2020 - the year Covid 19 impacted the world. To start with it made no difference to the frequency of my occasional trips to Sydney. But by late 2020 I had become increasingly restless and had begun to visit Sydney more often. Anglerfish, Eastern Frogfish, Giant Cuttlefish, Longsnout Boarfish, Weedy Sea Dragons… Sydney did not disappoint.
I did a few solo shore dives at Clifton Gardens and Fairy Bower. And some guided shore dives at Frenchmans Bay, The Leap and Bare Island with Abyss’ Marcus Rimmeld, Samantha Patterson-Ross and Stephen Guy as well as Frog Dives’ Jon Havier at Clifton Gardens. Frenchman’s Bay, near Bare Island was a new site for me. Stephen and I dived it only because Bare Island was not “diveable” that day. How pleased I was that we did as a Longsnout Boarfish came straight to me. I also was lucky enough to enjoy four boat dives from a brand new dive boat, The Abyss Project with Abyss’ Stephen Guy - we dived the Whale Watching Platform, Henry Head and two sites new to me, Pussy Cat Wide and Dragons Lair.
Towards the end of the year Mary and I bought a small flat near Sydney Harbour Bridge – Sydney dive trips were now bound to become much more frequent!