Booderee NP Saturday 13th November - 18th November

Beach at Green Patch

Headed for Jervis Bay - Sussex Inlet - beautiful drive down the coast.  Stayed at the Green Patch - Top Spot - new amenities (hot showers), discreet camp grounds in natural bushland.  Booderee ('plentiful bay') is home to the people of Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community.  The area was handed back to the Aboriginal traditional owners and is jointly managed by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and Environment Australia.  We were both impressed by the friendliness, knowledge and service of the staff.  The holiday program offers a great insight in collecting bush foods and medicines, making magic, learning stories and interpreting seasonal and climate change..  Go there!

Great swimming beaches and many walks from easy to difficult - we took a long walk through the bush to Murray's Beach via Grovesnor Headland and returned for a hot chocolate and foot-rub. 

Rob caught up on some writing during the rainy periods while Anne did some reading.... We had a great walk to 'Hole in the Wall' via Bristol Point and Scottish Rocks good swimming beautiful sandstone outcrops. Also while the place was packed on the weekend we had it all to ourselves during weekdays....

Murray's Beach

Bristol Point

What am I?



Scottish Rocks



The King Parrots were plentiful

 

Bristol Point




Beach at Green Patch



Hole in the Wall

Moreton National Park 9 - 13th November

Lookout at Beauchamps Cliffs

Left Sydney with no real direction, ended up at Morton NP via Bundanoon - a very "civilised" campground with hot showers, camp kitchen, close to the very cute rustic town of Bundanoon.  Despite this, very few campers until Saturday, when place is booked out for a mountain-bike "Dash" through some of the trails here.  Tested out the solar panel - it works fine!

Erith Coal Mine

The spectacular landscape is impressive, the density and variety of the bushland, and the unexpected vistas as you reach the edge of the plateau and peer down into the valleys and along the escarpments.  You can see from the inner edges of the Great Dividing Range, the river valleys which can be seen to make their way down towards the sea. We did many hours of bushwalking to an old coal mine, 'Fairy Bower', 'Glow Worm Glen', and deep into the cannoned valley.

The flora is outstanding from native shrub and scrubland, to dense eucalyptus forest, and contrasting pockets of lush fern and vegetation. The area abounds with native flowers.  

Rob got some writing in and we managed also to catch up with some friends who live in the area. Great to see you Anne & Susan thanks for the coffee - see you in Tassie...

The Pics below are some of my favourite shots from the park - how beautiful is this country!!

 

 

Family Catch Up - Hunter and Sydney 3rd-9th November

Headed to the Hunter Valley via the Bucketts way with a stop in Dungog to catch up with a Lenny (an old friend of Robs) had a great coffee and caught up with Camilla (Lenny's daughter) and her beautiful daughter Rose - Thanks for the great coffee Lenny great to see you again and your warm home...

On to Spider's (Anne's brother Stephen) at Singleton and had a fun night with Spider met his friend Joanna and shared lots of laughs - thanks for the bed and the yummy breaky Spider and you better repair that problem!

On to Branxton to visit Anne's Dad "Ted".  Anne recorded an interview with Ted a bit of family history and some interesting facts learnt - What an amazing man - Love you Dad!  Can't wait to finish editing your story and send it to our family.  Thanks for your time

On to Newcastle and a yummy afternoon tea with Anne's old mate from her childhood days Julie and her gorgeous, talented children Lachlan and Taylor - So good to see you again!

From Left: Luke, Max, Lynn, James, Ben, Dave, Rose & Rob

Arrived in Sydney at Luke and Lyn's place to stay for a few days.  James and Ben were also visiting so it became a bit of a family gathering with Rose and partner Dave over as well  (so sorry you couldn't make it Nick see you when we hit Melbourne - you were much missed)!  It certainly was an action packed weekend not to mention a packed 1 bedroom flat!  Thanks heaps Luke &Lyn for letting us all bombard you, Lyn you were a most gracious host.  Lots of laughs lots of love and well I think there may have been some sore heads among the lads.....  Captain Jimmy thanks for organising the yacht it was such a beautiful day - how lucky are we!!  Great to see you again Max (Ben's old school buddy) and thanks heaps for the coffees.

On our last night we saw Leonard Cohen - the man is every bit the consumate performer/ poet that he appears, what a genius!!

Below are some pics from Sydney...

James front and a seedy Ben...

Classy Rose

Cool Hand Luke

Relaxed Rob



Anne



The Lovely Lyn and Jim





Captain Max

 

Rose and Dave



Nothing has changed Wiii

 

Crowdy Head NP Sunday 31st October -3rd November

Ahhhhh what a life.... Arrived at Indian Head (Part of Crowdy Head NP).  Freshwater wetlands, coastal rainforest and some old growth forests are conserved in over over 5000 hectares of National Park.  I couldn't control myself with the camera - wildflowers and wildlife were abundant! 

The weather was a bit patchy so we decided to try out the tent skirt - it was up in minutes and it worked brilliantly - why hadn't we used it before??

We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary (together over 20 yrs now) seems like only yesterday - we are still at play in the fields of the world. Cooked some of the Coral Trout Ken gave us (best fish I've ever eaten)....

Rufous Bettong caught in the act!

Walked over to Diamond Head and back along the cliffs through rainforest and wetlands - spectacular views on route.  That night we had a little visitor at first I thought it was a rat but then is took off jumping like a kangaroo I've since learnt that he/she is a Rufous Bettong the largest of the rat kangaroo species. I don't know who got the biggest scare him or me!  We really had fun with the wildlife here and got to watch the courting process with some eastern grey kangaroos - I've never seen such a persistent effort and tail stroking... The willy wagtails were kept amused also and remained close to the action.

Walked to Kylie's Beach and Back via Kylie's Hut. One of the most famous inhabitants of the area was a man named Ernie Metcalf who was subject of a story by Kylie Tennant titled The Man on the Headland. Metcalfe built Tennant a house near Diamond Head which was restored by the National Parks and well worth the walk - there is a freshwater billabong not far from the hut.

Below are a number of pics taken during this stay as you can see the wild flowers were truly amazing.

 

Coffs Harbour Via The Summerland Way

Friday 22nd October:  A scenic drive via the Lindsay Highway to Casino a nice overnight at Cambridge Plateau in Richmond Ranges NP - Magnificent views over the Hinterland, full moon and all. This is where we left the loop early in September, now come full circle.

Saturday 23rd October: Moved on (reluctantly) to Chaelundi NP a rough track in and a very poorly kept park compared too Queensland parks. Cooked up some crumbed whiting fillets with spuds in the fire - delicious! 

Sunday 24th October: Last stretch for a while to Marianne and Walters at Kalang for a yummy lunch and a catch up! Great to see you both again and thanks heaps for the use of the beautiful apartment at Sapphire Beach.  Dropped off some excess at our storage unit at Urunga and arrived at Sapphire late afternoon.



Sunrise - Sapphire Beach

Monday 25 Sunday 31 October: Woke to a beautiful sunrises from the balcony watched the wales as they made their way back south had some wonderful catch up time with cousin Pam - thanks for the walks.  Rob got so spend time with his mate Wayne hammering out tunes in the shed down Horseshoe road - thanks for the sound program Wayne it's brilliant!  Enjoyed the Bello cuppa with friends Irene, Dave, Walter and Marianne.
 

Pam and Anne Botanical Gardens



Backseat Shelving

We had decided to re-organise the back seat area of the car and took out the back seat replacing it with drawers and shelving.  Decided to set up a solar panel to boost the dual battery so we can stay longer at places and so Rob can use the computer for writing. Thanks Pam and Ken for letting us use your garage to do the work on the vehicle - it has made such a difference having the shelving and solar set up!!

 

Our last night was spent with our good friends Tanya and Bob over a nice bottle of wine and a yummy meal. Great to see you both again :)!

Goodbye Marianne and Walter and beautiful Sapphire.  Thanks Ken for the Coral Trout can't wait to eat it !!