Fun with Fishies

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I planned to stay only a couple of nights in Bellingen but I loved the place so much I ended up staying five. There was simply so much to do around the hostel & such a great crowd staying there that a longer stay was needed to do the place justice. On one day a group of us went for a long bike ride through the countryside to a place called the Promised Land, which had a stunning little stream running through it called Never Never Creek. The place really was incredible, the water was so clear you could drink it (literally) & the surrounding countryside was breathtaking. We spent the whole day exploring the promised land and only then did we get an appreciation of how it got its name.
On my last day in Bellingen I went kayaking with a guy called David, who is from Birmingham and has a “yam-yam” accent to suit, he also has a massive Afro and Rasta hat to match, quite a character. When we booked in for the four hour kayak he assured me he knew what he was doing, after watching him go round in circles on the same spot for a couple of minutes I though otherwise. Later on, after the basics had been mastered we went up a side creek of the river as planned, unfortunately David took this opportunity to stand up and attempt to remove his life jacket and t-shirt, the inevitable happened and he fell in, but then preceded to have a massive panic attack & managed to loose his t-shirt, glasses, sweater, paddle, flip-flops and even sank the kayak. After I deposited him on the shore it took me half hour to raise the kayak and collect all the lost property that hadn’t sunk. All along the side of the creek was a field of cows which made the water smell quite bad, once we were back on the main river and paddling happily I did mention to David that at least he knew first hand what it meant to be up shit creek without a paddle; he didn’t find that very funny!
My next stop up the coast was Byron Bay this is tourist central for young people and has all the obligatory tourist conveniences. I probably wouldn’t have stopped there if it weren’t for Julian Rocks just off the coast, which is one of the top diving sites in Australia. I went for two dives and was really blown away. The visibility was incredible; I could see 30m without any distortion, although the best thing about the place was the incredible variety of sea life. On both dives I saw thousands of fish all brightly colored and usually in massive schools but it was the larger marine life which was the most impressive. On the second dive we saw two loggerhead turtles, one of which was 2 ½ meters long and swam within a couple of meters of us, we also saw six or seven green turtles which on any other dive would have been a sight in itself. I also saw my first sharks including two gray nurse sharks, more carpet sharks than I can remember and even a couple of leopard sharks. At one point we sank down to the seabed and crawled towards a leopard shark that was resting on the bottom. This fish was about 3 ½ meters long and underwater it looked bloody massive. As we approached it its eyes flicked round towards us but at my guides instruction I went in closer and stoked its tail fin, so cool felt like sandpaper. At this point I didn’t think the dive could get much better but it did, five minutes before the end after only seeing a couple of 6’ stingrays we were joined by a Manta Ray, it wasn’t just in the distance it swam underneath us and even came round for a second pass. It was vast and watching it glide by, while being close enough to touch was quite phenomenal. I was diving with a divemaster who had racked up well over 200 dives and even he said it was the best he ever had, I got very very lucky.
I’ve now left the commercial hub of Byron Bay and have headed back into the country to a lovely hostel by the river in a small town called Murwillumbah but I think that can wait for next time.

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Comments

[Clemmie]

You are barmey but v. v. brave!!
Wow william, I am extremely impressed with the nerves of steel re. the shark experience AND the up shit creek debacle. What fun you're having out there! I'm staying with Anna and we've been laughing our arses off at you're kayaking antics! love from your sisters xxxx