The Kingfish are back!!!!

With the weather warming up, the kingfish have begun returning to Sydney's waters promising exciting fishing and delicious eating for the coming months.

Kingfish in hand, couldn't be happier

Amy and I were out this past Saturday with our friends James and Debs, doing battle with the children of mighty Poseidon.  We had our 2 boats out and have recently been exploring some of the hidden coves and beaches accessible only by boat in the harbour.  Trying to find that perfect beach to relax on all by ourselves come summertime.

After some bombing around, we settled in to fish our usual spot and after a while of catching small trevally and snapper, a monster struck my rod, bending it over the side of the boat and pulling us out of our tranquil state.  The fish was strong enough to actually move the boat itself.

65cm beast = sushi + dinner for 5

After a short battle, Amy had the fish in the net and it was what we had been waiting for all winter long, the first legal-sized kingfish (they have to be 65 centimeters or greater and can grow to well over a meter)!!!

After a short time trying to find his brothers and sisters, we packed up and headed home with big plans for our new friend.

Sunset on the Queenscliff rocks, I am holding the tray of sushi

Rice was boiled and we made part of him into sushi, which we brought down to the rocks where we had agreed to meet up with our mates to have a beer and watch the sun go down.  While we were out there, we potted a pod of dolphins who began to actually surf the waves that were breaking on the beach.  It was a sublime moment.  I don't have pictures of this but will remember the sight for a long, long time.

However in case you are saying, "yeah....right", here is some video from youtube to prove that dolphins actually do surf:


 
Then, it was back to our place for some kingfish tacos which were thoroughly enjoyed by all and washed down with the English Nut Brown Ale that we have on tap currently.  In addition to the usual avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, etc we had home made tortillas and the green sauce from Sophie's in NYC.  To anyone in NYC who does not know what that is, go to your local Sophie's and order the pernil.  The green sauce is on the tables for dousing your food.  Do it now.

The spread for tacos.  Green sauce in the middle, beer on the right.

Bring on summer and bring on the kingies!!!

Blue Mountains Horseback Riding

Big Red, contemplating kicking Amy's horse

This past weekend we celebrated our friend Debs' birthday by going up to the Blue Mountains where we went horseback riding and stayed over at a ranch.

It was a beautiful location and the scenery was amazing.  The weather was a bit testy at times but we persevered onward through wooded trails, onto pastures and eventually reached the crest of a large hill where we could see miles into the mountain ranges.

Ride 'em cowboy

In the woods we saw many packs of kangaroos and wallabies.  They hopped along, checking us out for a while.

My horse, named "Big Red" was overall a violent jerk, repeatedly biting and kicking the other horses.  By the end of the ride, the other people in our group, all mates were actively avoiding me.

Blue Mountains in the distance

The group at the crest of a hill, the view was amazing

Fording a stream

Some trees that had suffered the wrath of God on top of a hill

Amy on the trail

The pack emerges onto the pasture

This behavior thankfully did not extend into the evening when we relaxed around the ranch's guest house and grounds, enjoying a barbecue, campfire, some rugby, and then delicious cupcakes made by Amy.

MMMMMM.....horseburgers

Go Manly!!!!

 
This past weekend, our local rugby team, the Manly Sea Eagles won the 2011 Grand Final!!!!

We were on hand at a local pub to watch the game and enjoy the subsequent jubulation and it was AWESOME!!!!!

After the glorious victory (24 points to 10), the crowd could not be contained, the bar rolled out ever "eagle" related song in existence and people were chanting and singing and dancing on tables.  I took some video, below of the crowd in action.

Although we did already have our looting locations scouted out, no rioting broke out.  I guess we will have to wait until Australia wins the Rugby World Cup in a few weeks.

GO MANLY!!!

Visitor number 4 - Cousin Joe

We were lucky to have Chris's Cousin Joe visit us as a our first representative from his side of the family.  Joe was lucky enough to convince his company that he needed a trip to Melborne and managed to sneak up to Sydney for the warmest weekend of the spring so far.  Note to every who's worried about the steep price of tickets - get your job to send you - then it's free!

We took advantage of the 26 C day (that's 78.8 for those of you who only think in Fahrenheit) just two weekends into spring to rent a boat and tour the harbor.

 Checking out the various ocean monsters.

We docked the boat in Darling Harbor for a few hours to grab some lunch and check out the city sights.

The trip into the city had been fairly eventful, but when we turned around to head home the wind had picked up, and there was also a sailing event with well upwards of 200 sailboats participating in 4 or 5 different races through out the harbor.  Best part of the sailboats is that of course they have the right of way when under sail, so trying to make our way home was a three way cooperative exercise of spotters to make sure that no one was tacking directly in front of, or into us.

 

Asteroids anyone?

 Thankfully we made it back to Manly safely and rushed home for a few beers on the rocks while watching the sunset.  We wrapped up a great day with a bbq and some rum barrel porter on tap.

Sunday after some recovery pancakes we walked along the beach and up along the harbor heads to check out the views.  We rounded out the afternoon with a few pints at our favorite local pub before dropping Joe off at the airport after he insisted that he did have to go home and couldn't stay and have more fun with us. 

It's tough to drink sideways

How real men dance

In case everyone wasn't already aware, the rugby world cup is taking place in New Zealand over the next few weeks, and yes, the good old US of A has a team in the competition! We are currently ranked 18/20, just nudging out Russia and Nimibia on the race to the bottom.

Last night was a cold war rematch of USA vs Russia, which was billed as our "only chance to win a game in the tournament". Thankfully we retained our superiority and pushed on to win 13-6.How did he get that hat here without wrinkling it in his suitcase?

With wonder woman on our side how can we possibly lose??

Some Russian fans confused about what we were competing for

In addition to the actual sport of rugby, one of the most amazing things is the Haka that most of the islander teams (NZ, Samoa, Tonga, etc) do to issue their challenge at the beginning of the game. This started getting attention way back when the New Zealand team was not the international super power that they are today.

This however has evolved to one of the most intimidating openings to a game that I've ever seen. Can you imagine being the opposing team and having to sit through this every time??

Even better, if it happens to be two teams with a haka they do it at each other at the same time which is just amazing.

Blue Mountains: Grand Canyon Hike

This past weekend we ventured up to the Blue Mountains to hike through Australia's Grand Canyon. While it wasn't as large or "grand" as the one back home, it was still quite impressive. The canyon is set in dense old-growth forest and has a stream/river running along the bottom. We traversed up and down the canyon walls multiple times as well as crisscrossed the stream throughout the hike.


View Larger Map

We had a beautiful day for it, cool with bright blue skies. The rain stayed away, defying the weather girl's most dire predictions.

At the end, we were rewarded with amazing views into the next valley, gazing deep into the heart of Blue Mountains National Park.

Us at the top, what a view!

We will definitely be back in the future to check out more amazing hikes. Blue Mountains National Park is only a 2 hour drive from where we live, making weekend day trips an easy proposition. They seem to do a really good job maintaining the many trails that thread through the region, enabling access to a diverse range of hikes and amazing views.

Clambering over a log to get across the stream

Crisscrossing the stream at the bottom of the canyon

Chris on a log that crossed the stream at the bottom of the canyon

Bright green moss covering everything on either side of the path

The view into the next valley

Looking down the canyon from about halfway down

Team photo, midway down into the canyon

One of the many small waterfalls all around the canyon

Looking across the canyon, such dense plant life

Amy and Chris behind one of the larger waterfalls

Cairns Part II: Welcome to the Jungle

The latter part of our Cairns adventure was land-based and took us to the Daintree Rainforest region. Up there we hiked through the jungle and took a river cruise to see the abundant wildlife and verdant scenery.


View Larger Map

One thing that is commonplace up there that we do not have in Sydney is the saltwater crocs. These can grow up to 24 feet long and inhabit most of the waterways and beaches. In fact, there were signs at all of these areas warning you of the danger posed. Glad I don't have to worry about that every time we go out in the water down in Sydney.

Croc entering the water

No one volunteered to go in to find him

Go ahead and take a swim, what are the odds...?

And, if you weren't put off by the "Croc Danger" signs, they were often accompanied by the Box Jellyfish Warning signs at all the beaches. Mother Nature simply does not want you in the water.

If the crocs don't get you, the jellyfish are waiting

The crocs were evident on the river cruise we took and we spotted several lying on the muddy riverbanks. There was also abundant bird species around the Daintree River, some of which got the birders we were on the cruise with into a stir of excitement.

Heron in flight

Azure Kingfisher, got the birders really excited

Once we retreated to the jungle to hike around (where only spiders and snakes are out to get you), we were treated to old-growth forest as well as the apparently croc-free Mossman Gorge river. If you were wondering what differentiates a rain forest from a regular forest, the answer is of course: the rain. In the Daintree region, they measure the annual rainfall in meters, rather than most places, where it is measures in centimeters. We were told that in the last year, they had 4 meters of rainfall. That is higher than a basketball hoop.

We had a great time up there, it was nice to get away from the city/suburbs and to escape into untouched wilderness. Time to start planning the next adventure!

River running through the Mossman Gorge

This tree could have supported an Ewok village

Daintree River, beautiful scenery

Mangroves lined one side of the river, rain forest was on the other

Lush rain forest running all the way down to the ocean

Butterfly in the jungle, possibly the only thing that is not plotting your demise