When you round the corner at Cape Otway heading west, the wild ocean factor multiplies. The waves are bigger, the cliffs are higher and the ocean seems vaster. It feels wild and remote. The hardy few who surf these raw swells mostly seem to know each other. They are a select bunch. The paddle-outs are … Continue reading The Southern Ocean around Gibson Steps in Winter
I've been paddling an 18 foot surf ski since the early 1980s. I've owned a few. They are a remarkably efficient craft to paddle over a good distance, but catching waves is what they do best. I've paddled my various skis at Byron Bay, Port Lincoln, and many ocean beaches between Pt Lonsdale and Apollo … Continue reading Things I’ve seen from my surf ski at Apollo Bay
The Southern Ocean is wild, clean and full of life. Most of its beaches on the southern coast of Australia are without footprints, and most shore breaks and reef breaks are unseen. I regularly walk the beaches and cliffs of this coast around Apollo Bay and points west, usually with a camera over my shoulder. … Continue reading The Call of the Sea
As always, the southern right whales came in peace. They, and other whale species, migrate from Antarctic waters to Australian waters in the winter months. When they make an appearance in the waters of Apollo Bay news of their presence moves through the community like a gentle current through the sea. It doesn't take long … Continue reading Southern Right Whales at Apollo Bay
The arrival of winter in Apollo Bay is technically a date. But it is also when the whales start to arrive along our coast, it is when big swells and fierce weather hit the region and it is prime time for seeing the entire Milky Way arch across the heavens on a moonless night (a … Continue reading The Arrival of Winter in Apollo Bay
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