Fuck I am one lucky guy !!!!
The penthouse I live in is right on the beach (as many of you know) -
http://www.palmspringsresidence.com.au, an unbelievable place to live at the worst of times....
Let alone the best...
So late this afternoon, my roommate CJ and I were sitting on the balcony watching a bunch of fisherman chasing the tailor (type of fish - nice and sweet fish - good grilled with lemon and thyme.. another story) that run right off the beach in front of the penthouse..
And then I saw them.
It's been months since we had seen the pod of dolphins that used to feed every afternoon off the rock groyne right in front of our place.. and they CAME BACK.
Now the couple of times I have bolted down the beach to try and swim with them before, they were gone before I got there.
NOT TODAY !!!!
I flew down the beach with my snorkelling gear and dove straight in.
CJ was only strides behind me with the camera and tripod...
As I first went under one of the suckers came up from behind right beside me, if I had thought I could have stroked it, but it scared the shit out of me !!!
I then hit the school of tailor...
Holy fuck !!!
A WALL of plate size fish, briomming in a big shoal, obviously having been herded into that by the dolphins.
I was literally swimming thru fish, pushing them out of the way and feeling swim into me and brush part my body.
Un-fucking-believable ... I couldn't see anything but fish.
Then I swam clear of them and dove down.
The bottom dropped off there and I was probably in about 15 feet (4 metres) of water.
And the dolphins came to play...
2 or 3 swam by my side, crossed in front and swam alongside me as I swam with them.
SIMPLY AWESOME
I suppose this went on for about 10 minutes and then we were in the fish again, but not so thick.
And THEN I saw THEM.
2 or 3 reef sharks (there is a deep reef off the beach in front of our place, about a mile offshore, where dozens of boats fish on weekend mornings.. again, another story).. probably only about 3 feet long on their best day, milling around looking for dinner.
As it was coming on for dusk (reknowned shark feeding time), my concern for where the baby sharks mother, father, uncles and aunties maybe overcame my further fascination for continued swimming with the my new dolphin friends and I retreated to the shore.....
CJ got a couple of sweet pics when I was on the surface and coming back...
A HEAD ON COLLISON IS IMMINENT !!
HERE BOY. COME ON BOY, OVER HERE !!
A REAL CLOSE ENCOUNTER !!
The real downside of travelling the world to spend time with many of you great people is not being at home to suck this type of shit up all the time.
Wnat an amazing place we have in Australia, where 50 metres (160 feet) off the beach in front of a city of 500k people, you can swim with wild dolphins...
I have swam with tamer ones in the wild and in controlled environments before, but these suckers were truly sussing me out, and the adrenalin rush was just fucking sensational.
Life is good.
