Hyams Beach

the land of lost beaches

sand for DAYS

A couple weeks ago, me and couple friends decided to head down to Jervis Bay for a day trip.  It was a nice 3 hour drive down south (I was asleep for most of the way).. lucky me.  Oh real quick sidetrack,.. we stopped by some place to eat/ get some coffee, but I had the heartiest pie ever.  it had some basic beef + gravy, then add on some bacon and an egg in the middle= delicious! ... ok back to the story.  I didn't know what to expect of this place (I guess have have a habit of not knowing what to expect).  Well, I just knew it was south and the beaches are supposed to be "nice"... Quite an understatement if i ever heard one.  Anyways, our arrival in the bay ended up with us getting lost (surprise surprise).  We must have driven 40 minutes just trying to get to this one lunch place.. and didn't even find it.  But whatev.  we found a cafe, and took our sandwiches (well, they got sandwiches, I was content with an apple strudel and juice) and strolled down to a beach.  Sitting there in the sun, with the sand below our toes, the day just drifted and swayed.  After a seemly distant time, we got up and seeked out Hyams beach.  This beach is known for two things: having a deceiving pronunciation... and the whitest sand beach in the world (guiness book of records.. check it)

waters gonna water

 To describe how phenomenal the sand is... it squeaks.  lemme explain.  the sand here is so fine that when you scruff it with your foot, so many particles (sand) rub up on each other and break the sound barrier (produce the squeak).    Now I must remind you it was still winter.  So good news,.. we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.  Bad news.... water was just a tad chilly, but that wasn't gonna stop us.  We ditched our gear and went for a swim.  This was probably the clearest water I've ever swam in.  You could see the sand below the water, even 50 yards out.  And the sand was so fine, walking in the water produced a sort of underwater dust cloud, though it seemed the sand behaved similar to a puff of flour or baking soda.  Although the water was a bit cold, we soon forgot it and splashed around the waves.. After a while, the waves got a bit bigger so we rode the waves on our backs and let the swells roll us around til we got tired.  But the sun was still up!  after a round of coffee, we took a most excellent stroll on the beach.  The consistency of the sand led a long and in-depth conversation of the 'sinkage' level and comfort between our toes.  We strolled on and on til we had lost a sense of time.  Eventually we turned around, just as the sun was setting behind the hills.  It was a good day; the scent of sand lingered on my clothes as I drifted to sleep on the drive home.

dusk

Dem Medals

Sydney welcomed back the nation's Olympians this earlier this week.  There was a big parade in honor of Australia's proud athletes... and I missed it.  meh, I got there just as they were wrapping up and signing autographs and stuff. 

 Dozens of yellow and green trackies crowded around with bright smiles and sharpies at hand.  This is probably the closest i'll ever get to a gold medal, but check out the size of that piece!.  it's pretty big, i'm sure some athletes had some aching necks afterwards.

autographing smartphones are the new thing

Anyways, I didn't get to watch much of the olympics (cause my cable was all wack), but the bits/ highlights were all focused around the Australian athletes.  Of course this shouldn't be a surprise, though I wish there was some coverage of other events that didn't have a water element.
Well, every olympics, for a couple weeks, the world gleams of national pride.  Australia was no exception,  though I had to question... what are the national colors (colours) of Australia?  the flag got some red, white and blue.. but everyone seems to rather sport the yellow and green... which is a better color combo according to the fashion police (citation needed).

'getting gelato, they're just like us'  - people magazine

If you ask any Australian about the results of the 2012 olympics, 'disappointment' is probably the most common answer.. i've actually done this survey myself.  Although the Australians usually show a justly dominant force in water sports, these games seemed to prove otherwise.  But what the Australian athletes seem to capitalize on is approachability and character.  lemme xplain.  I've seen some elite athletes who appear at these big events, but tend to hide from the crowds and lurk behind the stage to avoid interaction with us 'normal folk'.  Well the Australians stayed around for hours after the parade ended to sign autographs, take pictures and pretty much hang around.  I would have been inclined to get an autograph or a picture... if i knew the name of just one Australian olympian....but I didn't... so i bounced... besides.    'merica

Royal National Park (inland)

Yep, so there was a second time to the Royal National Park, though this time the venture was inland.  Still teeming with water features, this route had the added bonus of hills and whatnot.  So, lets begin with a little recap:  same as last time, 10 minutes of research, the night before, and we were set ..   The day started off as little train ride to the town of Waterfall (known for its proximity to waterfalls).  Well, where there's some waterfalls, there's some pools and we were on a quest to seek out them pools... cause.. why not.  Well, getting to the pools were a mix of technical scrambles, followed by narrow trails with impeding branches and shrubbery.  Well eventually we got to where we were supposed to go.

water on water

livin the life

keep an eye out for raptors

Well, damn them pools is pretty neat. (see pics above).  crisp pools of crystal clear water.. what more could you ask?.  well, warmer weather i guess.  Also check out the pic to the right..  look at how big those plants are..  holy crap!  that bushy looking thing could be the size of a small bedroom.  It was like plants from the pre-historic ages.  HUGE.  I didn't even know plants like this still existed... it was like we traveled back through time.  I know i'm rambling a bit about these big ass trees, but it was pretty cool to see.  surreal almost.

Anyways, this day was just a bunch of hiking.  Huge outlooks made of sandstone formations were perfect for cloud-watching and watching the day pass.  The thing that surprised me the most was the lack of people on the trail.  A beautiful park.. and not another soul in sight.  I guess that was the best thing about that day too.  We had all day to ponder the wonders of life and galaxies.  Meander the mountains with only our thoughts.. it's something everyone should do once in a while.  a little breath and crisp air never hurt anyone.  

Royal National Park (coastal trail)

A little while ago, me and my (then) housemate went to the Royal National Park (obvious from the title).  Well, I didn't know what to expect, .. the only other national park I went to was the Blue Mountains, but it was pretty well stocked with tourists and information kiosks, so a total of 10 minutes of research were contributed to transportation for this trip.  Pretty easy directions: take a train south, then a ferry to a town that's right on the edge of the park.   After a couple distractions and timing issues, we finally arrived in the small town and went to find the information center/ ranger station.  Good news: no entrance fee to the park.  Bad news: no information center, just a faded looking map against a wall...  The only thing that pointed us in the right direction was a pamphlet that I happened to snag on the ferry.  WEll, immediately we got lost walking into what we though was the right direction.  wandering through residential neighborhoods and a vague sense of where the ocean was, we were desperate to find a trail head.  With the help of some feral looking natives, we finally got on the right track.. so to speak.

Lucky...

 This is what some of the trail looked like.  yep maintenance was minimal and it had just rained the night prior.  Well, this slowed our progress down quite a bit.  Having to jump over mud puddles and balance on tree roots, it was pretty fun... for the first 5 minutes, then I fell in one of the mud pools.  Completely soaked and cold, I've come face to face against my greatest pet peeve.. wet socks.  Well, thanks to my fantastic preparation skills, my quick-dry socks saved me from misery in a flash.  My partner had other plans.

Not so Lucky

So we wandered along the coast when we stumbled upon a beach.  specifically Marly Beach (I only remember because there was a smaller beach next to it called Little Marly Beach).  Anywho, there was a formidable stream at the edge of the beach and it looked like we had to cross it to make our way to get to the other bit of the trail.  We decided to look for a path around (big mistake).
Well, after a bit of water, we realized how duney (not sure if this is a real word) the beach was.  Dunes + cloudy skies looked pretty apocalyptic.  After an hour of treking in this coastal desert, we eventually made our way to the other side of the beach and continued on to the trail.

sand for DAYS

Further up the trail, there was a sign toward some sort of 'deer pond'.  WEll, why not? I'm down to check out ponds and stuff.. it looked like there was some sort of trail.. kinda

supposed to be a trail... deer pond ahead?

Waterfallin to the ocean

We spent another half hour or so trying to figure out where the hell a pool was supposed to be, but the trail was so overgrown retreat was the only viable option.  With ominous skies looking close, it was getting pretty late in the day.  We decided to head back to the ferry before nightfall.
What was planned to be a peaceful walk along the coast turned into a real adventure full of sidetracking and obstacle... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Part 2

So.. I'm back!  back in action.  Getting this 2nd semester started,.. yep yep.. well it's quite a big milestone.  1/3 of the way done,.. awwww yeah.  Well if you guys don't know, the flight back here is quite a time investment... 15 hours. GD.  also lost, like, 2 days.  get on the flight thursday night.. then viola ... saturday morning.  (damn time zones)

it's a butterfly.. deal with it

It aint bad enough for me to lose a couple days, but throw in some jetlag and you'd get a pretty good combo.  Now. I'm used to travelling and such changes are no surprise...
but suddenly a wildcard appears... switching hemispheres?!  damn.. that's what got me.  dem long summer days suddenly reversed~

Lemme paint a scenario:

summer hikes:  check

Imagine, waking up to the warmth of the sun.  rolling outta bed with the bright long days. copious amounts of daylight.  basking in the summer heat.  there's so much time in the day to do whatever you want.  after dinner, there's still light out for a nice stroll.  the ground is still warm even after the sun has set.  the night air lingers with a hint of energy and it's never too late to do something......  Then, hop on a plane and BOOM.  winter.   wake up realizing your blanket is the only thing keeping you from the sting of the cold.  gathering enough courage stick your arm out and turn off the alarm clock.  crawling outta the covers requires an hours' contemplation.  short, cold days.  no matter how hard the sun beats down, that crisp chill keeps your jumper on.  frozen toes make you realize how vulnerable your shoes are.  it's cold.. (but not cold enough for snow, which i would prefer).  washing your hands briefly makes you ponder the brittleness of your fingers.  cold door knobs.  cold toilet seats.  after slugging around all day, head back the crib and throw on dem uggs.  wrap yourself in a tornado of layers til you become the michellen man..  the sun has set too early and the day has passed.  pray to the gods, tomorrow will bring no rain.  rinse. repeat.

i'll admit, i've been a slight dramatic, but nonetheless this change was devastating (besides, I cut my hair, so my head's hella cold).

Although the temperature change threw me off, I expected it.  I prepared mentally.  The one thing I couldn't prepare for was the daylight.  Although I wear a watch (yeah, an actual wrist watch), I've been accustomed to gauge the remaining amount of daylight by seeing where the sun sits on the horizon (factor in the seasonal angle of said sun).  Example:  no shadow time = day's half over...  pretty easy for those blessed with the gift of sight.  Well, moving in and out of the different hemispheres got my time senses all confused and i've just re-calibrated myself to the sydney light.

changing time zones + jetlag + switching seasons = the perfect storm.

well, it's only going to get warmer from here on out, and i'm sure i'll be off on adventures soon enough.  see you next week, same time, same place.