A place with a lifting bridge

It is so quiet here in South Ballina. No traffic and no sounds other than the sound of rain on the roof last night. When we eventually decided to get out of bed the rain had dried up and the clouds were almost gone. In fact the sky was so blue after we had eaten our breakfast that I persuaded my stay at home hubby to come for a walk to the beach. The beach is almost adjacent to the caravan park we are staying in.

The walk did us both good and Colin looked quite happy to be out on the sands.

There wasn't another person on the beach for as far as the eye could see. This is supposed to be a surfing beach but the waves were very small indeed.

We needed a few pantry items from the shops in Ballina (we are a ferry ride across the river from Ballina) so the day was planned so that I could take a few shots in Wardell which was on the road trip to Ballina from here, There was time for a cup of coffee before we left so I can show you the little cabin that is our temporary home here in South Ballina.

I had read that Wardell had a few historic buildings in it – historic in Australia terms but only just over one hundred years old. I took a few pictures of what I could see were old building – the original Post Office is now closed and empty of everything except a few pieces of large furniture.

Post offices like this one were to be found in country towns all over country Australia. They were painted white and proudly displayed the Aussie flag on the flagpole out the front.

The most dramatic old structure in Wardell is the lifting bridge over the Richmond River that is still used by all the cars buses and trucks that use the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane. I really do not know if the bridge is still operational or if it even needs to be. Once upon a time paddlesteamers and yachts would sail up and down the river and need the higher clearance. I did once see the bridge lift for a high masted yacht but that was a few years ago.

And under a small road bridge beside the big lifting bridge is this wonderful painting. Obviously done by someone who loves music!

Before heading back to the caravan park I drove Colin along the track I walked along the Richmond River. When I walked it I stopped before reaching landsend where the river met the ocean but this time we bounced our way over deep holes and corrugations on the gravel track and then walked out along the breakwater where we were lucky enough to see whales passing by. The whales did not do anything exciting – like breaching or like tail flapping but they did break the surface of the water and occasionally blew spray into the air. This was a lucky shot! We stayed and watched for half an hour and in that time saw at least a dozen whales – many too far away to see anything more than the spray but a few close enough to capture with the 200mm lens.

As we retreated to the car we paused briefly to watch as an early fishing boat headed out to the open waters, The bar is calmer on the further side, the waves were really rolling towards the rocks on our side of the estuary.

Another fascinating day and lots more photos to pack into my hard drives!

I have made tentative plans for tomorrow but if the weather changes (it is like summer) then our plans will change too! I will tell you about what we did, tomorrow!

AJ

All good things . . .

It rained through the night but the morning broke bright and sunny – so bright that the white boats out on the Endeavour River were almost too white to look at! We showered and packed and handed our keys back to Reception before driving up the road a short way to the Kiosk where we had eaten breakfast the day before.

The food and the location could not be bettered so we chose it for breakfast on our last day in Cooktown.

I think that we had managed to see and photograph just about everything there was to see and photograph without getting onto a boat, so we slammed the doors shut on the little white hire car and drove off into the sunset – well maybe not – but in that direction!

WE passed a few signs to scenic lookouts – but we had called in to most of them on the way north so did not stop this time around. High on a hill we did let the wheel turn us onto a tiny track up a rise. There were two other vehicles up there when we arrived and the view, although magnificent, was directly east so we were looking straight into the sun. 

Fortunately there was a spindly tree offering a bit of shade so I stood under that to take my photograph. Sunlight on the lens makes a very disappointing job of a great picture! I recommend that when you are faced with a similar situation that you either get someone to hold their hat to put shade on the lens or else look for a shady spot as I did. Since there was nothing else to see except for rolling hills and dazzling sunshine, our stop at the James Earl lookout was very short (I have no idea who James Earl was! Maybe a local councilor?)

After a couple of hours of driving I felt in need of a pick-me-up so we drove into the roadhouse at Mt Carbine and bought coffees (once I had established that there was indeed a coffee machine! I don’t like instant coffee!)

Colin chose to take a photo of his very weary wife – it really shows!

I did feel a lot brighter after the coffee though. The drive changed at Mr Molloy where we had to drive down a steep and very windy road through amazing rainforest. It was so beautiful that I felt very wide awake! What a great road! I asked Colin to take lots of photos as we drove down but his style of shooting is not mine and unfortunately none of them are good enough to share. The sun was dappling through the canopy all the time and the brightness on the windscreen seemed to have coincided with each of his shutter snaps. But they are a memory for us of how beautiful it was.

Then we were driving along the coast. WE stopped for a couple of shots. Its funny but we both felt that we had “stopped here before” and wanted to keep driving. When I did stop the view that was so tantalizing from the moving car did not seem to be as lovely as expected!

Yes, the sea was gorgeous, the rocks gave character and the vegetation along the beach was green and bright – but somehow it looked even more special from the moving car! Crazy!

But I did find one spot where the beach looked even better from out of the car.

If I had driven past I would not have seen the palm tree leaning over the sands, somehow that one palm gives a very tropical look!

As we drove closer to Cairns I realized that it was lunch time so rather than go directly to our motel I turned the car to Trinity Beach, picked up food for lunch and took it down to a park near the sands. Although it was quite a hot day we found a lovely shady spot in a little garden on the Esplanade. A few people wandered past us as we sat there. It was a relaxed and very pleasant ambience.

We were using the cups that we had purchased on the train tour and I remembered the challenge that had been issued by the train driver to take photographs of the mugs in different locations, so I set my mug on a fence with the sands of Trinity Beach behind and here it is.

Our travels in North Queensland are over. Tomorrow all I have to do is take the car back to the hire car firm and fly back home to the Gold Coast. All good things must come to an end!

AJ

Don't forget! Click on one of the pictures and you will be able to see each of them much larger and clearer - its worth doing! Also, to contact me send an email to joanren AT gmail.com

From Cairns to Cooktown

After picking up the hire car we “hit the road” and were soon at Port Douglas. This is a place that has blossomed so much since we first visited in the 1980s – so much so that we can hardly find anything that is the same – but we did! The little Church has not been moved or changed and we came across it just as the morning Sunday Service was starting.

 We could here the congregation singing one of the old, old hymns I remember from my childhood! “There is a green hill far away without a city wall” Remember it?

Only inches away from the little church the Sunday market was in full swing and I enjoyed our wander through the stalls and was quite tempted by one of the paintings by one of the artists – until I saw several others EXACTLY the same in different sizes! That put me off! If I am to buy an oil painting I want it to be unique!

The drive to Cooktown had me worried – we seemed to be heading South when I thought we should be going North. It is a horrible feeling not knowing if you are on the right road or not and there are no road signs to help and reassure! Fortunately there was a map in the glovebox and Colin told me that we were heading in the right direction and to stop worrying! I wasn’t happy until we reached Lakeland. Our son, Steven had told us to drive off the highway and find the coffee house.

 It is a place you wouldn’t find unless someone had told you where to look. We bought a coffee  there – locally grown and prepared and enjoyed it while sitting under the shade of the veranda.

Refreshed and alert again we continued on our long trek to Cooktown. The sight of a heap of black stones made us pull up to see what this was all about! 

 We had come across “Black Mountain” and the black stones are the solidified magma from a small volcano that had pushed up into a cone, the weather had caused the cooled material to crack and decompose between the cracks so forming lots of boulders. The black is a layer of lichen that has adhered to the rocks over hundreds of years.

From there it was only a few more minutes before we were in the famous landing place of the Explorer James Cook and the motel in which were are to stay for the next two nights. What a view we have from our window!

 Feeling as though we had been sitting down all day (well we had!) we walked the length of Charlotte Street taking photographs as we went – there are many old buildings and interesting things to see on that one street! 

 Now we shall take the car and drive to where we shall have a meal. I think I have made Colin walk far enough for one day!

AJ

By the way - If you click on any one of the pictures you can see all of them much larger and clearer - there will be an arrow that will allow you to scroll through them. Should you need to comment and find the process too difficult, drop me a line - joanren AT gmail.com (written that way so the address is not "clickable!")

On the road again

The little red Corolla was working hard today. A reasonably early start from Taree took us through some beautiful green and healthy countryside - which we didn't allow time to stop and photograph - because we were "on a mission"! The evening before we had been aiming to reach Karuah and the oyster sheds so that Colleen could get a few dozen rock oysters. Unfortunately it was after six when we got there and of course, nothing was open! Great disappointment. However we did a little exploring and noticed the setting sun making a beautiful display over the estuary. I couldn't help myself, the car was stopped and I took several pictures. Here is one of them.

We reached our motel in Taree soon after eight - it was just as well I had run earlier in the day to warn the proprietor that we would be late and our approximate arrival time. We were only ten minutes later than my estimate!
We were surprised to find that we had exactly the same motel room that we had stayed in on our trip down to Canberra.
Next morning the sun was rising behind the paddock of cattle through the trees behind the motel. I had glanced through the small window behind the kitchenette and noticed the mist on the ground and the glow of the sun on its way. I grabbed the camera and dashed around the end of the building and down across the lawn to the stand of tall trees and rattled off half a dozen shots as the light changed.

I tried all kinds of different things - with the trees and with a few and will only a couple. It would have been good if one of the cows had come close to the fence that was just behind the trees - but apart from looking up to see who was looking at them not one of them moved any closer!
This shot is half way through the stand of trees. A little later and the sun was up and the pattern of shadows across the grass made yet another great shot!
We drove into a coastal town called Nambucca and found Colleen her oysters. They are freshly "shucked" (what a horrible word!) this morning and put in brine in bottles - so she has eight dozen of them to enjoy! We put them in the car refrigerator to keep them cool.
Just as we were about to turn off the highway onto the Linkway at Mudgeeraba the phone rang and it was Colin! I was able to ask him to get Colleen's car up to the road so that we could transfer her case from my car to hers. A cup of tea and a chat and she was on her way to Brisbane in her own vehicle.
It has been a great week and I appreciated her company on the long drive down and back again.
AJ

Second day of travel

With only a six hours driving ahead of us Colleen and I did not leap out of our beds until after seven and then had a leisurely breakfast and loaded the car. The key was returned to the reception and off we went – eight o clock wasn’t too bad! Our later start meant that we would avoid the heavy traffic of morning rush hour.

Once again we had a beautiful sunny day so the scenery was seen at its best. Our lunch stop was at the side of the road in a rather busy parking and picnic bay but we were fortunate to find a sheltered table and seats. Pulled in a little way from our table was a small truck on which trays of fruit and veggies were displayed for sale. After clearing away our lunch things and packing them in the car Colleen ambled over and bought a box of nectarines to take to the relative she was going to stay with in Canberra.

 In the afternoon I was ready for a break from driving and there seemed to be no picnic bays anywhere so I took an exit an drove 3 kilometers to a service station at a small town. In the car park was a small market so after enjoying a rather bitter coffee (our own would have been much nicer!) we wandered around the half dozen stalls and both Colleen and I picked up a little trinket that will go into our “Christmas present” collection! We enjoyed the exchange of banter with the stall holder! He did too!

This time the GPS took us to the motel I had booked on line without a fault. I checked in at about 4.15 had a quick look around, took Colleen in to have a look too before we drove on to the suburb of Cook to where Colleen was going to stay.

I was introduced to Shirley and her daughter Pat and we had a delightful meal together before I begged my leave and returned to my “lonely” room to write my little story for this blog. I even set up the pani-blog (my pistol grip camera/camcorder) ion a little tripod and took a shot of myself with my laptop!

I think I must have run my fingers through my hair because I seem to have lost my fringe! Do I look tired? I am now, so I will post this and do something about it!

AJ

Canberra Trip - Leaving Home

Both Colleen (my lady friend from Brisbane) and I found it almost impossible to sleep soundly with a big day of driving ahead of us and knowing we were to wake up at 5.00am. So after waking up half a dozen times through the night we were both seated at the breakfast table by six. The dogs have to be fed before people! So they were given their doggy roll and the lorikeets raw sugar and bread was prepared before we sat down to eat. (There is a ritual in our kitchen that cannot be changed!)

Colin waved us goodbye at seven and we were on our way with a full tank of petrol and far too many clothes, since we had been told that it was to be cold in Canberra and we need to be “prepared”.

Colleen has two bad knees so I didn’t ask her to take over the driving at any stage but we stopped for a morning tea at a roadside picnic stop and then stopped again when we reached Coffs Harbour to have a banana split at the “Big Banana”! Boy, was that good! I had strawberry topping and Colleen, Caramel and we struggled with the bendy plastic spoon and the delicious creamy banana icecream. Perhaps the customers have stolen all the real spoons – or else the staff has decided against washing spoons!

When we got back into the car I plugged in my USB memory stick with folders of music on into the car radio so from there on we were entertained with music. When Colleen nodded off I changed the music to classical and enjoyed a different style of sound.

Just as we pulled into the motel we are staying in tonight the phone rang. Colin must have telepathy – he thought we should have arrived “by now”. The woman in the reception was puzzled as to why we were taking so long to get out of the car!

 Colleen and AJ

Of course the kettle was the first thing that was checked and filled! I know my priorities!

Here we are enjoying the results of that great move!

Once I have posted this tale we shall go off in search of an evening meal. We both fancy Chinese food tonight – but we shall see.

AJ

Heading home

All good things have to come to an end and Sue and Keith's trip to Australia was almost at an end so we had to part company - they to WA to daughter Bourby where they would pack their big suitcases in readiness for their trip back to the UK; and us back to sunny Queensland.
Before we parted company we visited the shops in Gisborne (where Bob and Kathy live) and Sue was able to find herself a couple of cuddly souvenirs.

Surprisingly the souvenirs Sue found were actually made here in Australia! It is getting more and more difficult to find souvenirs that are affordable that are made in the country you visit! More often than not they are made in China.
Sue and Keith were dropped unceremoniously at the airport and fast and furious goodbyes were said, Colin and I packed our cases and left in our clean red Corolla the following morning.
Not too many photographs were taken on our homeward trek. We seemed to be more intent on "getting home" than on wandering from the direct route. However the sight of a landlocked submarine in the middle of New South Wales did encourage us to take an unscheduled break!

The town name Holbrook was in honour of a highly decorated submarine captain who lived there and the towns people bought the shell of the submarine "Otway" after it had been decommissioned. More can be found out about the place by doing a Google search for "Holbrook submarine"

One very small detour off the Hume highway was made so that I could take a couple of photos of the Dog on the Tuckerbox. there is a famous Aussie song about this dog. The first statue was very different from the present one, I have included both dogs so you can see the difference!

The first dog was nine miles from Gundagai and the newer dog on the tuckerbox is five miles from Gundagai - so that it is closer to the town and to the highway.
The sight of a bank of wind generators brought the camera up to the eye again - this time to Colin''s eye! There has been a lot of reporting in the press about how these wind turbines are causing illnesses among the people who live close to them. We were not close enough to hear them but they certainly look very impressive high on the hilltop.

We booked in for the night at Goulburn, we turned of the highway and came face to face with a mighty Merino sheep! The sun was sinking by this time so it looked very striking in the golden glow of evening.

We had made the choice to drive via the coast road rather than struggle with the flooded roads of the inland so we took the M7 to bypass Sydney and joined the Pacific Highway (which bypasses just about every city on the east coast!) It was an easy and fast run with the allowable speed 110 kph for much of the way. We were amused at the "koala crossing" overhead near Newcastle. I wonder how many koalas cross the road on these aerial bridges!

You can see the inward leaning fences that prevent the animals from climbing over the top of them, on the left. I guess they have to climb lots of different trees to find the one that has the road bridge attached! What a strange idea!
I love bridges too, so when we drove over an opening bridge (one time I did see it open) out came the camera again.

This time Colin was driving so I could take the picture myself! We drove and drove until we reached home - we crawled into the garage at eight in the evening - just as our son arrived home with his tour bus. Next morning, before he left I noticed that the tree at the end of our drive way was reflected in the windows of the coach.

I couldn't really let you see the red car - it was smothered with yellow bugs! Its good to be home - but now I will have to keep busy to keep the blog alive!
AJ

Street performers

There is a new event happening at Surfers Paradise and one of the happenings during that Festival is a competition for Street Performers. Although I live in one of the suburbs inland from Surfers Paradise I wanted to join in the fun and see what was happening.
The Street Performers or Buskers competition started today which meant that I was able to see some of it. My weekend is pretty well organised with heaps of activities! Surfers Paradise is not really the safest place for a woman on her own so I dragged my willing husband along with me as my body-guard.
I was not sure what to expect but I anticipated performers on street corners and alcoves singing or playing an instrument or juggling or whatever, what I did not expect was to find a clearing with rows of chairs arranged for a seated audience in the middle of Cavill Mall. Asking a fellow who was tweaking a sound system inside a small marquee, when things were going to start I was told "two minutes" so we found ourselves a seat on the front row. Following our lead lots of others came and sat down too. Setting up took far more than two minutes! More like twenty! Anyway the wait was worth it, The young Argentinian fellow twiddling a soccer ball while the sound system was being fine tuned turned out to be the first performer.

f6.3  1/200  ISO500

There was not much that this boy could not do with a soccer ball! He was quite a comedian too so his performance was very entertaining.
The act that followed was also a juggling act and although each of the tricks were very clever the fellow himself irritated me so much that I actually wanted to walk away!

f6.3  1/200  ISO500 

This fellow juggled with fire, knives and an active chainsaw (!) and finished up on the top of a pole held up by people he had picked from the audience - he even jumped up and stood on the shoulders of one man (from the audience!) to get up high on the pole where he had a couple of footholds. I actually felt sorry for his victims!
Changing the pace of things was the sound of drums. We looked around and a bunch of people were creating amazing rhythms using tin garbage bins, folding chairs, tin lids and stuff, they walked as they drummed and led the crowd to the top of the Mall to the Esplanade where they stopped and gave a performance. I took a few minutes with my pocket video camera which I will try and put together for tomorrow.
Colin and I walked to another venue at the other end of Cavill Avenue and watched and listened to a very talented group who were playing exciting music.

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The young fellow in the red shirt was just as talented as the other two band members! They were a great trio. I did feel very sorry for the performers who were allotted this location for their performances though, there were no people here. a great venue but no audience.
Surfers Paradise was actually very quiet - apart from the sound from the performers, that is - I have never been there and seen so few people. It meant that I was able to get my shots of the performers easily but from the entertainers point of view it was not good! There are not many visitors around, in past years the place has been teeming with people who are obviously from other countries but today most were locals. The high Aussie dollar has killed our tourism!
AJ

Along the Waterfall Way

The car was packed with thermos and our lunch ingredients and off we went in search of a waterfall or two. The road that goes through Bellingen and Dorrigo goes right through to Armidale and has been given the appealing name “The Waterfall Way”. Before we turned onto the road to Dorrigo we made a very slight detour to call in to see the Butterfly House just south of Coffs Harbour.
Our visit lasted only half an hour but we loved what we saw and would recommend anyone to take a visit. It is rather expensive but I came away with half a dozen photos of butterflies I would not otherwise have seen – my favourite was the birdwing butterfly which is the largest Australian butterfly. The male butterfly is the spectacular one with lots of green and yellow making it very eye catching – but I hang my head, I could not get a good shot of one! Butterflies are attracted to certain colours – and the top of Colin’s head must have been one of those certain colours! The road to Dorrigo is steep, slow and winding. It is slow because there seem to be road works every ten kilometers with traffic lights on timers. Grrr! We called into the Rainforest display centre and walking out onto the elevated lookout and took advantage of the “photopod”. This is a metal post with a screw with a large plastic wheel to turn the screw, on the top - to attach a camera. Instructions written onto the side of the post advising how to attach the camera, set the timer and take a photo of yourself. So I tried it out! Then we took ourselves to Dangar Falls and Oohed and Aahed at the spectacle! Poor Colin was not too thrilled when I dragged him along the track to see the falls from another vantage point! He was happier when we reached the spot and the sight was worth the effort! He was happy when I said that I did not want to drive all over the mountains in search of more falls but would rather take a few shots of the old and attractive buildings in Dorrigo.
Before doing that we went in search of the steam engines that we knew were spread over an area north of Dorrigo. I will write about that place another time.
We are hoping that the weather will be kind to us this week so that we can see more of the beautiful countryside around Coffs Harbour.
AJ