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Exploring Freedom- Supergroms go snorkelling
Bruny Island
The Cloudy Bay Supergroms were introduced to snorkelling under the guidance of keen outdoor dad, Dan, in an effort to share with the local kids another way to explore the natural wonders of our Island home. Dan’s patience and enthusiasm enabled many children whose parents might not be quite so aqua-savvy to gain the confidence and skills to try this breathtaking activity. Snorkelling is a perfect pastime for any island-dwelling water-lover; it also happens to be a most profound way to develop a deep and lasting connection to place. Below, the Supergroms sharetheir experiences of snorkelling a beautiful reef right on their doorsteps. They share evocative descriptions of the otherworldly experience that breathing underwateroffers. They marvel at the way one can get up close to so many bizarre and beautiful sea creatures and share how a little trepidation can make the experience all the more thrilling and powerful.
Alba (8 years): When I get in, I feel all excited and then underneath the water it’s really clear and it feels like I’m in a different world because I can breathe underwater. We saw a big stingray, and we followed it for about 20 metres. At first, I was quite nervous, because it was very big. Then I realised, whoa! This is such a beautiful creature.
Archie (9 years): I love how the water wakes me up on a hot day and I love seeing all the animals and creatures and underwater life. It’s really cool. You asked me what the weirdest, coolest thing was. I think it must have been that squishy sort of hard brain thingamajig that I found. It was all made up of tiny tubes and was red. It looked exactly like a brain.
Otis (10 years): It’s really cool because you get to see the things that you never knew were there, and it’s like a whole different world that you can explore. I dove down to look on some seaweed that looked suspicious…..and then this skate jumped out and scared me and skimmed my feet. And then I got really scared, and then it was all over and I was so relieved.
Macy (9 years): I love how I can just dive under into the water, go to the very bottom and just like lay on the bottom kind of, but like without sitting on the sand………I feel like a mermaid or something, it makes me really calm. It’s gentle. I love the ocean and I like all the cool things we see in the water. And I get to see lots of starfish and the other day we went snorkelling off the jetty and I saw an octopus.
Evelyn (10 years): The coolest thing I saw was a stingray because it was massive and it sat on the seafloor and pretended we weren’t there. I like exploring the seaweed and watching the fish swim by.
Franziska (7 years): On top you see the same thing over and over again. Under the water it is always different.
Henry (10 years): The strangest thing I saw was probably…there was this weird kelp, it had like, things going off it. It’s a whole different world….
The sentiments of the Supergroms resonate strongly with me, perhaps because snorkelling makes me feel like I am unleashing my inner child. I, too, feel like a mermaid. I never tire of lying on my back to watch the bubbles slowly rise to the surface and the way the water envelops you and renders you weightless. I love the strange creatures that you can get frighteningly close to. I love the way all the sounds are muffled, giving me some peaceful, quiet moments within the busy, noisy world of being a mum. I love hunting for my dinner; the act of catching prey makes me feel powerful and primal, whilst the messy and time-consuming process of cleaning the catch reminds me to be humble and grateful and to take only what I need. Peaceful, liberating, exhilarating and otherworldly: snorkelling is indeed like exploring freedom.
Bruny Kids & Nature
Claire Boost
The Cloudy Bay Supergroms were introduced to snorkelling under the guidance of keen outdoor dad, Dan, in an effort to share with the local kids another way to explore the natural wonders of our Island home. Dan’s patience and enthusiasm enabled many children whose parents might not be quite so aqua-savvy to gain the confidence and skills to try this breathtaking activity. Snorkelling is a perfect pastime for any island-dwelling water-lover; it also happens to be a most profound way to develop a deep and lasting connection to place. Below, the Supergroms sharetheir experiences of snorkelling a beautiful reef right on their doorsteps. They share evocative descriptions of the otherworldly experience that breathing underwateroffers. They marvel at the way one can get up close to so many bizarre and beautiful sea creatures and share how a little trepidation can make the experience all the more thrilling and powerful.
Alba (8 years): When I get in, I feel all excited and then underneath the water it’s really clear and it feels like I’m in a different world because I can breathe underwater. We saw a big stingray, and we followed it for about 20 metres. At first, I was quite nervous, because it was very big. Then I realised, whoa! This is such a beautiful creature.
Archie (9 years): I love how the water wakes me up on a hot day and I love seeing all the animals and creatures and underwater life. It’s really cool. You asked me what the weirdest, coolest thing was. I think it must have been that squishy sort of hard brain thingamajig that I found. It was all made up of tiny tubes and was red. It looked exactly like a brain.
Otis (10 years): It’s really cool because you get to see the things that you never knew were there, and it’s like a whole different world that you can explore. I dove down to look on some seaweed that looked suspicious…..and then this skate jumped out and scared me and skimmed my feet. And then I got really scared, and then it was all over and I was so relieved.
Macy (9 years): I love how I can just dive under into the water, go to the very bottom and just like lay on the bottom kind of, but like without sitting on the sand………I feel like a mermaid or something, it makes me really calm. It’s gentle. I love the ocean and I like all the cool things we see in the water. And I get to see lots of starfish and the other day we went snorkelling off the jetty and I saw an octopus.
Evelyn (10 years): The coolest thing I saw was a stingray because it was massive and it sat on the seafloor and pretended we weren’t there. I like exploring the seaweed and watching the fish swim by.
Franziska (7 years): On top you see the same thing over and over again. Under the water it is always different.
Henry (10 years): The strangest thing I saw was probably…there was this weird kelp, it had like, things going off it. It’s a whole different world….
The sentiments of the Supergroms resonate strongly with me, perhaps because snorkelling makes me feel like I am unleashing my inner child. I, too, feel like a mermaid. I never tire of lying on my back to watch the bubbles slowly rise to the surface and the way the water envelops you and renders you weightless. I love the strange creatures that you can get frighteningly close to. I love the way all the sounds are muffled, giving me some peaceful, quiet moments within the busy, noisy world of being a mum. I love hunting for my dinner; the act of catching prey makes me feel powerful and primal, whilst the messy and time-consuming process of cleaning the catch reminds me to be humble and grateful and to take only what I need. Peaceful, liberating, exhilarating and otherworldly: snorkelling is indeed like exploring freedom.
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