Good for the soul

I just love gardens so today was “right up my alley”! We visited the Hunter Valley Gardens. The gardens were opened in 2003 so are very new when compared to many of the large famous gardens to which tourists will flock. Our visit happened after all the rose trees had been pruned and all the deciduous trees – which actually is most of the trees – are still bare of leaves and buds are barely showing. In spite of that the gardens were beautiful. This photograph shows the formal garden and was taken from an elevated platform.

There are a number of different (very different) gardens within the 16 hectares of garden.

A little train is an excellent way to get the first taste of the garden and the train driver gives a running commentary as the train passes the different features. Anyone who is not so nimble will still be able to see most of what is in the gardens this way.

There are many topiary shapes that are really eye catching and even some that are shaped like animals! They are very clever!

The storybook garden is full of fascinating sculptures that would appeal to the child in anyone! This is more a garden of sculptures than a garden of flowers.

The time passed too quickly in the gardens but there was another interesting place to go and visit so we clambered aboard our mini bus and made our way to Singleton and to a convent where we were greeted by Sister Monika and given a fascinating look into the life of nuns in Australia. A little video was shown to us that gave the early history of the Order of the Sisters of Mercy and how the order started in Ireland before spreading across the world. Our guide had spent most of her life in this Convent and she was able to answer any questions we asked on any aspect of life as a nun.

Life has changed dramatically for nuns – they no longer wear the black habit and live in seclusion – but we were shown a Spartan room that showed how a nun’s bedroom (cell) used to be.

 

In the grand old buildings there were many beautiful stained glass windows. These have been repaired and strengthened without compromising their beauty. This is one of the glorious examples taken in the large dining room.

Just before we left the convent we were taken into the chapel – and this was definitely the “piece de resistance” The interior of the chapel is exquisite. The altar is Italian marble and breath-taking in its translucency and form. This is a very special place and I found out that I shouldn’t really have been taking photographs of it – but who could resist? I certainly couldn’t.

I felt so privileged to have been able to see this amazing convent, one that is still inhabited by nuns, albeit a small number of aging nuns, and to learn something of the contribution these ladies have given to Australia.

AJ

Guns and planes

What a busy day for the eyes it was today! The tour start was not particularly early but we managed to fit in three different experiences. To begin with we drove from our base Hotel at Soldiers Point to Newcastle. The drive through the countryside on this perfect clear winters day was fantastic. Everything looked so bright and healthy, the grass and trees are all green and lush and the grazing animals all looked so fat and healthy. There seem to be a lot of horses in this part of the world and on some of the small holdings there were different breeds of sheep that are not usually seen further inland.

Our first stop was at Fort Scratchley on the mouth of the Hunter River, a place of canons and sandstone buildings.

We were met by Len who was to be our guide through the tunnels of the fort. We had an interesting history lesson on the activities of the fort and its one moment of glory during the 2^nd world war when four shots were made in response to a submarine attack.

I know it is really a “Mans” thing but the women in the party all showed their interest in the gun emplacements and narrow tunnel passageways!

After we emerged to the daylight we were taken into town where we were “let loose” to amuse ourselves. Fantastic! A whole hour and half to find lunch and to take as many photos as I wanted! Newcastle seems to have so many interesting old buildings and historic homes that you really need much longer – and a car to take you further afield!

Even in the short distance I managed to walk during that hour I collected several very stately buildings – built from sandstone that had been brought out from the UK because at the time they were constructed, suitable sandstone quarries had not been found in Australia.

We were to meet the “Talking tram” close to where the ferry crossed the river so of course I just had to race around and take an action shot of the ferry as it left!

What a brilliant way to see the city – traveling around on what looked to be an old tram but was really not so old and was actually riding on a truck chassis. Our tram driver took us up to see the lighthouse, traveling up a one car wide track up to the top of the rise.

Once on the top, beside the no-longer used lighthouse, we alighted and were able to take lots of photographs of the views from up there.

I could write reams about the things we saw from the tram and show you dozens of photographs – but I will control that urge!

Back into our mini bus we clambered and off we went again. This time to Williamstown where we pulled up in front of a place called “Fighterworld” which is next to the military air field of Williamstown. Another wonderful place for the males in the group! One of our party was in the air-force during WW2 so he was in his element! Here were two hangers containing military aircraft

 

There were all sorts of military planes both on the ground and suspended from the rafters ranging from small prop planes right up to the F111.

 With such a visual overload from today’s tour you would have thought that we would all have a quick meal and go and put our feet up – but instead we sat around the table after the meal was finished and talked “until the cows came home” until the noise from the bar became too loud for us to hear conversation! Could tomorrow bett

Open water and sand

The grey clouds had all disappeared by the time we arrived at Nelson Bay to board our big cruiser. Today we were to chug out into the Port Stevens waters to see some of the dolphins that live out there. It was warm enough to shed fleeces and jackets but once we made our way out onto the open deck of the cruise boat and were underway it was certainly cold enough to put them back on again.

It wasn’t long before the first dolphins were spotted. A pod of around seven swam across in front of us. They didn’t do anything dramatic but they were beautiful as they did their formation swimming. The majority of people on the boat were young tourists from China and they were at first quite excited at the sight of the dolphins, however their enthusiasm soon waned and their interest switched to taking photographs of each other in poses around the boat! Fun to watch!

There were not too many dolphin sightings, so watching the young people perform for their cameras became far more interesting. I did take two still photographs of distant dolphins – the ones that were closer to the boat I took with my little video camera.

Unusually the boat pulled back into the marina and tied up before lunch was served. I guess it makes sense that the boat is not bobbing around on the water while people are wandering around with plates of food. We had out meal and left as the afternoon dolphin watchers boarded and started their tour with the second sitting of lunch on board! I think I prefer sailing before eating!

In the afternoon we drove only a little way north of Nelson Bay to where the beach reached for ever – inland! It looked as if we had arrived at the Sahara desert! Huge concrete pyramids reinforced that impression.

Our chariot was a regular looking street bus on a four wheel drive chassis. To negotiate the soft sand a special vehicle was imperative – we did see just how useless a two wheel drive car is on the sand – when we were leaving the beach we watched through the windows as a group of people valiantly tried to get their car un-stuck!

Our little group had fun being driven over the beach and up and over sand dunes. All of us “chickened out” at sand tobogganing. I was tempted but since I am accident prone I resisted the urge! There are a few more days to this holiday that I want to enjoy.

From razor wire to paint brush

I think tours for “oldies” are more strenuous than any trip I have organized for my family! I am “bushed” and I have done none of the driving! Where do I start to tell you of today’s adventures? Hmm! I will leave out the preliminaries (great breakfast!) and the drive to Maitland and tell you about our experiences in Maitland Gaol!

The grey skies and cold wind set the right mood for a visit to a disused gaol.

We were all given headphones and an ipod each and shown how to operate the self guided tour – there are numbered markers that correspond with the text on the ipod and by touching the right text we are given audio information and inmates’ stories of that part of the gaol. I thought it was such a clever idea and it gave the freedom to follow the map and do the tour sequentially or go in any direction and start the audio when you encountered a numbered marker.

As well as learning about the miserable side of jail life we had a few laughs too – one of our group is full of fun and he manages to make all of us laugh and he wanted his wife to take a photo of him as a prisoner but of course I was ready for him too!

The guide who accompanied through the gaol (the place is called a gaol, not jail but is pronounced the same way.) changed his outfit to black top hat and cloak and rode with us to Morpeth where he explained the former use of many of the old houses and stores in that fascinating town. What a fascinating place is Morpeth! There are so many old places that look amazing in a photograph and there are so many fascinating little shops filled with the most unusual items.

I loved looking over fences and discovering very special scenes – like this one!

From Morpeth we hopped back on the bus and went to a town called “Kurri Kurri”. I had never heard of this place before but it was a real surprise – it was quite a large town that had at one time been a very busy larger town. It was a coal mining town once upon a time but the coal mines had closed and huge numbers of unemployed drained the town of its energy. Ten years ago townspeople started a venture to draw tourists to their town – they started to decorate the large blank walls with murals.

A local guide joined us on our bus and guided us around the town to show us several of the murals. My photos had to be taken through the windows of the bus which pulled up but only stayed stationary for a few short minutes. It would have taken far too long if we had stopped completely and climbed out to take our pictures.

Kurri Kurri loves and reveres the kookaburra and has adopted it as a symbol of the town. A gigantic kookaburra made from recycled materials stands in the park in the centre of the town and when we finished our tour I persuaded everyone to go over to it so I could take their photograph with it.

By the time our group returned to the hotel we were all ready to sit down and relax for a while! The last stretch in the bus back to Soldiers Point made the eyelids feel very heavy!

 AJ

First time on a new coastline

Thank goodness the sun does not come up early because I was able to step outside onto the veranda of our motel room and take a photograph of the view with beautiful half light and the distinctive sound of a flock of galahs passing by on their way to their feeding grounds. Sorry I did not think to record the sound for you!

  click on the photo and you should be able to see the birds!

We are staying in a large three storied motel that is situated right on the edge of a bay but sheltered from the winds from the water by a strip of trees. The motel also has a restaurant and convention rooms which should give you an idea as to its size.

The sea facing side of part of the Salamander Shores Resort

While my son was away with the bus picking up more people who are on this tour with me, I wandered off with my camera and had a wonderful time taking photographs and exploring the beach front properties. I had just emerged from a bakery where I had picked up a cinnamon twist for our morning tea when the Bombora bus sailed past – with big waves to show that I had been spotted. A few short minutes later it returned and my son Steven stopped and picked me up and we went off on our own private tour of Nelson Bay. The couple that had just been picked up from the airport had been deposited safely in their room and the bus needed fuel for the next few days touring. (Today is arrival day, not a touring day). Before stopping for diesel we looked around.

Port Stevens coastguard and light house cottage

I didn’t think the narrow road was wide enough for our bus – a coach certainly would have struggled! But we drove up to the lighthouse.

We didn’t see a lighthouse though! We did see lots of coastguard radio aerials that created an interesting skyline and the old light keeper’s house which is now a museum and café. The view from the lighthouse hill is rather stunning and well worth going up to see.

Views do not get much better than this!

Further round Nelson Bay we drove and again I exercised the shutter release on the camera but will only show you one of the shots – The sky is rich blue and some of the bays are sheltered and smooth as glass while others are exposed to the wind and have small white capped waves on them. All the water in these bays is sheltered water though. There is a small gap between two headlands that creates a bar between the bays and the open sea.

 Another beautiful beach - and no one on it!

So that is how I have spent my morning. My son has left to pick up the remaining members of the tour from the airport in Newcastle (only 35 minutes away) and I will head off to find more things to aim my camera at!

AJ

Catching up on Maria's travels

 Maria is now in Europe and had been a little too busy eating and sightseeing to keep us up to date with her travels. However she has managed to find a quiet moment to do a little bit of reminiscing. Enjoy her story!

Where do I start to tell you what we have been up to over the last seven days?  Well how about the day we started on the Scenic Crystal?  We were greeted like royalty and all the ladies received a beautiful long stemmed rose.  WOW!

 Flower Market in Basel

The food is fabulous but not as fabulous as was on the ship ... thank goodness but the mouth keeps opening!!  Right now while sailing on the River Rhine, I am sitting in a sunny corner, listening to beautiful music and can help myself to hot chocolate, icecream, coffee etc. all day and soon, at 4.30 we will be having an Ice-cream Bonanza which is a first for me. Then at 7.0 pm we have a booking at the Restaurant on board, to be followed by a walk through a magical town called Ruedesheim and the reason I know it's magical is because John and I have been there before and it was our favourite.  Let's hope that our memories will not disappoint us on the second time round.

 Basel, Switzerland.  Town Doctor checking tourists health - looking for Black Plague.

We stayed in Basel, Switzerland for a couple of days and today I can't remember where we went or what we did but what I do remember is that woman in some parts of Switzerland were not allowed to vote until 1990!!  Yes that date is right.  The right to vote did not come until 1971 but this was only in some regions.  The women would you believe, resisted the passing of the law in their regions, the right to vote.  The Supreme Court in the end stepped in and passed the law that all women had the right to vote irrespective of the region's preferences.


Tuesday 17th we went to the Black Forest and saw lots of Storks ... yes the birds that deliver babies to the lucky mum's and dad's.  They are so much larger than I imagined and much loved by the locals.  The village has even placed a CCT camera near a next which is on top of the Church's bell tower so that it can keep an eye on the babies' well being.  The nests are HUGE.

 

Some beautiful homes of the New Town, Heidelberg

The Blue Danube begins in the mountains of the Black Forest and we actually saw the spot which was only a small pond.  The other magical thing I saw while sitting in the bus was a couple picking berries on the mountainside.  So it's well and truly summer over here which reminds me to tell you that the temperature on most days starts off about 16, hits 24 in the early afternoon and peaks to 30+ by 8.00 pm.  I only have the one pair of summer pants (recent purchase) and 2 summer blouses, and one pair of black flats, so I am doing it tough as all the other ladies look beautiful in their summer dresses and shorts etc.  Oh well only another 9 days to "endure" such hardships.  (ha ha ha ... only kidding but washing every night no matter what the hour)

We had real "black forest" cake which I don't like so I didn't have it but am loving the bratswurzt and the bread is so delicious I am having 4 servings each time.  The farmers are given an annual payment to keep their meadows as meadows to prevent the pine trees from obliterating them.  It is a stunningly beautiful region.

Cuckoo Clock shop at Triberg, Germany.  Karl Marx was born here.

Yesterday Wednesday 18th we went to Strasbourg and visited the Notre Dame cathedral. I have to tell you this ... the boat is sailing past hundreds of people sitting on the river banks, irrespective if it's concrete, pebbles, or gravel soaking up the sun and going for swims on this very hot day but I have been told this is the case irrespective of the weather when its summer because the season is so very short ... so everybody makes the most of it.  Amazing sight.

Today we went to Heidelberg and what a beautiful town it is.  Like most of the town we have seen, there is the Old Town and the New Town and off course it's always the Old Town that has the most beauty but everybody want's to live in the New Town due to the amenities.

So that's it from me for now because I have to go to the Ice-cream Bonanza and I just don't know when I will get some free time again

Beautiful Baltic

I have had another update on the holiday that is being enjoyed by Maria and John, the ship has been "out of range" for a while so there is a bit of catching up to do. Maria has broken her visits to the different places into little paragraphs. Enjoy! (I did!)

Dover, England - we spent the day there and visited a beautiful village called Rye which used to supply the King with ships and it's greatest trade in the 18th century was in smuggling.  Today this medieval town with its cobbled streets and narrow passageways revealed some beautiful little 'houses' where you can have a bite to eat or buy souvenirs.  Our Tour Guide told us that Paul McCartney still lives there.  We saw some wonderful Oust houses which were places to dry the hops for beer but today they are private dwellings and very prime real estate.

 Tivoli Gardens, Stockholm, Denmark. Toys for big and little boys.

Copenhagen, Denmark - the Tivoli Gardens was my biggest and best surprise as I was expecting it to be a garden however it was much, much more and thrilled all of my senses no matter where I looked!  It had the most thrilling rides with scaled down versions for the children.  I tried to get on one but literally ran out of time.  Beautiful restaurants by the dozen, pavilions with activities for the children and adults, sculptures, water fountains and art!!  Birds, seagulls, ducks, fish, sharks and even old vintage cars for the Boys .. big and little.  We were told that when Walt Disney visited the place it inspired him to create Disneyland.  Naturally we saw the "Little Mermaid" and now there is also a "Big Mermaid" nearby (cruise ship terminal) and as I was taking a photograph of it I overheard an American woman saying how this one offended her.  Yes the Big Mermaid is much larger and so are her breasts however still in proportion to her body.

The delight of sitting on verandah and soaking up the sun and cruising along.

Tallin, Estonia - we walked up to Toompea Hill on a hot day but we were rewarded with a magnificent view of the Old Town below with it's many beautiful church spires and listened to a medieval concert.  The people here can understand the Finnish language and visa-versa and often the Fins will get on a 2 hr ferry across the Baltic Sea to drop in and shop.  Stunningly beautiful wool products but very rough and scratchy to touch.  So far I have not come across any wool products that were soft to feel.

Saint Petersburg, Russia - I don't know where to begin because the iconic palaces and churches we saw were overwhelming with their grandeur and opulence!  You could never imagine the amount of gold that has gone into the trimmings, furniture, statutes, mirror frames, chandeliers, wall paper, dinner sets, door frames, ceilings, floors, door handles, cutlery, glassware, vases etc. etc.  It is phenomenal!!!  Just tons and tons of it!  Literally!  Everything is gilt-edged!  Nothing escaped.  And humongous in size!  There is nothing to compare.

  Catherine's Palace.  Just the tip of the Gold Iceberg.

It was here that I first saw people soaking up the sun anywhere they could find a place to sit.  In the city or countryside it was simply a case of taking of the outer clothes and lying back.  I mostly saw this in the city.  Sadly the Russian history has left it's mark on its people as the older generation are angry.  Fortunately the younger ones are far more optimistic and outgoing.  Let's hope that the political future of the country will be a lot more stable and not experience any of the dreadful upheavals of the past.

Passenger feeding seagulls off the back of the ship until he almost lost thumb.

Helsinki, Finland - not much to write about really as we only did a walking tour through the City and as everybody is on holidays - they get 5 weeks holidays during the summer - the place was deserted.  Pretty town with a lovely lake which they skate on in the winter.  A fire in the 18th Century wiped the town out so all construction after that had to be in brick.   Sailing boats are lifted and "garaged" during the winter because of the damage the ice creates.  The trams look exactly like our Melbourne trams.  Same colour and shape.

Street Entertainer having a fun moment with tourists.

Stockholm, Sweden - to reach this beautiful City we had to sail through it's Archipelago which was stunningly beautiful.  We got up at 3.30 am and it took another 3 hours of sailing to reach the Port.  There are over 32,000 islands but not all of them are inhabited.   We visited City Hall where the Nobel winners get together for their Banquet meal, the Royal Residence which is now a museum as the Queen way back in the 1980's wanted her children to have a back yard which they now have by the hundreds of acres and can ride their horses, and the Vasa Museum ... an incredible sight because it is literally a museum BUILT AROUND a ship that sank 15 minutes after it's launch in 1628 and it's still in its original shape due to the water being brackish.

One of the many glorious and rare ocean sunsets we saw from our Balcony.

Visby, Gotland, Sweden - I fell in love with this little Island as it was rural, it's paddocks chock full of wild summer flowers, and its beautiful town of Visby which still has a wall surrounding the town which once protected it's people.  It has the oldest Viking graves, it's wild horses were once exported to England and Ireland to work in the mines because of their temperament and size, the Island relies on fishing and agriculture today however the young people are often forced to move to find employment elsewhere.  The economic decline of the Island centuries ago,  resulted in the preservation of it's ancient buildings and monuments.

Warnemunde, Germany - we were so lucky to be here during one of it's annual festivals which made this seaside town into a fantasy, one that I have often read about in novels but have never seen.  The seaside walks were full of kiosks, each one selling something unique and colourful and once again we found ourselves walking on cobbled streets with narrow passageways and as a special treat, a huge lighthouse at the end of one of them.

Maria enjoying German Oom Pah Pah Band.  Yes it was a cold night.

  Later in the afternoon we went for a ride on the Molli Train which is quiet famous and had a ball all due to the locomotive being repositioned from the front (we were in the last carriage) to the back!!  So we copped it all, the sounds of the steam, the clanking of the bell and yes, even the black sooty smoke and laughed even though we were choking.   Later on that night on board the ship we were treated to a German meal of Bratwurst, sauerkraut and an Oom Pah Pah band so we danced, drank German beer and reluctantly crawled back home about 10.30 pm.

  Cruise coming to an end.  Second last pilot boat.

 (PS from AJ)  From one part of the world to another, Maria and John have now packed their cases and are on their merry way to Amsterdam where they will shortly start their next adventure - travelling down the River Rhine.