Day 68, Level 1: A perfect summer's day, orcas, and a fig tree

Perfect weather today. 

I went for a quick walk on the beach and to get a coffee. Decided I'd carry on and walk a little bit longer before getting coffee. Good call ... I was ambling along in solitude when suddenly a girl walking towards me shouted "OMG" and ran into the water, her two dogs romping alongside her. "It's an orca!" she exclaimed. She wanted to strip off and go out swimming with them - but wondered if that was a stupid idea. I couldn't give her an answer, I've never seen Orcas in the bay before - although I know they have been.

And there it was - a huge orca breaching straight in front of us, and up really close. There was a baby too. They cruised along the bay, powering out of the water every so often, with people running from all over to get a look. Soon enough they were at the far end of the bay, faster than our legs could get us there, so the vision was gone. Still, that moment in time was special. 

The splash mid-left is the adult orca, you can see the fin! That's how close they were. 

Orca spotting with the girl and her dogs - that's a boat, no orcas jumping at this moment - very hard to capture the exact moment they lurch out of the water.

The beach was beautiful today - and the water was warm. Not many out and about but a few setting up umbrellas etc. 

 

Patterns in the sand

How does a log like this end up here? It wasn't there last time I was on the beach!

After my Orca escapade (glad I walked longer than I'd intended) I called into the cafe and had a coffee, croissant and read of the newspaper. Was going to do takeaway but decided to eat in. Couldn't help but overhear two old guys big-noting [very loudly] about the [expensive] cars they drove and the [even more expensive] ones they were going to be buying!

Did a few things before packing up and heading back to town to the EGGS Old Girls committee dinner - at a local Thai restaurant. Delicious food and a nice wrap of a strange year. We held only two events - the AGM via Zoom in June, and the Grad Dinner last week (760 people). That was quite enough, the year felt busy with just those and other bits and bobs. Good to have some breathing space without all the other events and fundraisers we had planned! Next year is going to be ultra busy ...

And home to this night view from the verandah ... with the Sky Tower in the distance. 

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Fig trees, part 2 ...

I sorted out stage two of the fig tree nurturing programme - putting some mulch around the base and giving them a good water. They're looking robust enough and hopefully the water gets retained for longer and keeps them hydrated. 

Two weeks ago this was looking poorly, now revived! Let's hope it thrives!