La Perouse Peruse

I set off yesterday to view 'Sculptures By the Sea' between Tamarama and Bondi in Sydney's east. Unwittingly, I chose the day that Prince Frederick and Princess Mary also decided to take a squiz. I joked I had to search so far west for parking, I may have reached the eastern suburbs of Perth. In the end I gave up and decided upon Adventure Plan B- La Perouse.
I hadn't visited this area in years. Sure it had it's tourist attractions in the nearby sewerage treatment plant and Long Bay Gaol (I can make these jokes- I grew up in Kurnell.),but somehow almost twenty years have passed since I had been there.
La Perouse was named after a French navigator called Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (!)and is at the northern headland of Botany Bay. On the southern side, at Silver Beach in Kurnell, La Parouse was the thing you preferred to look over the water at, rather than the airport, the shipping docks or the huge oil tankers in the bay. As a kid, you visited La Perouse to watch the reptile show (done by the same family since the 1920's)or to watch the boomerang demonstration and then beg your dad to buy you one, which never flew again except away from you.
The place actually has a really fascinating history with a great museum. Bare Island (which I thought was filled with bears as a kid) is a small island with an old military fortification on it, attached to the headland by a wooden bridge. The waters around the area are thick with scuba divers. Apparently the area is considered one of the best off-the-shore dive sites in Australia. You learn something new every day.
I had a really lovely visit. There are several sweet little beaches nearby and also good food (in my non-gourmet opinion)and coffee. Next time I would try book a tour of Bare Island and make a day of it. Perhaps give a nod to La Perouse himself and take a little picnic of french wine, crusty bread and some suitably stinky cheese.

Bonnie Vale

There's a place not too far from where I live that I fall in love with each time I visit. In my mind it qualifies as an island because it is a group of little seaside communities overlooking various beaches, sandbars and creeks.
Houses are everything from tiny old fisherman/holiday shacks right up to million dollar(+) mansions.
The 'island' has a perpetual holiday feel to it and in acknowledgement of this the place is peppered with B & B's and a lovely camp ground. Shops are small and quaint with handpainted signs and home-style food.
A ferry arrives on the hour dropping off locals and tourists alike, the latter like me, peering wistfully into the real-estate window. Good or bad, it is the 'island' like isolation which keeps many people from staying longer than an idyllic weekend. The one road out is long and can be treacherous, the activities for young people limited beyond the great outdoors. Highschool is a ferry and bus-ride away.
Still, I could live here very happily in a few years when my children have left home. There are lots of creative people living here, drawn to the beautiful and peaceful setting. It has a strong community feel.
I could definitely live a life by the sea, looking over the water to the 'mainland' and be blissfully glad to have escaped the bustle and highrise of suburbia.
This special island can be accessed by visiting by car or ferry, the villages of Bundeena, Bonnie Vale and Maianbar.

The Needles

Isn't it funny how you can live in an area for ages and then hear about a spot that everyone seems to know about except you.
The Needles was one such spot I heard about recently and I refused to be left out! Hence I went for a little explore yesterday. Some of the prettiest spots I find are right next to suburbia which gives them special meaning since I know they must be dear to the hearts of locals and visited by grateful adults, yelling happy children and wet excited dogs alike.
I have no idea how The Needles got it's name since it is a concrete causeway on a river with shallow rapids on one side and deeper water interspersed with shallow slabs of rock on the other. No needle like rocky pinacles in sight. In fact I thought it should be called The Hill since the walk back up it is a doozy! Not for the unfit, hence my mild exhaustion! This is a lovely spot for swimming in the warmer months, but bear in mind that return trip- you will not want to carry moaning children up it!

Cape Solander II

I headed out once again to Cape Solander. A month or so had passed since my last visit and with Spring well under way, I thought things may have changed a little- and they had!
I love the tiny rainforrest at the beginning of the path; huge straight trees, palms and pitosporum and ferns in the undergrowth and a little creek tricking in the half-light. Then it's sparsely treed forests of scribbly gum, turpentine,scraggy old peperita and the pink curly arms of the angophera. Lot's of cockatoo's screeching overhead and playing acrobatics on the grass tree flowers. We also saw the first of the channel-billed cuckoo's that visit each year from New Guinea and which promptly set about driving us all insane with their horrible screeching and calls.
Then you come to my second favourite part of the track. Just before you reach the heath, a small hill runs down with slightly stunted trees on each side. It's very protected and still and a haven for flowers.
A little further on you come to the wind blasted small tree's and shrub, also still at ground level and a haven for birds and lizards like dragons. I have seen snakes here at times too.
And the final part, my favourite (but not by much), are the heathlands which cover all the sandtone plateaus at the edge of the sea. There is the constant twitter and tinkle of small birds against the faint booming of the ocean against the cliffs. It is often breezy or windy here but if you get down low, it's still and warm and I imagine it is a lovely place to live if you were a bird. Tannin stained water trickles down toward the cliff edge and the sound of frogs is added to the chorus.
There is a safe spot to climb down the cliffs (away from the bits that make my legs go funny!) and you clamber over giant chunks of sandstone fallen off the underscored cliffs. You walk under these shelves reasoning that it would be silly for these pieces to crumble right now while you are under them!
Keeping well away from the pippi studded lower rocks, notorious for washing away fishermen, the cliffface is a magical world of fossil crusted rock, stalegmites, ferns, pools of rainwater, and the most amazing rocks of every hue and finish. Some are dry and potholed, others are wet and slimy (but only to look at)but it is all beautiful. And behind you , you have the ocean pounding away under a blue sky- magnificent!
Petrels and terns and pelican fly over the sea and ravens, swallows and spiders hang around the cliffs. Obviously you are not alone, but it's all so wild and open, you feel very much like you have all this to enjoy for yourself.

The Hidden Beauty of Spring

This morning I had a spare half hour, so I headed up the end of our street, camera in hand. Spring had arrived and I knew the bush would be looking lovely, flowers everywhere. Or so I thought.
I glanced around but could spot nothing except sweet pitosporum, which was more than worthy of inhaling a few lungfuls , but wasn't all I expected to see.
Where were all the flowers?
I have lived near the bush all my life, but don't spend anywhere near enough time in it. So, it's not surprising that i remain dense and expect to see large, obvious displays of colour. It's not Western Australia at the end of my street!
So, I walked a lot slower and peered carefully at the ground. Except for the casuarina tree, most of my finds were smaller than your finger tip, but I'm sure you'll agree, were lovely treasures waiting to be found if you but took the time to look for them. Beautiful, and fun to find!

Lunchtime Micro Adventure

Haven't had any adventures lately- no spare time. Or that's what I thought until the other day.
I don't get much of a lunch break with my job. Just a short half hour which, if you cellotape to the legally required ten minute break, you almost have enough time to get some food and horizontalise your tired legs. Poor me right?
I often waste some of this time moving my illegally parked car so I don't get a fine. I know I'm not supposed to park there; the space is for the shopper , but where are the spaces for the people who work in the stores the people go to shop at? Grrrr.
Anyhoo, normally I go move my car and then have a bite of food, but this particular winters day was so warm and beautiful that as I left the parking space, I just kept driving. I drove all the way to the end of the suburb to a point that overlooks the ocean. I know it seems like a waste of petrol; from my work you can walk to the ocean in a few minutes, but this spot was quiet and when you work in retail, a bit of peace is heaven.
I parked the car, grabbed my crumpled lunch bag and headed to some steps that lead down from a plaque marking the point. I plonked in the lee of a wall with the sun on my back and watched a yacht slip past the heads on its way out to the open sea. There was no sound but the waves lapping on rocks below and the occasional cry of gulls.Bliss!
The view too was spectacular, looking across the water to the other headland of sandstone, bush and empty stretches of beach. A visual salve for any ailment.Ahhh!
I may have had only 14 minutes there, but they were golden ones.
So nice to veer off your daily course and beat out a different path.

Thredbo

My family and I just came back from Thredbo, so we will be eating baked beans for the next six months.
Our twelve year old Forester got to hang out with BMW's and Merc's and Lexus's for a week which was pretty funny, but not as funny as the dinner that cost $210.
But I have to admit as the second time we had all seen snow, it was wonderful to be there among the icicles and snow drifts.
So though technically, not an adventure of my own, I did go for some walks by myself with a camera and tried to take a few pics before my finger snapped off.

Cape Solander Walk and Whalewatch

Once upon a time I was lucky enough to have a childhood that included scrabbling down cliffs, with nothing but the salty wind and seagulls for company. I have to wonder if my parents would have given me the thumbs up on my chosen play spot...
What a wild and wonderful place Cape Solander is. All these golden eroded sandstone cliffs, hanging high over the wild blue ocean, empty all the way to New Zealand.
A tiny, tannin-stained creek trickles over the edge and, standing safely further back, acres of heathland, home to thousands of tiny birds which pop in and out of the prickly undergrowth, safe from the ever-present wind.
The heathland winds its way up to eucalypt forest. Even though, just beyond sight is an enormous oil refinery, you'd never know it; it's so peaceful. It was here my sister in law and I began a walk yesterday, making our way out to the cape in the hope of seeing a whale or maybe two.
Spring is just around the corner and although there was a delicate show of red and white flowers, there were millions of buds that I imagine in the next few months will make a breathtaking show in every colour under the winter sun.
Our first sight of the ocean, unbelievably, included the sight of a whale spouting and I broke into an excited trot, squeaking like a frustrated rat when I couldn't find the pathway out of the scrub fast enough. Finally, we were both out, standing on the cliff edge watching two humpback whales travelling past, some distance from the shore. Just so amazing to see. We may have seen perhaps six whales before we headed back. It was hard to turn away in case we missed another!
A beautiful sunny day, in the glorious bush and the sight of those spectacular creatures, not to mention all in lovely company. What a lucky girl am I!
Thanks to Karen for the whale shot, my humble little camera was not up to the task, no matter how much I squinted!

Dave the Rucksack Goes to Cunjurong

A rare long weekend escape saw Dave and I heading 3 hours down the coast where we had the rare good fortune to be spoilt at a friends holiday house, situated a volcanic stones throw from the Lake Conjola lagoon and the beach of Manyana.
Summers are very busy, being popular with families, but it being a cold and wet winters weekend, we had the place more or less to ourselves.
The lagoon's sandy shore is laced with black volcanic rock and slabs of what looks like cooling lava. The sky above the ocean was an amazing indigo over the white wind-whipped waves, framed by the pale green tussocks of grass waving over sand dunes. Walking round to the stretch of beach, the wind was so strong you could almost lie on it.I suspected I may get a mouthful of sand if I tried however.
There is a gorgeous island just offshore called Green Island, which you can reach at low tide. It looked the perfect place for a little castle ruin and the exploring figures of the Famous Five.
There was a tern fishing nearby; releasing itself like a white arrow into the waves. Even over the roar of the sea and wind, there is the constant sound of wrens and scrub land birds singing amongst the gnarled trees behind the beach.
I also got to explore the very charming and hip town of Milton, with it's treasury of second-hand shops and cafes and quaint old buildings. I had a strong urge to move there, it's such a lovely town.
I saw so many beautiful vistas of rolling green hills and trees. One fig tree in particular in the township itself was just magnificent. I was like a child standing at the base of its trunk.
The weekend happened to be the festival of the Scarecrow with people both in town and surrounding farmland proudly displaying a vast array of scarecrows. Lots of creative people around, which may explain the large shoe in a field. The old woman and her children had all been turned to cows however.
Thank you Maria for fattening up both my stomach and spirit with good food and company and for sharing with me this very special part of the world!

Lookout Dave!

Adventures afoot have been a little thin on the ground, yet my mind has been on another spot not far from home.I've been here a number of times yet many locals are unaware of its existence- which only makes it better! It's called the 'look-out' and is a high sandstone (can't get away from it really!)platform that overlooks local valleys and hills.
Today is a beautiful sunny day though it is winter and I'm sure it will get to about 20*c- not bad at all! As I set off I admire the bulbs in our front garden and find a little friend!
The trail to the lookout is really green with recent rain and there are lots of wallaby scats where the animals have come right up behind the houses for a good feed. There's not much in flower but that only gives me more time to admire the trees and make a promise that I will be having a photo day when all the gigantic Gymea lillies are out. They are just tall red buds right now, metres above my head.
I see an echidna in a crevice but don't get out the camera in time. Reminds me that sometimes it's better to stop fussing with pics and just enjoy having eyes!
I finally reach the lookout and have a cuppa sitting up on top of my local world, enjoying the green glow of the hills. An amazing eyrie to sit and contemplate and only moments from home. Beautiful

Dave the Rucksack Goes Local

Wet weather and school holidays can hinder the spirit of even the most enthusiastic hobbit, so when the sun returned and the crowds cleared, this wanderer re-familiarised herself with some favourite local haunts. (And maybe I'm proudly showing them off a little too).
A fire trail runs along the valley a little distance from our house. A beautiful little creek, bedecked in ferns trickles along the valley bottom and runs down to a larger creek, washing over large flat slabs of sandstone. I love the creeks with all their nooks and crannies, the cool peaceful pockets and the rushing sunny open spots. Late autumn is not the best time for flowers, but nature gave us a beautiful show anyway. The large curly tree is my favourite- the Sydney red gum- a very magical tree in my opinion.