Rock pools, South Rosedale - and a bit about Rosedale.

I love to pick my way across the rocky headland which separates the south of the main Rosedale Beach from the cove known as Nun's Beach, or Stinky's. There is a small sand and pebble beach and several rock pools, one of which I usually have a dip in (above). I call it "my Rosedale swimming pool".

In the top picture, we're looking east towards the rocky island known as "Jimmy's". It looks from afar as if you could walk out at low tide, but it is separated from the mainland by a series of deep channels.

In this are the rocks are titled almost vertical from some ancient geological activity, and it is impossible to scale the sides. So, the only way to get to Jimmy's without being cut to shreds is by boat.

In the photo below we are looking south towards Burrewarra Point with its small modern navigational lighthouse. Just visible is a rocky outcrop in Guerilla Bay. I don't know what its formal name is, but we've always called it "Kirrin Island" after the island where Enid Blyton's Famous Five encountered nefarious goings-on, necessitating lashings of ginger beer to ensure recovery!

Another day, another beach

Shoalhaven Heads

Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay

Hyams Beach is about two and a half hours south of Sydney, on beautiful Jervis Bay. It is surrounded by national park, and the bay is a marine park. The beach, reputedly has some of the whitest sand in the world.

Rocks, Broulee

Rosedale - Saltwater Creek

The never-ending search

The never-ending search for the south coast's best coffee continues. The ladies at the Broulee Surf Club cafe, Zippo's come pretty close...

Rosedale morning

This morning. More clouds, but the waves were lovely.

Before the deluge - Rosedale

A rainy Easter here on the South Coast. Nevertheless, the surfers are finding conditions to their liking. About 10 minutes after I took these shots this morning, the skies opened and it's been dripping ever since, with various degrees of intensity, and occasional flashes of sun.

This is looking eastwards towards the beach, over the lagoon of Saltwater Creek.

Summer holidays 07

Guerilla Bay

Summer holidays 06

The aptly named Tranquil Bay, where spotted gums meet the beach.

Summer holidays 05

Tomakin River at Mossy Point

Summer holidays 04

Boogie boarding, Rosedale

Summer holidays 03

A rope swing along the Moruya River

Summer holidays 02

Moruya River

Summer Holidays 01

Fun on the Moruya River. Thanks Matt and Simon!

Blue pool, Bermagui

Here's me doing what I love doing most - swimming. Here it's a sea pool at Bermagui on the south coast of NSW. Lots more pics of this pool here.

Sydney Sandstone Tour: The coda and a geology lesson

Dark Beach, Murramarang National Park.

This beach, about 275 kilometres south of Sydney, and near where we go for our summer holidays, is significant for its geology.

It is here that the lip of the sandstone Sydney Basin reaches the surface at its southern most end.

The strata of the Sydney Basin, seen at the northen end of the beach, were laid down in the Permian (300-250 million years ago) and Triassic (250 - 205 million years ago) eras. They formed a saucer shape and lay in shallow water. They were lifted up out of the sea bed midway through the Triassic.The sandstone at this beach is the oldest part of the Sydney Basin, where the base rocks curve up and emerge. This is exposed in the magnificent cliff at the northern edge of the beach. To get to the sandy beach you have to climb over the sharp dark rock formation, which we didn't do.

On the southern end of the beach are rocks of the much older Wagonga formation (Ordovician - 500 to 450 million years ago). This junction is known as an Unconformity, where adjoining rocks are separated in age by 200 million years.

The beach derives its name from the dark pebbles on the southern end of the beach.

For the rest of my Sydney Sandstone Tour photos click here.

For more pictures of this beach and its rocks and vegetation, click here.

Pelicans

On the way back from our holiday, we stopped at Gerringong's Boat Harbour. Hungry pelicans wait expectantly while these fishermen clean their catch at the public boat ramp.

Spiderweb, Nun's Beach

As seen on a walk I did on my short holiday down the South Coast. It was on the rocks of the headland directly under where the road "Cooks Crescent" ends.

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Mossy Point - Tomaga River

Back to Sydney today, so my last South Coast photo for this time.