Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Sayonara!!!



Today we leave for snowy Japan!!!

We will be heading to the ski resort of Niseko with 6 friends for 10 days of skiing and adventure.


View Larger Map

The resort has been getting DUMPED with snow this season so should we should get a few days of fresh powder to enjoy.  Currently they have a 4 meter base.  Amazing.  In fact, it is snowing there as I write this!!!

Here is the SNOW REPORT



After the resort we will be heading to Tokyo for 2 days to see the sights and absorb the culture.


Looking forward to the trip, will bring back lots of pictures!

Shellharbour Camping + Fishing Extravaganza


Summer's going by so fast that we're a bit behind on the posts, but a few weekends ago Chris and I headed out of town for a weekend of camping and fishing.
We once again headed south to Killalea state park, just past Wollongong down the coast.  You might remember from previous posts that one of the reasons that we really like this camp ground is that it allows campfires.  Unfortunately, due to the extremely hot and dry conditions it was a total fire ban so no marshmallows were consumed.


We did however manage to entertain ourselves with some almost completely deserted beaches.


The weather didn't play along quite as we'd hoped, but thankfully it was just overcast skies and some wind.
The campsite itself is about a 10 minute walk through the bush where you are quite unlikely to run into anyone else.
This makes for some very picturesque scenery as you make your way from bush to beach.
Even when the sun isn't shining, it's always nice to take a stroll on a deserted beach and enjoy the view.
Towards the evening the sky cleared a bit so we decided to check out the second beach that's just a short drive away.
Both of these beaches are typically known as great surfing beaches, but the swell was pretty small while we were there that weekend.
It did make for a nice place to watch the sun set by ourselves.
On Sunday we woke up bright and early to do some fishing with Shellharbour fishing charters.  We completely lucked out and had only four people on a boat that normally takes 7.  We spent the first few hours going for kingies and Chris pulled in one while the other guys brought in a few bonito.
After that we headed out to deeper water where we were drifting over a spot that was about 80 meters deep and we just killed it there.  With a two kg weight on the end, my arms were just exhausted from having to pull up a fish from that depth as soon as I put down my bait.  We ended up with a medley of different reef fish, which combined with the bonito was quite the feast.  On our way home we recruited a few friends for some dinner and sent them home with a few fillets to make sure that it didn't go to waste.