swimming in brown water and with the fairy penguin at Brighton

Because the heat has arrived, we're looking for places to swim. I took Penny to the Yarra yesterday and she had a great time, even though the water, as it often does, looked brown. The Yarra River is often called 'The Upside-down River', because the mud is on the top. In fact, it's because the high level of turbidity means it carries a load of silt. A man walking past us yesterday said the silt is clay, and I have noticed that after a swim in the Yarra Penny sheds a layer of fine clay dust around the house when she dries.


Today she swam in the sea near Brighton, at Green Point, in crystal clear water, calm as a pond.




And... something swam past, mostly under water, just emerging occasionally to breathe. Here's the only shot I managed to get, as it was moving so fast and coming up so rarely. I feel sure it was a fairy penguin, but passers-by I spoke to said it was unlikely.



I'm convinced it was a fairy penguin.