Day 338: Good Friday 2 April

What a great Friday it has turned into here on my final full day in Hat Head. It’s also EXACTLY 4 weeks until the End of the Year of Denim.

This morning I got up, walked the dog and checked the surf. The sun is shining, but a small southerly wind is blowing keeping things cool. I ate breakfast, read for a bit. Then I hit the surf. And had a fantastic surf in perfect conditions for me. Lots of waves, a bit big but not too big, the water must be 23 degrees here, like a bath.

I had been surfing for at least an hour when there was a huge splash and a dolphin leapt into the air about 50m from where I was. A dolphin! After Wednesday’s rainbow it’s all a bit much!

After the life affirming dolphin/ surfing experience PN and I wandered down to the creek for a snorkel. Amazing clarity today, heaps of marine life, but none of the big ticket flashy types like turtles or rock cod. But it was lovely and I loved it and I can’t believe tomorrow morning I have to head back to Sydney.

Poised artfully and denimfully on Ammaboolah's balcony

Top/ Bottom combo: Denim playsuit last worn in Noosa in June last year, and doesn’t it show off my tan line to excellent effect?

Accessory 1: Glittery denim hat with the brim folded trilby style

Accessory 2: Denim birkies. Comfy

Day 335: Tuesday 30 March

Another action packed day up here on the mid north coast of NSW.

Firstly I was woken up early by the birds, but really the bats through the night were nearly as noisy. But I’m glad I was woken up early because I got to see this…

Too much beauty makes me weep

Unfortunately I was spotted taking this photo in my undies by a middle aged couple doing their morning bike lap of the village. They said a cheery hello as they flew by.

I went back to bed for another 2 hours. After a slow start to the day we headed over to Hungry Beach to escape the howling nor’ easter blowing straight onto Hat Head beach.

And once again noted fashion photographer Pete Nel got me modelling…

Strangely sited street sign pointing nowhere

Spread eagled on a sand dune, that's the way u-huh u-huh I like it, I like it

Top: Chambre vest

Bottom: Rusty chambre shorts

Accessory 1: Ghastly pale denim cap

Accessory 2: Lovely Dragstar denim bag tops off pale denim ensemble

That beach stretches all the way down to Crescent Head. It’s long, but we hunkered down up the north corner out of the wind. I had a body surf, saw some Brahmini kites, beautiful, then headed back.

Walking up the road to the car I spotted this poor little thing…

Snake squashed by flying four wheel drive

Poor thing. Never had a chance against some gigantic sports utility vehicle full of fisherman. After this I saw death everywhere, including another tiny little skink smashed by a car.

But saddest were these two fatalities over night. They had been lured to town by the scent of melaluccas in bloom all over the place, not realising Hat Head is the big smoke…

Fruit bat meets it's fate in Hat Head

Fruit bat number 2 looking very dead as the ants have a taste

So who knows what tomorrow will hold for the Year of Denim? It’s supposed to rain and the wind is supposed to come up from the south which means one good thing… SURF!!!!

Day 334: Monday 29 March 2010

I’m on it today and blogging before lunch. And that’s because the dawn chorus here is SO loud, SO many birds, SO many different birds that to remain asleep beyond 7am is almost impossible.

Those rainbow lorikeets sure sound like they are having fun

All the paperbarks are in bloom and that has brought squillions of very squawky rainbow lorikeets to town. Alongside the regular parrots, magpies, currawongs, eagles, wattle birds, terns, gulls, wrens, plus others I don’t have any idea what they are, makes for a noisy awakening.

Pretty lorikeet gets grooming cos it's sexy time in the trees

This morning I put my early rise to good use and went for a high tide snorkel in the creek. And I was rewarded for my efforts.

As I was rubber necking at a brown and yellowy striped rock cod, a very large turtle swam by. Huge, nearly 1 metre long with an incredible brown-purple patchwork pattern on it’s head and neck and a pretty black and blue sucker fish attached to it’s shell.

The hundreds of fish following me were also pretty interesting, as was the giant school of hand length mullet. But once again there were not as many tropical fish as in other years. Lots of weed seems to have vanished from the creek edge, does that have an impact on the smaller fish? And a strange red brown algae seems to be covering rocks as well.

One of the feature of my accommodation in Hat Head is the unique seating in the back yard…

A formal seating arrangement cut from a tree trunck

Top: Mum made denim vest

Bottom: JeansWest distressed denim skirt

Accessory: Denim birkies