Surprise, surprise....

Saturday morning, Gordon's Bay

You'll be shocked to hear that the weekend was spent snorkelling again. Allan, Leon and I went down to our normal spot at Gordon's Bay on Saturday morning and were rewarded with fantastic conditions. Sunshine, clear water and flat calm.

Master of disguise - a Gloomy Octopus

The usual sharks were about as well as a couple of Moray Eels, squid and octopus. My new fish book informs me that these are in fact the Gloomy Octopus!

Luderick

On Sunday a load of us all headed north to the Central Coast at Maitland Bay armed with packed lunches. A few of us went last summer and I can tell you the trek in through the bush was a lot more pleasant at this time of year.

Maitland Bay

The snorkelling was excellent with four species of shark including a Blind Shark and an enormous Ornate Wobbegong. This particular one was lurking in weed, in murky water at a depth of not much more than a metre, but the fish was over two metres long. I got a bit of a shock when I realised what I was swimming over. The first time I've encountered something much bigger than myself! Scary. Especially as they can apparently get a bit irritable and bite.

Ornate Wobbegong - Head and pectoral fin

So big it doesn't fit in the picture!

We also saw cuttlefish, rays, Blue Gropers and all the other favourites.

Black Stingray

Loads and loads of Silver Batfish