family – Page 9 – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Cassowaries and cake

It’s very nearly a week since her birthday, but Martha is still stuffing her face with cake. Well, it’s not every day you turn 8 years of age.

At the bus stop, I was surprised to see that once again, I am being used in an advertising campaign. The nice people have slightly adjusted my age in the right direction, but I think I look pretty good, here.

On the ferry, I tried to get a nice photo of Liesel’s Mom with the Opera House in the background. I was hampered by the presence of other pesky passengers also looking for that perfect photo opportunity.

It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day for a walk towards the Opera House and then into the Royal Botanic Gardens. There were plenty of people here, just lying on the grass, either soaking up the rays or staying safe in the shade of the trees.

This sculpture was constructed over many years by visitors to the Gardens. They were invited to bring along a white pebble and place it on top. A few rogues brought darker stones, hence the pattern. Then one day, the Governor of New South Wales said, ‘that’ll do’, and visitors weren’t allowed to add any more rocks. Well, in lieu of a plaque telling us the true story behind this object, and despite several ~~hours~~ minutes research not being able to pin down the true story, that will indeed have to do.

But hooray for this sundial, which was telling the correct time, using the equation of time provided. If I had a wrist watch, I could safely have reset its time.

Acorns drew our attention to this tree. The leaves are definitely not oak leaves as we know them, but this is an oak tree. Quercus ilex. Holm Oak or Holly Oak from Southwestern Europe. One of the hardiest evergreen oaks, it thrives in all types of well drained soil and is particularly valuable for coastal plantings. As well as tolerating shade, it responds well to clipping and is suitable for hedging. The variety rotundifola has edible acorns. A bit chewy and nutty, and bits do get stuck between your teeth, but ideal for a spontaneous picnic in, for example, botanic gardens.

This tree is from north-east Queensland, restricted to the tops of the higher mountains from Thornton Peak and the Windsor Tableland south to Mt Bartle Frere at 1000-1500 m. This species can be grown as a ‘normal’ tree but it frequently occurs growing on other trees or on granite boulders. Planted in October 1988. I’m so glad I memorised all that.

Here’s another, rather stunning, sculpture that, at first, you don’t realise is in two parts. Very well done.

We didn’t think there’d be any chance of seeing a cassowary out in the wild, in this part of the country, but we spotted this chap in the bushes.

Somehow, Liesel identified this as some kind of banana tree, but then most people are better botanists than I am. And she was correct, it’s a hairy banana or pink banana, but currently bearing no fruit.

We walked as far as Mrs Macquaries Point where we enjoyed a refreshing gelato. Other than a big spider and what I hope was a bandicoot but might have been a rat, running across the path, plus a few birds, we didn’t encounter any wildlife.

Opera House eclipsing the Harbour Bridge

Did I mention birds? Here is photographic evidence of why bin chickens are so called.

A peaceful ferry ride back to Manly was interrupted by a very loud alarm going off for a very long time. When it stopped, a crew member reminded us that we’re not allowed to smoke or vape anywhere on the vessel. I think someone was caught puffing away and the alarm was left to run for so long to hide the perpetrator’s screams as they were keel-hauled.

And another thing: why do many vapers pursue their addiction so surreptitiously? They always seem to be looking around, as if to gauge how many people are watching them, whether in admiration or in disgust and dismay.

Liesel and I and Helen met up with Rob and Nat and their children at 7th Day Brewery, where we ate and drank and chatted. I even remembered to take pictures of people, some of whom were more cooperative than others, right, Sebby?!

At the brewery, I was surprised to see that I am being recognised and celebrated by having a brand of rosé named after me. How cool is that? I had a glass, and it’s very nice, very tasty.

Get your skates on! That was the message delivered to Martha on her birthday. So she did.

More protective gear than an American Football Player’s stunt double. Don’t look here for grazed knees and broken elbows!

We were a bit wary of visiting Taronga Zoo on a day during the school holidays. But it wasn’t too crowded, and we had a great day. We bumped into Nat and Hamish before we went in, expecting to see them later on, but they successfully managed to avoid us 😉 We were definitely meeting up with Helen and Brent, but they were slightly delayed. So Liesel and Leslie went in while I waited outside to meet them. Then Helen sent a message telling us to go in, so I went in too.

After visiting this rather attractive endangered frog, I went around the corner to see the koalas. Liesel and I had the following WhatsApp chat:

Liesel: On our way to Australia section
(Corroboree frog and koalas are here, so I, quite reasonably, thought this was the Aussie section)
Mick: Koalas?
Liesel: Yup, just finishing koalas
Do you want us to wait
Mick: l’m just behind then!
(and then when I couldn’t see them anywhere)
Or maybe not
What’s your grid reference?
Liesel: I don’t have a map. I’m between the
kangaroos and dingoes

Then I realised. No kangaroos nor dingoes here. We were looking at a different group of koalas. I deduced that after passing through the entrance, Liesel and Mom had turned left, whereas I’d turned right. And it was pure coincidence that we were looking at koalas at the same time. And all very cute, of course.

I walked towards the official Australia section, passing by a family of ring-tailed lemurs have a bit of argy-bargy.

We soon met up with Helen and Brent by the floral clock and close by, we attempted to see the cassowary. A real one this time. He was there, hiding in the bushes. On the other hand, the capybara didn’t mind posing for a picture.

We enjoyed two shows. During one, we were introduced to some well-trained seals. Liesel in particular was glad we were sitting at the back, because the front row did get splashed a couple of times when the seals jumped about in the water.

At the bird show, an owl flew very low over us in the audience, we could feel the draught.

No idea what was going on with the tigers, but one was in the naughty room pacing up and down. Another was sleeping on top of a jeep in which children were pretending to drive through the jungle.

The lions were entertaining, well, once the male woke up and decided to go for a wander with his fou⁰r lionesses.

After lunch, Helen and Brent left. I forget that some people have to go to work, now that every day’s a holiday for me. I couldn’t think of anything I needed from the hairdressers’ wholesaler that was Helen’s next port of call.

The rhinoceroses were great. And I could see where South Africa got the idea for its current flag from.

Other highlights include:

From which all modern day chickens are descended. Not this particular one, but in general.

The baby fell rather than jumped into the water, to be with Mum.

We’d seen the sealion earlier at the Seal Show, so he was now having a well-deserved rest. He wasn’t about to move anywhere. But he did twitch his eyebrows as we walked by. Sorry mate, no fish in my pockets today.

Let me know if you would like to see one of the 101 photos I have of the penguins with their heads missing. Especially if you like seeing the rings on their feet.

We were tired from the walking and the Sun so we were glad to arrive home after two ferries and a taxi from Manly.

Red, white and Blue

Our final morning at the eco resort, and we were invited to help feed the emus again. And again, we counted them, each of us arriving at different totals, but Mark was happy that they were all present and correct.

The fox bait had been taken, so out there somewhere, there’s a fox with tummy ache who’ll probably vomit the poisoned liver up, and his mate will eat it. Not very nice, but we don’t want foxes attacking the emus, and of course, they shouldn’t be here in Australia in the first place.

Helen and Brent departed first, having a lunch date back in the Hunter Valley. The rest of us took a little longer eating breakfast, packing, and loading the car. Wendy and Mark came by to say farewell. We look forward to seeing them at this Dark Sky Eco Resort again.

We had deliberated for a long time, and in the end, we decided to give the Blue Mountains another chance. We always pass by a few dead animals on the side of the road, but today, Liesel saw an echidna walk by on the verge.

We stopped in Coolah for a coffee, in a very old fashioned coffee shop, probably not decorated since the 1950s. I walked over to the local library to use their facilities, and it was staffed by a lovely volunteer. I could easily have spent an hour or more browsing the shelves.

Google Maps sometimes likes to take us the non-obvious way, because it thinks we’re saving 6 inches distance or 5 seconds travel time. And today was no exception. We turned off the paved road onto a gravel track. This is exciting enough but when a herd of sheep crossed the road in front of us, we cheered heartily.

Then we turned a corner onto a proper red dirt road, mostly straight, and quite narrow, we’re glad we didn’t encounter any vehicles driving towards us.

When we parked up, we were amazed at how filthy dirty the car was. Oops.

We were here at Hands on the Rock, off Ulan Road near Turill, to see some really old Aboriginal rock paintings. The path started off gently, and, as we made progress, it became steeper and steeper, and eventually, we had to clambour up some rocks and steps. It was a challenge for all of us.

It took a while for any of us to see the hands and the drawings, but once our vision had tuned in properly, we could see dozens of hand prints, some small enough to have been a child’s, plus depictions of animals. I bet when they chewed on their ochre and gum and water to spray over their hands, they never thought people, white people even, would be admiring their art thousamds of years later.

I remember at school using this technique to make handprints, only we just chewed on charcoal and water. Very nice, very tasty.

As well as the old artwork, we enjoyed studying the geology of the place for a while.

Back on the road, we passed lots of cattle and a few more sheep. We saw a 1950s car for sale: $8000. Bargain. As long as it doesn’t fall apart as soon as you look at it.

Mount Piper power station is coal-powered, destined to close in 2040, but the infrastucture in place to move coal from the collieries to the power station is amazing: long conveyor belts all over the countryside.

We stopped for a toilet break and Liesel and I both enjoyed the bird singing inside. Only it wasn’t real. It was a recording of the critically endangered regent honeyeater, of which there are only about 300 in the wild.

We saw some amazing views on the way too: the last time we passed this way, it had been precipitating quite a lot.

On previous visits to Australia, when a vehicle like this has approached us, we’ve waved at the other driver. Not an exuberant shaking of the arm, but a more subtle wave, the Aussie wave. This entails keeping hold of the steering wheel and lifting the index finger of the right hand. And it’s always delightful when the other driver reciprocates with the same gesture. But for some reason, we’ve forgotten to wave this time, and they must think we’re very rude.

Another thing I miss is the corrugated roads that Sarah and I encountered on our first visit in 1986. We were then advised to find the optimum, most comfortable, speed in the campervan, and stick to it. As I remember, our van only took flight once, but nothing was broken on landing.

After a long drive, we arrived at our home for one night only in Leura. No more dirt tracks for us today. We discussed going through a car wash, but it never happened.

Liesel and Leslie shared room 109 while I styed in room 108. It was nice being in room 108 again. That was my room number in Queen Mary Hall of Residence when I was a student all those years ago. This room 108 was probably tidier and less stinky than the original one, shared with another teenage boy.

We ate at a Thai place in Leura, not being able to remember where we’d eaten the last time we stayed in this small town.

After breakfast and checking out, we headed straight for the Three Sisters. Rain wasn’t forecast at all, but you never know. In passing, we had a chance to see more of Katoomba too, including a visit to a fabulous bakery, recommended by everyone. I apologise to the youg lady serving: I may have stared at her prodigious face piercings and tattoos a little too long. So glad I didn’t have a neodymium magnet in my pocket, she might have come at me face first.

We walked down the path towards the Three Sisters. Which meant we had to walk back up again. Still, it was good too see the rocks in full colour, not through too much cloud like last time.

The kind lady at our new favourite coffee emporium, Roasters with Altitude, seemed pleased to see us on our return visit. And yes, we enjoyed her coffee again. And we chatted with another customer for a while before driving further along the road to Evans Lookout for another short walk. On another occasion, we might have attempted the Grand Canyon Walk, but we really didn’t have enough time (nor oomph) today. But at least two people had just returned, and they were glowing with excitement and with perspiration.

We’ve been to Govett’s Leap before but the lookout seemed a lot more developed than last time. Still a spectacular view, of course.

You were wondering about Autumn colours. Blackheath was looking pretty again.

Navigating through Sydney was hard: long tunnels and of course Google Maps lost its GPS signal, so when we emerged into the real world, we weren’t where Google thought we were. So let’s just say we followed a more touristy route through the city than planned.

On the way back to Helen’s, we stopped off at Manly where I met Bambi with the croissants specially baked for her in Katoomba. Then another slight detour via Brent’s place, where we gave Helen the two loaves of bread specially baked for her in Katoomba. Then another slight detour via the Mall where I picked up my newly repaired shorts and enjoyed walking around Aldi while Liesel did some shopping.

We only had the white hire car for a few more hours, so a day trip north to Palm Beach seemed like a good idea. Well, it was Saturday, during school holidays, and what was a good idea for us was also a good idea for everyone else. Having been on empty roads for so long lately, it was a nasty shock to be driving slowly, in lots of traffic. Such a difference.

After a walk along the beach, we sat down for a rest. Leslie decided to take up pipe smoking.

A jetfoiler is a watercraft equipped with hydrofoils that uses an electric motor or motors for propulsion. We saw a couple in action off Palm Beach. Yes, I’d like to have a go. But what happens when I fall off, and the vessel disappears into the distance?

Some small planes flew over, but this time, we didn’t witness any landing in the water. I’d like to have a go at that too. Well, I say that, but today, we didn’t even have the courage (nor the oomph) to walk up the path to the lighthouse, there were so many other, let’s say younger and fitter, people almost running up that hill.

Liesel and I had walked to Whale Beach before, but this time we drove. And I was surprised to see how steep some of the hills were that we’d previously tramped up. The surf was really up here, so the beach was closed. I think the sign meant, don’t go in the water rather than onto the beach itself. Liesel and I walked along, enjoying the sensation of sand on our feet again and exfoliating my heels.

Sometimes the sea is tempting, but even without the warning signs, not today. And indeed, I think we only saw three people in the water altogether.

In Avalon, we had lunch at a nice, small café before setting off to return our car, hoping the petrol gauge didn’t dip below F for Full.

On the road up to and back from Palm Beach, we’d been entertained by the many hand-made signs passing on greetings to friends and family. ‘Klay and Mady: Happy Wedding Day’, ‘Happy Birthday, Norm’ and many more.

Over the road from the car rental place, is Stony Range Regional Botanic Gardens. We’d been before with Pauline and Andew, and today we returned with Leslie. It was quieter today, being Saturday, no construction work next door. On the other hand, the birds were much quieter too, and the dominant sound was that of the traffic on the main road. Still, it was nice and cool in here, under the canopy.

And, in really exciting news, we saw a couple of koalas out in the wild. As you can imagine, Leslie in particular was delighted.

Emus and a Horsehead

After breakfast, Mark and Wendy came by in a golf buggy to give us a tour of the emu farm and their wider property. Helen and I drove golf buggies too, for the first time ever, so that was an adventure.

Mark told us about the volcanic activity that has taken place here, over millions of years, and about the indigenous peoples’ use of the land. He took photos and videos of our tour, but that didn’t stop me sneaking a few pictures too, when I could.

The altitude and the ironstone makes this an ideal location for lightning strikes, and this tree’s been hit a few times over the years.

Liesel, Mick and Leslie modelling the golf buggy

At one point, we had a go at water divining. Yes, we detected water 30 metres below the surface, and I have no idea why two bent lengths of old fence wire would twitch in that way. I was surprised it worked for me, I’m usually sceptical about these things. Spooky.

This eco resort is carbon neutral and it was interesting to see the power supply. Solar panels, batteries and a generator. Mark and Wendy have plans in place in case of a bush fire, including release of the animals and a secure room in which Mark can stay for a couple of days.

One thing I wasn’t too keen on was the swarm of wasps hanging around near the dunny.

As we were about to feed the emus, Brent got down on one knee. I don’t think he’d lost a contact lens, but we had been warned to leave all our jewellery behind, because the emus quite like shiny things. So off came my wedding ring and out came the nipple piercings.

And just a few metres away, Liesel was making friends with one of the birds.

A few of the emus have names, but not all: 70+ monikers would be hard to come up with, never mind remember. But they are delightful creatures, very friendly, like most Aussies really, and feeding them was great fun. You hold out a tub of grain and four or five gather round and have a jolly good feed. Thanks for the photo, Mark.

During the course of our tour, I think we learned enough about feeding emus, looking after them, incubating and hatching the eggs, that we could probably start our own emu farm. Each emu has a microchip embedded in their neck within a couple of days of hatching, for identification.

There had been a lot less rain here than further south, and I noticed that most of the creeks we passed on the drive to Coona were bone dry. One creek was populated by a cow standing in one of its two puddles. Here in the emu hive, what is sometimes a nice big pond, I imagine, was just a mud pool today. That didn’t stop some of the birds from having a wallow.

After this, of course, we had to be careful who we cuddled. The muddiest emu decided to have a shake right next to our buggy. Having muddy seats on a golf buggy was not on our bingo card for this trip, but there’s a first time for everything.

Liesel and I would love to see a wombat in the wild but here, they’re not so welcome.

Other wildlife that has a taste for emus includes foxes and black panthers. Yes, there are panthers. And I don’t mean the rugby league football team with that name. Nor the American black power organisation from the 1970s. Mark showed us what was left of an emu that had been consumed in one go by a panther, just the leg bone, really. We also saw photographic evidence of big cat paw prints in the sand nearby.

A short distance away, we drove to and walked down into a dry creek. We later saw photos of fast running water in this location, powerful enough to carry away a bench that Mark had carved out from a fallen log.

After the really enjoyable, entertaining, informative and educational tour of the property, we decided to drive back to Coonabarabran for lunch. 2 x fish and chips and 2 x pizza. One of the pizzas was shared. But I was delighted to see this very futuristic post office, constructed in the year 2357.

The town is on a main highway, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that the peace was somewhat spoiled by the number and size of road trains passing through. Good job the road’s straight, it must be quite a skill learning how to turn corners in those things.

Liesel took Leslie back to the lodge while Helen, Brent and I went for a very short walk in town. This delightful creature landed in front of us on the pavement, and stayed still long enough for a picture.

On returning to the lodge, we had a bit of a nap. In the evening, we drove over to Mark and Wendy’s observatory where we observed some objects in the very dark sky: Jupiter and the Galilean moons, Betelgeuse, and some nebulae. The five of us took it in turns to look through the telescope, walking round and round inside the dome. All we needed was some music, really, so we knew when to stop. Half-heartedly, I tried to take a photo through the ‘scope with my phone, but there wasn’t enough time. In fact, the only decent picture I took this evening was:

Helen, Brent, Liesel and I spent some time in the hot tub back at the lodge. H & B were drinking wine, whereas L & I enoyed miniature bottles of Scotch. A great way to relax at the end of a busy and fascinating day.

I’d mentioned to Mark that at university, I’d studied Maths and Astronomy. During the course of the last couple of days, he’d promoted me to the position of Professional Astronomer. I didn’t immediately disabuse him 😉

Mark gave us a memory stick with all the pictures and videos he’d taken today, plus videos of more general interest about the solar system, the Aboriginal concept of time and much, much more. We sat on the sofas while Mark took us through the universe, and he played our videos too.

In the morning, I got up before 6am in the hope of seeing Saturn and Venus before sunrise. But I was already too late, the sky was too bright. That’s disappointing, but no big deal. What is a big deal is that Liesel got up with me and she didn’t appreciate the early morning (mis)adventure!

I can’t praise this place enough, nor the hosts, so click here to visit the resort’s own website.

When we got up the second time today, Helen had cooked us breakfast: the recipe was Liesel’s grandmother’s chilli egg frittata dish. It was delicious.

Mark came by to take us out to feed the emus, not by hand this time, but their main feed of the day. And boy, were those emus excited, running up and down the paddock pretty much as soon as they heard the golf buggy. When they’re running, especially in a group, they do remind us of the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. They really are living dinosaurs. The effect is enhanced when they’re running alongside the buggies. Magic!

Running with the emus

On returning to the lodge, Helen immediately jumped in the trough, no, not the trough, into the hot tub. Liesel and Leslie sat on the sofas outside, pretending not to fall asleep.

After a lunch of snacks, we set off for Siding Spring Observatory, about a 20-minute drive away, up in the mountains. From the top, you can apparently see 200 km in each direction.

We joined a larger than expected party for a tour of the site. One of the first things the guide pointed out was a large web built by a golden orb spider. Nothing special, I thought, as I looked at the small spider in the corner. Then, a lady moved out of my line of view to reveal the much larger, female, golden orb. The smaller one in the corner was just a male, living dangerously.

More interesting, to me, at least, was the large telescope, the 1.2 metre Schmidt.

For scale, here’s our guide who provided a good commentary, nothing too technical. You’ll notice he’s carrying a snake venom first aid kit. We saw signs telling us to look out for snakes. Well, I looked out but didn’t see any. I came up with a totally original idea for a movie, though: Snakes at an Observatory.

While walking around Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope, we learned that the 2-metre Ritchey Chretien telescope, used for research, can be controlled from anywhere in the world. I thought, I might have a go at that when I get home!

Many of the telescopes on the site are owned or operated by overseas research teams, from Japan, Korea, Hungary, UK, even Russia. Since a bush fire threatened in 2013, the social aspect of the place has been greatly reduced, with many more astronomers working remotely. Which is a shame, really.

The dome containing the 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian telescope is quite impressive. Inside the building, a lift took us up to the 4th floor from where we gazed in awe at the instrument. Well, I did, anyway.

Just think: if things had worked out differently, and I really had become a Professional Astronomer, I might well have been working here at some point. This is still one of the best optical telescopes in the world.

That’s not a bad picture, is it? Taken with my own phone camera. Of course, it’s a photo of a photo taken with the AAT.

I was still feeling a little embarrassed for being told off earlier, when I lovingly placed my hand on a telescope.

Quite rightly, the guide didn’t want us bashing the delicate instrument, but I’m sure my gentle caress wouldn’t cause any damage.

Liesel took Leslie home, and I was given a lift by Brent and Helen, tyvm. We took coffee with us, made in a very leisurely manner by the man in the shop, who could well have been our guide’s aged father.

We detoured via Mark and Wendy’s observatory where we’d been last night.

And to think, we climbed through that little door a couple of times last night, in the dark, and I did so without injuring my back. It pays to move slowly while contorting in such places. I’ve learned my lesson.

Back at home, Liesel made a pasta dish that was well received by everyone, thank you very much, after which we sat around chatting for a while, drinking wine or whisky or water. I don’t think any deep family secrets were shared, but I was worried when Liesel drank so much: she has been known to tell stories…

Orange to Coonabarabran

We woke up and, given the recent weather conditions, we actually paid attention to the local news. There are over a hundred flood warnings in the Sydney suburbs and beyond. Of particular interest to us was the news that people living in the low-lying areas around Narrabeen Lagoon have been told to evacuate.

We had a most enjoyable walk around the lagoon just over a week ago. One of the flats in Helen’s block flooded too, but we don’t know whether rain came in through an open window or water entered in some other way. Luckily, Helen had been home and closed all her own windows. Annoyingly, the new cover for her garden furniture wasn’t totally waterproof: at least one of the cushions is totally saturated. Plus, Helen had to drive through inches of flood water to drive away from Brent’s place in the morning. I know we’ve complained a lot about all that rain, but at least we haven’t been directly affected by flooding.

Here in Orange, the rain stopped overnight and we drove to Mount Canobolas for the view. Well, high up, we were again basically in a big cloud. We didn’t see much. But we did read a very sad folk tale which I committed to memory. The phone’s memory, that is.

So back down the mountain we went, to Lake Canobolas. Which is dammed at one end and leaking slightly. I think that’s the technical term.

We started to walk around the lake, and after checking that the path did indeed go all the way round, we enjoyed completing the circuit. Not the most exciting specimen, I know, but it was interesting to see grubs nearly as big as our feet. I wonder what they will eventually metamorphose into? In any case, we decided this would not be dinner.

The Molong Creek feeds the lake, and it was one of the places at risk of flooding higher up towards its source, and that might have affected our route choice in the next couple of days. In the end, there was no such issue for us. Just as there was no problem crossing the bridge here.

There was some birdlife on the lake, a few coots and ducks, plus a pair of herons way over there on an island. There must have been fish too, we passed a small group of anglers.

From the café, we bought coffee to take away with us. And I noticed again that some places, on Sundays and bank holidays, add a 10 or 15% surcharge to their prices. I always think, that’s alright as long as the actual workers reap the benefit. And it seems they do: at one place last week, the staff member said she was working for double pay that day, so, fair enough.

Helen had taken us to Heifer Station Wines a few years ago and, having had our wine-tasting appetites whetted last week, we thought we’d pay a return visit taking Leslie too. We arrived and were seated at a high bar table and over the next hour, we sampled six wines accompanied by a cheese platter. And yes, we did buy a couple of bottles to take away.

To me, it’s either white or red wine, with or without bubbles. But when you can compare similar wines, you can see they’re a very slightly different colour. And both very gentle on the palate. “Not just a shiraz, but a sexy one. This wine displays a real elegance of how shiraz thrives in a cool climate. Abundant pepper fills the nose A complex amalgum of plum, blackberry and graphite spice fill the palate. Some leafy herb & black olive underpin the black currant and blackberry fruit characters. A soft texture and a plentiful palate, make this a Heifer Station favourite.” I told our host that I just can’t smell all the different components listed in the blurb. He said he can’t either, but then he’d broken his nose three times playing rugby. I don’t have that excuse, mainly because I’m too much of a wimp to play rugby. Actually, it was never an option at my school, so we’ll never really know.

I had a quick wander outside, to see the various animals on the property: bulls, Berkshire pigs, a tiny pony, a Boer goat and some things labelled Highland cattle, but they really weren’t.

The vines are a bit sparse because the grapes were harvested a bit earlier than usual this year, thanks ultimately to climate change.

As we were leaving, we noticed a rainbow and that seemed a suitable end to the proceedings. But what else could we do today? Well, it’s cleared up a lot, so let’s go back to Mount Canobolas, we might see some kangaroos. We didn’t, but it was much more interesting at the top, we could see clearly, now the rain had gone.

Let’s go back to Lake Canobolas, we might see some kangaroos. No, of course we didn’t. But I did enjoy watching a lapwing at the now closed café rifling through some flyers in a box on the counter, as if he was looking for something. Maybe in his real world, he finds insects or something between layers of bark.

We got an Indian takeaway from a place recommended by Helen but of course we bought too much food. It was good though.

After a meh night’s sleep, Liesel and Mom went shopping while I ate breakfast, finished packing, tidied up a bit and put the rubbish out. It was time to move on: destination Dubbo Zoo. I also checked one more time that no flood warnings would affect us.

Driving towards Dubbo took us through a weird portal in time.

Not only did we pass this 1950s Hillman Minx, we also encountered a 1950s Ford Mainline ute. And later on, along the road, several more really old cars. Some weren’t going anywhere, being now largely comprised of rust, but there must be a lot of fans of ancient automobiles in this area, in and around Molong.

We saw plenty of cattle, sheep, horses and even llamas in fields by the road, but despite our best efforts, not a single kangaroo nor wallaby. Leslie is beginning to think these creatures are fictional, like fairies and decent politicians.

We passed through Wellington without feeling the need to stop. Not as exciting as New Zealand’s capital city, of course. But we did stop in Geurie and I am grateful that at no time did I have to pronounce this placename.

Leslie opted for a can of Coke while Liesel and I chose a coffee milkshake. The coffee shop was also the town’s supermarket and post office. We were both amazed at the size of the milkshakes, they were huge. And, as a special treat today, they gave us plastic straws: take that, eco-warriors.

I wasn’t quick enough to take a picture of the blue tree that stood alone in the middle of a field. Somewhere north of Geurie and west of the A32, if you want to seek it out.

We arrived at Dubbo Zoo, also known as Taronga Western Plains Zoo, at about 12.30. And what a pleasant day for a walk. For a while, we were just ahead of the truck transporting keepers and food, so that as we approached the various compounds, the animals walked towards us. As I said to Leslie, this was great, I’ve already got many photos of animals’ backsides.

Some animals were hiding of course, we didn’t see the cheetahs nor the lions. But we did go back in time again, witnessing three World War 2 planes flying over us in formation.

We sat and watched this elephant for quite a long time, waiting for him to either fall or dive into the water. He came close, but stayed dry.

I had a mediocre sandwich for lunch. It was so bad, that it fell out of its packet onto the floor. The staff tried not to laugh as they replaced it. Liesel had a so-so cheese and ham croissant.

Soon after setting off for the second half of our walk, Leslie spotted a kangaroo. Hooray! A real one, just munching on grass, minding its own beeswax. And, it wasn’t a guest of the zoo, but a wild one chancing its arm.

Leslie was in some discomfort, so we took several shortcuts back to the car. We decided we can catch up with the rest of the inmates tomorrow. Yes, a second day at the zoo, because we are staying here for one night, in one of the Savannah Cabins.

From our cabin, you can see giraffes and rhinos in the distance, and we kicked ourselves for not bringing binoculars. After a cup of tea, I went for a walk to see if I could get significantly closer. No. But I did see some mushrooms growing. Yes, mushrooms. And I did see a few ant hills. Well, to be honest, I’m a prat and I was wearing sandals so I felt the ants first, before seeing them. About a hundred million billion all running around passing on news about Mick’s foot being very tasty.

One small section of a huge ant community

There are signs warning us of the presence of snakes too. Needless to say, I stayed on the path and stomped to let them know I was coming. Maybe I stomped in the wrong place, and that’s what upset the ants.

On the way in to Savannah Gardens, we’d seen signs telling us to watch out for kangaroos. Did we see any here? No. But I did see evidence in the form of foot prints on the path. The Sun set very quickly, so plans to eat outside were abandoned. Dinner was leftovers from last night’s Indian takeaway. Thank goodness our cabin had a microwave.

Leslie washed the dishes and then joined Liesel and me in the sitting area. Suddenly, “What’s that? Is it a cockroach?” yelled Leslie. There was indeed a large bug running across the floorboards. But not a cockroach. I was torn between trying to take its picture for later identification and just getting rid of it. I opted for the latter. So I opened the screen door, you know, the mesh one that lets fresh air in but keeps mosquitoes out. As soon as the door opened, a gigantic moth flew in. I don’t think I screamed, but the other two did. Now, I had two beasties to deal with. The long but fast thing on the floor stopped moving for a moment, so I picked it up as gently as I could with a sheet of kitchen paper and chucked the whole package outside. Reader: it wriggled in my fingers. Looking it up later, I think it was a Lord Howe Island stick insect or something like that. Now, just the giant moth to deal with. I noticed Liesel was sitting on the back of the sofa with her feet well off the ground. The moth settled, I took its picture, then encouraged it to walk onto a piece of card which made releasing it into the outside world easy. It kept coming back though, knocking at the mesh.

I know we’re staying at the zoo for the night, but having the wildlife move in with us wasn’t part of the deal. As the evening wore on, the noise from outside became louder as insects, frogs, birds and others all started talking to each other: clicks, chirrups, stridulation and crepitation. And, at some point in the middle of the night, I heard a cuckoo. Or something mimicking a cuckoo.

In the morning, I realised we’d been under supervision all night.

On the second day at the zoo, we decided to drive round, and just walk the shorter distances to see some animals that we’d missed yesterday. But they weren’t all cooperating. The hippos stayed well back and they definitely weren’t pooping and rotating their propellor-like tails, something that Liesel particularly wanted to show her Mom, for some reason.

There was supposed to be a keeper giving a talk about the hippos, but that didn’t happen either. The elephant continued to walk around and play near the pool, but he didn’t bother going for a dip. And the cheetahs too were visible, yes, but right at the back of their compound, pacing up and down rather than running at 70 mph as advertised.

It’s probably not fair to have favourites, but I did feel a bit sorry for the one-horned rhino. Maybe he just doesn’t like people, but his enclodure was totally surrounded by grass matting, with small windows for us to peep through.

I told Liesel his name was Neil: Rhino Neil.

Along the path a bit, it was really the otters we’d come to see, specifically, small-clawed otters. By luck, we arrived at feeding time, and the three otters knew it. As the hour approached, they became more and more active. Moreso when the keeper arrived. And really excited when she tossed bits of fish over the glass into their pond.

One came up really close, and I told Lesel his name was Small-Clawed van Damme.

We all wanted to visit the Australia section today since we’d missed out yesterday. We saw koalas way up in the trees, very hard to spot them, so we’re grateful to the bloke who pointed them out.

Underneath us, we enjoyed seeing a pair of quokkas eating.

We could tick wallabies off the list, but not the echidna. In Lion Pride Lands, we saw a cub with his mother, soaking up the Sun.

As a snack, Liesel and I consumed a whole bag of crisps leading up to lunchtime. But, since there was nothing appealing at the café, we just had an ice cream. Crisps and ice cream, a fully balanced diet. Fellow diners included numerous ibises plus this very attractive, colourful bananabird.

After the zoo, it was time once again to set off for a long two-hour drive. Destination: Coonabarabran, the astronomical capital of Australia. It was fascinating to see how densely the trees grew in some areas, and then empty fields here and there. It was a long, straight road, with very few inhabitants. It might have been bin day as we passed a wheelie bin every few kilometres.

We saw very little traffic so of course whenever two cars passed close together in the opposite direction, we compared it with Piccadilly Circus.

Just before Coona, as the locals call it, we passed a big model of Saturn by the side of the road. And then, having passed through the town on the road to our final destination, we passed by a big Jupiter. Not as big as the real one, obviously.

Mark and Wendy met us at the gates of Dark Sky Eco Resort. We were staying here in one of two lodges and by the time we arrived, Helen and Brent had already settled in.

This is a 100% off grid facility with all sustainable practices. Modern facility amenities and Starlink internet connectivity. There are emus and with a bit of luck, really clear skies.

After dinner, we spent some time outside acquainting ourselves with the dark sky. Some things were easy to identify, including the milky way and the Large Magellanic Cloud, Orion and Sirius and the Southern Cross. Other stars were hard to identify because there were so many of them. The first picture I took with my phone was a dud. The second one really surprised me.

Other photos are ok, but the phone was sitting on a chair, on a wooden boardwalk, on which we were all walking. The field of view is identifiable, but there was just a bit too much camera shake.

Plus, and I didn’t realise this at the time, the noises emanating from the emus, the grunts and deep, thumping booming notes also cause vibrations in the ground. I tried recording their sounds, but I don’t think my phone’s microphone is good with such low frequencies.

And with all the lights out in the lodge at the end of the day, I think this is one of the darkest places I’ve ever been, away from the depths of an old coalmine when they turned the lights off that day. And even though we heard emus and other noctural animals on and off, I think we had a good night’s sleep.

Over in America, Martha was celebrating her 8th birthday in style, sight-seeing in New York, consuming at least two birthday cakes, waffles for breakfast and pizza, and you know what American portion sizes are like in restaurants: huge.

It was the day of the Solar Eclipse too, which Martha and William and their parents viewed from somewhere near Niagara Falls.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy so the full glory of the eclipse was lost, but this is Liam’s best picture.

There’s only one thing for it: find out when and where the next total eclipse is, and go!

Blue and Orange

Well there I was enjoying a bowl of cereal for breakfast when Liesel asked “Whose wine glass is this?” It was mine, from the previous night. We’d opened one of our newly purchased bottles to drink with dinner. A nice shiraz, if you must know. Anyway, somehow, I hadn’t finished my glass last night. But I did now. Never had wine for breakfast before. It was very nice, very tasty, but I won’t be making a habit of it.

Liesel had in fact been out of the house already. She collected our next rental car. It’s a hybrid, petrol and electric, so we’ll see how we get on with that over the next week or so.

Helen came by with a new cover for her garden sofa and chairs. I noticed that our visitor from last night had disappeared. Uh?

A very colourful and chunky moth sat with us for a while last night: as you can see, there is actual photographic evidence, it wasn’t a figment of our wine-infected imaginations.

We all three (me, Liesel, Leslie) packed for our road trip, during which we anticipate the weather will be a bit cooler.

The drive out of Sydney was uneventful. After a bit of a struggle I got my phone to connect with the car’s system, so we can at least hear on decent speakers our own music and our gorgeous Aussie Google Maps girl who usually gives us the correct instructions in a timely manner. Usually.

Our first stop was Mountain Bells Café in Bilpin. Over the road is Bilpin Fruit Bowl and down the road a bit is Hillbilly Cider Shed.

In Mountain Bells, we sampled a couple of non-alcoholic ciders and bought an apple pie for Ron. Later on. We continued our journey after being suitably hillbillified, as per the instructions on the label: the cider was great so we bought some. This whole area is famous for its orchards, but we didn’t stop for the purpose of scrumping, honest, officer.

The next port of call was at Mount Tomah, The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden. Liesel and I have been here before but not for a very long time. The three of us enjoyed a leisurely stroll, yes, and I include the steps and undulations in this.

Botanic Garden, so flowers and trees. But I was especially interested in the equatorial sundial, which I don’t think was telling the right time, even allowing for daylight saving and the equation of time. Maybe somebody nudged it.

Here we are in the Blue Mountains and the first time you see the view, you can’t help but gasp. The lansdscape is stunning, you can see for miles, another reminder of how small and insignificant we humans are.

This tree has a tale to tell. “This genus was known only from fossils up to 100 million years old until a living species was discovered in a remote part of the Sechuan province of China in 1941.” A living fossil!

One of the gardeners pointed out a possum that we’d missed, hiding quite high up in a tree.

He also warned us about the drops bears, but I didn’t expect any problems there. On the road, we’d already been looking out for koalas since seeing the first warning sign.

Even though it’s Autumn here, the narcissuses or narcissi were out in force, usually a Spring flower back at home. We saw a pair of crimson rosellas in a tree. Whether they were a married couple or not, we couldn’t say.

In the visitors’ centre, I was tempted to buy a golf umbrella. Not because I’m a big fan of such things, or even golf, and not because I felt the need to protect myself from the Sun. No, it was the colour. I knew it would perfectly match an old t-shirt that I am not allowed to wear.

It was a fun day, all those years ago, climbing the stairs in London’s Telecom Tower, but the commemorative t-shirt is 100% polyester and I’ve only worn it a couple of times. I wonder which Australian charity shop will have the pleasure of not selling it for forty years before throwing it away?

I was pleased to see a few bees and colourful butterflies going about their business.

We continued our drive along the strangely named Bells Line of Road to Evans Lookout.

A stunning view and just look at the sky. And remember it!

It took a while to unload the car at our Airbnb in Katoomba: we had to climb stairs outside to reach the front door, and then down the stairs to the kitchen and living room. The kitchen tap is just as unusual: you push it down to turn the water on. And if, out of habit, you push the tap down to turn it off, you can spray the water quite a long way.

During the night, we heard the rain. It rained a lot. We were looking forward to a longer walk in the area and it looked like it was going to be wet underfoot. The rain was very loud on the old tin roof. I rolled over and went back to sleep a couple of times!

I took ages to drag myself out of bed. I was waiting for the rumble of the rain on the roof to retreat, but it never did. Not only was it raining, it was foggy, we couldn’t even see the end of the garden sometimes. It was a lazy day, ideal for watching movies on TV. Liesel and Leslie watched five altogether, I just watched just one whole one. And the gasfire was turned on. Such a rotten day, I’ll say no more about it.

In happier news, Jenny and Liam have taken Martha and William to New York for a few days. To celebrate Martha’s upcoming birthday, they’re hoping to witness the total eclipse of the Sun. So we all hope they have clearer skies than ours are right now.

The rain kept on coming all night, and we had to be up early to check out of the b&b. Liesel loaded the car in the rain.

Lots of rain, then, so fast rivers run down the road, not just little trickles and rivulets. Somehow all this water disappears into the drainage system. There are large holes under the kerbs, big enough to swallow you if you’re not careful, not the dainty little drain covers that we get in England that so easily get clogged with leaves and litter.

Despite the rain (have I mentioned the rain that so far had fallen for over 36 hours continuously?), Liesel was quite happy to drive us around the sights. We didn’t expect to see much, so we weren’t too disappointed.

If you’re in the area and you have a toilet emergency or you would just like a cup of coffee, please visit Roasters with Altitude on Evans Lookout Road. The lady there, a former police officer, is very kind. Her husband is a doctor whose oldest patient is currently 107 years old, so he’s obviously doing a good job of doctoring. We had reason to pull in and seek assistance, and we couldn’t have stopped at a better, more welcoming venue. There aren’t many tips for visitors in this blog, but this is a serious recommendation: Roasters with Altitude on Evans Lookout Road. Five star service and coffee.

We’d visited Evans Lookout a couple of days ago, and given the weather conditions now, we didn’t go back. Instead, we drove to Magalong Valley Tearooms for breakfast. This too is a great place, the three of us all had different meals. Anything wrong with the place? Well, it’s hard to decide what was more annoying, a few flies buzzing around or the group of loud Americans over there led by a very loud American. On the plus side, the tearooms do use harvested stormwater to flush the toilets. Yep: stormwater, not rainwater!

The road was winding and we saw a few waterfalls in passing.

We blinked in disbelief as the day seemed to brighten up slightly, and we realised the rain had eased off a bit.

A little excitement was had too when we had to wait at a level crossing for train to pass. It was probably the train we’d have been on if we’d visited the Blue Mountains in that manner. As indeed we did once, many years ago.

Compared with the random roadside cascade mentioned above, Katoomba Waterfall was a bit disappointing. It wasn’t at its best of course, as we had to view it through the fog, mist and haze.

Close by is Solitary Lookout. All we could see was the tops of a few trees with a background of infinite whiteness.

Was it worth visiting the Three Sisters? Why not, we had nothing else to do.

This is what we should have seen:

This is what we actually saw:

As the local tour guide said to her group: “Not everybody gets to see the Blue Mountains like this.”

Again, as on previous trips, Liesel and I had thought about visiting Jenolan Caves. But the weather put us off. And just as well, because access to the caves was restricted because of the rain and flooding.

It’s Autumn here but there aren’t many trees displaying Autumn colours in the same way as we’re used to in Europe and Amerca. But there is the odd flash of yellow foliage.

This is in contrast to the dead trees and others that have obviously suffered from a bush fire in the last few years. Burnt, black trunks, yes, but the trees are flouhing.

We drove straight through Lithgow which has a full set of American franchises, McDonalds, KFC, Hungry Jacks and 7 Eleven. We think it’s sad and disappointing that there are no Aussie chains that are just as ubiquitous here.

In Bathurst, we saw a large flock of cockatoos flying around and eventually settling in a tree. If we hadn’t seen the birds in flight, we might easily have thought the tree was in blossom very late in the year.

In a nod to ancient Australian history, we passed three correctional facilities on the drive to Orange.

We passed through Lucknow, seeing what we think are the remains of old gold workings. But not so lucky for us: we didn’t see a coffee shop at which to stop for a break.

By the time we arrived at our lodgings in Orange, the rain has eased off significantly. And while it was good to see there weren’t steps to climb, we had to carry the bags in from the car by stepping over a very large puddle!

In Orange, we did some shopping, hooray! Leslie acquired a new raincoat and a new book to read. Liesel purchased some rice wine vinegar for tonight’s meal. I had a very enjoyable but hard massage in an endeavour to put my back bones back in the right order. I then walked home, arriving just in time before it started raining again.

We had considered visiting the local museum but we feared we might suffer from over-excitement.

Yes, the item they seem particularly proud of is this little memento, marking the occasion in 1967 when Orange had its first set of traffic lights installed. A big day in any town’s history, of course, along with the first roundabout and the first multi-storey car park.

Liesel and Leslie put supper together, spicy peanut butter tofu and broccoli tacos. V n v t. And as we hit the sack, we once again noticed the rain drumming and thrumming on the old tin roof. It was supposed to stop by the morning…

An Affair to Remember

Sunday morning was like those of my youth. In the past, I would be doing my homework or writing an assignment while listening to records. Today, it was this very blog thing being squeezed out of my quill, word by word, while listening to the songs of Dolly Parton and Rosanne Cash.

Helen and Brent came over, and we swapped chocolate eggs. Yes, Happy Easter!

We drove up the road to Nat and Rob’s house for another party. When the awning was opened, several people gasped at the size of the huntsman spider hiding in its folds. Jacqui chased it around with a broom, straight out of a cartoon, until it disappearted down a gap between the floorboards!

Helen and Dan were here too, and I was glad to meet them after all this time, with their children Asher and Fern. And I was introduced to Angie and Marc who I didn’t have a chance to speak to at the party last weekend.

I read a couple of books to little Sebby, who really engaged with the story of where diggers and other machinery goes to sleep at night. And he was fascinated by the animals we’d seen a few days ago at the Reptile Park.

I received the message ‘On the train’ and that was my cue to go off and catch the bus to Manly Wharf. Liesel had met Mom, Leslie, at Honolulu Airport with no problem. After their flight, train ride and ferry ride, I met them and we took a taxi back to Helen’s. While waiting, I was entertained by a busker playing the saxophone.

It still feels strange that Liesel left Sydney for Honolulu at 3.35pm on 30th March. And then flew out of Honolulu back to Sydney at 8.15am on 30th March. She’s really messing with the spacetime continuum. Or maybe crossing the International Dateline messes with my mind.

Feeling tired after the long journey, Liesel and Mom didn’t come with me back to Nat and Rob’s. Helen had prepared and saved a plate of food for me, for which I was very grateful, thank you!

After the Sun treated us to a beautiful display and the children went to bed, I was entertained by the shenanigans of Helen and her friends. Best of all was Helen cutting Jacqui’s hair and then allowing her and Nat to cut hers. I could have had a go, but I didn’t want to ruin anybody’s barnet.

I know, I know, I’ve been a bit lax in taking photos of Helen’s friends, but here are a couple more people.

It was quite hard to capture Helen without a wine glass in her hand, but I did try.

I couldn’t eat any more of Jacqui’s very sweet desserts, and I gave up on my original idea of walking home. Thanks again to Uber for providing such a good service.

Leslie’s first night in Australia went well, and after a reasonable night’s sleep, we took our time getting going. I continued writing, Liesel did some washing which I hung up to dry and which then Liesel rearranged to dry.

Oops, a slight mishap with the buses today: we caught the wrong one. Well, normally it wouldn’t matter, but this one really wasn’t going anywhere interesting! So we got off, crossed the road and caught a different bus, one that took us all the way to Manly. And what was unusual was, the loudest person in our vicinity wasn’t an American!

We walked along by Manly Beach which was much more crowded than usual. Easter Monday, a day off work and school, and it was a lovely day to spend on the beach. The wind was refreshing but it did stir the sea up a bit.

(When I chose that particular picture, I didn’t notice the prominent bottom in the foreground. In fact, I think this picture looks like an old seaside postcard from the 1960s. Anyway, I must get some peaches on the way home…)

We had a couple of rests on our wander through Manly.

We stopped at Messina for a delicious ice cream, although mine came in the form of a milkshake. We had to wait for the shop to open at 3pm, and there was quite a long queue. But I persevered! Two buses took us back home for a nice relaxing evening.

I temporarily swapped the SIM card in my phone. You can’t imagine the disappointment on discovering that the only missed calls I’ve had on my UK number came from Pizzeria. We order pizza from there every couple of months, but I have no idea why they’d be calling me out of the blue, they apparently didn’t leave a message.

Another slow start to the day while Liesel planned the menu for the next week or so. The end result was a long shopping list. So this was our first opportunity to take Leslie to The Mall. But then it started raining. It was short-lived but it’s unusual to see the sky totally obscured by clouds.

We greeted the magpie on the walk down to the bus stop. We also had a quick chat with a lorikeet who was sitting in a tree singing a very loud and happy song.

Again, I commented on how ridiculously long we pedestrians have to wait to cross the road when we’ve pressed the button. Top priority must be given at all times to car drivers and if pedestrians have to stand by the side of a busy road for several minutes, tough luck.

We visited many shops in the Mall, including Coles, the supermarket. Helen had a window of opportunity between clients and I’m delighted she was able to join us for a cup of tea, thereby meeting Leslie for the first time on this trip. The handbag shop was my favourite, knocking the shoe shop off the top of the list. I am of course kidding.

You can tell I was not really interested in the shops when, out of curiosity, I scanned a QR code that was split across a wall and a door. I thought the crack in it might make it unreadable. But my phone camera coped perfectly. Leading me to a website describing A Night at the Barracks: “Sydney’s most unique outdoor venue, set under the stars in Manly. Join us in celebrating this extraordinary place with an extraordinary event.” It might well be a great venue, it might be different to other places, but “most unique”?

I walked to the far end of the Mall to buy another delicious loaf from Mrs Jones the Baker. Back at Coles, I couldn’t find Liesel nor Leslie at first. To lose a wife is bad enough, but to lose a mother-in-law as well is very nearly a disaster.

Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know I caught up with them in the Asian sauces and snacks aisle.

With so much shopping, we took an Uber back home. Buy shares in Uber, we seem to be using them a lot lately! And while writing, Liesel and Leslie watched a Cary Grant movie on TV, An Affair to Remember. Plans to visit the zoo were abandoned because by now, we wouldn’t have enough time there. Plus it was still raining sporadically.

Helen came over and raided her own pantry: fair enough! We wouldnt see her again for another few days.

A lagoon and some beaches

Narabeen Lagoon was on our list of potential walks, so I’m glad we made it this week, on what was Pauline and Andrew’s final day here with us.

After parking up near Berry Reserve, we set off in an anti-clockwise direction around the lagoon. If, instead, we’d chosen clockwise, and therefore turned left out of the car park, we would have reached a coffee shop much, much sooner. Still, it was a lovely walk, on a well-made path that stayed close to the water most of the time. We crossed South Creek, with which the lagoon is connected to the sea.

Again, it was nice to be out in the Sun, but it was equally welcome when we could avoid the full extent of its heat and indeed, most of the walk was in the shade.

The soundtrack to our walk was provided by birds, including kookaburras, although it was very hard to see them up in the trees. We did catch sight of a well-camouflaged heron by a tree. But most of the wildlife that we saw consisted of runners and cyclists plus a few dog-walkers.

We crossed over South Creek, Deep Creek, Middle Creek and South Creek. Well, that’s confusing, isn’t it? I think it’s because the lagoon is just a very wide section of South Creek. It was hard not to smile, but seeing this sign was inspiring.

We very nearly missed this little devil.

He was harder to spot than the black swans in the water, but they were too far away to see clearly.

Smalltown Boy came into my head and for a while, I didn’t know why. But I think I must have seen a sign for the Jim Somerville Bridge which takes us over Middle Creek. I suspect it’s named after someone else, not the lead singer from Bronski Beat.

Pauline and Liesel marched on ahead and after Andrew turned back, I really thought I’d catch up with them at some point. But I didn’t.

The school for future sports people was entertaining although I only witnessed one young person falling in the water. “Junior development coaching programs for boys and girls age 12-16 with a focus on developing pre-elite junior athletes for Australian Junior Team representation. Recognised Pathways program for Paddle Australia and NSW Institute of Sport.”

“Could you be our next Olympian for Brisbane 2032?” Well, let me think about that. Maybe I’m just a little too far out of the age range.

Close to the RSL ANZAC Village, there is a series of plaques commemorating various wars and other action in which Australian forces took part. It’s quite moving when you see one after another after another, it makes you realise there’s never been a long, totally peaceful period in our lifetime.

It’s a dead tree on which someone has hung an old tee-shirt, see? Not an actual tea tree nor even a ti-tree. Well, it made me laugh, anyway.

And I did see more black swans later on.

As I completed the circuit around the lagoon, I realised that this walk today, although long, was my favourite so far on this trip. I never felt short of breath, I didn’t feel I had to stop for a rest, I didn’t feel like I couldn’t keep up with the group and I felt I could have walked all day. The perfect temperature helped of course.

A couple of guys were cutting back the vegetation at the edge of the path. The strimmers were loud, but at least the cutting stopped as I walked by. The only disappointment was seeing that they’d left the engine of their van running for no obvious reason. I turned the engine off and threw the keys into the bushes. No, of course I didn’t.

Part of the walk was close to the main road, and here I spotted more exotic birds.

The sign for the Tramshed coffee shop was appealing. I had to check it out because I suspected Liesel, Pauline and Andrew would be enjoying a beverage there. They weren’t but they soon joined me and we had lunch.

This was a good way to spend the day, on what would have been mine and Pauline’s Mum and Dad’s 70th wedding anniversary.

We drove Pauline and Andrew to the airport: it had been a quick week with them. Both were going into work the next day, after a three-hour flight and four hours sleep. Welcome back to Christchurch!

Liesel and I continued in a southerly direction, to Erowal Bay. This was supposed to be for a nice quiet and peaceful couple of days. But at the back of our minds always was, where can we charge the car?

The b&b was easy to find, although we arrived later than intended, thanks to traffic on the main road. It seems half of Sydney are heading south with their boats for the Easter weekend.

Holy Cow! No, that’s not an expletive. It’s the name of the tiny Indian restaurant where we enjoyed dinner.

Liesel had some work to do, the b&b WiFi was dodgy, and her laptop didn’t want to connect to the mobile hotspot on my phone. After poking around, I fixed the problem, hooray. But in the end, even this WiFi wasn’t good enough for Liesel to work. So we tootled off to the nearby Sanctuary Point Library. Liesel worked, I wrote, and the librarian ladies were very friendly and helpful.

The Plough and Harrow, just along the road, made lunch for me. Cheese and salad baguette. I was going to leave some for Liesel. But it was so good, I didn’t stop munching until it was all gone. So, they made another one for Liesel.

In the library, meanwhile, Liesel was plugging away at whatever she was working on, but she had to tell someone else to stfu because he was unwittingly singing along to the music in his headphones!

All work and no play makes Liesel a dull girl, so in the afternoon we headed for Collingwood Beach, parking up at Valencia. The beach was all but deserted and we enjoyed a nice, long stroll, on the squeaky white sand.

We walked the full length of the beach, as far as the creek, which we could have waded across, but nah, not today.

Time to charge the car. What a nightmare. The provider associated with the car rental company only has slow chargers. We needed a fast charge. We found one, so we drove there. The card scanner didn’t work, which meant we had to download the app. The app isn’t available in this country. Despite having an Australian SIM card, as far as Google Playstore is concerned, I am still in the UK. So I called the helpline. The lady was very sympathetic but couldn’t do much to help. What if I give you my card number so I can pay that way? Nope. But she did give us a couple of other leads. Which is why we found ourselves in Gerringong. This EV charger was slow, but at least it connected, and I was able to download its app. We might not be stranded after all.

Gerringong Bowling was very welcoming. We bacme temporary members so while waiting for the car to sort itself out, we ate our dinner. It was also Trivia Night here, so we decided to have a go. Our two-person team was called The Antics.

After the first round, we were tied leaders with 8 out of 10 points. We should have stopped there. Two music rounds were almost fruitless. The picture rounds were Aussie-oriented. We ended the quiz with a total of 30. Sadly, there was no prize for coming last. Dinner was good but I think we’ve both had enough French fries for the time being, the portions are huge!

The car needed more oomph and we decided to return to Gerringong for the day. It would take another 9 hours to fully charge the beast. But our first port of call the next morning was Hyams Beach, famous for its squeaky sand. It was a busy place, lots of families here for Good Friday.

Proper sky blue sky here today too, fabulous. And congratulations to nephew Rob who is now a Canadian citizen, they’re very lucky to have him.

Back to Gerringong where we plugged the car in for several hours. While waiting, we had a quick walk on the beach, and a sit down, watching people, boats and even a helicopter.

When the Bowling Club opened, we joined again, just by showing our driving licences. Nobody was pointing at us for being total losers at the quiz last night: so glad I was wearing a false beard and glasses, and so was Liesel.

Lunch was great, no chips, but a lot of bread!

So while at Gerringing Bowlo this arvo, we could play bingo or even music bingo, we could place bets at Keno, we could have eaten at Cabo Pacific Grill and then after all that, we could book a cab home via Rydo.

Instead, we watched some people playing bowls, mostly in bare feet.

After charging for five hours (!), the car finally had enough charge to take us home. It shouldn’t have been this stressful and anxiety-inducing. But it has been a wonderful learning experience. Liesel and I had previously agreed that our next car should be electric. But our confidence has been shaken. There are too many variables: fast and slow chargers, different cables, different ways to pay, you might not be able to download a required app for arbitrary reasons, and then of course, you might turn up at a suitable place only for the equipment not to be working that day.

I tried to steer clear of the red zone in the bed, but it was a fruitless endeavour. When I woke up, I realised what a ridiculous dream it had been. It was time to return the rental car. The ‘assistant’ wasn’t bothered by our comments. The navigation system in the car tells you where the charging points are. It does, yes, but most are unsuitable, you can’t just rock up with a BYD at a Tesla charging station and expect it to work. His apathy made us forget to tell him that the vehicle was only 60% charged when we collected it, but when the email arrives inviting our comments, well, I’m rubbing my hands in anticipation…

We have a couple more hire cars booked, and I can confirm that both are gas-guzzling vehicles with infernal combustion engines, but at least we know we’ll pass petrol stations on a regular basis.

We went to Sydney Airport via bus to the Mall for breakfast then a bus to Manly then a ferry to Circular Quay then a train to the airport. Yes, Liesel was off to Honolulu to meet her Mom and bring her back to Brookvale. We remarked on how easy and relaxed the journey to the airport was, compared with our EV experience this week. Liesel checked in OK, and after a coffee, she headed for the departure gates while I headed off for the city sights.

On the train, we’d wondered where Museum Station would take us. Well, of course, on my return to the city, I found it was The Australian Museum. Which I already knew. I didn’t visit today because there’s a chance we’ll come along with Leslie, Liesel’s Mom, at some point.

I wandered close to Chinatown, and generally walked in a downwards direction, back to Circular Quay, then beyond, to the Opera House.

People were still walking up and over Sydney Harbour Bridge, but I didn’t have time to do that (!): instead I set myself the task of taking a picture of the Bridge at sunset. Rotten timing though. The best shots were taken from the ferry back to Manly.

Back at home, where I arrived much later than I thought I would, I recorded the nightlife, whether it be frogs or grasshoppers or whatever and then for my supper, I had a cheese and chutney sandwich with the sourdough loaf we’d bought earlier.

A few days ago, Helen asked me if I’d be alright on Saturday night on my own. I responded ‘Yes’ almost before she’d finished posing the question! So here I was, by myself on a Saturday night, in someone else’s flat. A perfect opportunity for a rave, I thought, so I invited a few friends over and we had a great party, lots of drum’n’bass turned up to 11.

Wine tasting and seeing Elvis

And so for our first little side-trip. After setting off from home, our first stop was just down the road. Not very far at all, but we were pleased to take Pauline and Andrew to the Freshwater Brewing Company where we’d had one of our first coffees, what feels like many weeks ago, now.

The drive to Cessnock was uneventful, we chose to follow the ‘tourist’ route rather than stay on the main road. There was a lot less traffic, and some of the views were stunning.

Happiness is an empty road and blue skies

I snapped the sign because that might well be the only wombat we see in the wild.

How exciting to be driving an electric vehicle though. What we didn’t realise at first was that we picked it up with the battery only about 65% charged. Here begins a week of time-consuming activity and anxiety, trying to find the next, convenient, fast charging point.

We stopped at a place in the middle of nowhere for a comfort break. The locals in the shop/café all stopped talking and turned around to look at us as we walked in. Just a little bit intimidating, and not at all what we’re used to in Australia.

As we drove off, Andew casually asked, ‘Where’s Pauline?’ The driver, Liesel, turned round to confirm that my sister was indeed missing from her customary back seat. While we were all getting back into the car, Pauline had wandered over to what turned out to be the actual toilet block. We can laugh about leaving Pauline behind, now…

I don’t know why, but we still laugh at funny place names: Convicts Trail, Blackbutt Creek and one that I don’t really want to report here.

To protect the Hunter Valley, its vineyards and grapes, we’re not allowed to take grapevines beyond a certain point. In other local news, there’s a huge campaign against
Wollombi Road being widened to four lanes.

The four of us stopped at The Valley Brewhouse for lunch and we knew it was the correct place when Helen and Brent walked in about ten minutes later.

It took a long time trying to explain what a shandy is. Especially since ‘bitter’ here is not the same as ‘bitter’ at home. What I got was very refreshing and a perfect accompaniment to my salad and chips. I didn’t want to consume too much alcohol yet, because later in the afternoon, our first wine-tasting session was scheduled.

Saddler’s Creek Wines has been going since 1990 so you’d think they’d know what they’re doing by now. And they really do. Our host, Scott, certainly knows his stuff.

Here’s Scott. He spent many years grooming that beard so he’d look like the picture on the label. He described each of the 13 wines we sampled, and in the end, Liesel and I bought three bottles.

Here we all are, several glasses down the hatch

I wish I could describe the wines using the same poetic, imaginative and even technical language that Scott used. He would talk about orange and lemon and water-melon, and all I could taste was a generic fruit flavour. I could tell the difference between ‘dry’ and ‘sweet’ but I couldn’t tell the difference between wine from an American oak cask and a French oak cask. This one is obviously French, not Italian in origin, he’d say. Oh really?! It seems so feeble just saying ‘ooh I like this’ or ‘nah, not so keen’.

Some of the wines were indeed ‘easy on the palate’. Some you drink on its own, and some goes well with a big fat beef steak, or sea food. Or in my case, a bag of crisps, probably.

We drove (yes, I said ‘drove’, not ‘wove’) to our gorgeous b&b in Cessnock. Just the six of us in the end, a couple of people had dropped out, but it accommodates eight people. It’s a great place, in a nice neighbourhood, quite close to the town centre, and with spectacular views. As sunset approached, we even caught some sunbeams.

Maybe because of having imbibed more wine than I usually do, especially during the daytime, I wasn’t very hungry. At The Goldfish I had double dip chips: black bean dip, hummus and corn tortillas. It hit the spot.

Back at the b&b, Liesel reversed the car onto the drive, so that we could attempt to charge the battery overnight. It worked, but not a lot of charge was added.

It was pretty much a full Moon tonight, so I didn’t hold out much hope of seeing many stars. But peeking between the clouds, I could see a couple of bright things, maybe satellites. But what a good way to end the day, by at least trying see the stars.

In the morning, the car’s battery was up to 38%, hardly a cause for celebration. And even though we were being driven about today, we couldn’t leave the car continuing to charge because you’re not supposed to leave the cable out in the Sun. And it did look as though it would be warm and sunny today.

Helen had spoken a lot about Robyne, who had the honour of driving us around today in her minbus. More wine-tasting was on the cards at three, yes, three more wineries.

First up was Domaine de Binet. Here we sampled 17 wines, if you include the gin and moscato, which, after all the wine samples, was different and refreshing. The host, Paul, knew his stuff and he was quieter than Scott

I tried to recall some of what I learned yesterday. Riesling is a notch up from Semillon. I’d learned a new word too: some wines have a high level of basic minerality: I didn’t ask whether this explained why some wines leave a chalky feeling in the mouth

As well as the wine, we were able to sample some of the locally produced chilli chutneys. Yes, we bought a jar of that as well as more wine.

The next thing I remember seeing is Brent lying underneath Robyne’s car, which was refusing to start. As a former car mechanic, Brent knew exactly what he was doing: bashing the starter motor with a big stick! It was a hot day to be fixing cars, and I did what I could to help, by staying well out of the way.

The second winery of the day was, I think, my favourite, being in a great location and, was I beginning to acquire a more appreciative set of taste buds? Elbourne Wines is a boutique family vineyard producing award-winning hand-crafted wine. Adam, the host, took us through eleven more wines and at the end of the session, Liesel and I purchased another three bottles. We’ve got to get these home somehow. Still, that’s a problem for mañana.

I can’t remember now who it was that compared Australian verdelho to Portuguese green wine: or maybe that was just a weird alcohol-induced dream.

And at all the venues, excess wine was poured into a bucket on the table, and nobody was offended. None of us embarrassed the hosts by spitting into the spittoons.

Someone said there’s no such thing as bad wine, just bad choice of company or food or environment. Well, I’ve had some vinegar that thought it was wine in the past, although that wasn’t the case with anything over these two days.

Poor old Robyne had to rent another vehicle to drive us around in, since hers would no longer reliably start. As it only had five seats, she had to ferry us around in two groups, twice as much driving.

Our delightful lunch was at Four Pines Brewing at the Farm, in Hunter Valley.

The final wine tasting session was at McGuigan’s. We’ve seen this wine advertised before Brokenwood on TV, a gentle police drama from New Zealand. After a couple of wines here, I realised I wasn’t really tasting it any more. I couldn’t even say a basic ‘I like it’, now. I think it was Scott yesterday who said that the more wine you drink, the sweeter your perception becomes. Maybe that’s why I thought I’d had enough, although at the time, I didn’t register that all the wine was tasting sweet.

Still, I sampled six wines here before giving up. That’s a total of 48 or something, over two days. But as ever, without looking at the notes we made, can I remember the names of those that I particularly liked? Nope. I certainly don’t have an oenophile’s memory.

Robyne was kind enough to drive Liesel, Pauline, Andrew and me back to our pad the long way round, so that we could see some kangaroos and other Australian icons.

The Covent Hunter Valley Luxury Boutique Hotel

This hotel has an interesting story. The convent was once in a different location, contructed in about 1876. When it was demolished, the parts were all labelled and preserved so that it could be rebuilt. It is now a hotel.

The sunset was gorgeous and it was interesting seeing stars appear one by one in the dark sky. I managed to capture alpha Centauri and the Southern Cross, after much trial and error with the phone.

In the end, the mosquitoes drove us back indoors. Helen and Brent, the young people, dined out while us oldies just snacked at home and had an early night.

Cessnock is a great little town, and that’s where we had breakfast, at a coffee shop which doubles as a Thai restaurant.

Helen and Brent both had work commitments, but we four ancients had the luxury of being able to stop on the way home. So that’s what we did, at the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby. Not everyone’s cup of tea, I know, so feel free to skip this bit, you herpetophobics!

It was a perfect day for a wander and we did see some intersting animals. They’re doing a lot for conservation here too. And not everything was reptilian either, there are plenty of feathered and furry friends.

I don’t suppose we’ll ever see a platypus out in the wild, so this was a good opportunity.

I don’t suppose we’ll ever see an American alligator out in the wild, either, but that’s mainly because it’s very unlikely we’ll ever visit the Mississippi or the Florida swamps. Today, the ‘gators were just lying in the Sun, which was rather pleasant.

I’d like to say I was playing Diamond Dogs when we saw these similarly named but very different creatures. But I wasn’t.

It’s that sort of day for a reptile, I guess, just lying around.

On the other hand, we’ve never seen such energetic echidnas. Several were running round like spikey dodgems. Very entertaining.

This poor old thing (the tortoise, not Andrew) had had an accident with some rocks, which damaged his lower shell. It hasn’t ruined his appetite though.

There was a reptile show later, after which we were invited to have our pictures taken with some of the animals, a python, a koala and a couple of others. None of us were seriously tempted. We were however tempted by lunch, which we enjoyed at a picnic table, not too far from Elvis.

He wasn’t moving around much, either!

We all thought dingoes were all sandy coloured, but no, here are two very handsome black ones. They enjoyed being fed, but as soon as the bucket was empty, they lost interest in their human companion and went about their own business.

Somehow, we missed seeing the cassowary, but we couldn’t miss this lovely chap.

It was trivia night again at the Harbord Hotel, and we took part. Later, joined by Jacqui and Nat, and we all had a jolly good time. But for even more late night entertainment, we decided to try and charge up the car. We found a charging point, eventually, and felt obliged to have a drink inside the establishment. Another misunderstanding. I got myself a ginger beer, and as requested, I got one for Liesel too. Only she didn’t want one. When Liesel mentioned ginger beer, it was to warn me that here, it’s alcoholic. So, I had two glasses of ginger beer, even though I was planning not to have alcohol for a while, because I felt there was still a healthy medley of wine flowing through my system. I slept well, though.

Build Your Dreams

Liesel and I have walked from Coogee Beach to Bondi a couple of times in the past, a very enjoyable trek it is too. We abandoned plans to repeat this footslog today with Pauline and Andrew, because of time constraints. Plus, due to work commitments, Liesel wouldn’t join us anyway. So, to plan B.

Pauline, Andrew and I caught a bus to Manly: a 167, the one that goes all round the houses, offering views of some of the other beaches through dirty windows. It was also the smelliest bus ride of our trip so far, I think they must have just retrieved it from the musty basement of a museum.

After disembarcation at Queenscliff, we walked along the prom, passing a couple of old friends on the way.

The surf clubs have all moved on, so we could see the full extent of the beach. The sea was calm, but no, we still weren’t tempted into the water. Of course, we had coffee at Three Beans again, and we each consumed a sweet delicacy. Which ruined our appetite for lunch. A cookie, an almond croissant and a muffin, since you ask.

We walked along to Shelly Beach, watching some learner SCUBA divers, some snorkellers and some swimmers.

Swimming from Manly Beach to Shelly Beach (them, not me)

We continued walking beyond Shelly Beach: if we’d continued, we would have reached North Head, but there wasn’t enough time today.

This was a more challenging hike, up the steps, through the woods, up and down and we had a good time. Except when Andrew bashed his head on an overhanging branch while looking down, negotiating the bumpy, undulating path. Pauline and I stopped laughing fairly quickly. In terms of wildlife, nothing bigger than a few spiders in their webs and some butterflies and moths. The bush turkeys build their nests by scooching their feet backwards, and we witnessed this activity today, although we think they were just looking for food.

From our vantage point near the top of the cliff, we had a great view over the Pacific Ocean. A very large cargo ship made, from our point of view, very slow progress along the horizon.

I found some of the steps hard work: inconsistent heights and varying degrees of camber, the steps were just rocks, really. The Sun was hot, but we were in shade much of the time. And then, out of the blue, a few spots of rain.

What’s this, then?

Well, none of us wanted to investigate too closely in case it really was what we suspected: the world’s largest wasps’ nest.

Back at Shelly, I got myself a tomato juice at the Boathouse, after which we moseyed on back to Manly, greeting a few water dragons on the way.

After a shower and a change of clothes, Helen collected the four of us for a trip into Sydney. To a casino. Uh? Yes, we walked through a casino to Fat Noodle where we enjoyed dinner. Brent joined us after work.

There were literally hundreds of machines, modern versions of fruit machines, plus a few tables where you could play cards with real people. I didn’t have a go because I knew it would take too long learn what I was supposed to be doing, never mind gambling for real.

But the main reason we were here this evening was to visit The Lyric Theatre. We all thoroughly enjoyed the production of &Juliet. Yes, what might have happened if Juliet hadn’t died in Shakepeare’s famous play? It was great fun, yet, for reasons beyond my ken, I was nudged a few times to stop singing along to the music, which included songs by Back Steet Boys, Britney, P!nk, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson and more.

Mick, Liesel, Andrew, Pauline, Brent and Helen

Meanwhile, back at home, it was Odd Socks Day for World Down Syndrome Day. The grandchildren didn’t need much encouragement.

I’ve had way too many birthdays, and I didn’t really need another one. Yet here we are.

The main present, if I can call it that, was a visit to an Escape Room in Manly. Themed around The Dunny, we did indeed encounter redbacks and other horrors from the Aussie outback. It was a challenging hour, and the last minute seemed to last a little bit longer than sixty seconds, but we did just about escape in time! Thank you for the experience, Jenny and Helen and all,

Liesel bought me a chocolate birthday cake which, spoilers: I didn’t finish until five days later! I was delighted by the collection of cards from family and friends. A couple of puzzles to solve too!

Liesel collected our first rental car of the trip, a BYD car made in China. No doubt the American and UK authorities will be having kittens, because this vehicle will undoubtedly be reporting our movements and conversations to the Chinese Government. BYD: Build Your Dreams. It’s an electric car, with more features than you can ever possibly use.

Birthday lunch was at deVita Trattoria in Manly, tastes of Napoli and everything. Sadly, I couldn’t finish my pizza. It was just too big for me. It wasn’t the background music, naff covers of great songs, that put me off my food!

Liesel went back to Helena for another massage. Helen took me home for a birthday afternoon nap. I had to save myself for the party in the evening.

It wasn’t a party for me. It was a belated 40th birthday party for Rob and Nat, the venue being one of the many breweries in Brookvale. A great band played covers of songs by David Gray, Leonard Cohen and even the Bee Gees. I did notice that Andrew was not shooshed for singing along to a song by The Church.

A different Andrew, Jacqui, Mick, Liesel, Helen

Thanks to Eric for the photo. I was dragged along to be in this portrait from a nice comfortable armchair where I was enjoying one of the many nibbles on offer.

And so another birthday draws to a close. I’ll leave the cards on display for as long as I can. And I shall enjoy the many varieties and flavours of TimTams over the next ~~few~~ couple of ~~weeks~~ days, thanks Helen and Brent!

Tap Success

‘Who cuts the barber’s hair?’ is a longstanding conundrum. Ideally, another barber, I suppose. And so it is with Helen. She had her hair coloured at home by a fellow stylist/client, and she reciprocated. This is why Liesel and I absquatulated, making our way to the public library in the Mall, Liesel with her PC so she could do some work, me with my keyboard so I could do some writing.

As recommended by Helen, and before settling in, we stopped at Girdlers for breakfast.

I’d forgotten the joy of ‘working’ in a library, surrounded by mainly young people studying. In the olden days, there’d be a pile of books, open, a couple of note books maybe, a calculator, and a pen being being sucked. Today, they had a laptop, a phone, but only about half of the students had any books. Most wore headphones too, either listening to music or maybe to a lecture.

Funnily enough, when we first arrived in the library, there was a group of very young children over in the corner, singing songs with gusto. And there was no elderly librarian peering over her specatacles going ‘shhh!’

After a while, I went for a wander (oh, alright, and a coffee) and I found this metal art sculpture.

Unfortunately, I could find no title nor attribution. Maybe I should claim responsibility?

Other than walking around the Mall, we didn’t do much exercise today. But it’s good to have the odd day off. But the following day was busier.

An early morning trip was planned for the airport. Helen and I went to meet Pauline and Andrew on their arrival from Christchurch, NZ.

While waiting outside her apartment for Helen to pick me up, I took this picture of ‘the hill’ on Pine Avenue from the top end. The photo still doesn’t give a real idea of how steep it is. You’ll just have to pay a visit yourself.

The early morning ‘rush hour’ traffic was horrendous: I’m so glad I never had to drive to work in those traffic jams. The flight landed early, but it took a while for my sister and her partner to appear, thanks to a medical emergency on board the aeroplane.

It was the first time we’d seen Pauline and Andrew since Jenny and Liam’s wedding just over 18 months ago. So of course, it was delightful to see them both emerge from behind the scenes.

Unfortunately, Helen had to dash off to work as soon as we arrived home. After settling in, P, A, L and I went for a jolly nice walk locally. The destination was Stony Range Botanic Garden. I think we all expected a Botanic Garden to be a beautiful arrangement of flower beds and rose gardens maybe with some garden ornamentation. But no. It’s a botanic garden specialising in native Australian flora. There’s a well-defined path, a few slopes and steps.

At the time of our visit we were lucky to be able to hear the birdsong even above the noise of the demolition work next door. I’m sure on a quiet day, it’s really pleasant in here.

I pointed out an active brush turkey nest to my sister, but she didn’t believe me: she thought it was some kind of compost heap.

Well, she has a point. The male birds work hard to build these ridiculously large nests.

At one point, visitors enter a rain forest area and, on cue, it started to rain, but only lightly. We’re invited to notice the variation in temperature from one section to another.

We witnessed a couple of brush turkeys lurking in the bushes, but neither of them seemed inclined to show us how to build a nest.

After leaving this little slice of nature, we walked around the corner to a place called Brew and I. ‘Have a Brewtiful day’ suggested the notice on the wall. We did. Coffee plus a cookie (Liesel and I shared), egg buttie (Andrew) and pastel da nata (Pauline).

We can’t seem to avoid the Mall and today was no exception. Who says history doesn’t repeat itself? Pauline bought herself a pair of sandals, same model, same colour as those purchased by Liesel a few days ago at the very same shop. As Liesel said, they are now ‘sole sisters’…

In the evening, we attended Seventh Day Brewery for another pub quiz. We had pizzas from next door. Helen drove us to the venue and Brent joined us from work.

The quiz was good fun, but the acoustics in the place were awful. Way-ay t-too m-much reverb-erb in-n th-the sp-space. It’s hard to describe but it was very difficult to hear what he was asking some of the time. Still, a pleasant time was had by all. And no, our team didn’t win. But we did alright!

The last time Liesel and I visited Sydney, five years ago now, we bought Opal cards for use on public transport. This time, we’re just tapping on and off with our credit or debit cards. After a few failed attempts on the buses, I now know that any problems are likely to be due to faulty machines rather than something wrong with a card or the phone. In fact, now, seeing the payment machine flash up the message ‘Tap Success’ gives a little dopamine hit, a surge of relief. Probably not as exciting as winning the lottery but you take it when you can! You have to tap on and off buses. You have to tap on and off most ferries. You don’t have to tap off the Manly-Sydney ferry in either direction. Fares are capped daily and weekly, and you find out a few days later how much you’ve actually been charged.

And so to the big city. A bus and a ferry took us to Sydney where we walked to Chinatown. I thought it might be a hot and sweaty walk but in the end, it was cooler today, so a very pleasant jaunt.

A very modern city but every now and then, you see an old buiding nestling among the glass and steel of the late 20th and early 21st century.

We passed by another intriguing, geometric sculpture, made by Herbert Flugelman in 1979.

We visited the world-famous Paddy’s Market, hundreds of stalls selling wares that none of us wanted to buy. Even the Rubik’s cubes and variations thereon had little appeal.

We admired the iron latticework adorning the balconies of The Miramar apartment block. We have no idea how much one of these apartments would cost to buy or rent. We’re not Russian or Chinese oligarchs, after all.

We did encounter plenty of Chinese eating places in Chinatown. So of course, we chose to have lunch in a Malaysian restaurant instead. Once you get used to it, reading Malaysian menus is quite straightforward: kari is curry, teh is tea, kopi is coffee, ais is ice. We all enjoyed our various curries. But I am very grateful to Andrew for not telling us about the monster cockroach that was playing under our table. Mind you, I didn’t tell anyone about the baby cockroach I’d seen in the toilet, either.

It’s always good to see a well-designed mural. But I wasn’t too sure about this one until I learned that it represents Aboriginal elder Jenny Munro who is still with us and campaigning hard for Aboriginal rights.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours walking around the Chinese Garden of Friendship, where Helen joined us after finishing work.

The koi carp in the pond were immensely jealous of the attention given by visitors to the many lizards on the paths and rocks.

Inside, we saw a small but fascinating exhibition about tea. The beverage was apparently first enjoyed by a man sitting peacefully in his garden, underneath a tea bush, nursing a cup of hot water, when some leaves fell off, straight into his cup. What are the chances? His first thought, of course was, I wish I had a biscuit to dunk.

Andrew and I had a nice chat with a blue-haired girl who lives near Canberra because she can’t afford to live in Sydney, and who is three quarters Bangladeshi and one quarter Japanese, a most unusual and exotic combination, I thought. I felt awkward about asking if I could take her picture, so I didn’t.

Back at home (thanks for the lift, Helen), we ate outside: Greek salad at Pauline’s request, plus falafel, hummus, bread and tzatziki. Very nice, very tasty. No, it really was delicious.