Black Swan

This post will have more photos than usual as I remembered to take my camera with me. We were supposed to be rock climbing today but it is really windy and being fairly static in the forest under big burnt trees made rock climbing seem safe.

Early morning, instead, I rode my bicycle along our sea-side shared pathway and over the new bridge where there is a grand view of Snapper and the Tollgate Islands. Continuing along the foreshore, I rode along to Cullendulla where the tide was low enough to ride the boardwalk loop along the beach. As the climate changes, the beach here is changing too. The first layer of trees have all fallen down as the sea rises and the second layer now has exposed tree roots so another storm surge or high tide will take all those trees down as well. Development on land that will be inundated is, in typical short-sighted human fashion, still allowed. I guess all the people who thought that was a good idea figured they would have their own cash out by then.

There was no-one about and not even a single set of foot-prints on the sand since the tide had been in and out. A couple of black swans were floating close in shore. When we are all tempted to proclaim "the science is settled" we should remember the story of the Black Swan.

The Cullendulla area is the site of many mini-adventures. From riding waves at the mouth of the bay when there is a big southeasterly swell running, to kayak rolling, paddling up Cullendulla Creek to the very end, and once I tried to swim across Cullendulla Creek to get onto the Square Head tracks. However, the channel is deeper than you might think and despite wading in and out at numerous spots without a dry bag for my gear, I was unable to get across.