Adventure Tuesday!

On Tuesday, Joel and I met up with his friends Hugh and Shaya, and their buddy Benny, and we took off for the beaches in Bundeena, a town in the Royal National Park— a park so big, it would take you 2 days to walk its entirety.

photo-1 — hanging out with Joel and Benny in the backseat

Benny is Hugh and Shaya’s foster dog, and he’s 100% adorable. Except for when he got car sick and puked directly into my lap. It wasn’t just a little bit of vomit either. He unhinged his jaw and expelled the entire contents of his stomach, in an almost solid mass. It was like a demon had overtaken him. I felt so bad for the little guy. Not to be deterred by a car-sick pup, we pulled over, cleaned everything up, and made our way to the beach.

The weather was absolutely perfect for exploring. Bright, sunny, warm, and super breezy. We landed at Jibbon beach and took the trail through cliffs, rocks, and brush. Australia has some of the prettiest beaches ever, and I’m still reeling over the views. We saw way too many old men nude sunbathing on secluded cliffs, and a cranky old man who was taking pictures of the ocean scolded us and said he was going to report us to the authorities for having a dog, but apart from that, we had a really good time.

Joel the intrepid explorer, reaching for crabs.

Some of the pools that collected in the rocks.

No matter how much we persuaded, begged, and pleaded, Benny was all "fuck that" when it came to going in the water — No matter how much we persuaded, begged, and pleaded, Benny was all “fuck that” when it came to going in the water.

Toward the end of the beach, the waves calmed down to nearly nothing. If the water wasn't freezing and I wasn't terrified of sharks, I would have gone swimming. — Toward the end of the beach, the waves calmed down to nearly nothing. If the water wasn’t freezing and I wasn’t terrified of sharks, I would have gone swimming.

But then, out of nowhere, he just went balls deep into the water. Only that one time though. haha, oh Benny.

You can see through the water at every step.

DSCF0129 — Then we found a cuttlefish in the kelp forest! #nature

DSCF0133 — It was dead. Joel fished him out so we could examine him. I can now say I touched a cuttlefish. It was slimy.

DSCF0137 — At the end of the beach, the rocks and cliffs started

DSCF0139 — the ground was pretty, but creepy, with all these little fish filled pools. It looked like something off the set of Star Trek.

We climbed a staircase that looked like it was under construction and then abandoned. The staircase led us to a rock plank with Aboriginal carvings. This one is a kangaroo. My other carving shots didn’t turn out because the sun was too bright and I couldn’t see what I was taking pictures of. But I was taking pictures of rock. /wompwomp

Oh this one turned out. Have a turtle, folks. It was really cool to stumble upon the carvings with no one else around. They're over 1,000 years old. Pretty moving. — Oh this one turned out. Have a turtle, folks. It was really cool to stumble upon the carvings with no one else around. They’re over 1,000 years old. Pretty moving.

We left the carvings, traveled through some brush and mud, and found an impressive cliff.

After the cliff, we entered the brush! More mud, some red water, and some more mud, we came to a lovely little rocky beach.

All these Blue Bottles had washed up on the shore.

Blue Bottles are like jelly fish, but aren't. They do pack an irritating sting though, if you step on them or if they brush up against you. But you can pick them off with your fingers. So, cool? I'm staying out of the water. — Blue Bottles are like jelly fish, but aren’t. They do pack an irritating sting though, if you step on them or if they brush up against you. But you can pick them off with your fingers. So, cool? I’m staying out of the water.

As I was taking pictures of the Blue Bottles, the cranky old man tried to have us arrested for having a leashed, calm dog with us. Which was funny, because we were about 10 minutes away from our car, and he was at least a 20 minute walk away from the authorities. So we decided to leave. And we made our way to Bare Island.

There was an Aboriginal museum on the other side of the bridge, but we didn't make it in time. Oh well. — There was an Aboriginal museum on the other side of the bridge, but we didn’t make it in time. Oh well.

Bare Island was intended to be a defense island, but it’s now one of the most popular locations in Sydney to scuba dive. Even though there are sharks and eels and lots of venomous/teeth filled creatures living there. It was damn beautiful, though. Joel is determined to get me to scuba, but I’m not sure. Scuba is like sky diving to me. I’m incredibly down for it, but I’m also beyond terrified of it. I’m sure I’d be fascinated once I’m down under the water, but it would probably take me 2 hours to get into the water, like I’m sure I’d have the best time falling through the air, but I’d have a crippling anxiety attack in the plane.

ANYWAY. Bare Island is a lovely place to visit, filled with rocky, craggy surfaces that I couldn’t get photos of because I was too busy trying not to slip and fall to my death. I am a graceful giraffe, after all. There were also gorge-like walls that surrounded the water. I got chills when I stood in front of them and thought how where I was standing used to be under water. With megalodons. And other sea monsters. /yikes

Joel, the explorer. He pushed on the sponge/coral creatures and they squirted water. This went on for a while, with everyone making the sponge/corals sponge. hehe — Joel, the explorer. He pushed on the sponge/coral creatures and they squirted water. This went on for a while, with everyone making the sponge/corals spooge. We all laughed, except Benny, who freaked out when he stepped on one.

Joel touches everything. That day, he found sea crabs, the cuttle fish, a hermit crab, a nautilus shell, and spooging sponge/coral among others. — Joel touches everything. That day, he found sea crabs, the cuttlefish, a hermit crab, a nautilus shell, and spooging sponge/coral among others.

After Bare Island, it was getting late and cold, so we grabbed a late lunch/early dinner of fish and chips at Coogee Beach, and watched as the seagulls vied for our attention. Benny took turns falling asleep on both of us as Hugh drove us home.

And I got home to some unruly Adventure Hair, and a surprisingly little amount of sunburn.

Post Adventure Day. Not pictured: sweaty salt smells.

Australia is a beautiful country. And I’m floored that I have so much of that beauty basically in my backyard.

1 adventure day down, 8 million to go.

One thought on “Adventure Tuesday!”

Katherine Goff says:

September 11, 2014 at 2:22 pm

UGGGHHHH IT’S SO AMAZING THAT I CAN’T HANDLE ANY OF IT!!! Also, your photos are gorgeous. Also that old man is just bitter because his wife who left him was a dog.