Snorkelling at Penguin Island

I had a another great weekend outdoors. This is the first summer in many years where I've seen enough sunshine to get a tan and also have my hair start to lighten up! There have been many afternoons after work at the beach, many Saturday mornings on the coast and Sunday afternoons in the pool with beers.

On Saturday I went out with Robin and Ben (plus the West Coast Stuntors crew) to Penguin Island as part of a meet'n'greet. I packed up all the snorkel gear and met up with the guys and walked over to the Island. It was cool and breezy and the water was freezing! I was wondering how cold it was going to be and if it was going to be worth snorkelling.

Walking towards Penguin Island

It took about 10 minutes or so to get through the shallow water, all the while Ben and I were yelling out "daaaan-jerr" (danger) in a French accent. Why? I'll never know, but it was funny at the time.

Penguins at Penguin Island. No shit!

Once on the island we crossed over the top of it to the west side where the better reefs were. There was a 4m drop off about 15m offshore with lots of fish, but it was a mission to actually get into the water. Final tally of rock and coral cuts on my body is at 15. It was a matter of walking over rocks in very shallow (20cm) water with waves breaking right at the dropoff, sucking all the water out from under you, then pushing it all the way back!

The boys sitting on the edge of the dropoff

There were about 8 0r 9 of us in the water at first, but a few people were put off by the waves and being pushed around on the dropoff to actually continue snorkelling. In the end, five of us went for a long swim out around the west of the Island. It was a little choppy in the water, but the visibility was adequate. I saw lots of blowfish, some large mackerel looking fish and some white/black stripey fish. Sorry, I'm not a marine biologist - best I can do is describe what I saw.

We snorkelled for about an hour then dried off and headed back to land for a BBQ.


After the BBQ it was back home and time to have a nap and generally relax. Robin and I then went to Tash's 21st Birthday to watch all the shenangians. We rocked up just in time for the cake and candles.

Sunday morning we were back on the bike with the WCS crew, getting tips, watching the show and generally enjoying the outdoors. After lunch it was nap time then Robin and I went to Taz's house to see the remnants of Beerfest III, with everyone so drunk and rowdy. We hopped into the pool together and before we knew it, there were another 8 guys in the pool throwing soccer balls at each other. I got the hell outta there before I got hurt.

I ended up sustaining more injuries once out of the pool, all from Alex. Being very drunk, he kicked me in the back of the leg, elbowed me in the back and burnt my arm with his cigarette. At least I managed to find some ice left in the beer bucket.

In all, a very enjoyable weekend. Next weekend should be just as nice, with Jess and Joel's Engagement on Saturday.