Uncategorized Archives - The Land Down Under

Last few days

After we left the chooks in Shoalhaven we headed up to the Blue Mountains and a cold surprise. No house sits so a few days in an Airbnb cottage

Our first Blue Mountain experience is a Tiger Snake – too cold to attack us

I can’t make any excuses , the next few days we spent our time walking found the mountains and bush

Start of The National Trail – not for me

View over to the Three Sisters and Katoomba

Last shots from Wentworth

Evans point and the end of the Blue Mountains for the moment

Leaving Anita behind to look after Coco and the figs and do online training, I set off on the long drive back to Sydney . Three days later I was to pick her up at the airport and take her to meet the next house owners

Again I am not ashamed to say this is mainly my walking blog

To break the journey up I planned five hours driving a day with a food and walking stop halfway

First stop was Banrock Station winery and wetlands walk

Due to heavy early summer rainfall the lake had destroyed most of the walk and some of the vineyard

And being a vineyard they had wine – fizzy red

Having loaded up with fruit from Frank’s garden , I forgot about the fruit quarantine rules . This was the only quarantine bin !

Next stop Lake Bonney at Barmera. Again flooding ended this part of the walk early

First night was at Robinvsle , a very small town on the Murray river

First stop for day 2 was Hay . After a breakfast of chewy bacon and overcooked eggs , another walk on the river

Second night of the trip is at Wagga Wagga

With storms at the coast and Sydney in the distance

Final break in the Southern Highlands at Mittagong

And the end of a road trip , slow paced and plenty of off road time . Helped on the way by Ken Bruce , pop master and podcasts

A trip to Canberra

So after picnics and birthday parties in Manly it was time to head to meet up with Matt and Heather in Canberra

Bad news again. . After stopping for a few hours in Wollongong for a swim , poor old Norm the travelling Desert Rose sadly perished. Someone didn’t learn from previous mistakes

Stopped of in a winery at Coolangatta, NSW. In the blacksmith’s house

Then headed overland through countryside ravaged by firestorms in 2020

M &H were working so there was time to be tourists in the Capital

Starting on a wet day at the New Parliament

In the great hall with an Aussie tapestry

And as parliament wasn’t sitting a chance to see the Congress

And the Senate

And when the rain eased I did what I am best at ..

With the dog and a load of Kangaroos to the observatory

With views of the ranges around Canberra

When the sun came back next day , another walk with Luna

And in the afternoon of to the Arboretum, to see the Bonzai & see how much they’ve grown since last time Anita was here in 2017

Last days in Sutherland

With the sun out again and hot days mixed in with the rain we passed the last few days in Yarrawarrah with swimming and hiking

The trip ended with seeing Elton John on his farewell tour

With Anita having a long hair do , I jumped at the opportunity for a hike

The coastal walk in the Royal National Park

A little reminiscent of a hike on the Algarve

Next day we met up with another Anita , our pharmacist at Beaufort

A small resort with a beach in the National Park

But we couldn’t hang around, with the threat of storms we were off to see Elton

Though the weather eventually did , those poor souls and Elton got very wet in a mega storm

21st Birthday Girl

All the way from America, Amy came to see us and so Anita & Ella organised a big 21st day

Behind Amy is today’s first birthday objective

On which she will be joined by her brother Daniel, who admits fear of heights

Whilst the kids are climbing, the rest of us had 3 hours to kill

And then up , there they are , 3rd & 4th from the back

After the climb , off to Manly for Ella’s party

Meeting Max again

After the Hunter and Daniel’s first encounter with Roos , next stop was a reunion with Max & Tiger Boy in a very Christmasy house in Kariong

Jodie wasn’t sure where to put the 10ft 65kg statue after Christmas

Tiger with his Santa outfit

With the sun out the holiday crowds were at Coogee . Dropped Amy at her Kings Cross hairdresser and off to the beach

But Anita wasn’t hanging around as it was full of jellyfish!

Out for an evening stroll along the boardwalk with the new Converses

Went a bit further to check the bay out after an early rise

Back to the Hunter

So with the big bags with Ella and Charlie the rest of us set off for an Airbnb in the Hunter Valley

First stop on the way down , back to Port Macquarie to the Koala Hospital

All the Koalas are sick or injured, RTA’s or Chlamydia

The Air bnb was just outside the Hunter Valley so it would have been rude not to pop to a winery

Then picnic and a bit more tasting at the flat

Just a bit further on a family of Roos for Daniel

Christmas

So for Christmas we had a full house . Ella & Charlie had made a mad dash up the M1 from Manly with Daniel . So that made 6 plus Lucy & Marley

So the surfing crew headed off to the main beach , but someone had to take the dogs

The beagles aren’t allowed on the surfing beach

Jolly old Christmas Day , excited about the Hello Fresh chicken

Sawtell & the Beagles

Christmas is going to be at Sawtell . A small beachside town in NSW just south of Coffs Harbour. A lovely two storey town house looking over the bush , with a pool .

Beagle 1 is Lucy , 9 months old – interests food , sniffing , more sniffing , biting and fighting

Our first night was interrupted by a tree frog , so far unnamed and unnoticed by beagles , therefore obviously odourless

Dog walking with two young beagles is entertaining

Sawtell has a long beach with multiple access points

A narrow path winds round the northern headland with multiple sniffing opportunities either side

Over the river , the enticing sight of the off leash beach

The southern headland also has a river , but south is National Park

Accessed from a caravan park the beautiful south side of the river for fishermen and paddleboarders

Maybe somewhere for Charlie to explore with his surf board

But all very beautiful, especially while the sun lasts . Rain is on it’s way

Platypus

Maleny is evidently famous for Platypuses. Near the centre of town on the Obi Obi creek is a large viewing platform. If you sit patiently waiting for hours one might show it’s face

We have three dogs here , two of which are over 10 years old and one 45kg . Feeding requests start at 5am followed by a short and very slow 30 minute walk

The lovely Queenslander has verandas on two sides . Here is Anita , waiting Nige and Ali

Who know another viewing spot . And despite the dog and Nige almost treading on a nasty looking black snake , there were long spells of a little platypus diving and swimming. Sadly , it seemed to know where the snake was and kept a safe distance down river from us and Nige wasn’t prepared to venture back into the undergrowth for better views

Heading South

Emu park was as far North as we were going . Anita was very happy to be heading South again . Back to civilisation and clean houses

Stopped off at Bundaberg Distillery for a toon

Sadly poor old Derick the Desert Rose didn’t enjoy the trip

Great Keppel Island

With the swell fortunately settling after a few days of strong Southeasterly, keeping the temperatures down to 28 , we jumped on the ferry to Great Keppel. Biggest of the Keppel islands and the only with a resort on . Some of the best beaches in Queensland as you will see