had to be a clear-headed, cool customer and you were. With your metrics, I’d say it was a swim surfing the adrenaline, handsomely paid for and thoroughly enjoyed.
I venture that not many people on this great southern land enjoyed a late summer smorgasbord as sumptuous as yours.
Hunto, you could’ve perfected your alliterative re-write of the heading of my post by adopting the form of the word ‘wreck’ used by the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series organisers on their swim T shirt some years ago. I’m sure you remember the famous ‘Shipweck Coast’ T shirt. ‘Weatherman, Waterman, Window-Wecker’ would certainly have been a superior heading to the one I chose. I included a photo of this collectible T shirt in an earlier post on the blog at:
South 
Hi John.
I read this eclectic post while having my dinner tonight. It was a pasta dish, with dressed, multi-variety Waratah tomatoes on the side. A perfect match for your colourful February pictorial, for which I’ve donned the copy editor’s cap viz “Weatherman, Waterman, Window-Wrecker”.
Thanks for the warning before the relevant three paragraphs, which I ignored. Having had the benefit of the oral version, I still enjoyed the prose just as much. You had to be a clear-headed, cool customer and you were. With your metrics, I’d say it was a swim surfing the adrenaline, handsomely paid for and thoroughly enjoyed.
I venture that not many people on this great southern land enjoyed a late summer smorgasbord as sumptuous as yours.
Hunto
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Hunto, you could’ve perfected your alliterative re-write of the heading of my post by adopting the form of the word ‘wreck’ used by the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series organisers on their swim T shirt some years ago. I’m sure you remember the famous ‘Shipweck Coast’ T shirt. ‘Weatherman, Waterman, Window-Wecker’ would certainly have been a superior heading to the one I chose. I included a photo of this collectible T shirt in an earlier post on the blog at:
Enjoy Waratah Bay. I’m now back in Apollo Bay.
Cheers,
John
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