Nature in Lockdown 3.0

Avalon is often described by locals as ‘god’s country’, ‘I’m only leaving in my pine box’ is another popular refrain.  It is located on a peninsula at the northern end of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, cut off from the rest of the city by ‘the bends’; a winding road that follows the edge of the cliff top physically separating one suburb from the next and giving locals a sense of ownership and community rarely found elsewhere in Sydney.  Avalon locals have a voice, and they use it as the TV production company for Baywatch found out 20 years ago.  Baywatch wanted to film on the stunning beach, paid for a pretty repaint of the old surf club building and prepared to film by closing the beach.  ‘Not happening’ was the message loud and clear, ‘it is our beach, and we will have access to it at all times.’  Baywatch made a rapid exit, stunned at the response by locals.

During lockdown 2.0, 3 weeks over Christmas 2020 the covid outbreak began in Avalon and we were locked down hard along with suburbs to the south.  Not a soul was to be seen on the beach or at the shops for the first week. Everyone stayed home, the rules were followed, and the outbreak was quickly under control.  3 weeks of hard lockdown that the community accepted, embraced even, to keep the rest of Sydney safe.

This time things are very different.  The more infectious Delta outbreak is far away from Avalon on the other side of Sydney and the general feeling of locals is ‘ok we are in lockdown and we stay in our suburb, but let’s go explore it’. Avalon to Palm Beach (the end of the peninsula) has stunning beaches and tiny pockets of rainforest and bush.  Back in the day koalas even roamed the suburb, traffic signs still remind drivers to ‘slow down, koalas crossing’ although the last koala was sighted nearly 20 years ago.

Whale spotting is a favourite local pastime, the community Facebook page is full of posts to rush to the beach to see a whale when the humpbacks are in migration mode heading north between June and August then returning South with their babies from September to November. I have spent many Sunday mornings at Nippers when my kids were little staring at the ocean desperately trying to spot the whale that everyone else can see.  After 20 years of living here I still get a kick out of seeing a whale breach, I think I always will.

Nippers is an Australian institution every Sunday morning over sumer, every kid living on the beaches goes to Nippers at some point.  Nippers is run by the Surf Life Saving Club of that suburbs beach with the aim of making the kids beach safe.  They need to know how to swim in the ocean, spot a rip and to respect the sun and ocean.  Avalon is a dangerous beach despite its beauty and local kids certainly know they need to treat this beach carefully or they will suffer the consequences. Great White Sharks inhabit these waters and although they rarely attack it has happened. 12 years ago, the Avalon community was stunned when one Sunday morning a local boy, a friend’s son, out surfing in the early morning with his dad had a Great White take a chunk out of his thigh.  Saved by his dad’s quick response to use the surfboard leg rope as a tourniquet he has continued to surf and now works as a lifeguard.

Surfers are made in Avalon!  It must be something in the water, the way we breed them here! Tiny tots are regularly seen out surfing with a parent, the local high school is just metres from the beach and the teenagers pour out of the gates at 3.10 heading straight for the beach and an arvo surf.  Being out the back when a pod of dolphins that have come into play in the waves, well, how can you beat that for a childhood experience?

With a high school on the beach the science teachers have the advantage of the best natural teaching resource.  At the start of each school year the new Year 7 students are taken to the beach with special little hammers to look for fossils in the rocks.  In Year 10 marine aquatic studies students relish the opportunity to snorkel around the rocks and pools studying everything from the tiny blue ringed octopus that hide under rock ledges to the spiral shaped egg casings left behind by the baby Port Jackson sharks.

On one side of Avalon lies the vast Pacific Ocean but go around the tip of the peninsula with Barrenjoey Lighthouse on top and the water becomes calmer opening into Pittwater harbour leading into the Hawkesbury River.  The rocks below the lighthouse are a favourite spot for seals to soak up the southern sun.  To cool down they slide into the water and float on their backs, flippers in the air with their ‘fingers’ just touching.  Last weekend I was lucky enough to see my first pup in the colony, a tiny little black bundle of cuteness just enjoying time in the sun.  The seals were a well-kept local secret for the first 4 years or so after they moved in.  A year and 3 lockdowns later families or strolling couples have become a common sight bush bashing along the goat track and clambering over the rocks to see if the seals are home.  The seals are amazingly tolerant of all the visitors on foot and by boat, only raising their heads when a passing yacht has a dog on it.

The skies over Avalon are home to an incredible variety of birds.  Starting just before dawn the kookaburras wake the neighbourhood with their laughing.  They then spend the day popping up on fences and washing lines watching the humans do human things, maybe keeping an eye out for the odd worm. Early morning dog walkers see the cockatoos in huge flocks swooping and chasing up into the sky then separating for the day as each goes in search of food.  Be wary of installing a timber deck handrail and then tempting the birds in with bird seed, I know of more than one Avalon resident who had the bright idea of feeding the pretty little lorikeets only to have cockatoos move in and chew everything wooden in sight. For me the rainbow lorikeets still bring joy to my heart every time I see them chasing each other through the trees and bushes, hopping from branch to branch, just playing and having fun.  Their bright colours of green, red and yellow with a beautiful blue head so easy to spot as they dash around.

The Aussie backyard has traditionally been a place to play cricket and for kids to hunt ants and lizards.  My backyard has possums that boldly walk along the fence before taking one bite from the capsicum in the veggie patch just a day or two before it was ready to be picked.  The bandicoots dig holes in the lawn.  I battle with the possums and the bandicoots, I have fenced in my veggie patch, they simply tunnel under the wire or find a way through the fencing.  If I had been an early settler in this country I would have starved, these cute little possums and bandicoots outwit me at every turn!

Walking has become the thing to do in this lockdown.  Sydney residents are required to stay within 5km of their home but are allowed out to exercise.  For years I have gone walking with my girlfriends as a way of catching up whilst at the same time exercising, all of a sudden, we are competing with every resident of the area desperate to escape their home for an hour.  The walks are stunning taking in waterfalls and caves through the Angophora Reserve.  Tiny pockets of bushland are dotted around the suburb and have become the go to place for secret picnics.  The best of all though is to sit on the headland with bush behind and ocean in front to watch the sun go down enjoying a glass of red wine and cheese and crackers.

The Sydney lockdown is now in its tenth week and whilst lockdown won’t go on forever and our new normal will evolve, I will forever be grateful that I was able to experience lockdown surrounded by nature.  In my garden and outside my street the animals are thriving, they are the ones who have adapted to urban life with humans and are making it work.

Written by Jenny Parkes

I was raised in the UK but at the tender age of 6 decided that I needed to visit Australia when I found out that pineapples grew on bushes.  I took off in my early twenties with my husband and spent a couple of years traveling the world by tandem, finally made it to Sydney and loved it so much I stayed and became Australian.  Now leading a more ‘grown up’ life as a parent and a teacher I yearn for those days of freedom and the open road, they will come again as the family grows up but perhaps not on a bicycle!

Week 35, September 2021