130 Bold & Beautiful swimmers swam in warm, crystal clear water today amongst lion fish, bannerfish, turtles, duskies, rays and the nicest bunch of people you could wish to meet! And 2 beautiful birthday swimmers, Greg Mc Donaugh and Toni Jackson. Happy birthday!!!Sparkles below with our lion fish.
Ahhh…Manly…
Conditions look perfect. Fifi manages a good photo bomb as we cross over with the early lappers.It’s another glorious Thursday!Nick is pointing to the birthday boy, the wonderful, friendly, generous, inspiring Greg McDonaugh. (Bella, the swim cap between the legs, is not a good look ;-))
Our new recruits, Louise and Mike are enjoying their swims. Has Louise just heard about the dusky whalers off The Point??
Guess the lovely Mother and son swimmers??
And we wait at The Point much more together today! Jules will be happy!
The other birthday swimmer today is the beautiful Toni Jackson, who is passionate about our B&B swim group after joining us about 8 months ago! Love those smiles Bella, Renae and Toni!
And at Shelly a flathead swam beneath us!
There’s a rendition of ‘Happy birthday’ for Greg and Toni and big hugs!
And a huge ‘Let’s Go!’ from Greg.
There are so many fish today and the water is so clear, there’s a lot of excitement around. A group of us head towards the tall palm tree at Halfway to see the lion fish. He has been in the same spot the last couple of days if you want to have a look.
And our lovely Aly swimming with Baby Maier for maybe the last time…Then we rush to The Point as Lesbutt has seen a bannerfish!!!
Crimson banded wrasse quite close to the shore.
And a JonnyBonddoublelappericus fish…
And some duskies!!!
My hubby and 007 coming in from a Double! Aly thinks they look like they are rehearsing for the latest Bond movie!
We share birthday cake between the benches and Bluewater too!
And some news in from Jules and Michael at last via Cass!
On Wednesday 17th April, I had the absolute pleasure of reuniting with the B&B founder Jules and Michael in their new home town – B&B West side! Having to wait for the sun to make an appearance (and not over the sea), we set off in pristine conditions (photo 1). The swim takes us about 900m from Port Beach to Leighton, and we stay very close to the shore. Not much marine life but I did happen to acquaint myself with a stinger. All smiles (photo 2) and cheeks (photo 3) at the end of the swim. Après swim is ‘tea and toast’, hoping this tradition catches on in Manly (photo 4).
I asked Jules if she had any messages for me to pass on to fellow bnbers. She said “Miss you all”. I thought to myself, “ahh, that’s nice” before she quickly followed with “meet at the f*cking point!”
New location, same Jules!Newbies 4 Early lappers ? Quite a few3 swimmers continued on for a doubleHappy birthday to Greg and Toni today !Water Temperature 22.8Air Temperature 18.0Sunrise 6.19amSunset 5.28pmHigh Tide: 8.50amLow Tide: 2.45pmTo read Michael’s tips on how to stay safe in the surf please click hereWhat another simply magical swim! We are sooo lucky!Signing off Lainey Loo aka E-laine (and our birthday boy is in the background!)
18/04/13 – Wow, Wow, Wow! Swimming in an Aquarium!
18/04/201317
17 comments
Little Tiger
18/04/2013 at 11:38 am
Great swimming conditions, amazing photos, well done Elaine.
Happy Happy Birthday Greg & tToni, have fun today.
Last Sunday we gave James G a recipe folder for his ‘special’ b’day. If anyone would like to contribute a ‘favourite recipe’, please pass one on to James, Nicolee, Annette or me.
Pacific Jules
18/04/2013 at 11:56 am
More beautiful photos, looks like u’ve got the best conditions of the year happening right now, makes me even more home sick. Whale season starts soon too… so don’t miss a swim !! xx
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG & TONI !!
Ros(-e)
18/04/2013 at 1:19 pm
Elaine: I love that opening shot of Sparkles and the Lion! The blog is a wonderful reminder that we’re swimming in a marine paradise!
John
18/04/2013 at 1:41 pm
Great photos Lainey L,especially the fish pics. The mother and son is Nicola and Justin.
Enjoyed the scenic fish tour with Ted on the double return, the conditions were excellent.
Good to see some pics of Jules and Michael.
Have a great day Greg and Toni.
Nick D
18/04/2013 at 2:09 pm
Great fish this morning and great blog 🙂 I hope they’re there tomorrow again!
Stephen Coulter
18/04/2013 at 2:23 pm
beware the lion fish! http://www.npr.org/2013/04/17/177359109/lionfish-attack-the-gulf-of-mexico-like-a-living-oil-spill
Alyson
18/04/2013 at 2:35 pm
Love the news in from Jules! Made me chuckle. We miss you too!
John S
18/04/2013 at 2:35 pm
Interesting little read that one Stephen.
Quite a few lion fish recipes too but I wonder how far one would stretch at the Bluewater for the B&B.?
Lips
18/04/2013 at 3:50 pm
Fifi – great photo bombing there on second shot!!! Respect.
HK Triad Queen aka LSA
18/04/2013 at 4:00 pm
Wow! INCREDIBLE pics!!
Michelle
18/04/2013 at 4:20 pm
Great blog Elaine as always. what an amazing morning! Great to hear from you jules and Mchae miss you! Happy birthday greg and toni look forward to seeing you tonight xx
fifi
18/04/2013 at 4:21 pm
ha ha, I’ve been watching the master very carefully, as you can see. Long way to go though.
fifi
18/04/2013 at 5:38 pm
awww, look at Jules little face there with her jam toast. Bless it.
Jane
18/04/2013 at 7:11 pm
Lovely fish pics as usual Lainey Loo! The little black and white guy is a Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus), not a Bannerfish (Heniochus sp.). They do have some similarities and are both gorgeous! Moorish Idol has a black caudal fin with white edging, and a very pointy nose. Bannerfish’s caudal fin is yellow.
Jane
18/04/2013 at 7:15 pm
Another triumph for B&B photographers! Mark at the OzMus loved Simon’s fab video of the swimming Eagle Ray and has embedded it on the Museum website. Go to:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Southern-Eagle-Ray-Myliobatis-australis-Macleay-1881
Congrats Simon!
Jane
18/04/2013 at 7:28 pm
And here is the link to Nick’s great Surgeonfish pic on the OzMus website:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Spotted-Sawtail-Prionurus-maculatus
Wow, we have some fantastic photographers in our gang.
Amanda
19/04/2013 at 10:53 am
Nice work on the fish pictures. The lionfish and moorish idol while uncommon in these parts have both been known to occur to southern NSW. They may not make it through the cold waters of winter, unlike you guys!
Stephen they can also work in teams to hunt prey making them very effective predators. Check out this great blog…
http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/a-persistent-foreign-predator-dangerous-but-delicious/
cheers
Amanda (Aust Museum)