Strange Acquisitions

People do the strangest things and you wonder why? Most annoying thing is you never find out unless you ask. However, I do not think people will take kindly to questioning as one might be seen to be nosey and a peeping tom. Can one say peeping tom if you are not looking through windows at people going about their lives but just seeing what’s happening in front of their house? Surely if I live nearby, I cannot be called a stalker either. If there is a word besides nosey neighbour maybe someone can tell me.

So, one afternoon this large van draws up and parks cross the road. I did not pay attention as often the guys come home for lunch and bring their work vehicle along. But then 4 men got out of the van. They open the shutter, and one or two get in. Now I am curious. What are they up to? Then I see a chair being handed out. Its one of these office chairs with five wheels. I think oh they are getting some furniture. Then they set up a relay of 4 and start bringing out chairs one hands it out, next one takes it to the drive. The next one takes it to the front door and then the guys inside I presume is setting it where they want it. Now since I know there are 3 – 4 people living there the first 4 chairs were ok but then more chairs appeared. There was a total of 15 chairs that were downloaded and taken into the house. Who would need that many office chairs?

A few weeks later another van appeared and the process was repeated but this time with 6 or 7 filing cabinets. The cabinets however, were taken through the gate in the driveway to round the back. Are they being put into the garage that is being curtained off? What does one do with so many filing cabinets? Have not seen any of these items leave the house unless it was done on a day I was not there or after dark.

A couple of months back up drove another van and this time a garden swing made with rusty metal frame with a wooden seat is unloaded into the front garden. So, what is this for? Are they going to be swinging in the front garden? They are never out front unless it is to cut grass. Even that most often they do after it is dark. You wonder why you can hear a mower and then see this shadowy figure with a headlamp moving up and down the garden. A week later in the evening the men with tools were there undoing the swing. After that I think there was some polishing done as the next morning the metal frame was shiny without rust. Then the frame was left in the garden and disassembled seat and metal rods to hang the swing were placed on the veranda.

There they lay for a couple of weeks. Then one evening just as it got dark, I heard power tools buzzing again. I looked but it was dark and all I could glimpse from the light in the veranda that they were moving the tool up and down the metal bits. Next morning, we find all parts of the swing pained green. I have been watching paint drying since then! Wonder what comes next?

Truck Meets Telegraph Pole

One afternoon we were cutting grass in the front garden. It was a sunny and pretty warm day so was well covered with long sleeves and sun screen, hat, sunglasses and gloves to protect from the sun. We had reached the middle of the garden where there was a tremendous bang heard loudly over the lawnmower’s noise. I looked to see if something had gone wrong with the mower even though the sound was well above that of a mower dying. So, we stopped the mower and moved to the footpath to check up and down the road.

There was big 40 tonne truck across the road with the cab pushing over the telegraph pole which was at the corner with another side road. The truck engine was still running but there was no driver. Now on the same side of the road as my house, in the next block are a number of warehouses and trucks constantly arriving and departing from there. There is a huge drive and gate to this business area. The perimeter is closed with a fairly strong and high wire fence. The land inside the fence is a slope as we are on a hill. The road inside the site is higher than the road outside the fence. What happened was pieced together with comments from some neighbours and local news as well as seeing the site the next day when I walked past it. This truck apparently had been parked on the road inside the business park and the driver stepped out without engaging the handbrake. This truck somehow rolled literally sideways down the slope and through the fence across the road and slam into the telegraph pole which has major electricity cables. All power down hill from that pole was lost. We could see live wires trailing to the ground.  

The police arrived and road was hastily closed for traffic. The power company vehicles rolled in pretty fast and the engineers set to repair work. The power coming into that section had to be turned off so they went up the one in front of our house to disconnect the rest. This was the first time I had seen some of my neighbours as all came out to see the crash. There were pictures taken and one neighbour was videoing the scene. The cars coming down the road were diverted to the side road just before the crash site and of course people stopped to see what happened and some were u-turning and going back.  This happened around 3 pm and we were wondering how they would manage to get the truck off the road before dark. We were sure it would not happen till next morning. But no, they worked till late. They managed to straighten the pole, wires were reattached and last but not least the articulated truck with the cab at an angle was all removed and road reopened. That excitement was a talking point for a few weeks.

Mystery of the Broken Wall

In any neighbourhood people watching is interesting and neighbour watching is an edifying pastime. I can see how neighbourhood watch groups function now that I am home all day. I sit by the window and often watch the world go by. In my last home there was very little movement except for odd cars of people from the street as it was a side road and sometimes kids playing. Two of my homes have been on a fairly busy roads through the suburb.

One of the houses across the road is also a rent property, I think. There are a number of young men going in and out so it must be a shared living situation. I see a company truck and all wear some sort of uniform and so I presume they all work in some form of removal / storage company or warehouse. They hardly ever use the front door but use the gate down the drive to access the house. Now I know that from my house one can see all the way down their drive to the garage. They have some sort of drapes and screens to obscure the garage. Makes one wonder what are they up to go to such lengths to ensure privacy. Before the curtains were put on the garage, I think some evenings they were having barbeques with some music on but none of this was ever intrusive to the neighbours.

So, all in all they are peaceful guys who keep very much to themselves. One young man has a noisy motorbike which now and then he gets into his head to rev. One afternoon I looked over and saw that the end of the small garden wall with the letter box was broken and lying across the drive and garden. There was a car parked in the drive. To this day I have not figured out how that damage happened. There was no noise of a hit to the wall neither was there any damage to the car. Not that the drive is narrow or that car was huge. The guys were out and piling the bricks to the side, again none of the bricks seemed to be damaged. The repair was a lengthy process in that it was completed over several weeks a couple of bricks at a time. One weekend there was a crowd of there. About 4 young men who were watching / supervising 2 others rebuilding the wall and ensuring the letter box was fitted well. So was there a teaching of novice tradies going on? Excitement over!

How Not to DIY

People sometimes act as if they have a death wish. You wonder whatever got into the thing they call a brain for them to act in such a way. I will give you 2 examples and leave it to you to decide if I am right in questioning some people’s sanity.

First one is from when I lived in a house that had a straight chimney. This definitely was a weird one as most chimneys have an angle and this one was straight. The saga of what came down the chimney is detailed in my earlier post. Eventually after 2 years of complaining the landlord came to check what the matter was. Surely, he should have known about this as he was the owner and had previous tenants. Did they never complain about the offerings from the chimney? He tries looking up the chimney but it is actually hard to crouch in the grate to look up. Going out he came to the conclusion that the chimney was straight and hence the problem!! I think this landlord got so many eye rolls from me.. wonder I was not permanently looking backwards.

So, we had a discussion of what could be done. I pointed out that since it was an open hole it needed a cover of sorts. The easiest would be a piece of wood or a sheet of metal nailed down would be effective. So off he went and returned with a piece of metal sheet obviously from a scrapyard as it was like a lid with lip on all 4 sides of it. Now how was he going to get it up there? I stand indoors and watch as he backs his ute up into the drive which is on the chimney side of the house. Brings it close and then opens out his step ladder on the bed of the ute. Now I went out to see if he knew what he was doing. He climbed on top of the ladder which was in the back of the ute with that metal sheet in his one hand. Then he realises that it is just a little short of what he wants but goes ahead by standing on his tiptoes all the while muttering his wife would kill him if she saw him doing this. I was thinking well she seems to be the sensible one of you two then.

Now standing on his toes he swung the sheet up on top of the chimney and of course since he had no measurements the size was not right. He had been hoping to just sit that sheet into the chimney top but it would not fit in. Now he placed it face down with the lips just the bricks at the outer edge of the hole. The he came down for the tools. I receded indoor with fingers crossed that I would not have to call an ambulance. He said he had fixed it and left in one piece and I heaved a sigh of relief. Later in the week there was a storm with gales. I was looking out of the window to see the trees swaying and I saw something flicker past the corner of my eye and a big bang. Yes, you guessed it. The precariously nailed sheet had come off the chimney and flown down to hit into the metal fence and luckily not hit anyone. It only had to be at a slightly different angle to travel into the next-door garden or even the road – a perfect weapon to decapitate someone. Needless to say, the man was back and did a repeat performance of up the ladder in the ute and this time he nailed strips of metal from the metal into the brick on 2 opposite sides and it held.

The other example is when I moved into the current home the neighbour were moving out the same day. A couple of days later I heard voices next door and looked to see 2 – 3 young men. It sounded like they were doing some odd jobs but were they really? At one point they managed to knock the glass from out of the window frame onto the drive. It was wintertime and so it gets dark pretty early. After dinner while doing the washing up my husband said what is happening, I can hear clomping on metal. Looking out of the window on to the back of the house I could see 2 men on top of the metal roof that covers the portion of the drive where one can park a car. One had a camping head lamp on which gave out meagre light. By now it is pitch dark and I thought whatever is he doing up on the roof? Next a roar of the chainsaw and we look at each other with bewilderment as to what was happening. The man than climbed the tree branches that were coming over the roof of the house and the side of the house and started pruning the tree in the pitch dark by that dim head lamp. At one point it looked as if he was cutting into the branches right where he was standing. One slip could have taken his foot off. They could have had at least the light in the veranda on.  I must have prayed hard as neither injured himself and got of the roof in one piece.

Now you know why I was questioning the logic of these guys who go into chores for which they clearly not only unqualified but have not even given it a modicum of thought to the damage they could have done to themselves and the property.

Tale of a Straight Chimney

I used to live in a house which we think was from the 1930s or 40s. It was a fab house as it had 2 layered brick walls which kept the house very cool no matter the heat outside. Even when temperatures outside reached 40C+ it never got warmer than 29C indoors. But winter it was really cold indoors. Maybe this why the builders had put in a massive fireplace. I loved the idea of this fireplace and a wrought iron grate to burn wood for the fire. While I was not going to build a fire indoors as I would not be able to do the work required to make a fire and then clean the grate and of course the smoke would have me wheezing in a minute, I loved the grate and thought I would do some dry flowers and foliage arrangements.

The first sign of trouble came when one day there was a big splat. I was sitting in the sofa next to the chimney, listening to music and reading when I was startled. It was taking me some time to get used to the various bird calls which were so loud as the front door was open, that I used to get up and do a quick round through the house to make sure no bird had got in. So, when the splat came, I jumped up to look around after all the sound had been in the room. There was a slight movement and I saw a long black lizard, the kind that is all over my garden, in the grate. I think it was dazed for it took a minute to breath before rushing off towards the door and escaping from under it.

Next happened a few days later. It rains on and off here and some days it is a mild drizzle which is what has been happening since I moved here. When I go to hoover the house, I would hoover under the grate too and could not figure out why there was dampness. Was some moisture coming down the chimney? Then we had a massive storm and next thing I know I hear the rain and think ‘wow even the rain seems to be in the house’. But better check it out so I get up and see this puddle on the floor on the other side of the coffee table. Then I see the rain pouring in through the chimney. Damn this is the first time I have seen a chimney that is built straight and so the pouring rain brings it right down into the house. I had a few words with the estate agent and got very little joy. I used to put papers in the grate and that would absorb the water when it rained. This drama went of for a couple of years before the landlord (who insisted on doing all the repairs himself) was forced to come to do something about it.

The last one was most mystifying. It was a cold grey day with rain expected later. The wind was blowing big gusts every now and then. I was quietly listening to some music and then I heard this sound that can be best described as something between a long moan and a cry. A long wwoooooooooohhhh……. It was such a sad and worry sound. By now I am tuned to run to the chimney the first thing. I stood near the grate and tried to peer up the chimney and got a full blast of that eerie moan. Now I thought maybe there is a bird trapped in there. That it may have flown in and could not just fly back out. How does one get a bird out of the chimney? Who do I call? The estate agent will probably shrug her shoulders. Do I call 000 and ask for firies to come for the bird removal? Or is it the RSPCA? I thought let me rattle a stick or the broom up the chimney and see. But if it comes inside the house down the chimney how am I going to get it to go out again?  But nothing happened except another big coooooooo. Yes, then I realised that a pigeon was sitting on the chimney looking down the hole and cooing. Did it want me to coo back? I had a chuckle and told all my friends about being serenaded down the chimney. It was back a few times over 2 years cooing at me.

Interesting things happen to come down my chimney. The current house has one but is boarded up and fortunately I do not think it is a straight one.

Visit to Leura

We made a small side trip to Leura on the way back from The Gully which is the next town from Katoomba and is on the tourist trail but we have never managed to get to it. This was an ideal chance as we were not rushed as we normally return by motorway and would be well in time to avoid any traffic jam.

We stopped at the car park in the local Woollies and took a walk up and down the high street, looking into shops as fancy took us. There was a Australian Alpaca Barn selling items make from Alpaca wool. Such soft and warm things – socks, gloves, caps, scarves, jumpers, coats – colour everywhere. The woolly cap which I liked and thought would serve me well in winter turned out to be pretty pricey. Maybe I will come back another day and get it as now we are moving into summer.

The next shop had knickknacks, jewellery, clothes (you know the hippy floaty kinds of clothes) and I saw some good dresses outside so popped in to have a closer look. Of course, I get drawn to these sheer silk kaftans like dresses – so light, so colourful, pretty prints which were kind of familiar. The shopkeeper seeing my interest said they are made from Indian saris. I said yes of course they are Kashmir silk saris as that silk is very fine and light. Another one which is pricey but I definitely will go back and get one after I have worn the dresses I have right now. Since I got the dresses out the weather has turned cooler – just my luck.

The next shop ‘Leura Fine Woodwork Gallery’ was selling carved wood products. Such beautiful bowls, pepper mills, photo frames, show pieces, sculptures, little boxes, tables and much more. I am definitely going back to buy a couple of frames, as I need to check on the size of the photos, I want to put in them. There were beautifully carved kookaburras and puzzle type boxes. All so tactile and I now really miss my collection of wood sculptures and bowls etc that I had to leave behind when I moved to Australia.

On to the next shop, just a deep breath made me feel giddy with the chocolate perfume in my nostrils. Josophan’s is a chocolate heaven and I have no words to describe the fabulous concoctions.  There were different kinds of hot chocolate and we got a chilli hot chocolate – maybe I can have some this weekend as it is going to be cold and dreary. It should cheer me up. Have a look at their webpage to see all the goodies. They also had a number of chocolate shoes, beautiful ones and also a chocolate corset with lacy design and all. Who would want to destroy and eat it? But the best thing was the new Ruby Chocolate. It is the first chocolate to be discovered in 100 years. Click here to find out more about Ruby Chocolate. It is every bit as smooth, fruity – raspberry kind, sweetness more like the dark chocolate. Definitely worth trying it. I got some little buttons and also slices with cranberry and pistachios. I must say since it is a thin piece of chocolate the cranberry tends to be dried up and pistachio does not seem to marry well with the chocolate as hazelnut does. I also got some individual pieces that shall be savoured soon enough. Walking back to the car we were happy with the purchase and mindful that the next trip would have to be planned soon.

A visit to The Gully

Going Places with Ernie Dingo – my current favourite TV series on SBS.  Ernie Dingo explores Australia's iconic destinations from the Kakadu National Park to the Great Barrier Reef. He introduces the people who live there in a symbiotic relationship with nature. Ernie is a native Australian who is very attached to his country. He meets people who share his passion with the land. He visits natural treasures and has conservation with locals and explains the tradition of aboriginal people. It is very well done, never over the top, informative and beautiful. Ernie knows a lot of stuff, especially about wildlife, history and plants and he actually connects with people. It is a gentle programme and I thoroughly enjoy the views, conversations and learning about the Aboriginal People and their culture.

The Gully

View of the valley

A couple of week’s ago he was in the Blue Mountains and that was even better as some of the places are familiar. He went to a place called The Gully (to give it it’s Aboriginal name) and this was a place we had not visited. So next week inspired by that programme we found out exactly where it was and made tracks. It is just on the edge of Katoomba. It is called Catalina Park. The traditional owners of this area as the Gundungurra and Darug peoples and they used this area as summer place. It has a water source with wild life and plants for food and medicine – an ideal place to spend hot summers. After white settlement they were forced to settle permanently here. The history states even some white people settled here but it was hard life specially in winter. Houses were made of flattened tins and any thing else they could find. Winter time they used newspaper to keep warm. I have immense respect for them as I would never have survived such conditions.

The Gully Walk

Then, in 1957 some local business men decided to make a race course there to attract tourists and forcibly removed the people. The trauma caused to the land and to the community of people who were living in and around the Gully was profound and still reverberates. The construction of the race course which actually failed to generate the expected tourism devastated the area.

Lake

Duckling

Mother keeping an Eye

On 18 May 2002 it was declared an Aboriginal Place. Today the racecourse track still exists but nature is slowly claiming back the land. There is a lake in a big depression with a path around it and a creek flowing along one side. The creek area is also swampy and the vegetation is low and covers the water to keep it from evaporating in the heat. There is a grassy area with a few benches for sitting and enjoying the peace. A perfect place for a picnic. Now there are plaques in place along ‘The Gully Walk’ around this special place depicting the tragic story of life and times of the people who lived there both Aboriginal and the white. Some of those people and their descendants are still about locally. The traditional owners along with the local council are to look after this place and conserve the area.

Flowering Grass along the race track

Flowers on the grasses

Buds on the grasses

That was the background of the place. The visit was a surprise sprung by my husband. Instead of the usual Saturday morning shopping trip I was expecting he said let’s go see The Gully. We packed some ginger beer and water in the cool bag and stopped to buy sushi for the picnic lunch. We went around the back way, that is to say not by the motorway but via Old Windsor road to Windsor, then Richmond, Kurrajong, Bilpin up Mount Tomah and then Mount Victoria, Blackheath and Katoomba. On the way we stopped to buy some fruit from the shops around the orchards in Bilpin. Some lovely apples and pears were got as well as some local honey.

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We found The Gully pretty easily and parked. Seemed there were only one or two other people there as ours was the third car there. There was quiet and the silence only pleasantly disturbed by the birds chirping in the trees. The feeling was pretty peaceful but reading the plaques about the sad history was poignant. One can almost feel the emotions due to hardships faced by those long gone. And yet there seemed hope as those people were resilient. The walk was a fairly good path with bushed and trees. I saw many which were new to us, so of course photos were taken. The lake in the middle has a pair of ducks with 6 little ducklings floating about enjoying the warm air. After a walk we sat down on the bench beside the lake to have the sushi. But by the time we had eaten one we realised there were small clouds of tiny black flies everywhere and so we decided to move to the car so as not to get added protein in the meal.

Wild strawberries

Wild Strawberries 

Flowers along the creek

Pretty blue flowers 

These look a lot like honeysuckle but of course they are not

Fern in the swamp

Finished lunch and had another little wander outside and looked at the tall trees. Then started our way back.

Beautiful Flowers

A closer look

Three shades of of green with yellow in between

Colours contrasting

Close up of flowers

Day 5 return from Barrington

We woke up to so much mist that I could not see the little hut on the other side of the river. It was cold first thing this morning and again wondered if this would lift before we left. The check-out was before 10 am and so there was no rush. There were steps leading down to river which we had not ventured down due to the rain. This morning since it was dry Paul decided to venture down and have a look at the river.

River Barrington

Local Mushrooms

He returned saying it was wet and slippery and the river was in full flow this morning. Indeed every night the noise of the river woke us up at least a couple of times. But as we made breakfast we watched the mist lifting and the sun shine on the mountains as they emerged from the mists. The early morning light making for some good pics I think.

Misty Morning 

Where is the sun?

Can see the rushing river at the bottom

Hills unveiled by the emerging sunshine

And it is a beautiful morning

Light piercing through the trees 

All bags packed and stowed into the boot and one last check before we handed over the keys and got back on the road to home. Since the day before I had been unable to get the pic of the road sign to Darawank we thought maybe we should go back down The Lakes Way and drive back through Forster. There was another motive for going down this road again. Any guesses? Oh yes the gelato shop…..

At last the famous sign

YUM YUM

One last look at the local pelican and this time the Tuncurry-Forster Bridge could be seen well and so this picture of it is my own. The one in the earlier blog was from net and it lost the colour in copying it.

Roosting

Tuncurry-Forster Bridge

Going through Booti Booti National Park this time we saw a lot of sea eagles – one or two flying and three sitting on telegraph poles but there was no place to stop to take pics. I have seen sea eagles at Gosford before and it seems they are along the coast. The Lakes Way goes along the Myall Lakes and meets up with highway at Bulahdelah. Just before we reach Bulahdelah there is The Grandis, on the western edge of Myall Lakes National Park. Here is the tallest tree in Australia. It is a 400 years old Eucalyptus Grandis or commonly known as a Flooded Gum ground circumference of 11.5 metres and 76.2m high. But the turn off was hidden and we drove past before we realised it was there. Once on the highway I offered to take over the driving for a bit as I felt guilty for not doing any driving so far. When we were going the M1 seemed to seamlessly turn into Pacific Highway as you turn from Maitland to go north. But returning back we accidently got on to the road to Newcastle instead of turning towards Maitland. Ah well…. we got to see parts of Newcastle which we wound not have seen otherwise. Fortunately there was a city bypass route that took us back to M1.

We had decided to stop at Ourimbah which is the exit just before Gosford for lunch. However, with the unwanted detour and roadworks we did not get to Ourimbah till about 2 pm. Once before we had stopped here for a break and visited the garden centre that is just off the exit. It is a lovely place to stop and have a cup of tea and cake. This time it was an orange and poppy seed cake for me and Paul had raspberry one. Since we had ice creams in the morning it did not matter that we missed lunch and went straight to tea as nothing else was left in the café.

The rest of the drive was easy and routine as we have often driven down this part of the M1. We hit the school time and so the progress was slow. Reached home about 4 30 pm and waved to next door neighbour that we were back!

Day 4 at Barrington

Yesterday had been a full day but with sunshine and warm temperatures. The night had brought yet more rain with the murmuring of the river getting louder all the time. There is an odd cackle of kookaburra coming through the closed windows, with the day light attempting to lighten the gloom of the still dark clouds while I savoured my first cup of tea. It was going to be a gloomy rainy day after all? I was quite prepared to stay put as this is also the first time I am out on the day I take my chemo. Most chemo days I am kind of OK at least for the morning with some rumbling of the stomach issues. Going out today was a definite challenge and the mood was- let’s see how far I manage to stay up.

Barrington River Crossing

While having the porridge – by now Paul had mastered the ‘tucker fucker’ (I just heard this new slang for microwave and could not resist adding it here… it is funny, apt and colourful!) and so no porridge was wasted, we decided to go further up the coast as travelling longer on the highway would not take up a lot of time. So as per usual come half past nine cool bag with blood orange drink was packed; also I get pretty cold when I take Methotrexate and since it was already a cool morning I decided to add trousers and a long sleeves top and a warmer top into the bag – better be prepared than to get cold when the fever spikes; and off we went.

Low clouds over Bucketts Mountains

Thunderbolts Way from Barrington to Gloucester

By now the roads were familiar and getting to the highway was fairly quick with very little traffic on the smaller roads. From Nabiac we picked up the Pacific Highway and went north, past Possum Brush and Rainbow Flat, towards Taree. But this time we bypassed Taree and moved further up the coast passing Cundletown, Ghinni Ghinni and Jones Island. As we came up to Jones Island the heavens opened again and we feared this looked set for the day. There was not a break in the clouds but I had to have faith it would not last long. We considered the possibility that we might have to turn back as we have done a time or two when the rain did not allow us even to stop. But by the time we got to Coopernook after which we turn off on to scenic drive route to Harrington – Crowdy Head, the rain was gone and the sun back out.

This route took us to Harrington which is at the mouth of Manning River and on to the Crowdy Head that is at the headland. Harrington is a small seaside town which extends into the Harrington Beach State Park. Since it was early we decided to go up to the Crowdy Head first and look around before returning to Harrington in time for lunch. The road is through the rainforest, beautiful and peaceful. I did not realise that there was actually a small community in this place. The views from the road side are stunning and the Crowdy Bay appears never ending. There is a surfing club and of course the marina.

Crowdy Head Marina

The Lone Ranger?

We drove round the headland and the road round the few houses and saw that we could turn right and be back closing the loop. Now usually we have seen the map and got a good idea what was there but for some unknown reason we had failed to see there was a lighthouse there. Usually the lighthouses at headlands are unmissable but this one was just round the corner from where we turned off and with no signs for the lighthouse either we missed it all together. What a shame!

Crowdy Head Bay

Windy Crowdy Head 

Crowdy Head Bay

The way back along the Crowdy Head Road to Harrington took us to Beach Road where literally the beach starts. We decided to stop at the fish and chips shop right there rather than go into the town. Then we sat in the carpark at the edge of water and had our lunch washed down with blood orange drink. At this point the Manning River joins the Tasman Sea. There is a big sandbar right across the mouth and has a breakwall that goes across the water demarcating the shallow sandbar area to protect the entry channel for shipping. There is a gap in the breakwall with a bridge across which allows the water to flow into this man made lagoon.

Beautiful Pine tree

Harrington

While eating we watched the pelicans and pied cormorants and the first pair of black swans in NSW. There was a wooden sculpture, which is painted instead of carved, of the man who built the first school there with flotsam.  

Black Swans

Pelican again

Sitting to avoid the wind

Who goes there?

More Pelicans Arrive

Esmond (Essie) Hogan

We decided to move the car down the road to be able to go for a walk on the causeway. There were more sculptures at the carpark here depicting the people who used this area as port. Walk along the breakwall was very pleasant. The different colours of water on both sides of the breakwall as well as over different areas of sandbar; the common tern and little tern diving so beautifully and gracefully into the water and catching fish; pelicans that were catching the wind and surprised us by gliding sideways just out of hand reach of us; and watching the rush of water through the opening in the breakwall.

The Breakwall

Sandbar with seagulls

Pilots at Pilot Hill

More sculptures

On the lookout

Are you coming?

Nope am staying put!

Sandbar

Waves crashing into the sandbar

The sign has its own solar panel

Water flowing though the gap in the breakwall

Bye Bye Pelicans

This short walk was I think the end of my ability to function as I totally flagged. Back in the car, I slept all the way back to the cottage. I was helped back in and spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV. Now you would think that was it for this day’s fun but no there was more to come. I had been looking forward to being out in the countryside and with little light pollution being able to see the beautiful starry skies at night. But as you know by now the rain every night had put a kibosh to that. However this night the Gods were smiling and the clouds lifted as it got darker. Oh yea we found we had a neighbour in the next cottage and of course they had the veranda lights on! But oh boy the stars… sooooo many stars….. that never get seen in the city. I always used to see Orion when I lived in the northern hemisphere and had not quite managed to see it here. It was such a joy to see it again brighter than ever seen before. I wish it had been dry outside, I would have loved to lie in the grass and just watch the stars, me thinks one could almost see that band – the milky way! Looking out of the window on to the other side of the cottage the twinkling stars through the tree there could almost be mistaken for a Christmas tree light up with twinkling lights. Closing my eyes that night with the image of the stars on my retina….blisss!