This is another photo from along the Bridle Trail - this time at Easter after a few days of light rain. It's remarkable how quickly it greens up again. It was simply beautiful up there but it seems that half of Sydney was out there camping.
Welcome to Skywatch Friday. For more skies around the world, visit here.
Welcome to Skywatch Friday. Visit here for more beautiful skies around the world.
This is another shot taken at Stockton Beach, north of Newcastle, in New South Wales. These small wetlands are found behind the first row of sound dunes. Really pretty but don't drive through them - we always see people get bogged :-)
There are a few places where you can still see the tank traps that were laid during WWII to protect the air force base further inland. This row goes for a couple of kilometres and the concrete blocks stand about as tall as me (about 5'2"). There used to be a row of them in the dunes too, but they have been covered in sand over the years. Every time we travel up here we see new things that have been exposed because of the shifting dunes, but some things also disappear. We saw barbed-wire fences and some petrified forest this year that we hadn't before.
The Sygna, off Stockton Beach, is slowly breaking up. It was really miserable when we stopped there - very grey and gloomy and the wreck looked rustier than it's ever been.
This is an old firing range for shells used during WWII, located at the end of Stockton Beach. The sign is up the top of the embankment. Looks like it's seen a lot of target practice.
There are a number of old bunkers at Stockton at the back of the dunes where the scrub takes over. There are practice ranges and bunkers above and below ground. The one that we know of underground was full of water, thanks to the rain up there.
The way out at the end of the day. We were glad to get off the beach, even though it was fun, as it was so windy and we knew that we had to go back to camp and see what havoc the wind had wrought on our camp. The awning on our camper trailer had blown down and it took four adults to get it back up again in the wind.
Dinner was a sociable affair. We ordered fourty-odd pizzas. The poor pizza delivery guy's car was chock-a-block full. The windows had even fogged up :-) We all tucked in to a yummy dinner and raised money for the kids Christmas party.
The next day was a very windy and wet affair. Most people packed up in the morning and went home. A few people were staying Sunday night too, so a few of us headed into Nelson Bay for a drive and a delicious lunch at the RSL Club. When we got back to camp, I bid farewell to my family , as they were staying the extra night and I got a lift home with the friends that had brought me up. Off home to a quiet night at home, alone. Not something that I get to do often, and it's really enjoyable.
A very agitated sea and sky at Stockton Beach, north of Newcastle, NSW, Australia last weekend. For more photos from all over the world visit Sky Watch Friday.
On Saturday we went up to Oberon and Jenolan Caves for a weekend trip. We met some friends on the road and made our way to Jenolan Caves for a tour through the Temple of Baal.
can negotiate the narrow, windy road in to the caves. We then had a bit of fun exploring some four-wheel drive tracks on the way to Oberon, were we settled in for the night. We woke in the morning to snow :-)
We started the morning, before meeting everyone, with breakfast at McDonalds. We then all met up at the Penrith Rowing Club and were sent on our way with some clues and two pages of things to look out for during the day and a list of treasures to collect (but not before Tony and Tegan went back home to get chairs). We scavenged a wrapper from McDonalds - we needed a McMuffin wrapper, which we had already eaten for breakfast but threw away the wrappers. Little did we know that we would need it for a treasure. We had to find our way out to Wallacia and stop in Mulgoa on the way because Matt and Mick, the organisers, had a bright idea to hide something there. We found the light switch, but not the light bulbs.
We stopped off at the newsagent at Wallacia to purchase $2.70 worth of goods and collect the receipt and the next set of instructions. We made purchases that we needed for our treasure list, and continued on. It was a little frustrating as I was relegated to the back seat and couldn't really help too much. Tegan was navigator for the day. We had to look out for unusual things that you don't normally see. The gnome in the wreck stood out, though I was actually drawn to it the first place as we needed a wheel nut for a treasure and we got one off the wreck he was 'driving'. We continued following clues and collecting treasures until we met up at the checkpoint at Vickerys winery for morning tea.
The next leg was a little easier, following arrows spray painted on the road and stopping at particular points to answer questions and/or collect treasures, all the while looking out for questions and treasures from the two-page list. It became a little competitive amongst some of the boys, with some impressive slides from Shane. Even though we arrived at the memorial with two other cars - Shane and Teresa, and Steve and Connie - we had to take photos of our own crews as no-one would do it for each other :-) We got back to Vickerys, where we had left Shelby with Andy for this leg, and started off on the final leg. Shelby stayed back again, riding on Thomas the Tank Engine and playing with friends.
The last leg led us to Silverdale and Warragamba and a quick tour around the towns. We had a variety of clues to follow and the highlight of this section was visiting the dam information centre, collecting instructions and questions from the volunteer that worked there. Tegan had great fun at one of the stops, where we had to provide photographic evidence of the navigator playing on the swings. The end of the hunt led us to Wallacia golf club, where we had to buy a drink and get a receipt as the last treasure. Then we had a few drinks, enjoyed a scrumptious dinner and checked in with the organisers.
Of course, catching up and chatting with friends was on the agenda :-) As you can see from the photos below, we did fit some driving in too. The left-hand photo is the start of the ball and pole event, where you have to drive around a somewhat circular course and the driver has to place a ball on each pole and then drive around and knock them all off again. The right-hand photo is an event where you have to roll balls down the pipe attached to your car and try to get them in the containers (I am REALLY bad at that).
Our camp site. We have a good size camper trailer with a swing out kitchen. It was the sunniest spot, so we had sun most of the day. In winter that's great. Below lft, is my sister Andy and I. Below right are my two girls, Shelby and Tegan.
This is me driving a full pelt and then stopping quick enough to touch, but not knock over, the post. Just like trying to get a parking spot in the shopping centre :-) You can just make out me in the driver's seat.
Every event attracted a crowd. Besides competing, watching is the next best thing!
Shelby was Tony's navigator for this event. You had to hold a full-to-the-brim container of water while the driver drove up a hill, around a loop and back down, without spilling the water. Hilarious stuff.
Our camp site along the river
Sitting around the fire
Tegan and her boyfriend Lucas
Shelby
The view along the Bridle Track on the way to Hill End
Shelby and me at the Hill End pub
Me by the river on the way back from the pub - afternoon tea stop
Shelby again - at the river
On our way home
