Whenever we see crested terns at the beaches along the Bellarine they are always gathered together in a large flock, sometimes with additional sea birds.

Crested terns perched on rocks at Pt George

Crested terns gather on fishing boat at St Leonards

Portarlington 4th annual mussel festival was a hit with locals, campers and day visitors. The seaside town turned on a ripper summer’s day for the event. Hundreds of kilos of mussel were consumed in recipes from simple to spicy and exotic.

The Enterprise was busy taking passengers on one hour sails and sunset cruises. She looked very stately under sail on Port Phillip Bay.

Enterprise under sail with You Yangs in background

The main beach was crowded with families enjoying the hot summer day. The pier was packed with mussel boats and luxury cruisers here for the festival. Children had fun jumping from the pier into the cool water below.

View of Portarlington Pier from bluff	Crowded Portarlington beach
Portarlington Pier	Portarlington Mussel Festival logo

Today’s strong north-easterly winds have created beach conditions more typical of the surf than the bay.  These winds churn up the sand making the sea into a gritty, brown slurry.  Old salts claim wisely that you won’t catch fish when the wind’s in the NE. Although with 30+ temperatures the water was still the coolest place to be.  Children camping at Indented Head had fun with their boogie boards or surfboards.  Meanwhile the fleet of tinnies stayed at anchor as for the dads – there’d be no fishing today.

Tinnies at Indented Head

The other unhappy group was of the feathered variety. For no fishing meant no leftovers – the expanding flock of pelicans and seagulls would also miss out on their usual feast today.

Pelicans & gulls waiting for their next feed

The sea is a tough teacher.  A few young men, new to boating, learned the hard way not to leave their boat on anchor overnight when the wind is in the North East.  They returned this morning to find it swamped and the motor shaft broken.

Waves swamp boat at Indented Head

The recent rains have been welcomed by farmers and contributed to good harvests on the Bellarine Peninsula.  The countryside is dotted with the large hay rolls awaiting collection and wheat fields are ready for the harvester.

Hay rolls on Bellarine

Wheat field ready for harvesting

Mr P's flourishing veggie garden

Even in the backyards of many locals, the veggies are doing well.

At low tide it is possible to discover all sorts of amazing creatures hiding amongst the rocks and seaweed or just lolling about in the shallows.

• yummy squid – start their lives inside these squid eggs
• yucky jellyfish or sea jellies – are increasingly common in our bay and are widely despised
• dangerous blue ringed octopus – hiding out during the day, this creature should not be handled if discovered. Its bite can be fatal and first aid using a compression bandage should be applied ASAP and medical aid sought immediately.

Squid eggs

Jellyfish

Rockpool rambling is a fun summer pastime and with sturdy footwear and a little common sense – loads of fun for all the family.

Camouflage is critical to survival in the wild.  Whilst walking in the shallows at Indented Head recently we saw two excellent examples.  The first is an Eleven-armed sea star, which blends so well with the rocks.  This sea star is common to our waters and plays its part in our ecosystem unlike the introduced Northern Pacific sea star.  Their habit of sucking bait from hooks makes them unpopular with fishermen, who too often leave them on piers, despite signs asking that the goodies – the indigenous eleven-armed sea stars – be returned to the water.

Can you find all my arms?

The second example is a young flounder, which hides in the sand with just its eyes visible.  When disturbed, as in this video, it takes off with enormous pace – its other successful defence mechanism.

Another Oil Rig passed by Indented Head today.  It is being towed out of Port Philip Bay on its way to Bass Strait.  When it stopped overnight in the West Channel it was lit up like an enormous, floating Christmas tree.

Oil rig off Indented Head on way to Bass Strait

As the evening sun was setting, we tested the shyness of this pelican by gradually approaching his rocky Pt George post at Indented Head.  As this series of photos shows – he was quite relaxed.

Pelican returns to Indented Head for summer

Peican is cool about our approach

As a child, holidaying on the Bellarine peninsula, these graceful birds were a rare sight.  However in recent years, it is quite common to see them gliding overhead or paddling in the shallows.  Despite their growing numbers, they are still a majestic and pleasant sight.  I can’t help remembering the popular limerick -

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His beak can hold more than his belican.

He can take in his beak,

Enough food for a week –

I’m blowed if I know how the helican.

Pelican still calm

This pelican was the first to return to our shores for the approaching summer.  Perhaps it’s not surprising that he’s not that shy – he’s well used to getting close to humans.  Over the summer he will position himself on the shore and in the shallows as he seeks to maximise his bounty – the heads and entrails from the fishermen’s catches.

We thought the aliens had arrived one wintry night when we saw a strange large object sparkling like a Christmas tree off Indented Head in the West Channel. It stayed for several days and was well attended by port tug boats before eventually being towed into Geelong. This multi-storey structure was actually an oil rig, the 13,000 tonne Kan Tan IV and over 100m tall. It had made an amazing 45 day journey from Trinidad and Tobago (on the deck of a transport ship).

Kan Tan spent several months in Geelong at Lascelles Wharf being refitted. Then in September it returned to the spot where we had first seen it off Pt George. After a week of testing, it was ready to go again.  It was towed through The Rip to start its new life as a rig in Bass Strait where it is now being commissioned.

Oil rig passes Portarlington pier on way to Geelong	Oil rig being serviced at the Geelong Dock
Oil rig being towed to The Rip	Kan Tan IV going through Rip

In springtime all over the Bellarine peninsula, wild flowers add colour to the foreshore and roadsides.

• Freesias are particularly common around the St Leonards area.
• Gazanias, another South African plant, seem to be very hardy and salt tolerant.
• And of course the hills are awash with the intense yellow Canola crops.  Canola derives from rapeseed and its blossom is a major source of nectar for honeybees.  Apparently Canola oil is a possible source for manufacturing biodiesel so we may see the Bellarine hills carpeted in yellow even more in future.

Spring blooms on Bellarine	Freesias are from South Africa
Gazanias, Lower Bluff, St Leonards	Canola crop on the Bellarine