17/2/17 Reality bites

  Well here we are in Gerroa , settled in for a few weeks . The blog will be a bit scarce for a few weeks , as we have family commitments , doctors , dentists & optometrist appointments to take care off . One of the dental appointments has been taken care of - unfortunately there are a couple of more to come - a crown & a few filling replacements to be done !! Really looking forward to that -- NOT !!
 We had a lovely catch up with our friends John & Leonie yesterday - hadn't seen each other for 2 years , but it was like we never left , chatting about families , holidays & where we'd all been and going - beautiful !!!
  Here's some photo's from the last few days . First up , 7 Mile Beach & some ornamental grass from the park .

 The wind has been blowing fairly well from the north & northeast , and the wind surfers , kite surfers  all like it . There were also some surfers and stand up paddle boarders as well .

 Over the hill to Gerringong , Norfolk Island Pines create a line across the ridge top .

 Don't cemetery's always have the best views - this one certainly does - overlooking Gerringong Boat Harbour .

 Down at the boat harbour is a monument to the 7 ships that have sunk here - 3 anchors were recovered from the sea and mounted here .

 Back to Gerroa , and out to it's eastern most point and rock shelf stretching out into the ocean - it was very windy here today .

  A small flower nestling in the grass caught my eye .

  This one is looking back toward Gerroa and 7 Mile Beach taking off to the left .

  This rock looks to have been placed here , and the pattern carved in the rock - it's about 1.2m tall .

 Stay tuned !!

14/2/17 Burrill Lake Paddle

    Today is a bit cooler than usual , only getting to 22 , we decided to go for a paddle , the lake is only 50m from us . 

  As is usual , the wind was starting to increase , but we went anyway , figuring there’s plenty of trees so they should take the edge off the wind . That was good in theory , but in practice the wind seemed to be coming from all different directions as we paddled around . 

 There was reports of a seal frolicking around in the lake , so we headed out to where it was but couldn’t see it anywhere - apparently we hadn’t gone far enough , as it had gone for a sleep on the rocks another 500m from where we were .

 The sky was still overcast and temperature still hovering around 20 degrees , but we got some good photos . Meroo National Park borders the lake , and there’s a trail that leads around to the southwest end of the lake , with indigenous information boards at different locations , the lake is an important location for them - meeting places , dancing places , food source and protection from the elements . 

 There’s shells everywhere on the floor of the lake and the small beaches that dot the shoreline . Speaking of the shoreline , trees come right to the edge , there are quite a few dead trees as well - mainly she oaks and the odd gum tree that’s fallen over . There’s also signs of previous fire damage , with blackened tree trunks .

  Upon reaching this end of the lake we drifted over to the side - with the help of the wind . We found ourselves right beside a fish feeding event . Tiny fingerlings were jumping out of the water trying to get away from a school of fish that weren’t that big - about 100mm long at most - it entertained us for a few minutes . All the time this was happening , there was an Azure Kingfisher watching patiently , probably to pick up any stragglers .

Back to the park with a combination of wind directions again , the last one a head wind before making it to the beach . 

 As we pulled the kayak back to the van , we walked beside the boundary fence which was covered in vines , wisteria and hibiscus . The vine that was climbing everywhere has these orange flowers -

 Then these beautiful hibiscus flowers underneath the vine .

 That was our day , the afternoon was spent cleaning the kayak & relaxing - another tough day - and loving it !!

12/2/17 A rainy day in Narooma

  After some rain overnight , we awake to sporadic light rain , so a day of doing not much !!
We headed into town to check on the golf results from yesterday , I managed to win a golf ball !! After checking out some of the local eateries , we went back to the golf club and had lunch there - salt & pepper squid & barramundi - and very nice it was !!
  Off to Central Tilba , not far away , they have a cheese factory , so thought it would be worth a look, the weather wasn't cooperating anyway . Stopped outside the carpark for a couple of photo's of Glasshouse Rocks .

 Arriving at Tilba , first stop was the Cheese Factory , unfortunately nothing jumped out at us , so we wandered up the street to a shop selling timber bowls , tables , mirrors etc , all at reasonable prices for handmade works .
  There was also a hibiscus with enormous flowers .

  All the buildings in Tilba are built from timber - it's a National Trust town - there are Lolly shops , patisserie , bakery , leather goods , fashion - all sorts of , a hotel and an Emporium .

 The Emporium has the 2 storey B&B , fuel station , post office , milk bar and general store - the inside is great !!

  There's even a few rabbit traps hanging in the front window !!































   Dodging the rain , we headed back to the ute , looking in the leather shop on the way , outside was a flowering plant that had lots of red & white flowers in pairs - some all white , some all red , and others a mixture .

  The rain started to get serious without letting up , so we headed for the van . A quick side step on the way to look at Lake Corunna .

 
 The rain continued for a few more hours , it streamed down the windows from the roof gutter .

  The rain stopped later on and the clouds started to break , treating us to a nice sunset .

9,10&11/2/17 Drive to end the loop

  9/2/17


  Left Sale today , heading up the coast back into NSW , stopping for the night at Boydtown - just short of Eden on Twofold Bay .
  The drive was a bit on the warm side , temps reaching 38 degrees along the way . Last time we came this way would have been 14 years ago , so memories of the road have long faded . It's quite hilly after you leave Lakes Entrance , and only gets worse the closer you get to Eden - at least for towing trailers etc . Fortunately the traffic was light and there were overtaking lanes at regular intervals .
 Arrived at Boydtown around 2pm , set up and headed straight to the pool for an enjoyable swim .
Later we wandered down to the beach as the sun was going down , first photo is looking back towards Eden across the bay .

Next is a section of Boydtown Beach & headland .

 These cliffs are between us & Eden .

10/2/17


  Up the road a bit further today , only to Narooma , only 130 klms away . I think that there's about 65 klms of uphill and 65 of downhill - there's nothing that resembles flat ground at all !!!
  As it turns out , we have completed the loop back to NSW !! We stayed here in Feb 2105 , I know , you're thinking hang on a minute they've been back already - yes that's true , but we went down to Victoria before coming back here .
 So after setting up again , it was into town to get some fuel and book in for golf tomorrow . That done , it was back to the van and hit the pool . Temperatures today went from 21 overnight to 39 , but when we arrived it was only 27 - Narooma seems to have it's own little climate - definitely cooler than the rest of the state at the moment .


11/2/17


 Up early this morning , golf was at 7:24 , so we're up at 6am !! Still with some low cloud / fog around - it came in yesterday afternoon and stayed . Temperature was 21 degrees and very humid , that didn't change , the temperature only got to 25 degrees today and that was 1pm .
  Back to the golf , last time I played here ( 2years ago ) I had a great game so memories of that were good . For the golfers amongst us , today was a par event - not many peoples favourite game - but I had plus 4 on the front nine and minus 1 on the back nine , to give me a plus 3 for the day , which is 3 better than my handicap , which is quite acceptable !!
  The cloud disappeared for an hour around lunchtime , then clouded back over again , before giving us a little rain , and I do mean little !!
  A walk along the beach this afternoon was good , a bit cool , but still good .
And that's it , you're up to date , here's a amp link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=106GgoWcjBeoWl4KTxu4eLKEVUWQ&usp=sharing

8/2/17 A loop in the bush

  Today we are heading to Traralgon , then up into the hills to Tarra Bulga National Park . The highway is having road works done over quite a distance , so you are doing 100 , 80 , 60 , and 40 klms/hr at various times along the road - just when you get a bit of a run going , you have to come to a stop again .

  Reaching Traralgon , we turned for the south and could see a power station up ahead , to our surprise there was a lookout , we pulled in for a look . Well that was a surprise , the Loy Yang power station is over to the right and to the left & centre is the open cut coal mine that supplies the power station !!

  Back out & the road lead us up the mountain , winding , twisting narrow roads that are used by timber jinkers , fortunately we didn't meet any . Another lookout showed how much plantation timber is grown down here - lots , both pine and eucalyptus . Fires had been through here in the past , dead trees were poking up everywhere .

  There are 2 massive towers up on Mt Tassie , we didn't think we'd be able to get anywhere near them , but found a sign saying Observation Point , so up we went - straight under all the stay wires of the most northerly tower . Views were north over Traralgon to the high country - Mt Baw Baw etc , it was very smokey though so vision was a bit restricted .

 Back to the road and climbing further , we reached the top and started going down the southern side . To my surprise , we headed into a Mountain Ash forest , the floor of which was covered in tree ferns . The trees were beautiful and plentiful , 50-60m tall and straight !!

A little further down the road was the visitors centre , where we had some lunch before heading out for a walk through the forest . The walks start here or at another carpark 1klm away , but they all loop round together to finish back here . 

 We chose to walk down to Corrigin's suspension bridge , then up & down Fern Gully , then back via the scenic loop , about 3klms all up . The bush is breathtaking , a special place to be , the paths meandering around the hills & gullies taking you through mother natures wonderland .

  Some of the mountain ash are extremely tall , 7or8m round at the base , and still over a metre thick at the 30m mark - incredible , and did I mention straight !!

  

  After a lot of looking up , we arrived above the suspension bridge . Some history - it was originally moved here in 1938 , but rebuilt by the army reserve in 1982 . It is in a sea of tree ferns .

 Crossing the bridge , we turned left & headed up fern gully , where we walked along underneath most of the ferns - stunning !!

       

  Back to the suspension bridge again , then along the scenic track winding our way up & down back to the visitor centre . As we left the majority of ferns behind , the mountain ash again dominated . 

 Anyone for a giant game of cricket ??

Here's Lyn beside one of the trees , just to give some scale to the trees .

 It's not all trees & ferns , there are some flowers as well .

 Back to the ute , we took another road, gravel as it turns out , to the south out of the National Park and through some more pine plantations .

  Through some backroads we found our way back to Rosedale and then Sale to refuel . The fuel light came on before we got to Rosedale , not a big issue , we seem to have about 30 litres left when the light comes on . 

 That's our day done !! Here's a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WMaE1r3sMk4msF0Dykeouc11jRE&usp=sharing