We're back - by popular demand. While the ramblings were to be vanquished, the paddling was not and it was a mercurial return to the bay.
Having been landlocked for a couple of months we decided to hitch a lift with the flow. We left from Fisherman's Island disappearing into the mangrove passage about an hour before the top of the tide. The quiet passage opened out into a tranquil
silvery expanse. To the north an oyster lease morphed into the long necks of a bevy of black swans while military and container ships traversed the horizon. As we came into St Helena a comical inspection parade of pied oyster catchers, with their heads just visible, ran up and down the jetty.
We were surprised to see a large kangaroo bound out of the mangroves on St Helena - a wallaby maybe, but a large mangy kangaroo seemed a bit out of proportion. After AM tea it was a
dawdle over to Green for a late lunch and kip in the warmth of the sun. Even on a Sunday you cannot not escape the background rumble of an ever growing metropolis. A rumble that now starts around 0500 and continues until late evening. A rumble that pushes greater pressure on the bay. It was 2004 when I last saw swathes of clean strappy ribbons of the sea grass meadows. Lately the beautiful rich brown shells of smaller turtles are also covered with scum. Green had a decent collection of empty bottles and the park bench had been ripped asunder.
While soaking in the warmth, the SE decided it was time to pack it in too. The bay became glassy, so glassy that it was difficult to judge how much water there really was before the channel marker. The last 200m to the safety of the red was traversed with 3cm grace. Once in the channel the sails captured was little was on offer as we rounded back to Fisherman's Island. The second turtle for the day looked like it had drowned, possibly caught in a net or pot with it's rear end and flippers poking out of the water. No, poor critter was probably having a
quiet feed, it didn't certainly didn't hang around after a paddle
tap.
This diary will continue after Carol, Brian and Robyn expressed
disappointment when they found out that the pin was going to be pulled. However, there will be some competition for weekends coming from the gardening sector. But then again since when did digging holes or pouring concrete surpass a mercurial day on the bay ?
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