Fractal Blog

Yesterday evening was an exceptionally clear night. We could clearly see the Southern Cross, and the Milky Way. Then, very late (or rather, very early), the half moon started to rise just within our field of view. It was gorgeously clear so we looked at it through binoculars in admiration. Tried to photograph it too. This is quite a good shot, considering the equipment.

Earlier today we went snorkelling again. I claim the prize for spotting the most impressive wildlife: An enormous red cuttlefish. It wasn't bothered by us at all, just continued slowly moving through the coral. When I finally contemplated getting out of the water (which was, after all, a healthy 22C), "hypothermia" didn't even start to describe how cold I was.

Found this Lorikeet on our balcony railing today, trying to look as beautiful as possible (not that that's very hard if you're a lorikeet) in the hope of getting some chips. Sorry, no chips. Only a photograph.

As planned, we got up early today to go snorkelling. Shelley Beach, just around the corner from the Manly Surf Beach, seemed the obvious choice, especially since the enormously helpful assistant in the dive shop had kindly given us an introduction to where we should go and what wildlife to look for.

Having learned from the previous unpleasant experience, we kept keys and money on us and brought otherwise only ferry tickets. This worked, as in, nothing got stolen this time.

It was worth getting equipment from a proper dive shop -- for the first time ever I had a mask that didn't leak. Saw many lots of fish close to the shore, in crystal-clear water. Also sea urchins and corals.

Then we wandered back along the path, arriving at the surf beach, when we heard an alarm we'd never heard before, wailing, like an air raid siren. (Not, of course, that I have ever heard an air raid siren for real either.) All the life guards on the beach started to blow their whistles furiously, and all the swimmers headed for the beach with rather more alacrity than normal; in fact one might call it haste. The sea was empty within seconds. Then a voice over a loudspeaker confirmed a shark sighting, 100m off the beach, saying "You are advised to stay well out of the water". Yes, I'd say so! They sent a boat to try and shoo the shark back into the harbour, not very successfully. Eventually it left of its own accord, its "food court" suddenly devoid of nourishment.

No surf today (too calm) hence no bodyboarding. So we decided to drop into a dive shop just to have a look. Came out with the complete set of snorkelling equipment. How did that happen? Anyway, this is good gear so I expect not to have the usual complaints that I have with hired gear, such as fins causing abrasions, and the mask not fitting. Snorkelling is on the plan for tomorrow, obviously.

We went to the beach again, to hone our bodyboarding skills. I use the word 'skills' loosely, at least in my case. It turned out a very short swim (30 mins) as the life guards kept making announcements about "large numbers" of bluebottle jellyfish being swept ashore and what you should do if you got stung. (Suffer through the pain, mostly.) When I actually saw one of the jellyfish I decided to heed the warning and get out of the water.

I went back to where we left our bag. No bag. No shoes. No surfbag. Panic. Went to water's edge to find the Burblechaz. Couldn't spot him. Thought about it, then concluded that thieves might have taken the bag but would surely not bother with sandals and an empty surf bag, so most likely explanation was that the Burblechaz had also left the water and we missed each other, so he went to get a shower. This turned out only partially right: He thought I'd taken the bag to get a shower, and picked up the shoes and surf bag to follow me. To cut a long story short, neither of us had the bag. Containing not just towels and a change of clothes but also both our mobile phones and half of the Burblechaz' life: credit cards, house keys, driving license and a bit of cash. (I left my credit cards, house keys, driving license and cash at home but between us we do need to take one set of house keys and some cash, it's unavoidable.)

So, there we were in rash vests and shorts, dripping wet with salt water, no money, no ferry tickets, no house keys, no mobiles. (But with two bodyboards.) The only solution was Manly Police, who were so exceptionally nice and helpful to us, we were truly impressed. They gave us a travel warrant so we could get home for free, the estate agent lent us his duplicate set of keys so we could get into our flat, and once we were back home our greatest fear had not materialised: Considering that both driving license (with address) and house keys were in the bag we thought they might have burgled the flat. But they didn't. Phew.

Hence the problem was now reduced to tedius admin. Cancelling credit cards and mobile phones. Half-way through the credit card problem (why does it take an hour on hold to various call centres to achieve something this simple?) a neighbour who works for the estate agent told us that a life guard had found our bag, told Manly Police who called the estate agent (as we had no mobiles). The estate agent asked the neighbour to drop in to tell us at the end of her shift. How exceptionally nice and beyond the call of duty is that?

The Burblechaz is off to collect our belongings. We lost the cash (not a lot), one irreplaceable but largely symbolic item that was in the wallet that the thief probably threw away after having taken out the cash, one set of house keys and the Burblechaz' mobile phone. But the credit cards and the driving license are still in the bag, as is my mobile phone (its screen is damaged hence they probably didn't want it).

Moral of the story: Don't take anything to the beach you can't afford to lose, keep your keys with you even in the water on a chain, take some cash in notes and tuck it into swimming shorts (Australian money is made of plastic and hence washing it or immersing it in salt water does it no harm). Not much we could have done about the mobile phones (when looking for jobs one can't be unreachable all day) or the ferry tickets (they're not washable) but the driving license and the credit cards needn't have been with us, nor the one item that money can't replace.

Second moral of the story: While some people steal their way through a beach holiday, others are truly exceptionally nice if something really bad happens to you. Irene at Manly Police station was helpful well beyond her job. And Karen at Croll First National Estate Agents treated us with such kindness and practical efficiency she ought to get an award. A lot of the quick resolution of the majority of our problems is due to Irene calling the estate agent, Karen's quick thinking on how to get hold of us, and her colleague who lives close by walking all the way to our flat to give us the message that the bag has been found. All of this on the last working day before Easter.

I'd say "Happy Easter" but frankly I don't feel much like it.

Our sea freight arrived at Botany Bay last Tuesday (5th March). Somehow it took six days, until Monday 17th, to arrive from there at the removal company's depot. It then took all Tuesday 18th to clear customs. Yesterday, on Wednesday, they did 'quarantine' on it. All day. This morning when we called (we have to call them several times a day since they never return calls, ever) they told us the bicycles and one pair of shoes had failed quarantine.

Now let's look at this rationally. Quarantine is there to make sure nothing harmful (or illegal) enters Australia. Fair enough. In this country, anything 'living' from outside the country is considered harmful. This includes things like dirt on bicycle wheels and shoes. However, the two bikes (and, for that matter, the pair of shoes) are Australian origin, and were never out of the packaging since we left Melbourne seven months ago. They were never properly imported into the UK (we think -- no telling what the removal company did at the UK end but we told them to turn around the shipment as-is). This being the case, where on earth did they think the bicycles could have aquired non-Australian soil?

However, common sense is in very short supply at this removal company. So the bicycles will need to be steam cleaned, which may well damage them. They are easily the most expensive item in our sea freight. Unhappy doesn't even begin to describe it.

Current estimate is we might have our sea freight on Wednesday. We'll believe that when we see it.

Should you be looking for a removal company in Australia I'd suggest you steer clear of Boltt International.

When one isn't playing in the surf at Manly there are plenty of other things to do. For instance, taking (some of) the coastal walkway through the marine reserve. Along the way all sorts of things can be found. For instance, this lizard.

Having spotted the first lizard, others were much easier to find. Mummy lizard above was keeping an eye on this one.

Later on, we stopped on a conveniently-located bench. Nearly missed the lizard in the dappled shade.

Failing lizards, molluscs abound in the shallow pools left behind in the rocks by the receding tide.

Summer has finally reappeared, and we've been having some lovely hot, sunny days. So, whenever neither of us has an interview we've been going to The Beach. Manly. It's very civilised: One takes a ferry to Circular Quay, then a ferry to Manly. The Manly ferry has a cafe on board, so one can sip a coffee during the half-hour trip. On arrival it's just a short stroll to the beach.

Yesterday we made use of the rental facilities at the beach and hired a bodyboard for $10. It was enormous fun. So much fun that following our swim we went into a surf shop to see how much one would cost. I mean, it's only a stiff piece of polystyrene, how much could that cost? $35? The first we saw was $279. Prices went up from there. $400, anyone...? The cheapest was $79 and we still balked at that, especially since neither of us is any good at it (yet). The Lateral Thinker had a brainwave: Gumtree. Success was immediate, and we are now the proud owners of a second-hand bodyboard for $20. This will do very nicely until either of us gets to be good. Unfortunately, I can already detect the beginnings of an obsession.... someone is already eying up surfboards....

After an exceptionally cold night, not helped by sleeping on the floor (all right, an air mattress), the day turned out sunny and warm-ish (by recent standards -- 21C). So we hot-footed it to the ferry wharf to make the best of the weather. Despite it being almost noon this cat was snoozing happily in a shady spot, the dappled shade hiding it very effectively. We nearly missed it.

On the ferry it turns out that the dazzling sunlight hid a biting wind. These sailors off Watson's Bay made the most of the conditions.

This enormous Norwegian cargo ship is quite possibly one of the ugliest I've ever seen, though it made a beautifully composed picture with its tug in the foreground.

Later, watching the world go by from our accustomed spot in our favoured local establishment, some diners left a bowl full of potato wedges and onion rings unfinished on their table. The seagulls had a field day, until a waitress came and put an end to the fun by clearing the table.