List of the most popular hashtags for theme #WELOVETHEGONG

My brother since day 1..!! #warhorse @elonivunakece . . #ninjawarrior 2019 is about to be destroyed by this Fijian #terminator @elonivunakece good luck tonight brother..!!! #noqukalounoquvanua #fijibati #repost #rlwc #ninja #humble #yuinfitt #welovethegong #fiji ❤️

Hucking off rocks, into more rocks! . . David Blucher . . #frothin #hucktheworld #onerockatatime #chunder #enduro #soenduro #goodtimes #nomad #rockgarden #steelcity #steelcitycycles #IONbike #IONaction #maxxistyres #maxxisorwalk #singlej #dtswiss #dtswisswheels #EWRT #quay #quaysupply #weridethegong #welovethegong @steelcitycycles @ionbikeaus @maxxisbikeau @dtswissaustralia @quaysupply @huckth @santacru @sra @backcoun @emptywalletracingteam

I spent part of the day finding and filming an Eleven-Armed Sea Star, which pretty much blew my mind because I absolutely love them and all their weirdness and the other part freaking out because I was getting interviewed LIVE on the radio about some of my recent sightings. Last time I was interviewed was on the telly and even after setting very strict ground rules for the cameraman about which angles he could shoot (from the waist up and no gratuitous neck shots) the resulting footage consisted of me bending over frequently and chins for days Now, add in my potty mouth and regular use of non radio friendly language and I was having a mild conniption but happy to say all went (fairly) well. And I was in my pyjamas so I feel like I've just achieved a life goal. Now the Eleven-Armed Sea Star was an absolute treat! These animals don't seem to mind the really shallow water of low tide because I always seem to find them in mere centimetres of water. This one was not only in super shallow water but also in the dark so yay for that. But I was not going to miss out on it and ended up on my hands and knees giving the group of young guys sitting on the hill watching the surfers a birds eye view of my least favourite "as seen on TV positions" - yes, bent over, butt up. Lucky no cameramen around today. Still. Content. It was amazing watching this funnily enough nine armed Eleven-Armed Sea Star reaching out, moving slowly across the rock pool floor, its hundreds of tube feet feeling its way, until it finally settles on something, likely its dinner. These guys reproduce by fission, so can split themselves in half to make more stars! And I've seen a few with several fully grown limbs and then the other half of the animal has these little, still regenerating arms. It's a crazy sight to see. They also don't have eyes as such but eye spots on the end of their arms which can sense light and dark and apparently even make out some general shapes. At one point, you can see the Sea Star lifting one of its arms up and reaching out towards the camera, trying to figure out what was sitting in front of it. Amazing! #rockpools #rockpooling #seastars #starfish #marinebiology

Church Street at the corner of Crown Street in the late 1970's (Wollongong City Libraries) Discover more about the Illawarra’s history at our Lost Wollongong Facebook page and www.lostwollongong.com #lostwollongong #wollongong #illawarra #welovethegong #mygong #gong #ilovewollongong #lovewollongong #visitwollongong #destinationwollongong #wollongongcity #wollongongharbour #ourgong #grandpacificdrive #lovethegong #ilovethegong #gongspotting #ilovensw #visitnsw #destinationnsw #history #heritage #illawarramercury #southcoastnsw #coalcoast #coalcoastmag #coalcoastnsw @lostwollongong @visitnsw @wollongongmuseumtrail @shellharbourhistoryinphotos @visitwollongong @wollongongcity @wollongonglibraries

Niceness #nofilter #snow #snowboarding #toysRus #welovethegong #boysbabesnbarrels #shredit

Another day, another rock pool. Sorry! But I know a lot of you loved the Sea Snail video from the other day and since i'm still ballsing up most of the underwater stuff, this is going to have to do! You can actually see the passage of time through the reflection of the clouds and even the change in weather as the footage darkens and then brightens again. These guys are SLOW. I even took a little video on my phone as a comparison. I spent most of my morning face down with these guys trying to work out if they were actually moving. I love these videos because it's always so surprising to see just how much these animals actually move when they appear to be stuck completely still. Or, like I did the other day, spend 20 minutes filming some sea snails only to watch the time-lapse and to see that they were actually asleep the whole time and didn't wiggle, not even once!!! ‍♀️ I did read on the Aus Museum site that these Black Nerites huddle really closely together to help trap moisture between them and to aid in the transfer of sperm. Alrighty then. Note to self: don't lick the nerites or drink the water they've been sitting in #rockpools #rockpooling #marinesnails #blacknerite #blueplanet #marinelife #marinebiology #northernillawarra #ausgeo #bbcwildlife #sandonpoint #welovethegong #liveoutdoors #intertidalzone #adayinthelife #timelapse #backyardzoology

Steel Street, Cringila overlooking the steelworks in the early 1950's. Photo thanks to Lost Wollongong member Adem Nadal. Discover more about the Illawarra's history at our Lost Wollongong Facebook page and www.lostwollongong.com #lostwollongong #wollongong #illawarra #welovethegong #mygong #gong #ilovewollongong #lovewollongong #visitwollongong #destinationwollongong #wollongongcity #wollongongharbour #ourgong #grandpacificdrive #lovethegong #ilovethegong #gongspotting #ilovensw #visitnsw #destinationnsw #history #heritage #illawarramercury #southcoastnsw #coalcoast #coalcoastmag #coalcoastnsw @lostwollongong @visitnsw @wollongongmuseumtrail @shellharbourhistoryinphotos @visitwollongong @wollongongcity @wollongonglibraries

The old F6 Freeway toll booths at Waterfall in the early 1990's (Illawarra Mercury) Discover more about the Illawarra's history at our Lost Wollongong Facebook page and www.lostwollongong.com #lostwollongong #wollongong #wollongongmuseumtrail #yesterdaystories #illawarra #welovethegong #mygong #gong #ilovewollongong #lovewollongong #visitwollongong #destinationwollongong #wollongongcity #wollongongharbour #ourgong #grandpacificdrive #lovethegong #ilovethegong #gongspotting #ilovensw #visitnsw #destinationnsw #history #heritage #illawarramercury #cruisewollongong #southcoastnsw #coalcoast #coalcoastmag #coalcoastnsw @lostwollongong @visitnsw @wollongongmuseumtrail @yesterday.stories @shellharbourhistoryinphotos @visitwollongong @wollongongcity @wollongonglibraries

I had a lovely hump day which started with a catch up with some friends who I have not seen in forever. My boy was also there being funny and smart and not at all like me, so his coffee was unspilled and his jokes without controversy. I checked the tides as we were heading back home and found that while they were rising they were still low enough for me to try and get some more Sea Star footage. So I set out onto the rock shelf, keeping an eye on the water that was coming in very quickly but I'm also very risk adverse so I was careful about where I headed and was super excited to find a couple of individuals and right on cue, they slowly raised their arms at each other. I plunged the camera into the rock pool. Or I tried to. At this point, even though the tide was coming in, the camera on its little tripod sat just above the water line. So I had to move the set up around a bit but knowing this footage was going to be AMAZING. Now time-lapse takes forever. Well, not forever forever but if you're standing watching an incredible nature scene unfolding around you, while also flicking your head around, eyeing off the tide as it blocks one path back and then another and another and eventually after 16 minutes you are in ankle deep water and have to do a quick snatch, grab and escape move, it feels like a lot longer then it actually is. But when you get that end result - sure it's only 11 seconds of footage after 16 minutes of sweet, sweet anticipation - it makes it all worth it. Well, actually it doesn't. As I pressed play shielding the screen from the sun, squelching in my boots and very wet socks, I noticed that yeah, I hadn't actually pointed the camera in the right area! At the bottom of the screen, out of focus and barely visible were the two tackling stars, tube feet wiggling around grasping at each other, arms intertwined. Bugger! So here instead is a lovely Royal Spoonbill that I saw about a week ago, just doing his thing, swooshing his bill through the water, feeling for small fish. When he found one, he would flick his bill up and out of the pond, a huge arc of water spilling up and out, leaving a little dark coloured fish, scooped up from the depths.