Rays Cam

A Drizzly Day in Newcastle

And so we at last had our day in Newcastle. But it was a damp, drizzly one, so we found ourselves at the old railway station where we had some coffee and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches at the café there. By then the weather cleared a tad, enough for us to take a walk along the foreshore path in the direction of Stony Point and the distant lighthouse on Nobbys Head.

621000 — The clock tower of the Customs House, built in 1877, and now a hotel.

621002 — STOP! Rail buffers at the old railway station, which was built in 1858 and decommissioned in 2014.

621003 — The main building of the old station.

621005 — This was the main platform of the old station.

621007 — Nobbys Head with the lighthouse.

621008 — The only activity in the harbour (actually the Hunter River) was the Dione, a bulk carrier registered in Piraeus, being assisted out of port.

621009 — Closer view of the bow of the Dione. She needs some TLC, methinks!

621010 — A last view along the river/waterfront towards Nobbys Head and with the Dione just visible on the left.

En Route to Newcastle, Part the Second

The next stop on our leisurely way to Newcastle was at the lovely Norah Head lighthouse and vantage point.

620001 — Norah Head lighthouse from the lookout point at the car park

620005 — Part of the lighthouse keepers’ quarters

620007 — Detail of an old Admiralty pattern anchor at the car park

620009 — Rocks and waves below the headland

620010 — Looking south from the lookout point

En Route to Newcastle

Just over a year ago we spent a night in Newcastle. Yes, it was that long ago! Time has just whizzed by in the interim, and this blog landed on the Procrastinator’s list of things to do mañana. And we all know when that comes! Anyroad up, here are some images taken on our way to Newcastle.

619000 — Our first stop was at Terigal, where we had crackers and cheese and spotted some pelicans. These two were on the boat ramp.

619001 — Looking across the bay at the northern part of Terigal beach.

619004 — Eroded sandstone cliff along the shore.

619005 — And a close-up of this fellow, or is it lass?

619006 — Our next stop was at Norah Head, where we had coffee at Surfside Snax and enjoyed some beach views like this.

619007 — There was a smidgeon of surf that day…

619008 — … just enough for a gentle outing on a surfboard.

The Way Home

This week’s images are from our return journey from Batemans Bay. We took the coastal route on our way there, and came back inland via Braidwood and Goulbourn, with a stop in the quaint old village of Braidwood.

618000 — Looking back from the outskirts of Braidwood.

618002 — There is a strong Victorian element to the village’s architecture.

618005 — Came across this beautifully restored Renault Juvaquatre ,1947 model.

618006 — The Albion Café is in the old Albion Hotel.

618007 — A place to rest up from the hustle and bustle…

618008 — This old stone building reminded me of Oudtshoorn.

618009 — Gorgeous old Victorian shopfront.

618010 — We had the town to ourselves… almost!

618012 — The dramatic skies were a sight indeed.

618013 — A fittingly impressive end to our fabulous weekend.

Batemans Bay

So we reached Batemans Bay and settled into our little suite at our AirBnB. What a cosy place and a gracious hostess.

DSC_0207_2675 — Miss Bella pooped after a long drive, a first outing onto a beach and meeting a kangaroo for the first time.

DSC_0213_2677 — Not sure what this delicate little beauty is called…

DSC_0218_2681 — Snapper Island in the bay.

DSC_0219_2682 — Love the rugged coastline.

DSC_0222_2683 — A lovely little yacht in the Bay.

DSC_0227_2686 — Two seagulls sit on a rock, One’s named Jon, the other Jock,”Get off!” cried John, “it’s my rock you’re sitting on!””Oh,” said the other, “that’s a load of crock!”

DSC_0228_2687 — It was so refreshing to see proper boats, not just aluminium cans pretending to be boats.

DSC_0230_2689 — … offers an interesting view.

DSC_0234_2690 — Not sure what the little sign on the right is supposed to say, because it’s not Italian, or French… and no pizza at the moment!

Road Trip to Batemans Bay

Two weeks ago Elle and I and our doggie Bella set off to Batemans Bay where we spent the night in a delightful AirBnB. We broke our drive down up by stopping here and there: at Collingwood Beach for some sea air, Milton for lunch, and again at Pebbly Beach to see some kangaroos. It was a wonderful outing and I especially enjoyed some sea air in my lungs!

616000 — Lovely turquoise water at Collingwood Beach!

616001 — Point Perpendicular on the horizon across Jervis Bay.

616002 — The houses of Vincentia and a few lovely yachts.

616004 — What a pleasure to see some “proper” boats for a change!

616005 — Sour figs, in South Africa we knew them as “hotnotsvye” when I was a child and before the name was made politically correct.

616006 — Not much in the line of waves, but still good for the soul.

616007 — I snapped this view of a cactus at Coast Café in Milton.

616008 — Mother and offspring at Pebbly Beach. The lady insisted on moving her head at just the wrong time, though.

616010 — This is the view south towards the headland at Depot Beach.

616011 — Grasshopper Island on the southern edge of Tranquility Bay.

Stanwell Tops – 2

Don’t miss Elle’s photo blog at Elle’s Photographic Adventures

The last few images from the area around Stanwell Tops. These images were made at Coalcliff.

week7002 — Water and rock from a low perspective.

week7004 — Light, shade, water and sand.

week7007 — Sea, sand, sun and surf… oh, and rocks.

Stanwell Tops – 1

Just more than halfway between Sydney and Wollongong down the coast lies the village of Stanwell Park, and overlooking it is the high ground called Stanwell Tops. This week’s images are from the area between Stanwell Tops and Coalcliff, a bit further south.

week6001 — Looking down on Stanwell Beach and Stanwell Park from the Stanwell Tops lookout.

week6002 — Curving bridges carry the Lawrence Hargrave Drive south along the coast.

week6004 — A closer view of Stanwell Beach.

week6005 — At the mouth of Stanwell Creek, here separated from the sea by a sand bar.

week6006 — The southern end of Stanwell Beach is marked by this cliff.

week6007 — A Willy Wagtail (*Rhipidura leucophrys*). These little passerine birds are native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Eastern Indonesia. They are very difficult to photograph, as they hardly ever sit still for more than a few seconds!

week6009 — These tidal puddles are scattered all over the sheet of rock at the northern end of Coalcliff Beach.

week6010 — Looking south from Coalcliff Beach towards Wollongong in the far distance.

week6011 — Light and shade on the beach.

week6012 — Capturing the small waves on her phone.

week6013 — Looking north from Coalcliff Beach towards Stanwell Tops.

week6014 — A solitary silver gull (*Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae*) by far the most common gull in Australia, which lacks the wide variety of gull species in numbers found on the shores of other southern hemisphere countries.

Gerringong Visit

Images from a few visits to the delightful little town of Gerringong, about 150km south of us. It’s a somewhat eclectic collection of photos, as I photographed whatever caught my eye as we walked about.

week5005 — The end comes in a blaze of glory

week5007 — A heron keeps a close eye on things

Knapsack Viaduct – Part 2

A few more images from our visit to the Knapsack Viaduct, this time of bits and bobs that caught my eye along the walk to the actual bridge and down to the stream bed.

week4002 — Lichen on a casuarina tree trunk.

week4003 — Just a weed? No, a beautiful little wild flower.

week4004 — Scottish thistle – a long way from home.

week4005 — Black-eyed Susan, just like I had in my garden back in Somerset West, South Africa.

week4006 — Looks like a wax model, doesn’t it?

week4007 — A bracken frond about to unfurl.