Berry, Backtrack and Bed

      

04/04/2012.


Well, our last day in the Jervis Bay area dawned , bright and beautiful as ever. What a tremendous time we had had with the interaction with the local and the wildlife. This is a beautiful part of the world with an old time feel that is not forced, but is a genuine part of the make up of the area.

Bye, Bye Beaches and Birds




We were to drive back to Sydney along the Pacific Highway, a part " A" road, part motorway, which snaked in and out of the coast all the way back to the city.










As always we were to stop in Berry for a last browse around and lunch. We might be accused of bulling up the town, maybe, but we know what we like.

 



Two photos that sum up the place, just off the main road in the park, near to the train station and the main street. Thanks for the memories Berry.



Berry's award winning traffic cops, missed me this time cobber's !! Did at least 5kph over the limit, just outside town.




Driving along the Pacific Highway was memorable for the views and it was with trepidation that we approached the outskirts of the city. Ben and Anna seemed to have concerns about our ability to follow a map and just wing it. Today if you don't have an I Phone app that has sat nav and gps etc then you can't find your way around. On our way out, with Ben driving, I had left a trail to follow on the way home



Nothing could be simpler, " H " stands for HOME.

The next sign, which I needed to identify, was the road which goes under the runway of Sydney airport. The flyover was easy to miss if empty, but with a big aeroplane crossing it, we knew we were on the right track.

  we were on the right track, thank goodness !!!

We were on the last stretch and with Moore Park on our right we and at the very last second, we veered to the left and by luck, more than management , we were only a few streets away from home.

The Homestead

Our road trips to Jervis Bay and the Blue Mountains were over. We could not have asked for more, stunning views, tremendous accommodations and great company. We saw just a small part of this great country. Thank you Australia.

From now and until the end of our trip Sydney was to be our playground, let the fun begin ...........

Biddies, Best Seats and Beach

Well let loose on our own and on the other side of the world. The prospect of another day in the Jervis Bay area with the weather, once again, glorious was very appealing.

When out on the bay the other day we had noticed a beach called Callala. We decided to drive along the coast and explore.

Callala Beach was o.k., but not a patch on  Hyams Beach, so we returned to our own, sunbathed and generally chilled out listening to the waves breaking and recounting how the trip had gone so far.

We had decided to go into Huskisson that evening and have a meal and visit a picture house we had seen. The term Picture House is an apt description. The word Cinema does not do this place justice



We turned up a little early and surprised the proprietors, who while the early showing was playing, were tucking into a pizza. " Do we have to book tickets ? " we enquired, " Oh no" they replied, " if there's more than 179 people we would be full ", " plenty of seats available for the 2nd house."

Dressed in their uniforms they certainly looked the part.  This was small town Australia at its best, friendly, quaint and exciting.

The film showing was the " The Best Marigold Hotel ", it proved to be a perfect film for the locals.
The start time was 7.45pm and we gathered outside at 7.30pm, with a fair smattering of the cinema going population. A mixed age group, but my eye was caught by a group of ladies, of mature years, taking loudly with a good Australian twang.

We entered the auditorium, which was spotless and had that feel of coming back to an old friend. We settled down and as the movie began, the ladies, who were seated by this time directly behind us, started to chat ...." ooh that Judy Dench is looking old.......that Bill Nighy looks a bit crook...etc etc. This running commentary throughout the film enhanced the experience no end. If you've seen the film you'll know what I mean. Pure magic and a big thank you to the owners of this terrific picture house.

We finished off our night in the local RSL, an Australian version of an English working mens club, but more refined and regimented. Rules were to be obeyed and no messing about, or you were out. Perfect end to a great night of interaction with the natives.

Tomorrow the return to Sydney....what a beautiful part of the world Jervis Bay is , we were so pleased to have visited it.

Berry, Beautiful, but Bad Boy.

02/042012



The plan of the day was to have a relaxing morning on the beach after a well deserved lie in.

It all went to plan, but the sleeping beauties in cabin 1 were still snoring their heads off when, after breakfast, Pauline and myself, walked about 200 metres to Chinaman's Beach.

A little tip if you stay in these seaside cottages. Take some nice biscuits for the Rainbow Lorikeets, they love to land on the railings and be hand fed, cheeky little devils they are, but once again it adds to the experience of being in this wonderful part of the world.

Chinaman's beach has a lovely warning when you first walk onto the beach. A large sign displaying the catch limits for the indigenous species of fish which can be found in the bay. At the bottom are all the sharks that inhabit the bay. Mmm, Great Whites, no early morning dip for me!!.

This early morning picture of the beach sums up the area, unspoilt, peaceful and a beautiful location. Again a wonderful place and thanks once again to our host for finding and taking us to this part of Australia.

We were to stay for another two nights after dropping Ben and Anna off, at the train station in Berry, for their return journey to Sydney.

Eventually, the two sleeping beauties awoke and in the manner of two bewildered sloths, please note, once they have children all this messing about in the mornings will soon stop, but that's for the future, today they dithered and dotted about. It all adds to their charm and it is amusing to observe.

As previously mentioned the town of Berry had captured our attention on the way down to Hyams Beach.

Berry,  straddles the main highway which runs along the coast from Sydney to Melbourne. A typical market town for the area, it also has a real charm, in that it welcomes the visitor with its coffee shops and eclectic shopping.

To Pauline and Anna this was something to saviour, a task to be sipped, not gulped, in short we were to visit every shop in town and there were a lot of shops. All joking aside, the experience was a pleasure for us all and after quite a few purchases we adjourned once more for lunch.

 Berry Tea Shop..a favourite, even when they forgot to pack the teapot handle. Note the bunting, it was hard to find in London for their wedding, but here it was in abundance.

And so, after being abandoned by Ben and Anna, who set off back to Sydney, we had another little look around and headed back to our little cabin. Unaware of what might happen when, after our abandonment, we were left to our own devices.

As a law abiding citizen I agree that responsible driving is a cornerstone of society. The enforcement of this though is open to question. 59 kms in a 50 kms zone does not warrant, in my opinion a $93 dollar fine with a point on Ben's license. If I could take the rap I would, yes I was guilty, of that there is not shadow of doubt, but the means by which they entrapped me was excessive to say the least.

                                                 

                                                      

 I didn't come easy and they were mob handed !!

Another day drew to a close, a quiet night in with a nice meal and a bottle of wine. Tomorrow we were let loose alone and unsupervised on the population of Jervis Bay. What would happen was anyone's guess, but interaction did occur and it was to be an enjoyable experience.

Bottlenose, Boats and Big Rays

01/04/2012



After a good nights sleep in our little seaside cottage we were again blessed with beautiful weather. The Gods had been kind to us since we had arrived. As everyone knows, when the sun shines everything seems so much more alive. Hyams Beach certainly had that feel on this sunny morning.

Our plan today was to drive into Huskisson and dolphin watch. We had booked this on the previous day and were excited at the prospect of seeing the resident pod of bottlenosed dolphins, which inhabit Jervis Bay.

 

The intensive sun had force me to purchase a baseball cap. What a bargain $5.00, about £3.20, a great buy!

We elected to sit on the top deck and take in the view as we left the jetty and motored out into the bay.

  before long we were alerted to the pod of Dolphins.!!!

Seeing these creatures in their natural state and environment really brought it home to us that marine parks only restrain these tremendous creatures. The pod followed the boat for over 30 minutes riding the bow wave and we saw a least two calves, with their mothers in close attendance, interacting with the wake made by the boats propellers. The experience will stay with me forever. It was so much more than I had expected and was good value for money.

Once on dry land we were faced with the ever present problem of Ben needing to eat. I had forgotten how much food this machine could eat. We made do with a light lunch and headed for a beach about 10 miles away at the other end of the bay. Ben had researched Murray's Beach and had declared this was the place to snorkel. We arrived, as ever, in the beach car park, after encountering at the side of the road two Grey Kangaroos.

Wild life just at the side of the road!

The beach was magnificent and provided a lighthearted highlight to the holiday, namely someone, who after encountering a large sea creature " babbed" his swimming trunks and exited the water at a rate of knots not even an Olympic swimmer could match.

 " It was a least a twelve foot Stingray and you know what happened to Steve Irwin" spluttered Ben. Pauline was all sympathetic, Anna disgusted at this lack of toughness. I  just shook my head and muttered  " wouldn't have lasted two minutes down the pit." 

Just as we were leaving a Wallaby just hopped out of the undergrowth and sat there chewing some grass. The wild life again astounding .

We returned home to our little cottages singing the praises of this part of Australia, but more was to come that evening. We had booked a table at the Stonegrill, a restaurant where you cooked your own meal on hot stones. Weird, but wonderful, and Anna cooked her veggie dish also on the hot stones ...a great meal, with much laughter.

On the drive back we pulled over and witnessed a wonderful sight, the Milky Way in all its glory. The dark clear sky was perfect for viewing this natural event, now sadly missing from our light polluted sky's back home.

Another perfect end to a perfect day.

Bays, Bays and Bad Move

31/03/2012

Once more we were on the move from our base in Sydney. This time we would be heading South, travelling two and a half hours to Jervis Bay. A large national park area, which has delightful towns, we would be staying in Hyams Beach, one of the smaller towns along the bay.

Firstly the drive South.

 Leaving any major city might prove eventful, but the drive south along the Pacific Highway was without stress and the countryside, once out of the suburbs opened up to rolling hills on our right and the ocean on our left. Lovely towns passed by as we sped on our way. We were drawn to one, which straddled the main road.

 Berry proved to be an absolute gem. Not only in its charm, but that small town feel which kind of sums up the whole area. It was a place where you knew if you brought up a family in this town, it would be a good place to do it.
                                                                                 
 more about Berry later......

We entered the Jervis Bay area with high hopes. Reputed to have the whitest sand in the world, we were eager to see if this was indeed true, or hype, but firstly we needed to find our accommodation.

 I was now used to watching Anna navigated using her I Phone and from being a little bit sceptical, was now very impressed with this new technology. Straight as an arrow we were in the small town of Hyams Beach and on the main street, opposite the sea, were our cottages.

                     Sheer bliss, just what we we hoping for.........

                                                                             

 We set off to explore, as always after a quick snackette at the only place in town, the Hyams Beach Cafe. As with a captive market the prices were slightly high, but not too bad, as the food was well prepared and the interior had a nice feel to it.

Belly's full we decided to venture onto the beach. One point I must make is that every beach has its own car park, with well cared for toilets and washrooms. No vandalism, a facility for the community cared for by the community, old style common sense by the local population.

The beach did not let us down......

 just before disaster struck, big wave approaching

Small tip...its a bad move to go swimming in the sea with sunglasses on. When they get knocked off by the rough surf, your son, once he has recovered them with the aid of his snorkel and mask, will rib you constantly. Never mind, I'm just glad they were found in one piece.

A delightful late afternoon soaking up the sun and then a quick change and out for an evening meal in the neighbouring town of Vincentia. A larger town, we had a nice meal and walk around and then an early night. 

Tomorrow we would be venturing onto the water. Would we be able to stop Ben from constantly going on and on about me being wiped out by a big wave on Hyams Beach.....if not cries of " man overboard " would be heard on our boat trip tomorrow !!!!

Bye, Bye Boy's.

30/03/2012

The Boy's referred to in the title are in fact two friendly horse who live in the outer paddock. The owner of Kookawood, Fiona Bruyn, the TV horticulturalist,  could not have made our stay any more enjoyable. She made us feel at home and encourage us to explore the region and you could tell how much she and her family enjoyed living in this part of the world, thank you for telling us the Boy's enjoyed a farewell snack and making us feel so welcome.

  Fiona Bruyn.



 The Boy's on a winters day.

We do have video of the encounter with the horses as we left the property.  Unfortunately it will not load for viewing, but safe to say it provided one of the most funny and silly moments of our entire trip. Anna, especially enjoyed her encounter with these members of the equine species. Her observation, in panic, of " haven't they got big heads " and " its slavering on the car window" and my wife's contribution " make them go away Terry " only proved  the fact that  if I wasn't around, as an experienced horseman, they would have still been trying to disengage.

When you feed horses carrots they love the sweet sugary taste and when they are all eaten they still crave more. After timid attempts to hand feed them they retreated to the car. Ben, confounded the problem by having the front windows down and the engine switched off. Diving into the car, with the same thoughts of Bruce Ismay of Titanic infamy, i.e. sod them I' o.k., he closed his side window, but forgot to close Anna's side. Pauline and myself were safe in the back seats. A huge horses head lunged through the open window hoping after more treats, only to be met by blind panic, by Anna, and a swift jump onto Ben's lap, in the drivers seat. After much laughter and horse drool, I took control and made the poor fellow withdraw his head and, at last,  we were free to leave. A perfect end to our stay.We arrived with a smile and left with  laughter...perfect. 

We were Sydney bound on a different route, taking in the Mount Wilson area, the Cathedral of Ferns and the apple growing region of New South Wales.

The Cathedral of Ferns, is located in the small town of Mount Wilson. A delightful town, which you can now view in the upcoming remake of the Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo de Caprio and directed by the Australian, Baz Learman. The town did evoke that kind of feel you would expect of that era, very well kept and exclusive.

 a typical house in the town.

 the Cathedral of Ferns

 on the way to the ferns.

We said goodbye to Mount Wilson and driving east toward Sydney entered the apple growing region. As someone who can take, or leave an apple, this left me a little perplex at the enthusiasm my travelling companions had for anything with an apple content, an apple, a pie, a puree, or anything based on an apple, but as they say, when in Rome.

         

Anyhow, after this applefest, a pleasant ride back to Sydney, an overnight stay, then off again, this time South to the Jervis Bay area.......the excitement was building.

    

Below, Black and Bang Bang

29/03/2012

Morning broke over the Blue Mountains and our wonderful base at Kookawood. The sunrise was spectacular. Being in the Southern Hemisphere everything is upside down and back to front in comparison to home.

The plan of the day was a hearty breakfast, followed by a little walk into the bush to explore and mess about and then a trip to the Jenolan Caves. The caves are reputed to be the oldest open cave system in the world, some  340 million years old. Carbon dating of the clay in the cave floors had confirmed this.

 The drive to the caves was terrific topped off by the natural tunnel, seen here, which came out near the visitors centre and brought gasps from us all when we ventured through it.

                                                               
     We decided to completed the Orient Cave tour which lasted about a hour and half and went underground for about a just over a  mile. It was well worth the price and to a person, such as myself from a mining background, this was a piece of cake. The others seemed a little pensive and worried  if they would suffer from claustrophobia . The cave system opened  up and the limestone formations were spectacular!





                                                                                     

        

      

After we had left the cave another little snack in the visitors centre set us up for the drive back. A terrific day out and the mountain weather had held, but we could feel the build up of a storm. We headed off back to Kookawood to once again sample the delights of our rural paradise and watch the expected natural light show.

Wet weather rigged, anything the Blue Mountains could throw at us we took. These togs were on hand, just in case we needed to round up the cattle, or just fancy dressing up while Pauline put the kettle on.

The valley bottom was lit up with a thunder storm that evening. The thunder and lightening were spectacular and brought a fitting end to another great day in the mountains.

Next day this was the view which greeted us from the porch. It was with a sad heart that we prepared to leave Kookawood. I could fill this page with so many photo's of the interior, but hook up to their website and indulge yourself. My lasting impression was of a rural retreat that had all the modern trappings, but with an old time feel. The owners had achieved a perfect balance between comfort in the bush and a sense of being close to nature. 

On the next instalment you will hear about how not to act around horses. Ben, Anna and Pauline  tangle with the Boys and beat a hasty retreat to our car....bless um !!