13Mar 2021 by Warren Prior No Comments
Half of my Advanced Open Water

Half of my Advanced Open Water

Diving
Despite being new to diving, I was itching to get back into the water to do my Advanced Open Water certification. Why? Well, predominantly to open up a wide variety of exciting new dive sites, especially for our Great Keppel Island holiday in July (fingers crossed it doesn't get cancelled due to Covid). I spent the week preceding the course reading over the course material, and taking the required exam. This escalated the day before the course, when I made a last minute decision to tack on a nitrox certification, which required some additional reading and another exam. I was surprised by just how little additional information there was in the Advanced Open Water training. The course consisted of 2 required modules, Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation, as well as…
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06Feb 2021 by Warren Prior No Comments
Diving Fairlight

Diving Fairlight

Diving
After missing out on the dives in Port Stephens, Sharon was itching to get back under the water. So when we got back to Sydney, we jumped straight onto the Frog Dive website and signed up for one of their free shore dives. They were fully booked for all of January (thanks mainly to the reduced numbers due to Covid), and so we put our names down for the first free dive, which was at Fairlight in February. Fairlight is located in the Northern Harbour, and is a good site for beginners, with a maximum depth of around 8 meters. In 1949, the Dutch submarine K XII beached here, where it remained until January, 1951, when it was finally refloated and towed up the Parramatta River. On Friday evening we…
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17Jan 2021 by Warren Prior No Comments
Aussie Salmon on the New Rod

Aussie Salmon on the New Rod

Kayak Fishing, Lure Fishing, Salt Water
For Christmas I was gifted an Okuma Azores jigging spin rod (Z-S-602M) and a Daiwa Saltist 4500 spinning reel, and was itching to put it to the test. This despite the fact that it was intended for a deep sea fishing trip (that was cancelled due to Covid) and was definitely overkill for my fishing in the Sydney Harbour. None the less, I loaded up my kayak and headed out with the new rig, hoping to get into a decent kingfish, that would really put it to the test. I launched my kayak at Tunks Park boat ramp, and started trolling my way towards Clontarf. Normally I would focus on fly fishing the likely holds, and troll a single rod as I moved between spots. However, since I was out…
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30Dec 2020 by Warren Prior No Comments
Diving with Sharks at Broughton Island

Diving with Sharks at Broughton Island

Diving
What’s the best things to do after getting PADI Open Water Diver certified? Jumping into the ocean with a bunch of sharks of course! Having had our Christmas trip to Brisbane foiled by Covid enforced border closures, we managed to find a single campsite in Port Stephens and quickly made a booking. Our mates then surprised us by making the long drive down from Brisbane, showing the ultimate level of dedication to spend New Years together. Amidst the rest of the fun, Nick and I decided to do a shark dive with Let's Go Adventures. We'd both grown up looking at ragged-tooth sharks at the aquariums in South Africa, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever be swimming with them...voluntarily. None the less, before I knew…
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24Dec 2020 by Warren Prior No Comments
Tailor on Fly in Middle Harbour (and a Few Squid)

Tailor on Fly in Middle Harbour (and a Few Squid)

Fly Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Lure Fishing, Salt Water
Sunrise at the Tunks Park boat ramp 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. But whilst all this was true, there were fish to be caught, so I loaded up my kayak, and headed to the port... I launched from my usual, Tunks Park boat ramp, to a glowing orange sky and started paddling towards towards Clontarf. To kick things off I stopped off at my squidding spot, where I quickly landed a few southern calamari for dinner. The nice thing about the squid is that they're either there or they're not...and today they were there. With dinner sorted, I packed away the squid rod and got down to some fly fishing. I fished around the Clontarf area,…
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22Dec 2020 by Warren Prior No Comments
Getting My Open Water Diver Certification

Getting My Open Water Diver Certification

Diving
My life has always include the ocean. Growing up, our family holidays were spent surfing, snorkelling, and fishing at Cape St. Francis (South Africa). And when we weren't holidaying there, we were often rock fishing in the Transkei. I have many a fond memory of free-diving for abalone with my father in the cool Atlantic waters of Cape Town, before we moved to Durban. I then got into fly fishing, and spent many a year targeting trevally (and multiple other game species) in the salty water of Cape Vidal. And then, after arriving in Australia, one of my first purchases was a Hobie kayak to get me out onto Sydney Harbour. I just can't seem to escape it. So when an excuse (finally) landed on my doorstep (in the form…
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08Nov 2020 by Warren Prior No Comments
Aussie Bass on Poppers

Aussie Bass on Poppers

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Kayak Fishing
Adulting seems to have taken ahold of my weekends, with the majority of my time being spent either house hunting or attending kid’s sporting events. And while these are both massively exciting activities, I’m always itching to climb onto my kayak to catch a few fish on fly. On Sunday, eager to try something new, I headed for Lane Cove River to target Australian bass. Although I've caught many an Aussie bass before, they’ve all been impoundment fish, and the prospect of targeting wild fish amongst the snags excited me. I arrived at the park just after the gates opened at 9am, and headed straight for the kayak launch site. After putting the yak in the water, I headed downstream, focusing on the structure up against the bank, likely to…
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10Oct 2020 by Warren Prior No Comments
A Few Tailor in Middle Harbour

A Few Tailor in Middle Harbour

Fly Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Lure Fishing, Salt Water
On Saturday morning I decided to try my luck for some early season kings on fly. While they are generally much harder to find this early in the season, it's well worth the effort as the fish are usually larger. I decided to launch from the Tunks Park boat ramp, predominantly because it's close to home, and is a decent venue as it offers access to most of Middle Harbour. There was a beautiful orange glow on the water as I paddled out at 6:30am, brimming with anticipation. Sunrise at Tunks Park Boat Ramp As is the case with many of my trips, I forgot one key item. This time it was my polarised sunglasses which, as all fisherman know, are invaluable both in terms of spotting fish, as well…
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