Above: Sun rising like a big orange pumpkin at 5.55am. Early start to the day, still a few hairy swimmers clawing and howling at the moon when I arrived from Bates Motel. What lies beneath? But it is the cast of characters on the shore that you need to worry more about on a day...

  Wake up, it’s a brand new morning. Time to greet the sun as Manly starts to awaken to a sense of normality. The restaurants and coffee shops are opening, the carnivals are beginning, the nippers are out. I even heard a tapdancing class on my way home after my swim. It is wonderful knowing...

I’m not sure what caused the fallout. They have not spoken to each other for weeks, make that months. Actually over 100 days. The one just won’t tell the other where it has been. The silence is deafening. I’m not sure what caused it but I’m hoping that when Freedom Day arrives on Monday they...

Just when you get into the routine someone decides to change the opening hours of the great marine show. That’s right – this is the last day of regular sunlight before someone takes those early light hours and adds them to the end of the day or something like that. Well this is  the last...

Above: Here comes another one – but each swim is different and the mornings have more light and it arrives a lot earlier. A 6.30amish Bolderdash (which I have not done for a while) with Carel, Inge, Jason and Keith.  Above: Here comes another wave and Jason has that steely look of determination at the...

The flowing locks and the creative hairstyles of the lockdown tribe. Here at B&B Blog central we thought we’d capture these wild and woolly days before freedom brings back a visit to the hairdresser or barber. Well that was the plan …. until the conditions turned a bit hairy and I didn’t get to meet...

Are you a glass half full person or a glass half empty person? Like many, I am just really happy that I have a glass to drink from! The seawater tastes great.     Above: Two blueys – one spotted near Shelly, the other in the parking lot. Both boosted my optimism for the day....

Everyone loves a leftie, don’t they? Especially on the Northern Beaches. In case it passed you bye in this pandemic haze, Friday was was International Left Handers Day.  A celebration of all that’s left. I think the celebrations should continue for a week – International Left Handers week would be sensational. So along with me...

5amish mobile phone tells me to get up. The rain was driving. The wind relentless. The windows rattled in the house and in the car. The surf was huge. Actually the waves weren’t – they were huge at every other northern beaches – Queenscliff, Freshie, Curlie and all up the coast  but we had our...

It was always going to be difficult for Sunday to outperform Saturday. Saturday was a day of jimble dodging, the relief of dark fins turning into dolphins (see below) and more hooters than shark sirens. But if you lined up all your ducks in row  then Sunday was a beaut –  nine degrees at 7am...