Spring at Wisteria Gardens

I have written before about the gardens and also had a few photos in an earlier blog. This one is just to showcase this years blossoms.

 Ibises and Bats

This one is in my garden!

Down Tourist Drive 7

Oh dear! I meant to write the blog of all the holiday one after another but the best laid plans. I had a rough Wednesday and Thursday. What with the shopping and mowing the grass (I swear the garden feels as big as a cricket ground some days) I just got too hot and exhausted. I suddenly realised I was mouth breathing – something I have not done in ages. So now the mouth and throat are dry as dust and I guzzle more water. The air and water mixture is not good for the tummy which blows up like a balloon. By evening I have fever too and headache and nausea. I thought I would not be able to get up for a long while now. But wonder of wonders I am at least up and about, so here goes the second day of the holiday.

The wake up on saturday was gentle but cold as it was drizzling. By now we had worked it out that our mobile network was maybe half a bar when you stood in knee deep water on the beach. But still Paul decided to try and ring mother as we were supposed to meet her on Skype. Yes you have guessed it right about the lack of heat in the Wi-Fi hotspots too. However, all he got for his efforts was wet!

A hot bowl of porridge just hit the right spot and we decided to go out and be tourists. The first stop was Batemans Bay. This is a lovely town on the mouth of the River Clyde. It is a popular place for boating and fishing.

 Crossing River Clyde to Batemans Bay

 Bridge over Clyde

 Batemans Bay

Boats in the Bay

There is always a pelican or two about besides the usual gamut of those pesky sea gulls. As we were keeping a lookout for the pelicans, we found a couple sitting with cormorants on the lamp posts. So the car was stopped and I trotted off in the drizzle to get a shot. A man walking towards me stopped and advised me against standing under the lamp post to take the photo, as I might get pooped on. It made me wonder whether he thought I wanted picture of the birds’ bottom. We decided to leave the Princess Highway here and go on to the tourist drive 7 along the coast up to Moruya.

The next place we went through was Catalina situated on the Corrigans Beach and Batehaven -small places ideal for tourism. There are a string of hotels and motels along the sea front but Thank God none of those high rise blocks. Then, we moved through Denhams Beach to Surf Beach.

 Surf Board Sculpture at Surf Beach

By this time the drizzle had stopped and though the sun was still not blazing the sky was clearing. We had once before stopped at this place and had chips for lunch while trying to avoid being dive bombed by the sea gulls. Boy! Are they in competition for the chips or what? The air was feeling warmer by now. The pines stood green and tall with the glimpses of grey blue skies always gladden my heart.

Though this is the coast road, it is up on the cliffs and to reach the beaches and small towns dotted on the coast you have to travel down the side roads. Despite that, the scenery and hilly road was good to drive on. Yes I had taken up the option to drive first today as after lunch I feel lazy and drowsy. The names of places we passed were Lilli Pilli, Malua Bay, Rosedale, Guerilla Bay, Tomakin and Mossy Point. Well we did try a foray into Guerilla Bay as it intrigued us. However, the town is up on the cliff and the way to a lovely beach is a narrow path. The views were fabulous from up there. The houses are lovely and the place very quiet. It makes you wonder what is up, as there were many houses up for sale all along these coastal towns. Lovely to live, very very peaceful but what would one do for a living? Maybe own online business or some sort?

From Mossy Point we took the small road to Broulee, then back on to the tourist route 7. We came up to this scenic point and decided to stop and stretch out our legs. This is on the outskirts of Moruya. Here is a quarry  from which the granite for the Sydney Harbour Bridge was dug up. It is right next to the River Moruya. There is a small museum of the quarry and a walk way at the edge of the water. The trees are green, the rocks are blue grey and covered in barnacles, water blue with a boat or two, people fishing and gentle breeze. Out comes the sun and now I am regretting putting on that warm top this morning. Out comes the sun screen and arms and face gets covered as sleeves have to be rolled up if I am not to faint with heat stroke. Yes, I was also sent to stand in the middle of the road in order to take pictures of the quarry. Keeping an eye in each direction, to avoid being run over, it is a little difficult to take directions for good shots. However, here are the fruits of dangerous photography.

 River Moruya

The tourist trail ends abruptly as we hit the Princess Highway at the edge of Moruya. As we crossed the river, we saw there was a market in town. We parked behind the shops and walked around the market. It was typical small town market with local produce of fruit and veg, honey, jams, olives fresh bread and snacks; and local craft work as in jewellery, woodwork, clothes and pot plants. But, the sellers were packing up as it was lunch time and later we found that we had just made it in time to see it. A walk around the high street and the shops does not take long. I was surprised to find a Nepalese restaurant there. Nearly went in, but did not want to eat much as I needed something to drink more than food. So we had an ice cream to cool off and a fizzy drink. Something I regretted as I later found that the milkshakes are the thing to go for.

It was time to make our way back with a quick stop at the shops in Batemans Bay as I wanted my own tea and coffee. A walk around the shopping mall and car park was the end of this outing. It was a good one. A walk on the beach and a view of what definitely was a shark out in the water was next. It was a triangular black fin with every now and then a black expanse of the back as it rose to dive down. The guys at the bar and takeaway confirmed that they get sharks in the bay. I have seen dolphins here before so a shark was a first. The evening dinner was ordered by the pool bar and the entertainment of the wedding reception was free. It was good to relax and let the evening flow over me with bird songs. 

 Man in a Boat going towards the Shark

Blue Mountains are beautiful

Yesterday we had a trip to Blue Mountains! The day before we planned to get to Kusum's place by 8 am so that we could make an early start. However when we got to the station we found that weekend there was track work and so no trains from Kings Cross!!!! So instead of doing a long winded trip by bus in the morning we just took a taxi.

Drove down to Parramatta and then on to the motorway. The climb starts almost as soon as we were out of Parramatta. The day was glorious sunshine but with a nip in the air. First stop was at Wentworth Falls. Coffee and hot choclate were consumed and went lookng for the lake there. There were some strange scupltures about and lots of ducks, geese and morehens. If course we missed the truning to the waterfall itself... what we had actually turned into the town to see!!

Next stop was Leura cascades... wandered down to the side and saw a small fall and apprently one had to walk another 20 mins to see the rest... The we went to Echo Point... now there is one place that takes your breath away! there is a blue haze to the mountians and hence the name. Saw Three sisters and other peaks, the mountains rolling away as far as the eye can see. Wind was chill even without any snow.

Then we stopped at Katoomba and had lunch! Small tourist town with plenty of people today as its good weather and school holidays. As you can guess there were plenty of Indians about too. The town is more or less a couple of streets and saw the YHA where that backpacker had stayed!! Next we moved on to the Scenic Point. This place has been truely commercialised with rides on skywalk (big trolley with see through floor), cable car, railway (actually a roller coaster) and some broad walks. The massively expensive souviner shop and resturant. We did the skywalk and saw the Katoomba waterfall, three sisters a little bit up closer and also various peaks. There were cockatoos, parrots and lorrikets and other birds we just heard.

Left the Blue Mountains to return to Sydney at sunset which was beautiful with pink skies. Got dropped off at Beverley hills to get into the city and take bus back. Memorable trip in many ways.

Back in Sydney

Flew back Quantas which was slightly delayed but arrived in only 50 minutes.
then train back to Kings Cross which cost $14:60.
We went whale watching finally and saw 4 humpback whales and a dolphins wonderful 3 metre swell.
Mriga found the motion a little unsettling but for me no problem.
The harbour is much wider and bigger than i had imagined and going out to the sea showed what a Sunday is
like in Sydney, sailing on a wonderful sunny afternoon as Clive James has written.
The whales were generally balck in colour but would surface every 3-6 minutes and you could see the dorsal fin as they
drived down again, one whale had a yellowly white underbelly, we only saw a tail fin once as one of the second group of
whales drived down to eat krill.
the second pod also mugged us by going under our boat.

Watson Bay and the Gap park, we travelled to the end off the line on the 324 bus, the Gap is the the sea facing side of Sydney
Harbour, with huge river deposited sandstone cliff and huges crashing waves, we think we saw a fairy penguin in the surf.
We has fish and chips once again, but were not attacked by the nasty sea gulls who will try and steal the chips from your mouth.

Delights of Berlin - part 2

Standing on the other side of the Brandenburg gate... Berlin is a very interesting city full of contrasts. There are old buildings with splendid architecture along with modern towering blocks in a small part of the city. There are many museums and parks. There are a few shopping malls as well... spoiling the feel of the city!!!.... There is plenty to do and a week is not enough. Had a couple meals in a restaurant called the Twelve Apostles - which is a Italian place doing really fab pizzas. It is under the railway bridge and I really jumped up from my chair when the first train went overhead. Thought it was an earthquake!!! another place we went a couple of times was a small Mexican place ... not bad...
Statue of Bertolt Brecht by the Berliner Emsemble the theatre in the above picture.
Reichstag - the photos are of different views and also showing differnt parts of the building to see the carving.









Brandenburger Tor which farmed the gateway between the East and Westalong the Wall.
Sculpture Quadriga on top of the Brandenburger Tor - a symbol of victory, the goddess recieves the staff bearing the Prussian eagle and iron cross with a laural wreath.

Carving in the pillars of the gate

Map showing the Berlin Wall as it separated the city in the past.

Checkpoint Charlie

Topographie des Terrors - Prinz Albrecht-Strasse. This runs along the Berlin wall and shows the history of geocide of the jews of Europe. There is something very sad about this place... I mean I could feel the anguish and pain here as well as paradoxically the more pleasureable emotions of the oppressors when standign at this site. I have always felt a 'place' and can sense the vibes around me but this was something much stronger. I just could not stop tears gathering in my eyes and running down my face. In fact I could not see all the exhibits are I had to leave - the emotions were overwhelming.

Part of the remining Berlin Wall
The newer part of the city centre - Potsdamer Square and the modern buildings - sony centre, office buildings, etc







Holocast Memorial near the Brandenburg Gate

Sculptures along the river Spree.


New Synagogue - a very beautiful central dome that can be seen form far. The museum inside is informative. The views from top are worth visiting.

Gedenkstatte Grosse Hamburger Strasse - memorial commemorating Berlin Jews murdered in the Holocast.
Markisches museum - we were trying to get on to a boat trip which was supposed to start from the river near this place. After all we saw this in a publicity leaflet - made sure the day of the week was correct. Got up early and walked a couple fo miles to get there for 1 30 am trip!!!!! There was no boat or trip.. there was no one there to ask. So we took a few pictures of the museum from outside - all around the building to get different views. Gave up on the trip after hanging around for an hour in the freezing cold!





The next two photos are parts of the Berlin Wall displayed outside the Markisches museum.


Post Office is more impressive than any other post office I have seen!
Ephraim Palais at the most beautiful corner of Berlin - the ornate balconies glint in the sunshine. at present it is a part of the Berlin City Museum.

Some better photos of Rotes Rathaus - townhall