Archive for October, 2007

Monday we spent replacing bookmarks and the day just disappeared.  This morning we set off to Windsor, an historic town in the Hawkesbury Valley.  We drove out to the Richmond Airforce Base and the planes were taking off and landing all the time.  I joked with Ben that he would get arrested for photographing a forces base and had just said it when the sirens started, we both laughed but it was an ambulance driving at speed along the road.

We had a walk around Windsor which was very quiet and peaceful after Sydney.  Not too many people around and no one in a massive hurry to go nowhere.  

 We visited a Lolly Shop which sold British Lollies but I only bought a bag of Revels and a packet of Imps.  Here is Ben sitting in quite contemplation of the bag of salted licquorice which he had just bought.

We had chinese take away tonight courtesy of the park management which was very nice of them.  If they don’t watch out we’ll be staying longer!

 Till next time….

Saturday 27th, we decided to go into Darling Harbour.  Colin drove in as by the time we did all the other bits and pieces we wanted to get done it was a bit late to take the train.

One of the striking features of Darling Harbour is of course the Monorail and this one was just pulling into the station as we arrived.  We had a walk around and had a look at the North Steyne which is now a restaurant.

The Endeavour was in port and was open to the public to look around.  It is incredible to think that ships as small a this plied the ocean regularly.  Give me the QM2 anytime.

We went to the National Maritime Museum and paid a visit to the Welcome Wall.  The wall was commissioned a few years ago now to honour the migrants who made this country what it is today.  The names are on the wall and if you then look up the database in the museum or online you can find out details of the families. 

We hadn’t been to look at the Claassens entry for some time so we found it easily enough..well I found it and it wasn’t easily either.  It was a long walk back to the museum to check which number plaque the names were on so we just read them all until we found it.

We went and had some fudge (mandatory for me everytime I’ve been to Darling Harbour) and a coffee and then walked around the harbour to the other side.  We watched a busker juggling for a while.  This is a shot of one of my favourite water features at the harbour.

We came back to the caravan park all worn out after our long day in the city.

Sunday morning we were off to the market.  It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and it was a very good craft market.  We had music for the whole day from Leather & Lace who were very good and played the kind of music I enjoy listening to.

Colin cooked a chicken on the bbq for tea and we lazed around for the rest of the afternoon.

We have well and truly settled into our Sydney Park.  The food is good, the showers are great, the only drawback is the birds have to compete with the traffic to be heard.

Wednesday we went for a drive to Berowra Waters, a lovely little village on the Hawkesbury River.  As is usual with our drives it was a very windy and hilly road but the views are spectacular.  We had lunch at the Berowra Waters Marina.  We ordered fish and chips and although it was a little cool outside, we took a table at the edge of the balcony.

Ben was sitting holding his fish when a kookaburra flew between us and took the fish straight out of his hands.  It was so fast that he didn’t realise what had happened but everyone else at the marina saw it and cheered the kookaburra.  It had good taste that bird though because it was the nicest piece of fish we have had for a while.

We took the free ferry across the Hawkesbury and came back through some lovely country roads.

Thursday we went to the Macquarie Centre, a huge shopping centre in North Ryde.  Neither of us could cope with the noise in the place and although Colin came to meet us for lunch, we gave it a miss and headed home.

Today Friday, we set off for The Blue Mountains.  Ben had never been up there before so we thought it would be a good opportunity for him to visit.  It is a long slow steady climb to the top of the mountains where you reach Katoomba.  Just as we arrived there was an almighty thunder storm and everything below us was shrouded in mist.  Luckily by the time we had some lunch, the rain had almost cleared and we were able to take some pictures.  The most famous landmark in Katoomba is the three sisters rock formation.  Aboriginal legend says these three rocks are sisters who were turned to stone.  The clouds were very low and the cablecar and skyway disappeared into the clouds on the way down.

We did just a couple of the many walks to the different lookouts, occasionally stopping to shelter from the rain.

The best lookout is of course Mary’s Lookout   Why they would name something that high up after me I do not know.  It took a lot of courage for me to walk out there to have a picture taken.

Before leaving Katoomba, Ben dallied a while with the three sisters.  I only managed to capture a shot of him with two of them, you’ll have to take my word for it that there were three.

If you are all wondering why there are so many pictures of Ben in this post, I borrowed Colin’s camera and managed to finally get some pictures of my own to use.  Now I think my pictures are just as good ..what do you think?

Well, we finally left Batemans Bay on Friday, here are B & J relaxing while J and I do all the work  of packing up.  We headed north whilst the 2jays headed for Merimbula.  We reached Fairy Meadow about 1.30pm and booked into the Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort.  We got a site right on the beach which was very nice but also very windy.  The wind hasn’t really let up for long all the way up the coast. 

There was a bike path running through the park which went all the way into Wollongong in one direction and to Kiama in the other.  Ben set out on a bike ride after lunch whilst I settled down with my book.  The beach was fairly busy and it was fun watching the parasailing.  There are two lighthouses at the Wollongong wharf.

We drove into Wollongong and had fish and chips for tea sitting on the dock of the bay

On Saturday morning we went to Windang market which was o.k.  On the way home, we came across the 27th Wollongong Highland Games and of course we stopped there for a while to listen to the pipe bands and eat scottish pies and slice sausage.

Colin drove down in the evening and we three went out for tea and a drive around Wollongong.

On Sunday morning we headed off to the Dapto market, it was 35 degrees by 9.30am and was decidedly uncomfortable.  We packed up the van after lunch, hitched up and left the park around 2.00pm.  

We had the choice of roads out of Wollongong, The infamous Bulli Pass, through Kangaroo Valley or over Mount Ousley.  We took option number three and the car handled it with ease.  It is a slow and steady climb for quite some kilometres.

We arrived in our Sydney Caravan park and were met by the very friendly staff.  We checked out the site and the amenities and  found them quite adequate so we have booked in here for a while.

More pictures soon of this park and our surrounds…..

We had a really windy night on Tuesday night and didn’t sleep much after getting up at 2.30am to peg the annex down.  Everyone in the park was up, taking down awnings, adding more guy ropes to tents, it was pretty wild.  Wednesday was a cold day, although the sun was warm the wind was really cold so we didn’t do much at all. 

Today we got up early and despite the fact that 1jay has been suffering from a bad back decided that we would go out for the day.  We drove to Tilba Tilba and Central Tilba, which a Heritage Trust Village.  It is an old gold mining area and dairy farming.  Nowadays it is full of craft shops, cafes and the Tilba Cheese Factory.  We had a taste of most of their cheeses.

We then walked all the way up to the lookout over the town (still very windy) and took some photographs from up there.  The hill overlooking the town is called the Dromedary.

From there we headed to Narooma and had our picnic lunch by the Marine Park.  The pelicans and seagulls helped us eat lunch.

We then went to Mogo which is another “crafty” little village with a Gold Mining theme park and a zoo.  We went to the zoo to see the only white lions in Australia.  They have 14 lions ( 3 litters having been born in the last 18 months or so and as the last litter consisted of 5 male cubs, they are going to have to ship some of them out to other zoos.

The big hit of the zoo though was the meerkats.  Ben loves these little animals which are much smaller than you think.  The red pandas, the giraffes, the snakes, the otters, the bears, the marmosets, emus and the zebras were all photographed many times over.

We came back to the caravan park and cooked what will be our last tea together for some time.

Tomorrow we head in different directions although the 2jays may stay another day if 1jay’s back hasn’t improved considerably.

May be a few days till the next post as this will end our free wi-fi for a while.

We had another glorious day today.  29 degrees and very little wind.  We got up and had breakfast and decided to go for a drive with the 2jays to Guerilla Bay.  The tide was in when we got there and we couldn’t walk across to the rocks but nonetheless it is still a lovely spot.  There was a little campervan there with a woman and her dog and it looked as if she might be free camping there.  Couldn’t get a caravan down that windy little road though, so not for us.

The beach was covered in bluebottle jellyfish which had been washed in on the tide.  There was a log of some kind which was absolutely covered in molluscs.  i have no idea what they are so if anyone out there knows please post a comment.  They looked like long worms in those delicate little shells.  Whatever the log was it was very heavy.

We explored around the rocks for a while, Ben went for a paddle to see how deep the sea was

This picture is only because 1jay says if he gets home and sees it on the blog I’m dead…but I know it will be a while before we see him again and he won’t remember by then!

The bay today looked a bit tropical and I think this picture says it all.

While we were wandering around the rockpools Ben spotted whales out in the bay.  They were fairly far out and this was the best “splash” picture the Ben could get.

We drove to mcKenzie Beach to see if we could spot the whales from there but no more sightings.

We headed off to the Soldiers Club for lunch and then into town for a while.  Came back and chilled out for a while before starting to do a little sorting out of the bookmarks to be ready for next weekend.

Up late tonight, it’s 11.00pm and I’m still wide awake for a change.

Not doing much tomorrow, a little work here at the van and a rest day for the 2 jays so may leave the blog for a two day break this time.  We’ll see..you never know  

A three day entry today.  We have had not very good wireless internet since moving to another site in the park and today we’ve got it right I hope. 

Friday was an eventful day as the 2jays arrived in the afternoon.  In the morning we booked them in and moved to where we could have two sites together.  They had only just arrived when the sky darkened and the rain and hail started amid a huge thunderstorm.  What a welcome to Batemans Bay, they must be important because we didn’t get all that noise when we arrived.

Saturday, we couldn’t get booked into a market so we went into town and had a wander round.  We met up with the Bateman’s Bay Soldiers Club Pipe Band and listened to them for a while.  We came back to the park and set up the annex on the van before cooking tea, Jos did the bbq, Ben cooked the rosti, Jenny made the salad and I helped eat it all.

As you can see from these pictures our bird family is growing, Mum & Dad duck, finally brought their little ones around for tea.  We now have a pack of cockatoos, all the lorikeets ( I am informed that they are NOT rosellas, so I stand corrected), the ducks, the galahs and the punk pigeons.

Oh, and we finally worked out how to work a portapotti

Sunday we were up early and off to the market at Ulladulla, right on the wharf in almost perfect weather.  It was a really good day and we met some really nice people.  We got back to the park and had to wash down  the car.  On the way home from Ulladulla, we passed some roadworks and they decided just before we got there to bring out the water truck to keep the dust down.  Unfortunately, we then drove through what appeared to be wet cement dust and by the time we got back to the park the car was covered.

The 2jays went for a drive while we were at the market and were lucky enough to see a pod of whales really close to the shoreline.

Ben went for a bike ride before dinner, the 2jays went for a walk and I had a gin and tonic and a quiet read.  Fed the birds, then ourselves and fnally got the internet up and running long enough to do this blog.

Going whale watching tomorrow ..I’ll let you know how we go.

Woke up this morning to an absolutely glorious day and had breakfast with the kids next door and our little family of birds which grows everyday.  One of the dads next door made us raisin toast for breakfast this morning.  We set off on a bike ride and by special request HERE is the picture that Gary & Bev wanted as proof that I have been on that bike.  We rode into town and took some pictures around Batemans Bay as requested by Hans & Ria.   Here they are in no particular order : 1 : 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7.

We rode back to the park and Ben set off on his walk around the headland.  He did this walk yesterday but didn’t take the camera with him, so he was keen to do it again. Here are a few pictures from around the shoreline and where there was a landslide recently.

I did my usual reading for an hour and managed to get sunburnt on the arms.

We headed off to the Soldiers Club again for lunch, but today’s was a disappointment.  The beef was not very nice at all.  Ben took his back and got fish instead.

We wandered around town for a while and then drove down to Batehaven.

We have just had a lovely tea of tempura prawns with vodka sauce and garlic bread washed down with a nice glass of red.  Dessert was strawberries and cream.  He’s not half bad a rustling up a quick bite to eat is Ben

The 2jays will be here soon and we will make sure that we get plenty of pictures of their trip for you.

Last but by no means least, here I am uploading the blog.

Another day with nothing much to write about.  Ben went for a long walk along the beach today and came across what he was told was a landslide which happened not too long ago.  He is going back tomorrow to take some photographs there.  We drove into town to post off the orders from the market and had a coffee. We came back and finished off the rest of the work that had to be done and had lunch.   Although the sun was shining today, the wind was very cool.

I had a call from Coastal Patrol in Ulladulla confirming our market on Sunday and they tell me the weather forecast is very good for the weekend.  Let’s hope they are right.

Went back into town in the afternoon to get a haircut (badly needed) and feel a lot better now that the mop has gone.

Ben promises more photographs tomorrow ( sorry Rach you’ll have to wait one more day).  If the weather is good in the morning we are heading off for a bike ride.

Although the kids in the tents next to us are very friendly and polite, can’t wait til they go home on Saturday, they take it in turns to cry and a long lie for them is 6.30am.

Next week should be very peaceful as the school holidays end.

A day “at home” today.  We didn’t leave the park all day apart from a trip to the newsagent this morning.  We visited Stocklands Plaza, all those from Traralgon and Morwell will know why I mention this.

Ben worked all day making up orders and replenishing stock and I slaved away at the housework, laundry and reading.

Was cold today and overcast and never really heated up much at all.

Pleased to hear from my Auntie Mary & Uncle Bob who to those who don’t know are in Canada and have never been known as Auntie and Uncle just Mary & Bob except when I tell the kids that my Uncle Bob is a builder (just a wee white lie Bob)

Till tomorrow folks…..