Saturday had all the colour and mystique of an opal. Only it was more intense than the qualities found in that gem. And infinitely more hypnotic. The more you gazed at its parts, the more you felt a captive of its secret charms. We discovered this very quickly when we dematerialised from the world above and re-appeared in a blue space under a tranquil sea.
Dive #1 Magic Point:
We started our dive by being surrounded by Mado, Mado which danced over kelp before swaying and skipping all around us. It was a welcome start to this dive. Descending towards the main cave, we found Bulls Eyes within a tear drop crevice - huddled together as they so often are in deep communion, or more probably conversation with each other. We reached the main cave to see colourful Stripeys, in a small school, lighting up the entrance simply by virtue of their bright colours. A sweep of torchlight, once inside, revealed a reclusive Eastern Blue Devilfish within. With so many colourful fish in the sea, one might be misguided to crown one or another as being the most beautiful. It would be fair to say, however, that this is truly one of the most deserving fish for that title. Its blue is like that of velvet, and the white and yellow additions are perfectly arranged. Eventually we moved on knowing full well that there would be other creatures, equally captivating, that might challenge this fish for that epithet. This fish is only found in Australia and only in a small stretch of coastal waters between southern Queensland and southern NSW. The Australian Museum describes this fish as "secretive" - which is why it is always a treat to see one.
Continuing our exploration of this site, we came across three Wobbegong sharks: an Ornate Wobbegong comfortably ensconced within a horizontal chimney; a Spotted Wobbegong uncomfortably positioned on a rock ledge above - uncomfortable because it was at a forty-five degree angle against the reef rock face - as though that was the closest spot it could find to the VIP spot the Ornate Wobbegong had secured; and a third Wobbegong lying horizontally on a rock ledge above the Ornate one. In fact, their was a fourth Wobbegong here as well, which we later discovered within a long rock crevice almost below the horizontal chimney. The one thing which was clear was that every shark wanted the VIP spot, and the second thing we knew was that the Ornate Wobbegong was too comfortable there to give it up. We left the real estate aspirations of Wobbegongs behind, and continued on our way.
As we reached the second cave, we were struck by two marvellous scenes: Longfin Pike spiralling out of the cave and to our right, a dozen juvenile Old Wives. We focused our attention on the very small Old Wives. It is relatively rare to see a scene like this where these juveniles, less than a quarter of the size of adults, had sought safety and comfort by sticking together in this way.
We skirted along this reef terrace and found a juvenile Grey Nurse shark straight ahead of us. It did a slow pirouette, showing off its sleek form, before swimming diagonally up an underwater cliff, before disappearing somewhere in the kelp bed above us.
Taking an easterly bearing and about to begin a descent into deeper water, we now rediscovered the Longfin Pike we saw earlier, but this time spiralling more tightly right next to a relatively large school of, this time adult, Old Wives. And in the midst of these two schools, two juvenile Fusiliers, added colour and mystery into this striking scene: colour because of their unique fluorescent blue and yellow colours, and mystery in how these two very young tropical fish had ended up in temperate waters. Having said that, Magic Point is often tropical-like. I'd say, better than tropical which is maybe why these Fusiliers were here!
After some more ducking and diving, noting the plethora of species at this site (a Turtle, Magpie Morwong, Blue Groper, Goat fish, Maori Wrasses, Comb Wrasses, Hinge-Beak Shrimps, etc etc) it was time to start our journey back to the boat.
On reaching the boat, and starting our safety stop, I was dumbstruck by the scene of a densely packed school of One Spot Pullers. Somehow they maintained a tight cluster even when we briefly became a part of their school. It truly was a magical way to end this dive. I know that Tilly would have appreciated that scene as we all did.
A dive like the one we had just completed is a hard act to follow. If one could orchestrate such things, one would finish the second dive with all the scenes we had just experienced. But nature does not work like that, and it seems to often like to throw a curve ball at us. In truth, this is one of the chief pleasures of diving here - you really do not know what you will see and experience diving in Sydney. The unexpected possibilities are infinite. Which is why every dive begins with anticipation - as well as excitement.
Dive #2: North Bondi:
Commencing our next dive at North Bondi, we took a south-easterly bearing. We first found a Fiddler Ray and stopped to admire it and its amazing eyes. Thinking that was a good way to start this dive, we stumbled across another, and then one more, and then I stopped counting others we came across. As Magic Point hosted a Wobbegong 'get together', North Bondi was the place for Fiddler Rays to assemble - for some unknown reason. Well, perhaps, not unknown - underwater, various creatures, Angel sharks, Port Jackson sharks, Giant Cuttlefish, etc are often seen to congregate during their mating seasons. So maybe this day was marked on their calendar.
Leaving this speculation behind, we continued our exploration. I saw a large boulder, say 7-8 metres high, standing on its own. Seeing it, I cast my mind back to seeing this same boulder nearly 10 years ago, and remembering a large school of Old Wives that wrapped itself to one side. As I thought this, and we got closer, I was surprised to see another large school of Old Wives at that same spot in that same position. Only this time, the school was much much larger, and it was wrapped around most of the sides of the large boulder. Just as we might like our favourite sofa, or the Ornate Wobbegong valued its horizontal chimney, Old Wives seemed to have a real thing about this boulder! It was a veritable sight to behold. The almost map of Australia shape of these fish, as they hovered in a slightly rocking motion, vertically out of sync with each other, added to the mesmerising scene they produced. We could easily have watched this scene for the rest of the dive.
Reluctantly moving on, because there was more to investigate, we were soon pleasantly subsumed within a school of Pomfrets. They seemed spread out all over the place. In the ebb and flow of a gentle surge, both them and us would move together in an aquatic harmony. With them, we were bathed in gold, from the light reflected off their golden bodies. In this way, we had become a hybrid Pomfret ourselves. In this literally moving scene, we were immersed in an incomparable tranquility. The seemingly endless chaos of mankind on land now seemed obscene in the peaceful serenity of this world underwater. The contrast was profound. A philosopher, Protagoras, once said that "man is the measure of all things" - I would suggest that the true measure of all things is to be found by venturing into the sea - in particular, under its protective waves.
Our dive computers awoke us from an exquisite reverie and reminded us to start heading back. Reaching the boat and commencing our safety stop here, Yellowtail farewelled us in spectacular fashion. Swimming one way and then suddenly changing direction and swimming another way, again and again, created periodic streaks of blinding silver, before they swirled around us, repeating these extraordinary scenes in unique fashion each time. It made it difficult to leave that scene and the ocean and climb back onto the boat. But now, those experiences we had just had, continued to swirl around in our memory, as if those fish were trying to tell us something in their own way or at the very least were seeking to ensure that we never forget the special interaction we just had with them on this particular day in April. In reality, it would be difficult to forget any of the scenes we had experienced underwater today.
Heading back up the coast, our skipper, Marc, rolled out a magic carpet and made the most of the particularly calm seas, allowing us to see the cliff-lined coast up close. It is not everyday that one has the opportunity to see those magnificent cliffs rising out of a turquoise sea below. It was a magnificent way to cap off all of our diving. I thought days do not get better than this one today.
