Adelaide April 2009

Portland –Bridgewater Bay
April 17th
Friday - Day 14

Drizzly rain for part of the night and overcast conditions greeted us. I was resolved to walk to the seal cave and take some photographs of the seals no matter what….

In what was close to pouring rain we set off towards Bridgewater in the hope that a faint blue patch in the sky might lead to something more settling. On arrival things looked okay so I set off around 11.30 a.m. while Glenda went back to Portland to find a frying pan and assorted utensils.

The walk along the coast was medium to hard but worth every step of it. The light wasn’t good but the scenery was terrific. Some light drizzle fell but overall it wasn’t too bad to be out and around.

It took about an hour to get to the platform overlooking the seal cave which was just a bit too far to get a really good shot. The sea was very calm, a huge contrast to a visit here in a rubber duck years ago when Des and I nearly met our end. Here’s what happened;

On that occasion Des and I foolishly decided to borrow the local surf life saving club’s rubber duck to visit the cave to see the seals. It wasn’t a tourist thing back then. Des had raved about it for a number of years but each time we had visited the weather was either too bad to go out or the outboard was being serviced. This time we were determined to go out no matter what, in fact, we had to drive to a mechanic’s place to retrieve the outboard on that day, the mechanic telling us that it, “should be okay” for the trip but to bring it straight back. Curious….
We donned club wetsuits and I had Des’s camera in a plastic bag as he wanted some photos of the seals. It was windy and cold and the waves were significant as we headed west along the coast. Despite my best efforts the conditions were too rough to hold the camera still. Des thought that if we motored inside the cave it just might be calmer. Christ, what a mistake!!

Immediately a huge wave lifted us up, ushered us in and continued to the end of the cave wall where it turned on itself, splashing over us and cutting out the engine. Seals were diving off ledges and swimming all around to add to the chaos. I was feeling a little uneasy being a novice to this sort of aquatic adventure, but when I turned around from my vantage point at the front of the boat I was stunned at what I saw. Here was Des, his face dead white as he pulled frantically on the cord to start the outboard.

“S**t….B******d…..S**T!!!!!” were the comments he made after each unsuccessful attempt to kick start the motor. My face must have drained to the same colour as his as I suddenly started to realise the peril we were in as we drifted towards the end of the cave and an inevitable capsize of the duck. It was at this point that I reached down and tried to grab my life jacket which was lying unused on the floor of the boat.

I could end the retell here and just say that we deservedly drowned and that no one found our bodies because we hadn’t informed anyone, including our wives as to what we were doing. Suffice to say that miraculously the outboard kicked into life, saving ours, and we motored straight back to the bay. Stuff the photos!
Enough said. Today was tame by comparison. I enjoyed taking photos and walked further along the coast to take more shots of the area. Bridgewater is a beautiful bay, almost pristine despite the incursions of man. This time I was quite upset at the sight of the many wind turbines that have been constructed and line the cliffs. I agree that it’s clean energy but in the end it’s probably just delaying the inevitable. It looks unsightly to me.

The walk back to the car park was enjoyable and I met Glenda precisely as we had arranged. We drove back to the van and I immediately began processing today’s photos. Despite the distance from the seals the walk and encounter have been rewarding.

The photos turned out fair but I’d love to have been able to get closer. Some other tourists talked of other sites where you can get close and personal with seals so I’m sure there’ll be better experiences ahead. Nevertheless today was also a visit back to a near disaster and closed a chapter for me although I didn’t realise it until now.
Tonight it’s showdown time and a phone call at 7.30 p.m. to determine if the long postponed pelagic trip from Port Fairy is on. The Bureau of Meteorology suggests pretty good conditions so it’s tender hooks at the moment.

I chanced across three black faced cormorants at the boat ramp late afternoon.

black faced cormorant, 85 birds