Waves That Will Knock Your Socks Off

Despite having such a long and early day yesterday, Mom and Dad decided to wake up early again to go on a birding walk.  I said thanks, but no thanks to the offer and chose to sleep in for another couple hours.  They came back for me around 8:00 by which time I was up and ready and we headed off to Luke’s for breakfast. It was a nice relaxed breakfast of pancakes with honey, jam, and fruit before we packed up the car and the baby and headed out on the day’s adventures.

Since we never actually made it to Barra Gona beach the other day, we decided to give it another shot today and again traversed the windy gravel road to the river crossing which we again forded with no problems. This time we took the 4^th turn on the left instead of the 3^rd.

The beach was just as was described, about ¼ of the size of the bigger beaches like Buena Vista with sand that was pearly white. 

Starting out the beach day on a positive note, what should I see first thing upon getting out of the car but a sign saying to watch out for the dangerous waves and currents because someone had been killed in the currents several years before. Great, and I was planning on going into the water…

Luke was hardly phased as per usual and proceeded to sunscreen Arden, hand her off to Mom, and head off to the water with snorkel and spearing gear in hand.  Dad and I shortly followed suit, as was the decided plan, and after putting on our gear, waded into the water. I started getting nervous a little ways in with the ferocity of the fair sized waves and shortly after a fairly large wave came up with such force that it smacked all three of us to the ocean floor.  My mask was almost ripped off in the ensuing current and unfortunately Dad’s was.

Not so fun waves and currents close to shore...

We all exited the water at that point in favor of searching for Dads trusty mask (the one he has had for over 30 years).  Unfortunately our efforts proved fruitless, but refusing to let that dampen our day Dad went and acquired Mom’s mask and we made for the ocean once more.  Once we got past the wake break the current wasn’t all that bad to be honest.  We just had to wait for that one big wave to pass and then jump in and haul flipper out towards the open ocean. I think I was a lot more nervous than the boys were; they have both had a ton of experience swimming out in open water while I have had not so much. Just getting me prepped for Australia! 

Despite the raging waves, the water was super clear and the only murk to speak of was the sand that would get kicked up from the ocean floor from time to time.  I saw a number of fish, even a few skates that Luke almost stabbed with the spear, but overall the trek was unfruitful for spearing (mainly because Luke’s mask kept fogging up).

Mom and Dad heading out for their swim (Dad is either under or behind that wave)

Thinking we would give Mom a shot at snorkeling, we all headed back to shore to hand off some of the gear.  While Mom and Dad were out for their swim, Luke and I took Arden up and into the rocks where we looked at tide pools and searched for shells.  Arden had lots of fun sticking her hands in the small pools and grabbing at any snail she could find.

Arden having way too much fun in the tide pools among the rocks

Mom and Dad came out a while later, Dad taking a little longer while he took another swim through the area where he lost his mask in an effort to possibly find it. With Mom back, Luke handed off Arden again and made for the ocean once more with Dad, this time taking to the opposite end of the beach.

They were in the water for quite some time and we were beginning to wonder what had become of them when we finally saw them emerge onto shore a ways down the beach. The trip proved quite a bit more successful for fishing and Luke had succeeded in spearing four. He was quite happy with his success and knowing Anna had requested an early dinner, we decided to call it a day. 

Success!