Australian Adventure – Day 21 – Karuah

2013-12-27 | puppy1952

The village of Karuah, which is on the old Pacific Highway straddles the Karuah River. It includes the largest Aboriginal community in the Port Stephens LGA and, at the 2006 Census, had a population of approximately 857. The rest of the suburb’s population live in the rural properties which surround the village.

The Karuah bridge was built and opened in December 1957. In 2004, the Karuah Bypass was opened which, as part of the AusLink program, speeds up car and truck travel times past the township.

Colette has a chaletvan in the caravan park where she and Leonie often go for holidays. To day we went there for the day. After we arrived Earl and I went for a walk to check out the jetty on the River, the boats being Earl’s priority focus. The tide was out and we were fascinated by the crabs on the mudflats and the few birds that were hanging out there. We spotted our first Sea Eagle (similar to the South African Fish Eagle) in a distant tree and one also flew over.

The Chaletvan

Hullo South Africa

Jetty into the River

Catching some rays

Australian White Ibis (Sacred Ibis)

White-faced Heron

Bird of the day – Eastern Whimbrel – Largest Wader in the world

There were thousands of these little crabs in the mud

View from jetty

Oysters and mussels under the jetty

The Karuah township has long been known for its oysters and at lunchtime we went to a local outlet and bought 2 dozen cleaned and opened oysters for just $28. We sat at the riverside and ate them with our picnic lunch. What a stunning spot it was. A sea eagle flew over with a fish in its bill, a little egret made an appearance but then decided not to stay, we found pelicans around the corner and chatted to friendly people at the next table. Afterwards we explored the area, went to a local café for coffee where Earl and Colette got into conversation with a local Aboriginal fisherman. We then returned to ‘The Lighthouse’

View across the river from our picnic site – the finest house on the river

Another view

kookaburra

Yellow-face Honey-eater

I went for a walk to the jetty again and along the boardwalk over the mudflats. The tide was in and so the scene was quite different from earlier this morning. A Willie Wagtail entertained me and I managed to get photographs of a peewee and a lorikeet.

Peewee

Willie Wagtail

Rainbow Lorikeet

It was just the most perfect day. We saw birds, ate excellent oysters and enjoyed another piece of Australia. Once again we were blown away by the fact that there were no crowds and that another beautiful spot was just an hour’s drive away.

Australian Adventure – Day 20 – Boxing Day

2013-12-26 | puppy1952

This morning the cousins came round for a few hours before they all had to go their various ways and once again it was great to chat and have fun with them. Terry and Marie also popped in to exchange Christmas wishes and gifts.

Once all our visitor had dispersed we hopped into Colette’s car and she took us on a grand tour. Boats, sea, lakes and boats – oh yes and boats were on the top of Earl’s wish list. First stop was Toronto Marina. The café overlooked the lake so we had a coffee there before continuing our scenic tour.

Toronto Marina’ s Jetty

The Marina

A small boat about to launch

The Coffee Café

The neighbourhoods through which we drove were fabulous. Many of the residents were two boat rather than two car families. Even without a boat they enjoyed amazing views and close proximity to the water.

We stopped to look at the R.A.A.F Rathmines Catelina Memorial which was built in 1972 to commemorate all those in the R.A.A.F. who served on the flying boats at Catelina. We walked around the beautiful park area and were amazed that on boxing day so few people were making use of the facilities. This is probably because there are just so many places like this – Imagine no parking problems, no crowds, no litter!

The Memorial

Free Electric Barbie – only in Australia!

Remember – It’s Boxing Day – and this park is next to a lake -Think Lakeside Western Cape?

As we drove on a little further Colette slammed on breaks to avoid a tiny masked lapwing chick. The parent went crazy when I hopped out of the car and it immediately hid under some plants. When I got back into the car it popped out again and we were able to get some shots.

Masked Lapwing trying to distract us from the baby

Lapwing Chick

The View from Fishing Point East to the sea

At Arcadia Vale people were enjoying paddling in boats and playing on rubber rafts. It’s an idyllic spot and we saw pelicans flying over, a heron on the bank and pink and grey galahs pecking for food on the lawns.

Arcadia Vale

A little further on we found a pair of Australian Wood-duck making a pretty picture in a puddle.

Ducks in a puddle

It was getting late by the time we arrived at Wangi Wangi Forefront so we decided to have supper at the Workers’ Club which had a wonderful view of the lake and the boats on the Marina. We took a walk first and found some birds.

Willie Wagtail

Crimson Rosella

Paradise for Earl

The homes who always have this view

After a delicious and inexpensive meal we went to Morisset Park – famous for its free-roaming Kangaroos. Because of daylight saving it is light till 9 o’clock so we managed to get some good photographs It was just so amazing to see so many of these marsupials with their joeys. I was so amused by the way they lie as if relaxing on the beach!

There were hundreds of them

A Father Roo watches over his mob

Mom and joey

Is the milk bar open?

To end our tour we went past some houses beautifully lit up for Christmas.

Australian Adventure – Day 19 – Christmas Day

2013-12-25 | puppy1952

So many Christmases have gone by since my childhood. Christmas was always celebrated with a huge extended family with traditions that changed and adapted with each generation. What never changed was the Toast to Absent Friends and Family. Celebrating Christmas today with the ‘absent’ family that we always toasted was very special indeed. On only three other occasions have I celebrated with them before. When the cousins were 3 6 and 9 they sailed from Sydney to Cape Town so their Mom could finally introduce them to their South African family and they stayed for 3 months over the summer season. Wayne returned when he was 21 and had Christmas with us and then Earl and I came over 15 years ago. The family of course has grown – there are wives and children now and what a pleasure it has been to meet and celebrate with them all.

We started our day with present opening at Grandma’s house. Tea and Mince Pies were served and at midday we went to the RSL Club for our Christmas dinner. It was wonderful – I’ve never eaten seafood for Christmas lunch before. An array of fresh oysters, mussels, prawns, calamari etc. was on offer as well as a variety of roasts and other hot food. And the desserts were to die for. We could just help ourselves to as much or as little as we wanted.

Sophie ready for Christmas

Ella, Alexander and Jack ready to open gifts

Wayne, Helen, Bruce

Adelaide delighted with her gift

This one is pretty cool too

Just what I’ve always wanted for Australia!

The girls loved their African Necklaces

Tamara’ matched what she was wearing

Lovely Alison

Grandma got me this neat camp chair

Visit us in Cape Town soon, please Ella

Wayne

Nana (Colette) and Wayne

Alison and Kath

Adelaide in her beautiful Christmas Dinner dress

Prawns for Christmas

Delicious

The bad news is – Earl had a bit of a reaction to something he ate – he was the only one so far – hopefully nobody else is affected. I am happy to say that he is fine now!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Australian Adventure – Day 18 – Christmas Eve

2013-12-24 | puppy1952

The intention was to have a chilled day at home today. And chilled it was although some unexpected things happened. It rained most of the day which cooled things down but one could hardly call the weather cold!

Earl is not one to sit still for long so went off to take Sophie for a walk. There is a little creek nearby and he was soon back telling me to bring binoculars and camera as he’d heard a coucal. Before heading back he checked the bird book to see what the Australian version looked like. It is called a pheasant coucal and its head, neck and body are black while the feathers on wings and back are chestnut. The tail is very long. We didn’t spot it at first but then I saw it on the grassy river bank but it flew into the trees before I could snap him. I did, however, manage to get some other birds the highlight being the buff-banded rail The soldier bird is common enough but I liked this photo of him feeding upside down. Another first for us was a Koel – we got a poor photograph of the female. Later in the day I finally managed to get a few shots of the Rainbow Lorikeet.

Buff-banded Rail

Soldier Bird

Eastern Koel

Rainbow Lorikeet

Bruce, Kath and Ella arrived around lunch time and later Wayne and his three kids, Jack, Alexander and Adelaide. Tamara will be coming up later by train as she had to work on Christmas Eve.

We had a great time catching up and it was so good to meet the kids! They all came back again in for a light supper prepared by Colette – fantastic salads, ham and corned beef followed by Christmas pudding.

Ella Adelaide and Alexander

Bruce and Ella getting into the Christmas Spirit

Enjoying Supper

Kath and Bruce

Jack and Earl

Tomorrow everyone will arrive after breakfast for present opening and then it will be off to The Club for Christmas Lunch. Have a great day everyone.

Australian Adventure – Day 17 – Newcastle

2013-12-23 | puppy1952

After experiencing cool and sometimes cold weather in Victoria and Tasmania we have returned to Cardiff to very hot and humid conditions! It is very much like the climate in Durban, KZN, in South Africa and as we often visit KZN we are used to this kind of heat in summer.

We had a relaxing morning until just after 10 and then went shopping with aunt. I needed to get a ‘dongle’, Earl needed a barber and he also wanted to check our the Australian Woolworths. The barber quickly put his ‘hair’ to rights, I got the Dongle from the Post Office shop and after one or two hiccups with MTN and Telstra clashing with each other I am now have the internet up and running on my laptop.

We then drove to Newcastle to drop off the hired car and to deliver a parcel. (Marilyn we found Brad with ease – mission accomplished). A pleasant morning was then spent exploring the waterfront and beaches of Newcastle. Earl’s boat and water fetish was well catered for. We started with a walk along Queen’s Warf, watched a ship being pushed out by tugs, climbed the observation dome and got magnificent views of the surroundings. We had a drink on the deck of one of the many eateries and then went to put our feet into the Pacific Ocean. At Nobby’s Beach I threw a coin over my shoulder, into the sea and yelled “Marilyn will be back!” fulfilling my promise to her that I would declare this on her behalf! Marilyn has visited Australia seven times and loves this wonderful land. She is soon to retire and wants very much to come back. Marilyn – I know your dream will come true.

We were amused to hear a warning to bathers coming over the public address system at the beach – “Will those bathers over there please make their way back to the area between the flags. This is for your own safety as it is the only area monitored by the life guards!” The beaches were lovely – and not overly crowded. It’s a pity we left our costumes at home – but we will be visiting beaches closer to home soon.

Bird of the day captured in the garden – Topknot Pigeon

Queen’s Warf

Aunt and me on Queen’s Wharf

A smart eatery on Queen’s Wharf

The Ferry

View from the Viewing Dome

A drink on the deck

Nobby’s Beach – “Marilyn will be back!”

Dolphins in the Bay

Newcastle Beach

Australian Surfers

We are being so well taken care of here with Leonie and Colette. They are treating us with so much love and hospitality and we are having the time of our lives. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the cousins will be arriving in Cardiff for the holidays. Looking forward to seeing them all.

Australian Adventure – Day 1 – Cape Town to Sydney to Cardiff

2013-12-07 | puppy1952

The day for the trip ‘Down Under’ finally arrived. On FaceBook I posted a bitstrip of myself jumping down a manhole to the land beneath – If only it were that simple! Instead it required a 2-hour flight to Johannesburg, a two hour wait there and a bit of a delay when someone on the plane took ill and had to be taken off in an ambulance!

We had a charming travelling companion in the form of a South African geoligist who lived in Adelaide but worked in Tansania. We were on the left hand side of the plane, over the wing – but there wasn’t much to see anyway as the plane was plunged into darkness fairly early on and we were asked to keep the blinds up. It was actually light outside most of the time. I can’t sleep on a plane at the best of times but managed to get about 2 hours of cat naps. Thank Goodness for my Kindle as the inflight entertainment was not that great! The meals were fair, the seats terribly cramped but still it was exciting just to be going to another continent!

We arrived to beautiful weather and Cousin Wayne and his two youngest at the airport to meet us. Luckily we had his cell number as it was not easy finding him in the large terminal. After a Long Black for me and Cuppuccinos for Earl we got our hire car and made our way to Cardiff.

I managed to get Alexander to look at the camera

Lovely little Adelaide

Aunt wanted us to meet her at a Servo but we managed to get stuck in front of a truck when looking for her so had to carry on and it was impossible to turn back so we phoned and carried on using the GPS to guide us. The house welcomed us with a South African flag in honour of Madiba on the stoep and a flock of lorikeets and then some corellas cried out their greetings too.