Beez Neez now Chy Whella

To Nelson Bay

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Sat 9 Apr 2016 22:57

To Nelson Bay, a Bimble and a Bus Ride

We had a rolly night and both woke at 03:00 when things went smooth. This morning dawned quite bright and the sun put his hat on.

We saw one of the boats we saw in Nelson Bay leaving so we nipped into action and off we went the way from whence it had come. Just as I was pulling in for the buoy I saw swimmers way out in the channel in Beez path – bit of a shock, I waited until they got to the red marker and on we went. I do wish people who want to swim ‘across the road’ would tow marker buoys or wear day-glow swimming hats. See if you can spot two heads and our intended buoy........ Time for a cup of tea methinks.

On the wall our so-tacky-it’s-marvellous, wild, flashing Empire State Building picture simply exploded, not sure if its terminal yet.......

Bear got Baby Beez ready, a quick circuit around Beez Neez to get a picture and off to find the visitors wharf in the ferry dock area.

We spuddled in amongst the ladies, parked and bimbled toward town.

By the marina car park we saw a massive rock with a memorial plaque. What a terrible tragedy, five little people lost their lives.

Later we looked up what happened to these little ones: Amanda, Candice and Nathan of Salamander Bay, and their Sydney cousins Stephanie and Renee were trapped in the front cabin, their parents couldn’t get to them. This is a picture of pleasure cruiser - N’Gluka, maximum capacity twenty people, the day of the capsize in Nelson Bay it was carrying forty nine. Just why the cruiser suddenly tilted and then capsized remains unclear. So many questions but such a sad, sad loss.

The trees were simply a mass of noise with chaps on every branch.

We went for a famous meat pie, Bear had kangaroo teriyaki, I had steak and mushroom, that enjoyed we headed for the Information Centre.

Bear went to find out where the computer shops were. This morning I wanted a twelve volt connection for my laptop, out came his electrickery bag and hundreds of connectors, after trying a dozen he gave in. We’ll get one when we are ashore, so here he is chatting up a nice lady, I went to look at the information boards and found out something completely new. Whales and dolphins are both part of one of the most distinctive and highly specialised orders of mammals – the Cetacea.

Comparing smiles – unbelievable

While an ancient Greek legend tells how dolphins evolved from a human sent back to live in the sea by the gods, scientists now believe that cetaceans evolved from a hoofed land animal (related to the modern hippopotamus) that returned to the water some forty five million years ago. Today cetaceans are divided between those with teeth and those without. The toothed whales include dolphins, porpoises, killer whales and sperm whales.

The tooth-free whales rely on plates of baleen – long filaments of horn-like material that hang down from the roof of the mouth – to filter their food from the water. Baleen whales include the blue, southern right, humpback and minke whales.

Did you know?.... that the two species of baleen you’re most likely to see around Port Stephens are southern right whales and humpback whales? Of these the humpbacks often excite the most interest due to their spectacular leaps and distinctive long white side flippers (pectoral fins).

Researchers will often pay close attention to the black and white markings on the underside of humpback whale tails. Each whale has its own unique pattern and these can be used to track the movements of individuals as well as to estimate overall numbers (as you then know if you’re counting the same whale twice).

Whale Migration: Filter feeding whales like humpback and southern right whales love the abundance of food they get from the riches of the Antarctic waters. They can’t however stay in the polar regions all year round as their calves have only a small amount of blubber on them at birth and would die if delivered into such icy waters. This leads them to make massive migrations each year from their winter breeding grounds adjoining tropical waters back to the Antarctic for some binge eating over summer.

Along the way, we get to enjoy their company for a brief time as they roll along at about walking pace, communicating with each other and socialising as they go. Don’t get too close though – there are strict regulations governing how much distance to keep between yourself and whales. Come on we can get a bus to Harvey Norman outside Woolworth’s. So that was all I had time to read.

Sitting on a bench waiting for the bus. I’ve left the Opal bus cards on Beez, never mind we can use real money. I’ve only got a fifty and some small change. Oh, hang on I think I can see a Dick Smith, they’ll have the connector. Back he came, what he had been looking at was a shop sign partially hidden behind others, he had seen.........smith – short for Locksmith......... once more sitting on the bench waiting for the bus then........... Bus arrived, no change for a fifty so the sweet driver took all the little bits and produced a ticket for that much. A chap got off with amazing hair. The journey took us through a rather swanky estate all with very neat gardens and soon Harvey Norman came into sight. We thanked our driver and hoped he wouldn’t have to see us again........ Harvey turned into a very drab affair, the next bus back was in two hours, so we went to explore round the corner. A massive shopping centre. We’ll try in Kmart. Off we went across a big field that was sandier than the local beach.

Thora’s along the way. This bird will only ever be called Thora after the lovely lady that came with us around the Kiwi House in New Zealand. No success but we bought a few series of Dr Blake really cheaply and went for hot wings in KFC. Back at the bus stop the very same driver came into view. The doors didn’t open for ages, “I’m having trouble with them sticking”. Well what a side at-venture.

Port Stephens Marina as we bimbled by en route to Baby Beez. Once home I had a lovely win at backgammon but an absolute trouncing at Mexican Train dominoes, you deserved it, Oo just as well it was a top drawer cup of tea you made for me then. Time for an NCIS Los Angeles episode before sleep time after a full and varied day.

ALL IN ALL A BAG OF ALLSORTS

A FUN, GENTLE DAY