AUSTRALIA - Sydney - reunion tucker. gillett, dunn - 30 october 2011

I drove to Sydney to catch up with Mark and Bruce. I hadn't seen Bruce for three decades.

Bruce was more or less the same. His room was festooned with arachy slogans and pictures. Good to see he still supports the unmainstreamed.

Mark was good though he needs to change his swear words... the word 'stupid' does not cut it as cussing.

We had coffee, then wandered around a church and the local area. Next was lunch, where mark totally confused the poor waitress.

We sat around and watched Bruce's street view.

We hugged (not likely)
we cried (not really)
we said our good-byes (we could do that)
then sauntered off to our various worlds.

A great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CENTRAL COAST - Spring Creek - kayak - 27 october 2011

It was a cloudy day with the chance of rain. i drove to Emu Drive, San Remo which is ner the mouth of Wallarah Creek and launched the kayak.

The creek starts off wide and passes under a bridge. There are a few dwellings along the creek's northern bank. The southern bank is natural. Eventually, I reached the junction of Wallarah and Spring Creek.

I took the turn into Spring Creek. for a long while it was crowded with dwellings on the east and northern banks. The south and west bank remained natural. After a time the dwellings stopped and the landscape was more natural with bird and lizard life.

I came to another bridge which had a rubble strewn crossing just before it. I continued on for some distance until the creek branched off in to two opposite directions that was strewn with branches and logs. It wasn't passable.

The return journey took a total of 3 hours with a strong wind against me on the return leg.

A good paddle with a variety of landscapes.

AUSTRALIA - Canberra - tidbinbilla nature reserve - Gilbraltar Rocks - HIKE - 7 October 2011

We headed off to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve to hike it to Gilbraltar Rocks.

The walk startd as a nice stroll through grassland and light bush. Soon the track endede and we followed a fire trail up and up and up. Eventually, we reached a small bench and then it was a steep short downhill walk to the start of the rocks.

The trail turned into a track and meandered up and amongst the large boulders that formed Gilbraltar Rocks. It was very misty when we arrived but after a short time the mist cleared to a higher level providing a view of the immediate area. It was a lot of fun scrambling over the rocks and peering over the abyss below.

The walk back was hard has well due to the steepness of the trail.

It took 2 1/2 hours for the trek. This included a lot of mucking around on the rocks.

AUSTRALIA - Canberra - Gillett Garden - 7 October 2011

I was up early and Mark was out on a cycling race so I wandered around his garden getting some images on a cold misty morning.

AUSTRALIA - Canberra - War Memorial museum - 6 October 2011

Our journey on our cycles took us to the War Memorial in Canberra.

The memorial has a presence that commands respect and this is highlighted as one journeys through the various arenas of Australia's conflicts.

 

One cannot help but relate to the men and women involved as if one was there or could have been there with them.

AUSTRALIA - Canberra - Floriade - 6 October 2011

While on our cycle ride around Canberra, we stopped and visited the Floride festival.

There were a lot of flowers and they were all tastfully arranged in patterns that were more clearly visible from the ferris wheel. We had a good time tip toeing through the tulips.

In another part of the festival there was a bonsai exhibition. It must take a lot of time to produce the look they give. Enjoyable!

AUSTRALIA - Canberra - MTB - 6 October 2011

I arrived in Canberra, ACT the previous night catching up with an old mate, Mark.
The next morning, we went for a bike ride around Canberra. The bike tracks, roads and paths were excellent. It was a great experience riding on a decent road bike. The bikes made the journey quite easy.

The weather was cloudy and cold but it remained dry while we were cycling.

All up we cycled 30 kilometres.

AUSTRALIA - Nightcap NP - Protestors Falls - HIKE - 29 September 2011

I arrived at Protestors Falls with the wind picking up and a light drizzle. There were no cars in the parking area. All mine!!!

The walk started as an elevated boardwalk through the rainforest. Nearer to the creek the boardwalk changed to a track that followed the bank of the creek past numerous cascades. This continued until the waterfall where there was a small rock scramble to get a view of the waterfall pool.

The water fell over the falls in a vertical drop. Very pretty! The pool is not for swimming as it is the habitat of an endangered frog.

Well worth the drive and walk.

AUSTRALIA - Whian Whian State Forest - Rocky Creek Dam - HIKE - 29 September 2011

I was actually heading to the big scrub walk but the road had new cattle grates that had deep holes on either side. The drops were a bit too much for my car.

I checked the map and Rocky Creek Dam was only a short distance down the road. On arrival at the parking area of the am, I was surprised by the amenities (expecting nothing much) – playground, water cover, toilets etc.

The walks were marked by picture code. The first walk wound down the hill to the dam. Nice views.

There was a near perfect road crossing the dam. On one side was the dammed water and the creek far below on the other. The road turned to trail that wound up the hill. On the other side of the hill was a spillway. The spillway was crossable but it felt strange walking on it for some reason.

Across the spillway the trail wound through creaking forest for quite a distance until joining up with the big scrub walk of Nightcap NP (the track I was originally going to follow). At this point, I doubled back a short distance and took another trail that lead to the creek.

At the creek was a high boardwalk to view the creek (had platypuses but I didn’t see them) and it continued to a small water floating bridge which was fun to walk across. The creek here was a mass of lily pads and flowers.

I continued on and recrossed the dam road and back to the car park.

This walk had a lot of variety and was easy.

AUSTRALIA - Lennox Head - Surf - 27 September 2011

The wind was howling but the inside break at Lennox Head was fairly protected at times.

The waves were off and on.

AUSTRALIA - Ballina - Ballina Island Loop - Kayak - 28 September 2011

I started off early to hopefully take advantage of the tides.

I parked at the boat ramp at North Creek and launched off a small sandy beach. I paddled upstream and under a large bridge. There was quite a variety of birdlife near the bridge.

The landscape became more natural after turning to the right after the bridge. The bank vegetation was mangroves. There were a few smaller turnoffs long the creek. Eventually, the natural landscape gave way to suburban streets.

I reached the Richmond River and paddled downriver towards the ocean. The shoreline at this point was very developed.

Eventually, I reached the aquatic pool and the landscape changed to beaches and small coastal dunes. I continued onwards but was forced shore just before the turnoff to North Creek due to the strong currents and breaking waves.

I dragged the kayak to the bridge and relaunched at North Creek. The paddling was hard on this last leg due to the strong outgoing tide,

It was a good kayak taking about 3 hours.

AUSTRALIA - Lennox Head - Lake Ainsworth - Kayak - 27 September 2011

The sun had risen for about an hour so I carried and dragged the kayak to the edge of Lake Ainsworth.

The lake looked glassy and vegetation along the shoreline was reflected in the water. The western and northern side of the lake is the best. The trees semi submerged in the water made for great obstacles to paddle weave through.

At the far northern end, I found a break in the thick vegetation that allowed me to pass to the shallow flooded edge of the lake. This part was very pretty with near perfect reflections, semi submerged paperback trees and a green cover of duck weed.

This was a short and pretty paddle.

AUSTRALIA - Lennox Head - Lake Ainsworth - HIKE - 26 September 2011

There is a track that skirts the edge of the western side of the lake.  It meanders through tea trees, paperbarks and banksias. Towards the north western end the track passes close to the lake where the water is thick with duck weed.

The walk continues on but the track becomes more difficult to follow.

The northern end of the lake is blocked by the sport and recreation camp. The southern end follows the road. There are a number of spots along here and the southern edge for swimming.

I found a snake skin along the way.

This was a short, pretty and easy walk.

AUSTRALIA - Lennox Head - September 2011

We camped at Lake Ainsworth Tourist Park at Lennox Haed for a week.



The weather varied from warm and sunny to wet and windy. The nights were a bit cold as well.

The girls, Chloe and Kate spent their time hanging around the lake and wandering.

Jacinta went for short walks and caught up with an old friend. She spent a lot of time at the beach and around the cmp site.

I had one okay surf at seven mile beach, kayaked Lake Ainsworth and Ballina Island, walked around Lake Ainsworth, Rocky Creek Dam and Protestors Falls and cycled around the local area heaps.



It rained a lot but we still had a fun time!