Bay Run

We are still living out our new year resolutions and one of them is to walk the 7km (4.5 miles) Bay Run around Rodd Island most weekdays. It is a popular walk with many runners and cyclists which can be a bit of a nuisance at times. But other then that it is quite nice to see the boats on the water and the occasional wildlife.

(it's bell was at least 30 cm across)

Like this huge jellyfish which I think could be the White Spotted Jellyfish, names can be so obvious sometimes.

To give another example of a name that is obvious here is a White Faced Heron, also spotted on the run.

My Pet Dinosaur

What if dinosaurs didn't became extinct? Would we be farming dinosaurs?
Horizon BBC.
You can do a dinosaur autopsy too in fact you may have done it already over Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Warning!: watching the full dinosaur autopsy might make you hungry.

Richard Hammond meets Evel Knievel

What do Evel Knievel and Richard Hammond have in common?

They both met Pain.


Richard Hammond meets his childhood hero Evel Knievel.


Unfortunately Evel Knievel is no longer with us anymore he passed away last year on the 30th of November after a 3 year battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was 69.

The Piano

An old man reminisces while playing his piano. And rejoices seeing his grandson.

Snorkelling again

Last Sunday we went snorkelling at Shelly Beach, Manly, it was again a beautiful day in paradise (not rubbing it in). And it was stunning. Besides a Maori Wrasse we saw plenty of other fish of all sizes most of who we don't know the name yet. And I have seen my first cuttlefish in the wild, they were in a small group of about a dozen. All camouflaged best way to describe it is, is to say they were standing on the ocean floor with their tentacles up while camouflaged as seaweed. I tried to swim down to them to point them out to Caroline but unfortunately they sped off and changed colours to blend in better with the sandy bottom in a blink of an eye. Later on I saw some more casually swimming along in a small school a few yards away. For some reason I always thought they were solitary animals, until now.

From where we park our car we walk through this coastal regeneration area, with banana trees at the top, to get to the beach. And on the way back to the car walking through it we discovered an Eastern Water Dragon in the undergrowth and later another one sunbaking we almost walked straight passed it. It was a great ending to a perfect day.

The Story I Can't Tell

Habitat loss is the single biggest threat to Australian wildlife. To help safeguard the future of this and the next generation of Australia's unique creatures, WWF is creating a Safety Net of protected areas with the support of Telstra. These areas will provide refuge and protection for thousands of Australian animals facing a daily struggle to survive. And WWF urgently needs your help.

They Need our help.

For more information please go here.

Caroline and I hope we will keep seeing signs of their existence in the wild even if it is no more then the occasional burrow here and there. If it was up to Caroline she would take in all homeless Wombats (secretly I would like to as well) but most of all we would love to see them out there in the bush. Going about their business as they have done for thousands of years.

Like this one on Maria Island, Tasmania.

And that counts for all of Australia's wildlife for that matter.

Top Gear Polar Challenge

SBS Australia broadcast the Top Gear Polar Challenge yesterday and I couldn't wait to share it with you.
The guys from Top Gear are at it again. Who will win the race to the North pole?
Man (Richard Hammond on dogsled) versus Machine (Jeremy Clarkson and James May in a converted Toyota Hilux).
If Clarkson and James May make it to the Northpole they will be the first people to drive to the North pole in a car. Will they make it or will they get stranded on the ice and forced to eat one another.
Enjoy!
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

You might like these to.
Top Gear: Fly-Drive USA challenge.
This episode was great. They each bought a $1000 car and had to drive it from Miami to New Orleans. The part where they were going to drive through Alabama with slogans painted on their cars,was especially funny, that nearly got them killed.
Some things you just don't do in the South.
Top Gear: Africa challenge.
In season 10 the producers have found a great new challenge for the Top Gear crew .
Buy a used car (not four wheel drive) for not more then £1,500 and drive from Botswana's border with Zimbabwe in the east to its border with Namibia 1,000 miles away to the west .

You FIRST!!!

This is what the surf was like at Tamarama just south of Bondi.

'You first' was obviously what these guys were thinking.

Due to severe weather over Christmas and New Year up in Queensland the swell was so significant that most northern beaches were closed due to dangerous conditions. But by the 6th of January when we went to have a look it had calmed down enough for the beaches to be re-opened.

Bondi was packed as usual.

Happy New Year!!!!

All the best wishes for the New Year!!!

We decided to celebrate New Year's Eve from Goat Island again in the middle of Sydney Harbour like we had done 3 years ago. Goat Island gives you uninterrupted views of the Harbour Bridge in front and Darling Harbour to our right. Goat Island proved again for us to be the best place to spend New Year's Eve and to be the best vantage point in our eyes.