Fremantle Reflection

Jane lives near Fremantle. After a long sit at Little Creatures and a few of their lovely Pale Ales and lots of delicious food, we went for a stroll along the water. There we are reflected in the McDonalds window.

My first visit to Fremantle was in 1999 when Jane lived about a street away from this part of the world. My kids and I spent two weeks here. The beachfront here has altered. At that time my kids went to the little building on the beach on the right in this photo below and had some art lessons. They loved it.

I didn't recognise the view at first with the big modern building. I vaguely recall being told it was a Museum.

There is a lot of development going on in that part of the world. It's a shame to see the coastline getting built up with housing. I guess for the people who will live there, it will be great.

We drove past Sam's school and it's a great space. It sounds like there are some good people there too. Sam seems really fond of his integration aide and some of his teachers, which is good. I wish he was at my school, but the grounds at the school he attends are awesome.

I visited the Freo Market, mainly to check out the mosaics I remembered from my last visit. I wanted to take photo's, but the sign said 'No Photos', so I chatted to the nice man and he gave me a few tips, which I know will help a lot and a nice postcard with their website: mosaicart, there are some great photos and links to other artists on the site. Nice story too!

I love my time with Jane. This was my fourth trip to WA. I would be happy to just sit at her kitchen table and drink coffee until it was a respectable time to have red or a beer. She is one of the few people I drink with. She is such a creative soul, her home is always beautiful and interesting and I always enjoy seeing the magic she creates in her space. We have been friends for such a long time and know each others history. It is very comfortable.

Trip to Wollongong - Laughs

This photo was taken at Tilba and I immediately conjured in my mind a toothless old guy searching the road for his teeth.

There were plenty of laughs! The things I remember most about the adventures I have in my life are the laughs often. Andy, the love of my life and travelling companion provided most of them.

When we drove through the little hamlet of 'Suggan Buggan' we passed this little cottage with a family sitting out on the veranda and he dared me to go ask them where McDonalds was.

When we arrived in Jindabyne, we were having a coffee and a police car pulled up, we had just watched the movie 'Jindabyne' before we left and he 'dared' me to ask the police man if they'd caught the murderer yet. When we passed the service station that had featured in the movie, he dared me to ask if Gabrielle Byrne was in.

At Kiama, on the way home a kid was leaning on his shorter brother in front of me. Andy dared me to lean on him. At one of the caravan parks we stayed at there was live music. It wasn't really the bonus they had advertised and Andy dared me to go and ask them to turn it down.

He watches too much Ed.

Wollongong - Returning along the Coast

We spent 8 days travelling down the coast to return home. The beaches were all great and the names have blurred in my memory as it was one after another. We ran out of time to stop at every beach, I think you could take 6 months to make that trip. The coast was also much busier than I expected. The cost of real estate was much higher. There were no sleepy little places. I was longing for one at times as the traffic and crowds distract a bit from the natural beauty of these great places. I am a part of the traffic and the crowd though, so I guess I can't complain.

We spent time in Kiama and checked out the blowhole, and the lookout. We spent our first night there. The next day Andy bought a boogie board and we began looking for appropriate surf for him to 'boogie'. There were so many places I liked and the names I can remember were Mollymook, Jervis Bay, Ulladulla, Husskisson and Stony Beach. There were some great National Parks in among those places also.

I never take as many photo's or clips in the last week. I suppose I get a bit tired of being away from home. We camped a lot also and so didn't always set up the laptop and 'do the photo thing', so it all becomes a blur.

We joined the YHA in Merimbula and stayed there for an enjoyable night. It was awesome to have a massive and well equiped kitchen to cook in. We camped at Narooma and Mallacoota, and a place where this photo was taken. I couldn't believe this caravan park, almost every boat owner seemed to have an old tractor to tow it to the boat ramp. Caravan Parks are like little settlements. People are there for the duration and set up these homes away from home. Some of them looked more permanent and well organised than my home. They each have their own cultures. I personally prefered the ones that didn't have signs telling you what to do and had spacious showers with enough hooks. It's funny the little things that make a difference when you are away from home.

I liked these murals on the side of the public toilet and was impressed that they were so clean and the place they were I can't recall the name of, so if you recognise it I would appreciate you letting me know, because it was my favourite place. The vegetarian cafe there also had this awesome picture for sale and I would have loved it. It was a collage made from sea urchins and star shaped shells. The other thing I really liked about this place was at the beach there were a lot of older people surfing. It was great to see these fit, happy people pull up in the work ute and indulge in a spot of surfing.

I didn't really interact with people, but I did notice how polite and happy people were in the general public. Whilst walking around these places, very few people passed without a cheery 'gidday' paired with a wide open smile. I guess that is what holidays do for us.


Surfers at Mollymook
Kiama Lookout
Pirate Cove

All Wollongong Trip Videos in Revver Collection

Wollongong

We stayed in Wollongong for a week. Our accommodation was basic but central. We stayed at Keiraview Accommodation. It is university accommodation and it was clean and the people were really very helpful. It was really noisy at night,I am not accustomed to being inner city any more.
Wollongong is a large city with a beautiful beach basically. I loved the rock pools and the beach. The shopping centre was as all shopping centres are, only useful if you want to purchase something. My favourite shop was called "Something for Doris", such a cool name and a nice lady. I didn't purchase anything there, but enjoyed my browse.
The art gallery was good, but I was looking specifically for my cousin's artwork, I had hoped his collection would be on show, but it wasn't, so I was a little disappointed in that. There were some really cool rooms inside that building. There was a great supermarket across the road from the place we stayed and I bought lotus moon cakes and ate them for breakfast. I liked them.

Port
Rock Profile
Balcony at Keiraview
Beach

Wollongong Trip - Cooma to Nowra

We left Cooma quite late and had to shop for socks at Rivers as Andy hadn't packed enough! We drove to Braidwood for a late lunch in the park and had a stroll down the historic streets there. They had a great display on the local National Parks and Architectural features of the town, which had buildings from many eras.
We headed through Morton National Park on our way to Nowra. It was like driving in the clouds and we stopped and checked out a beautiful waterfall in the late afternoon.

We camped on the river at Nowra and read and had an early night. I was woken a couple of times by young people celebrating New Years Eve, and the next day I waited for the decent hour of morning to arrive before phoning my kids to ensure they had survived the revelry.

Wollongong Trip - Mt Kosciusko

We spent our next day at Kosciusko National Park. Andy wanted to do the walk to Mt Kosciusko, which was a 20km round trip.We were departing from Charlotte's Pass.

I opted for the walk to the glacial lake, which was 8km return. I think I stopped about a km short. It was really steep and being as unfit as I am I kept looking back at the steep downward slope I had come down at the start and knowing that was going to be at the end, wore me down mentally. Andrew’s walk was a round trip so he had to come up that climb at the end and admitted it was the steepest part of the walk.

As we headed back to Jindabyne to go through on our way to Cooma, a hail storm struck. It was amazing that only a few days ago we had been worried about bushfires. I believe the bushfires eventually got to Kosciusko National Park earlier this month.

We stayed in a motel at Cooma as we were tired and the thought of camping didn’t appeal.

Driving to Charlotte's Pass from Jindabyne clips are here and here

Lookout 1, 2 and 3

Walk clips 1 and 2

Leaving the National Park

The Hail Stones

Wollongong Trip - Omeo to Jindabyne

At Bairnsdale we found there was no accommodation as the DNRE (Department of Natural Resources & Environment) and the CFA (Country Fire Authority) were in town en masse. We moved on towards Bruthen and finding nothing there either, headed for Omeo. The road was splendid in the afternoon sun and I enjoyed the drive in that open golden light. Gentle, rolling, hills, clear, smokeless sky and bitumen underneath was a respite from concern for me.

Omeo is a beautiful town. I found it quite a surprise. Nestled in these smooth, brown hills with clean distinctive buildings, we found a unique and effective accommodation for the night and enjoyed our brief time there.
Does anyone know what this amazing plant is?
There were lovely plants and I got up early and had breakfast in the local bakery surrounded by CFA brave souls who had also filled that town to protect from the surrounding fires. I read that Omeo had been severely affected by fires in 2003. There were posters on the wall describing the effects of a great firestorm that had ravished the area and then the flooding rains that followed had created harmful environmental consequences as unprotected topsoil had washed into the water supply.
From Omeo we headed towards Jindabyne on an amazing road that passed along the Snowy River. The road that passes through Suggan Buggan is one that has to be experienced to be believed. It is a slender dirt road that winds along a cliff that looks out onto vast treed ranges. There is no room for error on those roads. We stopped at one point to take photos after a few kms, and a weary driver stopped to warn that it seemed to go on forever, he looked tired and concerned and wanted to know how much further he had to go on this road. He had traveled from Queensland and was heading towards Tasmania. I had already began to feel queasy from the height and his stress made a deposit in my mind! Andy remained his usual calm self and loves the challenge and adventure of roads like that.
Entering Jindabyne was majestic. The lake is vast and it is surrounded by mountains. It is quite a big place really although much of the commercial nature was subdued as it was summer and it is the snow that draws the crowds in places like that. We attempted to get a spot at the caravan park, yet it was booked out. We searched for landmarks from the film we had recently seen, ‘Jindabyne’(which I loved and will possibly write about later). We stayed at a ski lodge and it began raining and we were glad we weren’t in the tent.
Road to Omeo
A glimpse of Omeo
The Lookout

Interesting Dirt Road just out of Omeo
Suggan Buggan Road (beginning)

Greetings from Woolongong

I am on holidays. I am quickly writing a post from Woolongong as I did last year from Broken Hill. I like this city. It has beautiful beaches and the weather has been great. The journey here was sensational. We went to lots of National Parks and saw beautiful countryside. I have lots of videos to share when I get home.
Happy New Year all.

Port Albert

We returned today from Port Albert. It was a beautiful break for a week. The place we stayed in had a great view of the prom. We experienced a range of weather. The first afternoon we arrived it was blowing a gale and cold. Other days were clear and sunny.
I had been warned about sand flies, by my grandpa yet didn't experience them. He has been bitten badly by them at Port Albert and says nothing would make him go back there.
There was a bottle of oil containing lavender, tea tree and eucalyptus oil and a sign saying the sand flies were known to be around from October to March, we left today and they hadn't appeared yet.
I saw lots of beautiful birds and got some videos, which I will put on my revver site no doubt.
Port Albert is only an hour away and I haven't been there since I was a kid. I remember going with my best friend Jane's family for a BBQ one Sunday afternoon.
The port has undergone some development since then. It was a little fishing village and popular with fishermen mainly when I was growing up. I think that is still the main attraction there, but the waterfront property real estate development has also moved in and toned it up a bit.
I have to clean up and continue unpacking now. The downside of taking a trip.

Terracotta Warriors

I would love to go and see this place. I think this is amazing and Chinese history is one of the things I love learning more about.

Yesterday's Journey

I caught the train from Pakenham to the city yesterday. The course I had to attend was across the road from Flinders Street station, so it was too easy. I really enjoyed the time out and completed the novel I have been reading every night for weeks. I got some clips that I will put on revver. I observed a lot of people. Just the perfect past-time.
The learning was affirming. I picked up a couple of new things but mostly felt that we have made good progress toward implementing the changes to curriculum and many of my gut instincts about it were confirmed.
More later...

Watch a clip

I found this new site today called Revver. You can upload little video's that you have taken on it and if anyone watches them and then clicks on the ads on the end, you get paid. This is probably not going to make you a fortune but the thing is that you can put your clips on there and share them. It is pretty cool I reckon. I have put one of the Road to Broken Hill that I took when we went on our holiday. It's pretty basic. It will be interesting to see what the process is like though. Last I checked it had 10 views. I find this kind of thing quite amazing to be honest.

Letter from Broken Hill

I got a letter and a gift of a book of poems from Broken Hill on Friday. The letter was from Marj, the lovely lady who was the caretaker of the house we rented. She gave me the recipe for the delicious jam drops she made for us when we arrived at "Hydrangea Cottage". It was a fabulous place to stay and I would recommend it to anyone intending on visiting Broken Hill.
I made the jam drops today and they are delicious. Just like Marj's! They were a little larger than hers though cause I had no idea how much they would grow in the oven, but next time I make them, they will be better. I was pleased with myself.
I got all the housework done and feel organised enough to return to work tomorrow.

Above the clouds

Our last camping night was spent above the clouds at the Mt Skene lookout. I was so tired from the fear and supressed rage of the day that I retired to the tent before the sun left the sky. I am glad I took this photo of the wildflowers and the tops of the hills or I may have missed the beauty of the place entirely.

Camping on the banks of the Murray

One of my favorite stops on the trip home was on the Murray. I loved going for a swim in the evening and in the morning. It was warm when we stopped at Echuca. It was delicious.

I was amazed at the number of people in all different kinds of boats using the Murray. We stayed at Picnic Point, NSW, one night and then camped at the banks at Echuca. They were both great.

Got to visit Auntie Angela and Uncle John whilst I was there who both provide accomodation in Echuca. There places are great, but naturally booked out at this time of the year so I didn't even try them, visited them the morning later.
I do worry about the Murray though, we seem to use it so much, I just hope it can be kept healthy and flowing because it is such a provider to that part of the world.

Murals

Broken Hill has heaps of murals painted on the walls of plenty of buildings. They show all different aspects of the Hill as the locals call it.

Broken Hill & Women

There was a wonderful woman who looked after us when we stayed at Broken Hill. She told me when she arrived she was the first woman to get a job at the previously male dominated club there.
Married women were not able to work, the theory was this would retain jobs for single women and naturally it would retain the male as breadwinner in the family.
This memorial in the picture is in the middle of the outdoor shopping mall in Broken Hill. I liked it.

Living Desert

Living Desert Sculpture Park

The sunrise was definately the time to go. The place has amazing 180 degree views. Andy has much better photo's than mine so I will frame one of his.

We always manage to get up for one sunrise on our holidays. It really is the best time to take photo's and this was a great place.

The Journey

The roads were long and dusty and hot. I loved it from the comfort of the air conditioned car. The sky was huge. It will take me a few days to work out where all the photos are.

This was on the road to Lake Mungo.

I'm home now and I had a sensational 3 weeks. It feels like I've returned a different, happier, freer person. I love these kinds of holidays.

Quick note from Broken Hill

I am at the library at Broken Hill, using my last 10 minutes of time that I have left. This trip has been amazing. I have some great photo's to put up but all that will have to wait until I get home. Broken Hill is a great place, the people are so helpful and generous and friendly. The place we are staying in absolutely rocks thanks to the lady who cleans and cooks and chats. She is a real character and her cooking has been scrummy.
This morning we got up at dawn and went out to the sculptures in the Living Desert. It was fabulous because we went there last night at sunset and there were heaps of people there including a couple of loud people who wanted to share with all of us what a wine could do to her volume. This morning it was just Andy and I. Great! Happy with photo's too.
I'm missing my family especially my son. I read his blog before. I love him so much. He really knows how to appreciate his life.
Got to go, library staff are packing up. Don't want to be kicked out.