Sparkling webs in the mist

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC).

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC have been very busy of late. She’s writing a book! It has the somewhat unwieldy title of Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate: A wiki as platform extraordinaire for technical communication. She wrote a blog post about it. This worm is looking forward to a comfy place in the book, when it appears at the end of January.

At times when deep in the throes of writing, me and the TC have gone out for a walk. To blow away the cobwebs. And at times there were more cobwebs outside than in.

Follow me into a wonderland of mist and sparkling cobwebs, the world of spring in the Australian bush.

The book I’m in

A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin. A grand epic worthy of any bookworm.

The photos

Me, braving the droplets and the chance of a nasty fall into wet mud, all for the sake of a snapshot:

Entering a wonderland of webs in the mist:

Sparkling cobweb wrapped around a twig:

Like the lights that people drape over Christmas trees:

Droplets shining in the early sun:

The flowers of a Tea Tree amongst the droplets:

Just another gorgeous sparkling web:

And another:

Cobwebs in the mist:

Droplets and big yellow flowers:

Cobwebs on curvy stems:

A web-festooned twig:

Shiny webs:

More eye candy:

Sparkly webs around two flower buds:

Webs draped across the trees:

Webbed twig and yellow flowers:

There’s nothing like a good web to liven up a dead thicket:

A closer look at those webs:

A glistening cocoon for spiders:

Another glistening spiders’ nest:

The coup de grace:

That’s all for today, dudes.

The Basin, Palm Beach, NSW Australia

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC).

Today’s travel notes

The TC’s mum is in town! Yesterday the TC took her mum and the family to The Basin, near Palm Beach just north of Sydney. The Basin is one of the bays in the Hawkesbury waterways, on the shores of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. To reach it, catch a 20-minute ferry ride from Palm Beach.

This worm heard that the outing would involve a ferry crossing and some splashing around in a lagoon. Being a pulp fiction kind of guy, water is anathema to me. So I stayed at home and sent Naught, my trusty stunt worm, instead. You may remember Naught, from his debut in my post about Shelly Beach.

Naught’s impressions? If you’re looking for a relaxing day out of Sydney, where natural beauty and serenity vie with the kookaburras for your attention, The Basin is beaut.

Recommended eating

Take a picnic lunch. There are no restaurants or shops at The Basin, but you can grill food on the barbecues provided.

The book I’m in

After Shock, by Sam Fisher. A good action story, the second in the series about the E-Force rescue team.

Let me tell you a secret: This worm was comfortably ensconced in Philip K. Dick’s book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? But the TC hoiked me out of there, saying her brain is too lazy for that book at the moment.

The photos

Naught, my stunt double, taking a dip in the sparkling waters of The Basin:

Palm Beach Wharf:

Heading out from Palm Beach across an arm of the Hawkesbury River, destination The Basin. Don’t be deceived by the halo. This is not Saint Wordsworm, but Naught who has already donned his protective coat:

The heads and hills of the Hawkesbury River waterways:

Fellow wayfarers:

Bennets Wharf, the ferry stop before The Basin:

The entrance of The Basin’s lagoon, seen from the ferry:

The ferry approaching The Basin Wharf:

Jonathan waits at The Basin Wharf to greet the travellers:

Wallabies abound at The Basin. This mother has a full pouch. The pink cross struts are the feet of the little joey inside the pouch:

Another wallaby on the shores of the lagoon:

A kookaburra takes an interest in the picnic:

A bird’s eye view. Will ya look at that beak! At this stage even a stunt worm is well advised to take cover:

That’s all for today, dudes.

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC have not been doing much travelling recently. You may have noticed the dearth of posts from this worm. What have we been up to, you may well ask?

The TC has acquired a new toy, somewhat unimaginatively named the Canon PowerShot SX30 IS. We call it the SuperZoom. It’s a point-and-shoot digital camera, with a 35-times zoom lens, going from 4.3 mm wide angle to 150.5 mm telephoto. The equivalent in 35 mm terms is 24 mm to 840 mm.

Have your eyes glazed over already? Do you feel the sudden urge to rush off into the traffic or jump over a cliff, or find some other way to put the zing back into life? Now you have the tiniest idea of what things have been like chez TC recently.

The TC ummed and ahhed for months before buying the SuperZoom. She consulted DSLR experts, read reviews and agonised over the choice. Go for a DSLR with quality “glass” (that’s a lens, folks) and total control over all aspects of the photo, but requiring a number of lenses that are expensive, cumbersome and finicky. Or go for a point-and-shoot with a single zoom lens, possibly compromising on the quality of the picture because a one-size-fits-all solution is often a compromise.

Then Canon produced the SX30 IS at around the same time as the TC decided against a DSLR. Decision made, and in the process the TC had learned a whole lot about just why the DSLR enthusiasts were worried that the SX30 IS might yield disappointing results.

F-stops and apertures, exposure times and ISO speeds, bracketing and exposure bias, focal length, depth of field… It’s fascinating stuff. Especially when you realise that most of the terminology and skills were developed to suit photography done with 35mm film, and that folks now just kind of morph the same terminology into the digital world, where it kind of works. Yes, fascinating stuff. So the TC tells me.

My impressions? For a details-oriented person like the TC, this photography lark looks to be an interesting occupation. From the point of view of those around her? Well, it keeps her out of our hair!

Travel tip

When travelling with a camera, or a camera-wielding TC, be prepared to stop and shoot at a moment’s notice.

The book I’m in

How to Do Everything: Digital Camera, by Dave Johnson. This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to learn about photography and digital cameras.

This worm had a narrow escape recently. I was spending some time in a DK book on photography that the TC took a violent dislike to. Ask her about it, then duck!

The photos

Me with Peg and a piece of bark that’s recently fallen from a Sydney Red Gum tree:

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/4
Exposure time: 1/125 sec
ISO speed: ISO-80
Exposure bias: -1 step
Focal length: 4 mm
Max aperture: 2.875
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash: No flash, compulsory

The TC has discovered that the camera and Windows both store a number of interesting facts about how the picture was taken. To keep her happy, I’ve copied the details below each photograph in this post. She’s been experimenting with the options available in the camera’s various modes. Even thought it’s a point-and-shoot, it offers an impressive flexibility for those who care to click and flick various buttons, wheels and knobs.

A jumble of bark at the base of a Scribbly Gum:

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/4
Exposure time: 1/50 sec
ISO speed: ISO-400
Exposure bias: 0 step
Focal length: 11 mm
Max aperture: 4
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash: No flash, compulsory

That looks like a secret code on some ancient rolled parchments, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s the work of grubs living in the bark of the tree.

The trunk of a Scribbly Gum:

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/4.5
Exposure time: 1/40 sec
ISO speed: ISO-100
Exposure bias: -1 step
Focal length: 18 mm
Max aperture: 4.34375
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash: No flash, compulsory

Two dragonflies mating while one chomps a cicada:

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/4
Exposure time: 1/250 sec
ISO speed: ISO-100
Exposure bias: 0 step
Focal length: 12 mm
Max aperture: 4
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash: No flash, compulsory

Talk about hostile mergers and acquisitions! Did you know that dragonflies are carnivorous? This worm did not, and neither did the TC.

Before we go any further, I have to admit I’m not sure that the happy couple are dragonflies. Their wings are parallel to their bodies, not at right angles. They don’t look like damselflies either, though. These critters were large: about 4 cm long. Do you know what they are?

One of the pair has a cicada firmly grasped in its legs. The trio was very mobile, and flew up and around the TC twice while she photographed it.

Another shot, where you can see the cicada more easily:

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/4.5
Exposure time: 1/160 sec
ISO speed: ISO-160
Exposure bias: 0 step
Focal length: 29 mm
Max aperture: 4.34375
Metering mode: Pattern
Flash: No flash, compulsory

A kookaburra, shot at maximum telephoto range (150 mm, 35x zoom, equiv. 840mm):

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/5.8
Exposure time: 1/80 sec
ISO speed: ISO-400
Exposure bias: 0 step
Focal length: 150 mm
Max aperture: 5.0625
Metering mode: Spot
Flash: No flash, compulsory

The TC is inordinately proud of that shot. It was tricky to keep the bird in focus at such a long distance. She played around with the depth of field (there’s another of her newly acquired terms) and exposure, took a number of shots, then chose the one she liked best.

We’ve already covered trees and birds, two of the TC’s favourite subjects. Here’s the third:

F-stops and focus and zooms, oh my!

F-stop: f/3.5
Exposure time: 1/60 sec
ISO speed: ISO-250
Exposure bias: -1 step
Focal length: 8 mm
Max aperture: 3.625
Metering mode: Spot
Flash: Flash, auto, redeye

That’s all for today dudes.

The black cockatoos are in town

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

For someone who professes to be the friend and companion of a travelling worm, it seems to this worm that the TC has an unhealthy fascination with birds. She’s been taking pictures of the black cockatoos that have just arrived in our neck of the woods.

Needless to say, I stayed well out of sight. Black cockatoos are partial to the odd grub or two, and I don’t rate their level of discernment very highly. I think they’d pounce first and ask questions second.

“Oops, sorry, did I just swallow Mark Wordsworm, the famous Travelling Worm?”

These are the Sydney yellow-tailed black cockatoos. They seem to drop in at around this time every year, probably because a certain type of gum tree is in flower.

The book I’m in

Lake News, by Barbara Delinsky.

The photos

Me not inviting attention from a big cocky bird:

The black cockatoos are in town

Black cockatoos are difficult photographic subjects, because they’re… well, black. Here’s what the TC managed to get.

Looking savvy:

The black cockatoos are in town

Looking cute and fluffy:

The black cockatoos are in town

Showing off the yellow tail:

The black cockatoos are in town

Prowling along a branch in silhouette, pretending to be a black panther and then spoiling it by squealing like an eagle:

The TC in hot pursuit, snapped by the TC-once-removed:

The black cockatoos are in town

That’s all for today dudes.

Bush-walking in the rain

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

The TC is mad. Not raving, just quietly but significantly bananas. This is by now a well-established fact. Nevertheless it bears repeating. In particular, if she invites you out on a walk and says the clouds mean nothing, don’t believe her!

Last week she went walking in the Manly Dam reserve in a rain storm.

My impressions? I do concede that the TC is right when she says the Ozzie bush is beautiful in the rain.

Travel tip

Don’t wear shoes that matter to you. When it rains in the Australian bush, you’ll be up to your ankles in fast-flowing mud within five minutes.

The book I’m in

Blindman’s Bluff, by Faye Kellerman. I’ve moved on a few pages since yesterday. I’m still near enough the middle of the book to feel secure, but it’s getting close to the time when I start worrying that the thickness of pages left is not enough to prevent me warping.

The photos

Me in the Sydney wet. I tend to go to pieces in a storm, and my famous blue raincoat is torn at the shoulder. Luckily I had another effective, if less stylish, waterproof covering with me:

Picture this: It’s pouring with rain, all sensible souls are playing couch potato couch potato, but there’s the TC setting off into the bush with her purple umbrella unfurled:

It’s not long before she starts ooh-ing and aah-ing at the sights she beholds. The only camera at hand is her iPhone, but she is not deterred. Every photo in this blog post was taken on the iPhone:

“Ooh,” coos the TC, “the fairies have strung up their party lights behind an Old Man Banksia”:

Raindrops dangle:

If you look carefully, you’ll see the spider lurking in the leaf on his rain-spangled web:

Don’t expect to stay dry even if it’s not actually raining. Dripping branches bar your way:

Rivulets of water make swirling patterns in the sand, echoing the patterns in the rock:

Here’s a vista with a rain-lit bush in the foreground:

A grass tree in the wet. People also call these plants blackboys or Xanthorrhoea:

Raindrops perched on the flower of an Old Man Banksia:

A path full of puddles mirroring the trees, with the TC’s somewhat inelegant and extremely sodden foot at bottom right:

Two mini waterfalls where there’s usually just dry rock:

The “bleeding” gum trees look even more bloody and gruesome when they’re wet:

More droplets sprinkled on leaves and flowers:

This is the waterfall in the Manly Dam reserve, in full spate after recent heavy rainfall. The TC took this photo today, a week after all the others:

That’s all for today dudes.

A praying mantis eating a lizard

This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC spotted a praying mantis eating a lizard this afternoon. The TC was appalled but fascinated. Out came the camera, of course. Being not of a ghoulish disposition, I visited the site only after the drama was over.

Warning: If you’re anything like the me and TC, you’ll find the pictures gross. A note of comfort from this worm: The lizard was definitely dead. The TC checked before she took the photos. The lizard’s head was mostly disconnected from its body. Any twitching limbs or tail are purely reflex.

Travel tip

Stay out of the way of praying mantises, even if you’re bigger than they are.

The book I’m in

Blindman’s Bluff, by Faye Kellerman. I’m tempted to say I know who dun it. This is another great book by Faye. She never disappoints this worm.

The photos

Me surveying the site of the drama, well after all parties had dispersed:

Here’s the mantis caught in the act:

They’re half way up a tree fern near Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Getting down to it:

Here’s the video:

Meal over:

That’s all for today dudes.

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

This is the blog of a 25-year-old bookmark. I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

The other day I dozed off inside a good book and woke up to find myself at the Atlassian office in Sydney. What on earth is Atlassian? The TC rabbits on about them all the time. Evidently they’re the guys who make Confluence wiki, JIRA bug tracker and some other equally odd-sounding things.

A little bird tweeted that Atlassian are making some big announcements next week. This worm was there during the busy run-up to the big day.

My impressions? Beer fridges, everywhere.

Word of the day: Standup.

Travel tip

When you visit Atlassian in Sydney, remember there’s an upstairs too. That’s where the TC hangs out. Take her some chocolate and your welcome is assured.

Recommended restaurant

Peace Harmony, corner of Erskine and Sussex streets, about 5 minutes’ walk from the Atlassian office. It’s a vegetarian Thai restaurant. The TC raves about the tasty food, the peaceful atmosphere and the outstanding service.

The book I’m in

The Linnet Bird, by Linda Holeman.

The photos

Me inside Atlassian, getting pally with Charlie. He’s the weird looking blue dude with his arms in the air, holding up a saucer (or whatever):

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

The Atlassian offices are in the old Corn Exchange building, near Darling Harbour in Sydney:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

Here’s a closer view. The JIRA team is right behind this window:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

Back inside now, this window lights the FishEye/Crucible team:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

Charlie is a bit of a clothes horse. He gets dressed up in various outfits and then hangs around the meeting rooms or Atlassian events, all primped and proper. Here’s me chatting him up. He’s dressed for the board room, where the occasional game of poker happens too:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

Me and Charlie outside the Fishbowl meeting room:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

Me and Charlie in the area of the engineering and product management chiefs. Their desks look out on a gym, so Charlie feels comfortable in less formal attire:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

I doff my mortarboard to Jason of the design team for his endless inventiveness in Charlie’s wardrobe.

Guess what? Hand was there too. You remember Hand, the annoying creature who attached himself to the TC when we were in Surfers Paradise last year. He’s an intrusive fellow with a finger in every pie. So it was no surprise when he insisted on attending a standup at Atlassian. A standup is a weird ritual practised by ‘agile’ programmers. This worm doesn’t think they look particularly agile, loitering around in a circle and uttering the odd technical phrase every now and then.

Here’s Hand getting underfoot at a standup. The feet are attached to the technical writing team:

Travelling Worm goes to Atlassian

Can you guess which foot belongs to the TC?

That’s all for today dudes.

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

This is the blog of a 25-year-old bookmark. I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

Let’s go fly a kite, up where the air is bright… It’s mid winter in Sydney, and the TC took it into her head to hop into a Tiger Moth and fly over Sydney.

“You picked the coldest day of the year,” the pilot announced when we arrived. And cold it was. One degree Celsius on the ground, but bright and clear and beautiful too.

My impressions? Soft, floating, breath taking, beautiful.

Word of the day: Butterfly

Will this worm ever become a butterfly? I do hope not. They’re ephemeral, fickle beings. “Word of the day” is right. But now I’ve had a go at flitting around the skies on papery wings and it has a certain something.

Travel tip

Don’t touch the pedals and levers in your cockpit. They work.

Recommended restaurant

Bring your own, hot, coffee.

Recommended aviation company

Airborne Aviation, at Camden airport near Sydney. They’re friendly, professional, no nonsense. The experience was just awesome. (Those are the TC’s words. She tends to enthuse.)

The book I’m in

Third Strike, by Zoë Sharp.

The TC rather likes the Charlie Fox thrillers.

The photos

Me getting up close and personal with a Tiger Moth’s propeller:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Me and the TC went up in a 1940s vintage Tiger Moth:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

The TC-once-removed was in a Boeing Stearman, built in 1943. Both planes are roughly the same age. The Boeing has a bigger engine, but pushes out about the same horse power, according to our pilot. This discrepancy is easy to understand, our instructor went on with gleeful scorn, once you know that Tiger Moths are British while the Boeings were designed in the US!

Me cosying up to the Boeing Stearman:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Due to the Boeing’s ungainly design the pilots had to run the engine for 20 minutes to warm it up before takeoff. When we arrived, it was still stuttering and sputtering in the cold morning air.

The little Tiger Moth was altogether more obliging. Open the hatch:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Plug in the electric heater — that’s the black box with the electric cable at top left — and leave it to warm up:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Push the plane out into the open, and you’re ready to rock and roll. Here’s a view of the Moth’s two cockpits:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Here’s a Biggles snap of the TC, as requested by my friend the Sandgroper:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Up, up and away in the Tiger Moth:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

We took off on grass, both planes together, and were in the air before we knew it. The TC-once-removed took some snaps from the Stearman too:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

The Boeing Stearman is so comfy, it’s “like a big old lounge chair with a plane built around it”, said the pilot:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

We flew for about 15 minutes, from Camden airport to Warragamba Dam, then headed back to Camden. Here’s Warragamba Dam seen from the Moth:

Flying in a Tiger Moth over Sydney

Here’s a short video of the Tiger Moth zooming up to the Boeing. Me and the TC are in the front cockpit of the Moth:

Sometimes we seemed close enough to touch. Here’s the Boeing Stearman, filmed by the TC from the Moth:

The Tiger Moth looks frail and, well, ephemeral. Like those butterfly dudes. But it holds its own against the good old Boeing. This video starts in the Boeing’s cockpit then swings round to find the Moth:

That’s all for today dudes.

Sunrise in Sydney

This is the blog of a 25-year-old bookmark. I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

Me and the TC have been back home for a couple of weeks now, after our trip to San Francisco and Seattle. Jet lag is a thing of the past. The trip is already receding into the mists of memory.

Did we ever go at all? Sometimes this worm thinks a good book is more real than life itself.

Speaking of real life, there just has to be a better form of long-distance travel than the aircraft. The TC is not a good traveller. After about six hours on a plane, she becomes miserable, mussy and messy. Very messy.

Me, I’d suggest teleportation. Just drop into a fax machine and materialise on the other side of the world. Make sure it’s a high-definition, high-colour fax machine, or you may lose some vital bits.

Travel tip

Don’t double-knot your shoe laces until you’ve been through airport security.

Recommended restaurant

Home sweet home.

The book I’m in

The Villa, by Nora Roberts.

A good old-fashioned intrigue set in San Francisco and Italy, seasoned with romance and noble wines.

The photos

Me back in the bosom of my family:

Sunrise in Sydney

Hand was a bit emotional on my return. I was touched. Peg took centre stage as usual. In an uncharacteristic bout of soppiness, Drool allowed The Rival and Naught to drape themselves all over him. Naught is stuck in his waterproof suit. I don’t think we’ll ever get it off him. I did tell him of the perils of lamination, but he just would not listen. At least I escaped his fate. That’s the beauty of having a stunt worm.

Sydney is heading into winter. The sunrises are begrudgingly gorgeous at this time of year:

Sunrise in Sydney

With the longer nights and the swap to daylight saving time, there’s a chance you’ll be awake to enjoy a sunrise over the sea:

Sunrise in Sydney

That’s all for today dudes.

Shelly Beach in Manly

This is the blog of a 25-year-old bookmark. I proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .

Today’s travel notes

There’s a heat wave on in Sydney, Australia. If you like the heat, this is where you should be. Weather reports say we’re the hottest place on the planet this weekend.

This is when all savvy Sidney-siders hit the beaches. Shelly Beach is one of the best. It’s all happening: scuba-diving, snorkelling, swimming, paddling, stand-up and sit-down canoeing, splashing or just plain lying around.

Shelly Beach is part of the Cabbage Tree Bay reserve, at the quiet end of Manly Beach. Unlike the rest of the Sydney ocean coast, Shelly Beach points north rather than east. It’s tucked away in a little fold of the coast and has a character all its own.

Travel tip

Stay cool.

The book I’m in

the witches of chiswick, by Robert Rankin.

Ha ha, very funny, especially if you’re an erudite worm like me.

The photos

Introducing Naught, my stunt worm:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Actually, Naught is a copy of me, clad in laminate so that I don’t have to risk the wrinkling, colour-leeching and sagging that inevitably result from an extended dunking.

Naught is not bad at bobbing about. Here’s an underwater scene at Shelly Beach. The bobbing bookmark makes a less-than-convincing entrance near the end of the video:

They say imitation is the best form of flattery. Not that this worm is in need of flattery. I’m quite aware of my own worth. I’ve named my stunt worm “Naught”, in honour of another underwater wonder, the Nautilus. And also because “naught” means “nothing”, and although Naught may look like me, he isn’t me and therefore he’s really nothing at all. (I just needed to make that absolutely clear.)

We didn’t find Nemo, nor even Captain Nemo, but Naught is a good alternative. And he seems to have found a mermaid:

Shelly Beach in Manly

There are lots of different fish in the water too. The TC managed to catch one or two in her camera lense. Here’s one:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Here’s another, pretty if you like that sort of thing:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Here are a few silver and striped specimens, perhaps in search of Nemo themselves:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Next up is a blue groper. There are few fish that have caught my interest, but this one does have a good quirk or two. A groper sees a sex change as part of the normal scheme of things. Rumour has it that all gropers start out as girls. Then, when the whim takes them, they turn into boys at the flip of a fin. Boys are blue, girls are greeny-yellow. They can live as long at 35 years, so they have plenty of time to choose their favourite colour. They can grow to about 60cm long. This one is blue so I guess it’s a boy. He’s followed by a flotilla of fans:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Here’s an “artistic” photo of a shoal of tiny little fish that swam round and round the TC, moving too fast to get a good picture:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Above water, Shelly Beach is all go too. Here’s a view from the west side of the beach, looking north towards Manly:

Shelly Beach in Manly

It’s a family beach, with a somewhat disquieting atmosphere of stormy prettiness. Kookaburras and cockatoos wheel above, gropers and other finned things swoop below. Sandwiched between is a layer of swimmers. And Naught, the bobbing bookmark. Any undercurrents are, on the whole, on their best behaviour. The overall effect is intriguing rather than menacing. Most days, anyway.

Here you’re on the west side of the beach looking east:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Now you’re in the middle of the beach, looking north towards Manly:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Here you’re standing on the rocks at the east side of Shelly Beach, looking west across the beach:

Shelly Beach in Manly

This photo is taken from the rocks on Shelly Beach, looking north towards Manly:

Shelly Beach in Manly

The TC made a short video to show it all happening at Shelly Beach. It reminds me of a page from a beginner’s language course, with people doing all sorts of things, contented smiles on their faces and useful little bubbles with the French/German/whatever words describing their activities. But luckily for you, there are no speech bubbles on this video.

As the camera pans past the rocks on the west end of the beach, you will see the well-known Bower surf break. It’s popular among Manly surfers, because it’s one of the last breaks to close out in big surf and offers the cleanest right handers in Sydney. That’s what they say. Take a look:

Meanwhile back home, it’s very very warm. Sydney is treating us to a heat wave. The tree ferns are suffering:

Shelly Beach in Manly

Poor old Drool really wanted to go to the beach too. I told him he’d sink like a stone. Or at least like a faux stone. Drool and Naught have one thing in common — there’s not much real about Drool either:

Shelly Beach in Manly

That’s all for today dudes.