A sojourn in Berry

As a starting point, a little stay in beautiful Berry is just the ticket. Berry has always been one of my favourite towns on the South Coast of NSW. Cafes, arty crafty shops, bakeries, home wares, boutiques, antiques, wineries, lovely old houses, park lands. It just about has it all!

I used to make the drive just to attend the Berry Country Fair, which are held on the first Sunday of every month at the Berry Showground.  (Sadly it wasn't this weekend!)

I can't enthuse about the showground itself, I think I just prefer the wide open spaces that free camping gives us. However having said that, the grounds were clean, the grass thick and soft underfoot with no bindi nor prickles. The showers were clean, hot and hard pressured (no water saving going on here!). Price was $13 per head (February 2017), which the others tell me is a good price.  

 Happy hour with our small group of early retirees before the conference

Some of us rocked up early afternoon and chatted with this couple or that. Certainly we all gathered together for Happy Hour.

The purpose of our short 2 night stay was to fellowship with other early retirees and attend an informal mini conference organized by one of the ministers in our church. So on Friday morning we convened at the lovely old St Lukes' Anglican Church, just down the road from the Showground. I would have also loved to have seen inside the old church (circa 1884).

St Luke's Anglican Church, Berry

A lovely light lunch followed at the Berry Bowling Club, where the food was a great price for a variety of decent home style cooked meals. As the temperature was up int the mid 30's, the air conditioning at both venues was very welcome too!

I love old well maintained buildings ep churches and in addition to St Lukes', the old manse next to the church is just beautiful as are many of the older buildings in Berry. It is a pity the church elders back at the time weren't heritage minded and sold off the property a long time back.

Another lovely church I saw was the Presbyterian Church, the existing brick church was built back in 1934 replacing an earlier buiding. One doesn't see a copper spire very often any more. I feel sad that we don't build churches in the same manner anymore. I hope the people of tomorrow will be able to see the beauty of the buildings of today, which I can certainly find hard to appreciate.

Presbyterian Church Berry.

We went back to the showground after to lunch to spend some time with friends, Robyn & John, who  came up for the day's conference.

However if you were to have some free time to wander the streets, by all means go and see all that Berry has to offer. If you have already done that, then there are lots of beautiful places within a short drive including  Kiama to the north, as well as Seven Mile Beach and Gerringong. To the west a tad is Kangaroo Valley and to the east is Shoalhaven Heads and south is Nowra. All are worth visiting if you want some local drives.

In and around Deniliquin

As is common, one of our first visits is to the local Tourist Information Centre, where one can get all the best info for the area you are in as well as some info on other nearby areas.

We spent a lovely few hours browsing through the history at the Peppin Heritage Centre. I was quite fascinated to read about the lives of the people and the struggle and even fatal fights over water in the area. Amongst an exhaustive set of exhibits there is a ram shed built in 1926 at Warriston Station and now rebuilt at the Peppin Centre.

We didn’t do as much sightseeing as one would if they were straight out visiting this city. Our main purpose here was to spend some time with dear friends. We camped right in their front yard. However we did give them a ‘break’ by fitting in some sightseeing.

One of the days we went for a drive to Echuca and the historic Wharf there. I would have loved a trip on a paddle steamer but we just didn’t have the time.

We did however enjoy a picnic lunch beside the river and a visit to 2 more museums including the Holden Car Museum.

We were also able to stop by St Anne's Wine Cellar back on the Wharf to do some taste testing and to select our preference of some fortified wine for our happy hours!

We picked up Rob’s favourite Apple Turnover as a bleated birthday treat and took it with us for a afternoon tea by the tranquil river at Picnic Point. (I even bought a recipe book from the bakery hoping that I can learn a few ‘secrets’ to some fabulous baking.)

One of the bonuses of driving down to Echuca was driving through the Long Paddock especially as there was a mob of cattle being herded down the Long Paddock. Just in case you know as little as I, the Long Paddock refers to a working stock route that was used in the early days to shift stock especially in times of drought when even the long grass etc on the sides of the road would just sustain the cattle until they reached the wharf for sale. So yes I find even this exciting.

We loved visiting Deni however all good things must come to an end as we wish to visit a few more places and people as we move ever closer to the ship that will take us to Tasmania.

Heading south to Deniliquin

We finally left Wollongong for our trip south eventually to Tasmania back on the 5th. (I am not keeping up, even with myself. We've been either having too much fun or relaxing to keep up with posting blog updates!) We normally would head out in the morning but we had to delay our leaving until the afternoon as I was unwell and so desperately needed a good sleep after the last minute packing before moving out.

Lake George Area

We still wanted to get a couple of hours driving under way and so our first night was spent at a rest stop called Edmondson VC Rest Area, just north of Lake George before heading to visit Michelle's aunt in Canberra for morning tea/lunch the next day. There's not much to recommend Edmondson Rest Area really but it was convenient, it is clean and it does have a decent toilet. There is an adjourning reedy wetlands but nothing to really look at in my opinion.

Jugiong

From Canberra we travelled onto Jugiong which is a new favorite rest stop. Rob had originally planned just to use the dump spot there, however I suggested that we stay the night there. It was a lovely relaxing time and it was here that I first started to really feel like we were finally on our way.

Relaxing at Jugiong

 Corrugated iron sculpture of sheep stock on the northern entry into Urana

Billabong Creek
Moving on after Jugiong, we pass through Wagga Wagga, and Urana before stopping at Billabong Creek (981) less than a kilometre from the centre of Jerildere. The free camp spot as been mostly closed off to campers because of bad soil erosion during frequent floods. Still it will fit maybe 6 campers no problems. It also has a nice little waterfall that drops maybe 45cm, just enough to give a relaxing tinkle of sound. There is plenty of evidence around that this innocent little creek metamorphosizes into a raging torrent at times. It might have been nice to spend a few days here but we were on a tight schedule to get to Melbourne and we really wanted to spend 4 or 5 days with friends in Deni with some sight seeing thrown in.

Watching the Billabong Creek lazily flow by

By the way, the number is brackets refer to camp spot numbers as referenced by the Camps Australia 6 book at least until such a time we buy a later edition or move onto WikiCamps.

Morning tea at Conargo

After just one night at Billabong Creek we move on and stop for morning tea at Conargo which has to have the most modern rest stop we've come across yet. It also has an awesome playground for the kids with a picnic and BBQ right next to it.

It is after the event that I write this and sadly the historic Conargo Pub burnt down two days later.

Modern public toilet block at Conargo

The historic Conargo Pub burns down 2 days after we were there.

Jugiong

A wonderful week spent doing virtually nothing was a just reward after a lot of medical issues. So a week free camping at Jugiong was just the ticket.

Jugiong Valley - the camp park is in the middle just right off centre

Jugiong sits amongst lovely sheep farming country just 60km south of Yass and 40km north of Gundagai on the Hume Highway. It was also in a notorious region of bushrangers in the early colonial days.

Police Sergeant Parry killed by the Bushranger Gilbert near this spot.

In the main street of this arty village, you will find a hotel, a wine cellar/gallery and a great little cafe. You can even see some of the local art featuring balls various sizes created from barb wire are on display outside. The entry to the extensive camp grounds is just outside the Jugiong Cellars in the main street with a quaint arty cafe next door, which also shares facilities with the showgrounds, a picnic area complete with a children's playground and a public summer swimming pool.

The campgrounds are nestled along the quiet Murrumbidgee River and have well maintained toilets as well as a dump spot but no showers. You can fill up your water tanks here with quality drinking water. Dogs are welcome on leash in the camping areas  but not in the picnic or playground area.

The tranquil Murrumbidgee River

Our friends, John and Robyn arrived a few days before us and snagged a terrific river view spot in the whole area and our spot next to them gave us a nice view too. Setting up the awning and chairs was just about all that we needed to do upon arrival as our friends quickly set the kettle boiling for our first of many cuppas.

A view across the Polocrosse field to the RVs & caravans

Lazy days, lot of chats and laughter, games and reading were the main things to fill our days. Even the wet weather couldn't put much of a dampener on our enjoyment though we all cheered when the sun came out.When the weather cooperated, we enjoyed short walks with John & Robyn's dogs to go and feed the friendly neighbourhood horses.

Jugiong Anglican Church built in 1895.

We were delighted to have a surprised early visit from Rhonda, a friend, who popped in for a night with a promise to come back & join us for a couple of nights over the weekend.

Some of the art to be seen at Jugiong Wine Cellars

Glorious sunshine greeted us at last and we were fortunate to be here on the Saturday when the local markets were on, which is rather small but offered quality wire and metal sculptures, a second hand books, homemade chocolates and fudges, and free wine tastings of a local winery.  The local cafe, The Long Track Pantry, offered quality coffees and lots of home produce including a variety of chutneys and jams along with the regular cafe style food.

There's always time for a cuddle

On the Sunday, we found that Harden, a nearby town, was having a Spanish Wine and Food Festival, so of course we had to rouse ourselves to attend that whilst we were in the area.

Do you reckon there is enough Paella for 3?

We were also blessed to watch the reknown Jugiong Polocrosse game in action just outside our caravan door.

Jugiong Polocrosse in action

So all in all this is a lovely region and village to visit whether it be for a day or a week.

Wollongong - the happiest city in Australia

It is official. We have proof positive that we live in the happiest city in Australia. Certainly the people of Wollongong and its many visitors are certainly happily handy and prolific with their cameras.

Jetpac, a San Francisco-based smartphone app, creates a multitude of travel guides. They use publicly-uploaded Instagram photos to measure the smiles on the faces of people on 100 million images publicly shared Instagram photos from the different cities within Australia. Wollongong has been ranked as the happiest part of the country, in a mammoth image processing study.

Image Source: Jetpac

The happiest places in the Illawarra, based on smiles, include Hotel Illawarra, The Little Prince, Wollongong train station and Flagstaff Hill, with the latter being more popular for men. The most photographed restaurants are Amigos, the Harbour Front and Roppongi. Chef's Choice and Marco's restaurants also get a mention as being more popular with women. Nightlife spot, His Boy Elroy, gets a mention too.

The train station ranking high surprises me. I guess we are a people who are just happy to greet our visitors or to take the 90 minute long but easy commute to Sydney whether it be for work or pleasure of a day or night on the town.

In a follow up post, I will list some of the marvellous places in and around Wollongong that make us smile. I will also check out my kids (young adult’s fave places too) to give you a comprehensive guide of where to eat and visit during your time here in the happiest city in Australia!

The 15 Happiest Cities in Australia

as ranked by Jetpac’s Smile Score:

1. Wollongong (43.4)
2. Townsville (40.1)
3. Canberra (35.0)
4. Newcastle (34.9)
5. Darwin (34.8)
6. Cairns (31.2)
7. Adelaide (28.7)
8. Gold Coast (28.4)
9. Byron Bay (27.3)
10. Brisbane (27.2)
11. Perth (25.6)
12. Fremantle (25.0)
13. Sydney (24.9)
14. Melbourne (22.6)
15. Hobart (19.8)

Image Source: Jetpac

People in Hobart aren’t taking as many smiling photos as much as in the rest of Australia, but I reckon it is just because they’re just don’t have the population to compete with. The people in Tassie have much to smile about their capital city too. Just pay them a visit for proof positive and take some happy photos there while you’re at it and post them on Instagram to prove it to the world.

Now that you know, you had just better come to our fair city as soon as you can and see just what is it that makes us so happy to take so many happy snaps of our fair city and the good times we spend here. We all want to be happy don’t we?

Those of us that live here we’ll just keep on smiling as we take many happy snaps of our life in this fair city

Information on this post has been collated from the following sources
The Illawarra Mercury
Jetpac

Christmas In Sydney

Sydney is offering you a magical summer Sydney Christmas with a five weeks of Christmas celebrations . There’s concerts, markets, food, crafts, decorations, carols, festivals, religious services. We have it all except the cold snow and ice skating of our northern cousin.

We can and do make the most of the warm days and wonderful balmy summer nights where we can wander around the streets of Sydney and thoroughly enjoy the Christmas trees, the light shows  and all the other festivities, all accompanied by the sounds of Christmas carols and the ringing of bells.

It kicks off on Thursday 28th November, where you will have 2 wonderful events to choose from. Personally I want both! And the fun continues not just for hours or even days but for 5 weeks.

Some of the Highlights

Go visit the Sydney Christmas website to get the full program or more information on the highlights.. You don’t even have to come into the city as many ‘villages’ are joining in and putting on a concert or other. There really is something for everyone. You will hardly know where to start and you will surely not be disappointed.

Christmas on the Green

The celebrations really get into gear on 28th November.  You can have a marvelous picnic in Hyde Park with entertainment for both the kiddies & adults, including costume shows featuring Dirtgirl and Bananas in Pyjamas and singing by Darren Percival and the Australian Girls Choir.

 

Martin Place Children's Concert and Tree Lighting Celebration

At the same time as the Christmas on the Green is the free children’s concert and Santa to kicks off the lighting up of the huge Christmas Tree in Martin Place. There’s entertainment for both young and old.

Christmas Projections 

Every evening, except Sundays, from Thursday 28th November to Christmas Day, from 8pm to 10pm, the Sydney Town Hall will be the focus of the fabulous and colourful light display.

There is SO much more. Like I said earlier, you must go to the Sydney Christmas to get all the info.I just can't fit it all in.

Here are just a few more:

Christmas Choir Program Be serenaded from 7 pm to 9 pm at Sydney Square, Martin Place and Pitt Street Mall

Etsy Christmas Pop up Shop 28th November to Thursday 12th December
Are you a lover of handmade things, the come, shop & browse. There will be demonstrations and workshops too. You can find them at 74 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.

Pop up Pyrmont Market Day in Union Square 29th Nov


You don't even have to come into the City as there are Christmas in the Villages. There’s bound to be one near you. Here are some that are listed:

Pyrmont: 29th Nov
Rushcutters Bay: 30th Nov
Paddington: 5th Dec
Redfern: 6th Dec
Alexandria: 7th Dec
ChinaTown: 13th Dec
Newtown: 14th Dec
Potts Point: 15th Dec


It is very important to my family and I to to attend attend a Carols by Candlelight  and visit a Christian Church on Christmas Eve here in my home town. If you are going to be in Sydney, take a look here  to see what religious services will be on near where you will be in Sydney.

Sydney's St Andrew's Catherdral

And there's more! I don't want to nag... but go to the Sydney Christmas website for full details.

I wont be able to get to the earlier events as I have an operation to recover from but I certainly hope to catch some of it. I am going to travel up by train when I recover. I particularly want to see the Pop up shop and market and to see Martin Place and the Town Hall all lit up.


Are you off to join in your local Christmas festivities?

Australia celebrates

Held on January the 26th Australia Day commemorates the establishment of the first settlement at Port Jackson, now part of Sydney, in 1788.

Party Time

Aussies love nothing better than to celebrate with the day in the sun with family & friends, whether it be a day on the beach or by the harbour, a barbeque in the backyard with loved ones or at one of the fabulous events that provide great entertainment & food all around the country.

Sydney Style

There is one place you can guarantee to celebrate the day in great style and that is Sydney! From its many parks and malls, beaches and bays, mountains and plains, there is something for everyone and most of it is for free or just the cost of your hamburger and drinks!

Celebrate what's great

The theme for 2013 is 'Celebrate what's great'.
Sydney will have a huge program that will include activites right across Greater Sydney

• Darling Harbour Austrlia Day Spectacular kicks off at 11.30am and concludes at 9pm after a fireworks exhibition. It will be a day of multimedia symphony of light and music. Don't miss out on seeing the Tall Shops and citizenship celebrations.
• There will be an Indigenous ceremony honouring age old custodial traditions from 8am at Farm Cove, Royal Botanic Gardens.
• Cabramatta will host a Family Barbeque in Freedom Plaza between 11am to 3pm Hurstville Council Australia Day festival will be held at Steamroller Park, Oatley park, Oatley. 10am-4pm.
• What about being part of Sydney’s biggest backyard, held at Hyde Park with sport. Live entertainment and various activities for children. 10 -5pm.
• 
  
• There will be an amazaing Aerial Display over the harbour at 2pm by the Royal Australian Airforce.
• Ferrython will be run again from 11am. This annual ferry race up and down Sydney Harbour finishes under the Harbour Bridge.
• Bicentennial Park will celebrate with music, face painting and crafts especially aimed at children and their families. The celebrations start at 12 noon and go through to 9pm.
• Bonnyrigg Town Cnetre will be hosting a family barbeque between 10am and 2pm

Photo: Australia Day

Other towns sities and states will celebrate too!

I am sure there will be Australia Day celebrations held right across Australia from coast to coast. East to west and north to south. Visit the website or your local council or newspaper for more details of one closer to you.

Personally I will be spending the day with my family and also some friends who are calling in for afternoon tea. We will go for a picnic and a walk along the beach and play some games after dinner.

What does Australia Day mean to you?

Have a great day where ever you may be

Michelle 

New Year's Resolutions

Artwork by Rhonna Farrer

With a new year starting shortly, it is a time to reflect upon the past year and a time to make decisions for the up coming year. Some people call this "Making a New Year's Resolution."

There is just something about the start of a new year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. Yet we take it so lightly. Many of us have regrets of unfulfilled resolutions of the past. Many of us make airy fairy wishes on what we wish we could change. Maybe we say we will eat healthier and exercise more.  I know I have made these mostly empty pledges and I relish the opportunity to make a fresh start with great enthusiasm.

1 Timothy 4:8 instructs us to keep exercise in perspective: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

The motivation behind the resolutions are important too. There's no point in reading the Bible through in one year if you do not heed the words you read or donating a million dollars to some charity, if you just wanted to make a name for yourself. You have probably heard the expression 'Do not let your right hand know what the left hand is doing!' Do it out of love, care and compassion without others necessarily knowing you did it.

Great thoughts are commendable, but to make real changes means we need to put our thoughts into action. If we don't make any real changes to our lives then we will greet the next new year with the same broken resolutions and have wasted an opportunity that may never come back. Some things may require the help of a friend or supporter, maybe even a professional guide or mentor might be the impetus we need to make real changes in our lives and keep us accountable.

Tribute to Arthur Stace's Eternity Sydney NYE 1999

We need to think about where and what effort we need to put into practice the things we wish to change. However before we do this, consider for what purpose are we making the change. Whom will it benefit?

We live in a very selfish time, when we consider ourselves to be of utmost importance. You can't take material possessions with you when you die! So what sort of legacy are you really leaving behind? Will you be remembered for the hours you dedicated to your work or even your fitness level.Though we are encouraged to make the most of every opportunity to care for our bodies and work for our bosses, there needs to be balance.

Will you be remembered for the holiday you took around the Greek Islands or the trek up to the top of your country. I would much rather be remembered for spending some time walking & talking with my kids and grand kids in the local park. Think back on your fondest memories. Were they the big times or the rumbling on the bed on a Saturday morning bursting with the excitement of a day spent with someone close?

How do you want to be remembered? What will people say about you? Will they have been glad to have known you. What legacy will you leave behind?

I believe that there is a higher purpose to our lives and that when we die, we will spend eternity somewhere.

Sign seen at Sydney Town Hall

New Year's resolution

"I won't look back; God knows the fruitless efforts,

The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets;

I'll leave them all with Him who blots the record,

And mercifully forgives and then forgets.

I won't look forward; God sees all the future,

The road that, short or long, will lead me home,

And He will face with me its every trial

And bear with me the burdens that may come.

But I'll look up into the face of Jesus,

For there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled;

And there is joy and love, and light for darkness,

And perfect peace, and every hope fulfilled."

-Annie Johnson Flint


Read more about Arthur Stace and his Eternity symbol here.

New Year's Eve in Sydney

Each and every year, Sydney hosts the most fabulous New Year's Eve fireworks celebration. The fantastic waters of Sydney Harbour, the splendour of the curvaceous roof lines of the Sydney Opera House and the magnificence of the Sydney Harbour bridge providing the most spectacular frame work and launching pad for a world class fireworks is just something the whole world tunes in to watch. Actually the fun starts early in the day,but the main events are the 9pm family fireworks at Darling Harbour and the midnight fireworks spectacular with the Harbour Bridge as a focal point.

Photo: Sydney's NYE 2008

Sydney is committed to ensuring the accessibility of the NYE celebration to all comers that it even has a dedicated page on its website that is specifically set up for this. Public transport is strongly encouraged and extra buses and trains are pulled into service to meet the increased demands. Even so, patience is required. Think of it as an extension of the party. Parking in the city is extremely limited & it is quite a bottle neck trying to get out after the parties. So save your sanity and go public. 

If you are visiting Sydney over the NYE or live within a few hours drive, then seeing it in person is an experience not to be missed. You can ring in the New Year with a bang and have the experience of a lifetime. You will need some preplaning or at least some thought into what you want to experience. Not everything is free, including some of the best vantage spots. You may need to buy tickets in advance. Some areas are family friendly and some are much more raunchy. Similarly some places are alcohol free, some are BYO (Bring your own alcoholic drinks) and others are licenced only!

Photo: Sydney's NYE 2005

What about a casual picnic on the foreshores at the Royal Botanic Gardens or watch the fireworks from Luna Park. Maybe cocktails in the lounge of one of the fabulous hotels that overlook the harbour or a cruise on the harbour is more your style. 

You can celebrate NYE at one of the many pubs, bars and nightclubs running their own fabulous New Year's Eve parties, from thematic parties to pub crawls and anything in between. 

For more information on planning and vantage points, visit Sydney's New Years Eve   You can't make to Sydney this year? Then visit here for info on NYE in other major Australian Cities. Many regional towns have their own NYE celebrations, so contact the tourist bureau or read the local paper and find out what is happening near you!

Photo: Sydney's NYE 2006

It has long been one of my dreams to spend NYE actually on a yacht right in the centre of Sydney Harbour. How awesome that would be. Trouble is I don't know anyone with a boat, let alone get an invite to be there on the great night! Oh well a girl can dream, can't she? In the meantime, I just might have to buy a cruise ticket for next year's celebrations!

Unfortunately this year, I will have to watch it from the comfort of my lounge room as I will be recovering from surgery. Do write to me and tell me where you spent NYE this year!

Burren Junction Hot Pool

We thought we would take the more direct road from the Warrumbungles to our next destination which was Burren Junction and the hot pool there. The roads are a combination of bitumen roads and dirt roads. The first bit wasn’t too bad but after Coonamble, where we stopped for lunch, the road was covered in very fine bull dust which seeps into everything, overlaying bumpy corrugations.

We arrived at the mineral hot pool (refer to Camps 6: 396) around 5.30pm. Basically the campground is divided into 2 sections. We parked near the entry on one side and soon settled into the pool for a bit of relaxation.

I am guessing the water was about 36 degrees, a decent ‘bath temperature’. It was warmer than I expected and I certainly wouldn’t want it any hotter. The pool is fed by the Great Artesian Basin which underlies a bit more than 20% of Australia. I find it amazing that, parts of it comes up hot and in other parts it comes up relatively cold as in Roxby Downs in SA.

It is not a pretty place but it is a very popular place, with many people staying weeks, some even planning on spending 6 months there. The nearby town is very supportive of this free camp and even encourage visitors with the upkeep of the pool area and they also provide some entertainment such as Bingo nights. The pool area is flood lit and it is not uncommon to see people in the pool at just about any time of the night! Many locals and truck drivers stop by to loosen their muscles and stresses at the end of the day. Still the campground or the pool was never crowded whilst we were there. We quickly met and chatted to people in the pool and on the way to & fro as all on one side had to pass us to get to & from the pools.

The sunsets out here in the bush are spectacular as are the stars gleaming in the night skies. There are just so many more stars to see out bush. We decided to stay a second night and had a decent sleep in and more swims the following day.

We are both too young to even contemplate hanging around any such a place with very little to do especially as we are fortunate enough not to need the therapeutic advantages such a hot springs gives. So on we go...where-ever the road leads next... generally further north and west too!

Warrumbungle National Park

After stopping at Coonabarabran for some fresh grocery supplies, we arrived in the Warrumbungles just before the Information Centre closes at 4pm. We camped at Blackman Camp #2 (refer to Camps 6: 921), which is about 120m from the amenities block which includes flushing toilets, nice hot showers and a big laundry area without any washing machine. A covered gas BBQ area is in the centre of the camp grounds. (There was also a closer toilet block in our own camp area.) There is a creek just 25m away from our van and the views of the mountains just out the door as shown below. It is a delight to sit outdoors and watch the kangaroos grazing nearby and the numerous birds flying or ‘wandering’ through the grass too.

The view from our doorway

The next day we went on one of the numerous walking tracks. We chose the Burbil Canyon walk, which was a nice enough walk, but nothing spectacular at the time of year or day that we chose.
We had the first meal cooked on our new portable wood BBQ that Bob made up. It is a nifty little thing made mostly of stainless steel that folds up flat. It is about the size of a laptop only much lighter.

A side view of Bob's nifty BBQ

The following day we went to the Siding Springs Observatory, which was very interesting. I think I remember that it houses something like the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. Also as a matter of interest maybe to some of you is that on 6th June this year we have the opportunity to see Venus cross Earth in front of the sun. I wonder what we will be able to see with our naked eyes. Seeing God’s handiwork and just how complex and immense this universe is totally awe inspiring.

On the way back to the Robbiebago, we went on another ‘walk’, though to call it a walk is a bit much as it is only 500m and all on a bitumen track. Still the White Gum Lookout offers a wonderful view of the craggy peaks and spires of the Warrumbungle mountains. We were much too early but I reckon it would be glorious to be there at sunset!

Another cookout on Bob’s nifty BBQ finished off a fantastic day!

Bushfires Postscript:
The Warrumbungles suffered badly in the bushfires of January 2113.