Colours

After our tacos, Brent dropped Liesel and me off near our b&b, thank you very much! It had been raining on and off most of the day, and we were delighted to see a rainbow at the end of the day.

I’m sure the apartments in that building, Casa Delmar, will be lovely: Alfresco living finds its ultimate expression as doors slide back to large outdoor terraces, extending your interior space and blurring the lines between inside and out. These are homes with a beautiful feel, designed for an expansive coastal Dee Why lifestyle. It sounds nearly as nice as NortNorthen. Expansive? I’m sure. Expensive too.

You know the song Come On, Eileen, by Dexys Midnight Runners? Well, for the last few days, I’ve been telling Liesel that when we turn the AC off in our room, it plays the first two notes of that song. To prove it, I found it on YouTube. And well, it doesn’t. But it certainly brings that song to mind every time.

We returned to Warringah Mall to do some shopping but Liesel took a detour into the eyelash tinting shop, so I had a coffee in the café opposite, The Best Chocolate Cake in the World. I didn’t have any chocolate cake, though.

It was great fun visiting all the department stores and clothes shops, no, honest, it really was. And every time we visit the ladies’ underwear department, I worry that I’m going to be stuck there for days, not finding my way out, like those priests in Father Ted.

Helen and Keiran joined us for lunch and a bit more shopping. A cuddly giraffe was irresistable, just a small cuddly for Keiran. I say small, but it must be nearly four feet tall. Did I feel daft carrying it through the Mall? Oh yeah.

At the time of writing, he hasn’t been given a name. 

Helen dropped us off at the bottom of the hill, so we could cool off in our room for a while, avoiding 31° outside.

We found our way back to Freshwater Brewery by bus and Shanks’s Pony. One thing I’ve noticed is that, because so many cars have tinted windows, it’s sometimes very hard to see whether the driver is waving us pedestrians across the road. So we hesitate and they’re probably thinking, get a move on, you absolute whatever…

It was trivia night, and we were joined by Brent, Jacqui, Nat, Jo, Mike and Nicky. Helen and Keiran stayed at home, it was much cooler there. And our team came third. hooray!

Our original plan was to revisit Narrabeen Lake but the impending rain changed our minds. Instead, Liesel and I visited the big city, Sydney. We caught the ferry from Manly.

The nets here are to keep the sharks out rather than keep people in. But, we heard, a couple of days ago, a pair of sharks managed to break in. There must have been some damage to the nets. So neither of us went in for a swim.

In Sydney, there was very light drizzle, as we walked to the Australian Museum.

Look at the glorious blue sky. Well, not today! And note the 56 external cables wrapped around the body of Sydney Tower to prevent swaying during high winds. Very hard to count from this distance.

The museum was very interesting. We walked a lot but, as usual, that slow sort of walking isn’t energetic enough for my pedometer to count all the steps. So while I probably walked about 40,000 ⃰  steps, it insisted I’d only taken about 3,000 steps.

⃰ slight exaggeration.

Lots of taxidermied animals including crocodiles and snakes. Don’t forget the plesiosaur. Or the creaky staircase that takes you up to the gallery.

And what’s that thing hanging from the ceiling?

Ireland, Middle Pleistocene to Early Holocene, 780,000-8000 years ago.

Standing about two metres tall, with antlers spanning more than three metres, the Irish Elk was one of the most impressive megafauna of the Pleistocene epoch. Unlike many other megafauna, it survived the Ice Age but became extinct, probably due to habitat loss, around 7700 years ago.

Despite its name, it’s neither an elk nor exclusively Irish – specimens have been found across Europe and in northern Asia and Africa. It is not closely related to any living species, but it is suspected that the animal was the foundation for the folkloric aurochs of German mythology. The bones of this specimen are dark, rather than the usual white, because they were preserved in the peaty bogs of Ireland.

Liesel suggested that its antlers have been put on backwards, but I’m not convinced. What do you think? Answers on a postcard…

The museum was also the venue for a fabulous collection of photographs, some of the best from Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Nature at its most raw wasn’t very nice to see, although you have to admire the skill of the photographer.

This emu was captured near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. It made me want to return to that very special outback town. I was also inspired to start using my real camera again, after relying on my phone’s camera for many years.

The set of sea stacks pictured are a prominent feature of this local spot, sitting perfectly to frame the rising Milky Way arm. This piece was my (Kavan’s) second attempt at shooting here, armed with a few extra years’ worth of experience. I still love this spot, Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand.

I know we’re visitors, but sometimes, other visitors can be annoying. I waited a long, long time to get this picture of a pig. Because another couple spent a long, long time while he took a picture of her while she touched the hog’s nose.

When you rub my nose and make a wish, your donation supports research, education and development at Sydney Hospital. Australia’s first hospital. So says the plaque underneath.

We walked back down to Circular Quay where we enjoyed an Aboriginal gentleman playing his didgeridoo, accompanying the theme tune from the TV series Neighbours.

We walked around by the Opera Hose, admired the groups of people climbing up and over the Harbour Bridge and confirmed again that we don’t need to do that, thank you very much.

On the ferry back to Manly, we overtook the Concordia-class cruise ship Carnival Splendor. I don’t think I’ll ever not be impressed by the size of those things, and the amount of skill needed in their design and construction. I doubt many of the passengers noticed how choppy the water was in the harbour this afternoon. But we on the ferry enjoyed bouncing around a bit.

Meanwhile, 10,560 miles away, guess who deserves a pat on the back?

William earned the Chief Scout’s Bronze
Award, congratulations and well done!

Liesel and I picked up dinner from a Dodgy Indian and we Ubered back to Helen’s. Is that a verb? Yes, it is now. But, no, really, the place is called The Dodgy Indian, in Dee Why. Of course, there was too much food for one meal but Helen and Brent were happy to have seconds the following day. Very nice, though, very tasty.

On going down for breakfast in the morning, we were horrified to see an invasion in the kitchen. What I thought was one of those black bits off the end of a banana was actually a caterpillar. I relocated it to the garden, assuming it had hitched a ride indoors the previous day, on the laundry basket or something. The only other bug I ever saw in this b&b was a small mosquito which I managed to catch. Yes! And then when I opened my hand to inspect it, it flew away again. Oh well.

Helen drove us to Narrabeen for the hike postponed from yesterday. Before walking around the Lagoon, we had coffee and Helen fed Keiran.

Some of the well-made, flat path was familiar, we’d been here a couple of years ago, but I’d forgotten how close much of it was to the main road.

We weren’t alone, we passed by several dog-walkers, plenty of runners and a few other people walking. There were just a few birds in the water, including black swans. We saw one fish jump. But most noticeable on the way around the lagoon was realising that the vegetation was mostly green, with just the odd splash of colour, mainly small, almost alpine flowers.

The bridges were very well built, crossing all the creeks, Deep Creek, Middle Creek, South Creek and Jonathan Creek. I thought I was back in Manchester for a minute when I spotted a red, plastic object, likely a bread basket, in the water. What a shame. Even though it was cloudy and cool, quite a pleasant temperature really, I realised I was a bit sweaty by the time we sat down for lunch in the Tramshed Café.

As you can see, Keiran enjoyed the walk and was pleased to have a nap at the end.