Maitland Bay

Zoe, Tristan and Clara pose on a rock on the way down to Maitland Bay

We had been told about a discussion about Nurse Sharks at the Maitland Bay Ranger Station on Saturday afternoon. The kids and I planned to go and give Dave some quiet time. When we arrived there, I went to the kiosk to read about where the event was being held. While I was reading aloud, some people asked me about my accent and we chatted a bit. When I turned around the children had all scampered down the hill toward the ocean. I called them, but they were set on going down. So I joined them.


Neo making his way down

The trek down was almost straight down. The sign said it's 1.8km each way and to expect 20 minutes to go down and 30-40 minutes to come back up. Neo loved going down. He would get to the edge of the step and jump to the next step. The steps were the kind where the earth is held in place by a log. When the steps were rocks, I made him stop jumping and hold my hand instead. He made it on his own all the way down.


The View
We stopped at a couple of unguarded lookouts - it was awe inspiring! Although I did worry about the children falling off.


When we were on the beach, the children immediately headed toward the rocks for tidal pool searches. Even Neo scampered around on the rocks.

Finally after an hour at the bay, we made our way back up. I carried Neo on my back. Tristan walked with me and helped me to keep Neo happy.

Unfortunately the pictures aren't that good - they were taken with my cell phone.

Around Home

Zoe and Neo in the backyard of the Macmasters Beach House

I know it's the dead of winter and it's been especially snowy and cold in Wisconsin, so I thought I would share some pictures of our home's garden as a way to brighten your day.


Many of the plants that are cultivated in this garden I recognize as plants that we cultivate in Wisconsin, which makes me wonder where they originate from.....





There's also some plants that I've never seen before:



Check out this plant. It has very large cones but they are not like a pine....they are softer.

Be sure to scroll down and check out additional pictures I posted. There's one for Zoe's birthday. Dave's car. Clara and her painting. Enjoy!

Cricket

I have never seen Dave so interested in a sport before. He has been turning on the Cricket World Test games for weeks now. Dave understands more about it then I do because he has been studying it. I won't describe too much for the risk of stating it wrong.

Dave especially likes the Test games which last 5 days. The reason they are called Test is because they test the endurance.

Recently, South Africa beat Australia in a Test match. It was a world upset. Dave watched it all.

There are some similarities to US baseball....but very different. There's a bowler instead of a pitcher. There are "the sticks". The bat is very different - flat. There was commentary on a two sided bat being used for the first time. There seem to be runners. There are only 3 ways to get a batter out - catching a fly ball is one. But it's not unusual for batters to hit 100 times or more. They call 100 hits a century. And there's a half-century.

The bowler's styles are very different. Some take a running start, then throw. The speed that the ball is thrown is recorded like in baseball.

A very interesting sport.

Dave Starts Work

On Wednesday, we bought Dave a brand new 2008 Kia Rio to facilitate his commute. After looking at the alternatives, we thought it would be best for Dave to have a vehicle. Dave didn't want to consider a used vehicle. So we're helping Australia's economy and the car dealer and manufacturer by buying new. It's also a way for us to begin building a credit record here in Australia.



"The Carrot" - Dave's new car

Thursday, 15 January Dave started at his new job in Sydney. He left from our home in Macmasters Beach a little before 7am. He returned home a little after 7pm. It's 1 1/2 hours by train. Plus 20 minutes by car from the house to the train station.

He was tired, but he said it felt good to be working again after 8 weeks of vacation here in Australia.

He said there are many excellent places to eat lunch in Sydney. The train ticket is $8.50 each way. He said the train goes through national parks so there's some beautiful scenery!

His a contractor working for Telstra - the largest phone company in Australia. He is not working in the Telstra building, that is next door. Instead, they have him and other contractors and a few employees set up in rented space. He said the room where he is working has a series of long tables along the wall with computers on it. Each person sits next to his neighbor at this long table. No partitions. He's never been in a work environment like that before.

The contractors are from around the world. He works with a man from the Ukraine. He was hired in October but didn't start until just before Christmas - so others like us with a long time between hire date and start date. He said there's also a man from China.

His supervisor said they'd like to hire 10 more Java Developer Contractors.

We were glad that he had 2 days to adjust to his new work, schedule, and the long commute. This weekend he's been relaxing and gearing up for next week.

King Tide and Dr. Seuss Trees

Clara with her painting

On Monday, Dave took Clara down to the Japanese Garden and Art Gallery for an art class she was enrolled in - Fantasy Creatures. She made a wonderful painting on canvas. Dave enjoyed the Japanese Gardens while she was in class. The rest of us had visited the gardens on a different day. Wonderful koi pond!



While they were gone, I took Tristan, Zoe and Neo down to MacMasters Beachfront. On this beach, there is a sandbar about 40 feet out. Generally, when the tide is low, there are some very strong rip tides due to this sandbar and the troughs that form. On this day, the tide was so low, that the sandbar was at the beach! I could not believe it. The waves were extremely large and made very erratic patterns. Very strange.

There were several surfers taking advantage of the unusually large crests.

Dave came down to the beach and waded on the sandbar a long way out. He couldn't believe it either. Our neighbor, Arthur, later told us it was a King Tide. That these tides are naturally occurring and that they happen twice a year. This one was notable because of it's size. The high tide in the morning had many scientists photographing and measuring. The theory is that in the future - 2060 or so - this kind of tide will occur more frequently due to global warming and the rise in water.

On Tuesday morning, Dave took the kids to MacMasters beach again. This time they were there for the High Tide and the effects of the King Tide was still evident. They saw many examples of sea life that had been washed ashore because of the large waves and high tides.



These trees are a variety of Eucalyptus Trees (there are some 300 different varieties according to our tree book). To me, they look like the trees that Dr. Seuss drew in his books.

The excerpt below is from the Wisconsin State Journal - the paper in Madison, WI, USA where we are from. It's notable to me because last year's snow fall was a record - and supposed to occur once in a century.....
A total of 3.1 inches of snow fell on Monday, bringing the monthly total up to 7.3 inches and the seasonal total up to 52 inches. During the record snowfall of 2007-08, 38.8 inches of snow had fallen by Jan. 12.

Bouddi National Park

On the map I posted in the column on the right, you can see where we live: Macmasters Beach.

You'll see that there is a large green area nearby. This is Bouddi National Park. The closest National Beach in this National Park is Little Beach. Little Beach is 2 kilometers up the road from our house. It really is a steep climb uphill on the way to the beach. Once in the parking lot, there's a 200 meter walk downhill to Little Beach. Little Beach also has a camping area.

Zoe, Clara, and Tristan on Rock at Little Beach

It's a beautiful beach. The day we went, it was low tide. There were many rocks to climb on and tidal pools to view. We also found a small mineral leak coming from the rocks above. The children really loved this beach. It's the beach that Zoe requests to go to most often.


The long walk uphill from Little Beach

Dave said that he's been to many beaches in California and elsewhere, but nothing like this one. It's even different then The Entrance - which I posted about above.

On another day, we went to another beach, further up the hill. The drive to this beach had many hairpin curves. This beach is called Pretty Beach. We didn't like this beach as much as Little Beach.


Rocky area at the far end of Pretty Beach

Here's a link to information about Bouddi National Park http://www.pleasetakemeto.com/australia/new-south-wales/central-coast/information/location/bouddi-national-park

Zoe's Birthday - The Entrance

Zoe's 6th Birthday cake




Zoe turned 6 on 10 January, 2009!

Immediately following breakfast, we sang to her and cut into the cake. She really liked the cake. It had a cream and strawberry jelly filling. Zoe wanted strawberries added to the top. They were a delicious addition.

After lunch, we drove up to The Entrance - where they have pelican feedings daily at 3:30pm. The beach area was so amazing that we almost didn't make it to the pelican feeding.

There is a large body of water that is inland. When we were there, the tide was flowing out and current of the water was fast going out into the ocean. We walked along a waterway where a lot of people were wading and fishing. There were some pelicans hanging out too.

The rock pools between the ocean and the waterway were filled with fish and other life. We saw many crabs, 2 sea slugs and 1 sea cucumber. Clara saw 2 puffer fish and Dave saw a box jellyfish.

The reason for the Pelican Feeding is so the wildlife experts can get a look at the birds to be sure they are not injured. They saw that one bird had a hook in it's leg and fishing wire wrapped around. They waded into the water and grabbed the large wild bird. It was amazing to see. It took all three handlers to hold the bird so the hook could be removed. Afterward, they showed us where the windpipe is inside the large pouch (the Guinness Book of World Records states that the Australian Pelican has the largest beak). To reward the bird for his cooperation, they put 2 fish into his mouth. She really stuffed her hand into his mouth. She said it's like a large shopping bag. After they released the bird, they told the kids that they could come up and throw fish to the pelicans. Clara and Tristan did this.

We ended the day by picking up a couple of pizzas and eating them at home. Zoe said it was her best birthday yet.

Australia Reptile Park

We went to the Reptile Park on Thursday, 8 January. It was a great little family outing. We waited until Thursday because the weather had become cooler and overcast. Earlier in the week it was sunny and in the 90s (33 - 34 degrees).

One of the remarkable things about the reptile park is that they "milk" Red Back spiders and Funnel Web spiders of their poisons to make the antivenom serum. There was a recent news report that the Funnel Web spiders are appearing in larger numbers this year. January and February is the time of year that the males are on the move and they end up in homes. There was a report of a 3 year old stepping on one in his boot.

The highlight of the park was the hands on area. In a large fenced yard, where several kangaroos. In the enclosure you could approach and pet or feed the kangaroos. There were 3 different varieties of kangaroos, 2 grey - one was from Kangaroo Island, and 1 red from the outback. The first kangaroo we approached was a little red one. He was very interested in eating. Neo was really interested in watching this kangaroo. He spent a long time just looking at him.

Tristan immediately went off to find the other kangaroos. We were told that you can buy food, so we did that. One grey kangaroo that I approached really used his forearms to grab and direct. When Zoe approached, he batted her in the shoulder. She was startled, but not hurt. They have long, sharp claws so could have really hurt her or me if he had wanted to. Another kangaroo I was feeding, held my hand steady with his paws.

Other animals were released into that yard later including a Galapagos island turtle. He was amazing. The zoo keeper said he was 85 years old and weighted over 100 kilograms - about 220 lbs. Also an Emu was released.

We saw a wombat, wallabies, and a pond full of American Alligators.

The staff from the park came around with different animals to pet. We petted an American alligator, a snake, and a lizard.

We got to see 3 Tasmanian Devil cubs running and playing in their pen. They had a discussion about the Devils. Told about how a mouth cancer is killing those born in Tasmania. Fortunately, there is a group that is indigenous to Australia and they do not have the cancer.

There were 2 Cassowary Birds. I was really impressed with their size. There was also a duck billed platypus. Unfortunately, it's nocturnal so was asleep on the rock shelf and we really couldn't see it very well. Dave did some research and found out that they only eat underwater...and with their eyes closed. They find their prey by electric charges.

The older kids and I went to see the spiders. They had all of Australia's poison spiders: Red Back and Funnel Web. And White Tailed, which is supposed to give a rash at the bite site. There was also a display of tarantulas. Neo was a little freaked out because of the two larger then life models we had to walk by to get out.

It was a great activity. We really enjoyed going to the Reptile Park.

Parrots and Lorikeets

There were a lot of Parrots and Lorikeets in the Cheese tree in our front yard today. I managed to get a few pictures - and you can actually see the birds. The Parrot with the Orange head is called the King Parrot. The female King Parrot has the Orange (Red) breast but a Green head (Top Picture). The Rainbow Lorikeet has a blue head and rainbow coloring on his breast. The Rainbow Lorikeets are very loud! The poor Tawny FrogMouth was trying to nap in our Cheese Tree again today - I'm not sure if he'll be back tomorrow after that disturbance.

Zoe pulled out her 2nd tooth today, 7 January. Guess what the tooth fairy left her? A My Little Pony set - good thing she loves ponies!

Internet!

Today is Tuesday, 6 January, 2009. We finally have internet connection at our home! The first time we have had our own internet connection since we left Wisconsin on 20 November, 2008! It has been very difficult trying to remain connected with hit or miss connections at the library (and other public locations).

Because we have a new account, I have a new email address: clara1mom@bigpond.com

We have been getting acclimated to our new home and the surrounding area. We are greatly relieved to have a place to call home. The more we look around, the happier we are with our choice too. It's a very nice neighborhood. The streets are level. There are many houses in the area. We've been giving the children the freedom to go on "walk about" because it's very safe and slower moving traffic. It's much cooler here then in the city of Gosford or anywhere else inland.

There's a beautiful lake across the street from our house. It reminds me very much of a lake in Northern Wisconsin. The lake is connected to a lagoon that many people swim in. The lagoon leads up to the beach and the ocean. I've been told that sometimes MacMasters Beach council will drain the lake/lagoon. There are ducks and other waterfowl that live on the lake. There are two pelicans that sit on an old log on the lake. It was amazing to see one eating the other day. We live near a national park. There are reserved, pristine beaches within a few km from our home. The nearest is Little Beach. I'll post about Little Beach in detail.

Zoe lost her first tooth on 5 January 2009. She is about to lose her 2nd tooth any day. It's so loose, I'm surprised it didn't come out with the first one.

Dave and I both have drivers licenses from New South Wales now! No weight is recorded on their licenses. It's a good thing Dave got his license. His Wisconsin driver license expires in May. At least he'll be able to drive with his NSW one.

There is a practice that the Australian government uses that makes a lot of sense to us. For people learning how to drive, they are required to tuck a L under the license plate of the car - so other drivers and police are aware of this. Also for people under probation, there are P plates. These are especially used for young drivers. In Wisconsin, new drivers receive probationary licenses, but nothing the notifies others on the vehicle.

Today, 4 birds that look a little like owls, stopped in our Cheese tree for a snooze. Ian (the person who delivers the Post ie Mail) brought his 11 year old daughter over to say hello. He told us that the birds are Tawny Colored Frog Mouths - related to owls. They are night feeders. So cool to be so near to them - we were right on the balcony about 4 feet away.

Last night some type of night flower opened and the fragrance wafting in through the open windows was thick.

I saw 4 butterflies today that look like Monarchs. One landed in the tree in our front garden (at balcony height), I've attached a photo for your review. Does it look like a Monarch Butterfly?

Australia is awesome. We have been really enjoying the natural beauty of this place - even with all of our personal trials.

Settling In

We've been living in our new house since Saturday, December 27. If you look on a map, you'll see that MacMasters Beach is actually quite remote. It's located in the middle of a national forest/park.

Dave will have to buy a 2nd car sometime soon to be able to get to the train station. There is one located in Woy Woy and another located in Gosford.

The drive to Gosford is about 20 minutes. The roads are winding and have forest on either side. There is a little town called Kincumber just 5km up the road that has a grocery store, 2 fast food restaurants, Dominos pizza, thai restaurant, pharmacy, 2 estate agents, library, etc. There is also a Mitre 10 which is equal to Home Depot.

Once in Kincumber, the roads are wider, bigger and straighter. The distance to Gosford and Erina is about another 10-15 minutes. Erina has Erina Fair - a mall with every imaginable store inside. There's also a library. And movie theatres and an ice skating rink!

Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Beyond

Tristan "catching a wave"

Stick Wall on the way to MacMasters Beach

On Christmas morning, the kids woke up at the holiday house but didn't find any gifts. I asked them what happened and Zoe said it was because we didn't have a Christmas tree. Poor girl.

When we arrived at the MacMasters Beach house, Dave gave the keys to Tristan. Before we had even made our way up the driveway, we heard shouts of delight! They all found their gifts. We spent a few hours at the house, then went back to the Terrigal Holiday House. Later, I took Tristan to the beach at Terrigal so he could tryout his new boogie board. He did really well.

On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, Dave called his sister, Jennifer. He was able to catch up with her and his mom, who was visiting Jennifer. Clara, Neo and I went out to the Boxing Day sales and bought most of the rest of the stuff we needed for the MacMaster Beach House. Namely, microwave, pots/pans, sheets, etc. We spent the afternoon packing our suitcases. Dave took them over to the house while I cleaned and made the house ready for our departure.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast, loaded the remaining items into the car, dropped the keys at the Estate Agent's office, then drove to our new home. We spent most of the morning putting things away. Later, Clara, Neo, and I went to return some items at the stores, then bought groceries. It had been a hot, muggy day in the city, but when we reached the rainforest here, it was much cooler. In the early evening, we were treated to the cockatoos flying overhead and playing in the trees. Later, I saw the kid's ball in the front garden. I hoped a flower bush to retrieve it and was immediately, and repeatedly stun by some type of wasp. Fortunately, they didn't follow me as I scurried away. I received about 10 bites in 30 seconds.

Today, Sunday 28 December, we woke up in our house for the first time. It was a little cool overnight. The morning was beautiful. I took Neo in the stroller and walked down to "Nina's Little Shop" to get the Sunday Sydney Newspaper. It was the first time I was in Nina's shop. It's a very small "store". It's about the size of our kitchen. They had some bread, milk, ice cream, etc. Neo was most impressed by the ducks. The slogan is "duck in" and there were ducks everywhere.

Along the way, we came upon a man who was picking blackberries. His name is Luke and he's a teacher at St Edwards Catholic School in Gosford. He walked with us and we talked about schools. He recommends Copacabana. I was leaning toward enrolling the children there, in part for the novelty of walking to school everyday via the beach! Wouldn't that be cool! His recommendation gives the school more weight in our consideration.

We got home to find that a Cockatoo had landed on our balcony railing. The family were quite excited. Later, the Rainbow Lorikeets were not phased by Dave's presence on the balcony - just 3 feet from where they were feeding in the Cheese Tree.

I was turning the car to get out of the driveway, when I heard a hissing from the tire. A roofing nail on the driveway had punctured the tire - or tyre as it's spelled here. It was flat before I had gotten down the driveway. Fortunately, I had transferred my AAA membership to Australia when I was still in Queensland. I called the emergency number. Road assistance was here to change the tire in less then 60 minutes.

We spent the day enjoying the cool of the house and gardens. At low tide, we walked down to Mac Masters Beach to allow Tristan to use his boogie board. The surf was very strong and Tristan couldn't really manage. Dave swam Tristan out and he caught a wave back to shore. Clara then took the board out but the lifeguard had to intervene to retrieve her, she had drifted out of into a dangerous area. Dave said the water was warmer then any he's experienced in California.

Christmas Eve Day

Today is Christmas Eve Day. It was a very busy day for me. This morning I made calls to get the utilities converted to us. We discovered yesterday that there's a phone in the house that is run by Telstra. Our agent advised us that we could get faster internet installation service if we use Telstra and Big Pond. So I made a call to Telstra to get that installed. Later, I was out buying things necessary to set up house (and a few Christmas presents). I bought plates, silverware, cups, glasses, garbage can, dish drainer, etc. A lot of the stuff you need to "run a household". I didn't buy bedding or pots/pans because the day after Christmas - called Boxing Day here - there are some really good sales on those things.

Yesterday, we went down to Macmasters Beach for the first time. It's a lovely beach. It has one of the best rock pools in the area. We arrived at low tide. Clara said she saw a puffer fish in the rock pool. Tristan found a Japanese jellyfish....very small body with very long tentacles. There is no "downtown" like in other communities. It shares the cove with Copacabana. The beaches merge together, although there's no road between them due to Cochrane Lake. We found out that the lake is a natural lake. I've included a few photos of Macmasters Beach.

Right now it's 5:30pm. Dave is at the house to meet the furniture delivery. He just called to say the washer is a tad too large for the space in the laundry room, so a new washer will have to be delivered next week. Houses are not rented with refrigerators included here in Australia. Fortunately for us, the owner left a refrigerator in the garage and the estate agent said we could use it. Hopefully the delivery crew will be willing to help Dave get it into the house.

We plan to have our Christmas meal tonight. Tomorrow we'll go to the house for gift opening - Santa delivers to the correct address! On Friday, we'll do packing and moving. Maybe even stay in the house for the first time Friday night. If not then Saturday for sure, since we have to be out by Saturday here.

I hope all are enjoying a happy holiday season.

Home for Christmas!!

Front of our MacMasters Beach House

It finally happened! We were accepted on not one but two applications that we had made. We had a difficult decision to make. Each of the properties had good and bad points. In the end, we went with the more beautiful, but more remote house.

Our new address is: MacMasters Beach, NSW 2251 I can provide the specific house address to individual inquires, as this is a public blog. We are very relieved and happy to be done with the property viewing phase of this process.

We will be moving in on Christmas Eve day! We have rented new furniture to be delivered on Wednesday. We'll sign the lease tomorrow (Tuesday). Talk about taking it down to the wire!

The house sits across the road from Cockrone Lake. Just down the road 300 meters is MacMasters Beach. We haven't seen this beach, yet. It will be a fun explore.

I was the only one to see the house on Sunday, so it will be interesting for everyone else to see it for the first time.

Looking forward to receiving mail, getting settled, finding out about the schools, etc. Here's where the adventure turns into normal living. We welcome the transition.

Ocean Zone!!

The pictures are of the Terrigal Beach! Isn't it lovely. The color of the Ocean changes with the tides and the time of day.

Ocean Zone is an area that Arthur's Dad (from the Arthur! series) calls the Ocean with all it's tidal pools, animal life, surf, etc. Dave took Zoe and Tristan to an area here in Terrigal that they have now named "Ocean Zone". There's a rock pool, for swimming and wading. Very calm at the low tide. They were there at the high tide on Thursday. All said there were sea stars, anemones, small fishes and other sea life. There were some pools that were continuously refreshed by the ocean's swells. Truly amazing.

On Saturday, Dave took Clara (Zoe and Tristan) to the Ocean Zone. Neo and I went to another house viewing. While we were away, I received a call from Dave - "Do we have bandaids?" Zoe took a spill on the rocks at the Ocean Zone. When I got home, he showed me the Wisconsin t-shirt that he had shredded to wrap the wounds. She had a cut on her knee and foot. She's recovering nicely at this writing.

On Friday, I had my first "missing home" break down. I think the stress of living out of a suitcase in holiday accommodations for 4 weeks straight is wearing on me. I've also been under enormous pressure to find a rental before Christmas. We made several applications last week. Some we were told won't be available by Christmas. Others went to other applicants. It's been very challenging finding rentals that are available, getting in contact with the agent, finding my way to the viewing, completing the application if it's something that will work (they don't all work), then contacting the agent again to follow up on the status of the application.

In addition, I'm missing my good friends from Madison. I have a wonderful support system in Madison - which is not readily available to me - especially with continued limited internet access.

Last night (Saturday) we watched via live feed, a Christmas Carols presentation that was taking place in Sydney. It is an annual event in this area. Many stars sang beautiful Christmas carols to a live audience. During that time, Tristan broke down stating that he missed home too. I asked him what he missed and he said "his friends". He went to get the friendship bracelet he had received from his friend Henry and felt better. We talked about how important friends and family are.

Today is Sunday. I decided I was going to go to a church service. So I went to a local Evangelical Church. God knew I was there because the message was just for me. It was on Acts 27 1-20. Luke provides a detailed account of Paul's journey on a boat. That along the way, the boat had gotten off course because of the winds. The crew had held up in an island that couldn't provide the vessel protection from the winter storms. The calendar was against them - if they were lucky, they would receive favorable winds and make their destination. They end up in a storm that lasts for days, but arrive with their lives to their destination.

I feel very much like I'm sitting on the island that will not sustain us because the calendar is against us - we have to be out of this holiday rental on Saturday 27 December. We are looking for "favorable winds" - a permanent rental. But if not, we'll have to leave Terrigal for another location during the big holiday time. We are very much in the middle of our "storm". In short, the message was just what I needed to hear.

Monday we have some calls to make and homes to see. Hopefully, we'll have someplace to call home before Christmas! It will be a lovely gift!

Sydney's Northern Beaches

On Monday 15 December, we rent to see some rentals in Sydney's Northern Beaches suburbs.

We had a lunch of fish and chips and vegetarian pizza for Dave - the roasted pumpkin pizza wasn't as nice as the one from Il Forin in Sandgate. We sat in a park in Collaroy/Dee Why. The surf was amazing. I have included some pictures of the Rock Pool. And the foaming surf on that day. I asked a local if it was unusually high, and she confirmed that it was. Even still, we saw many surfers riding the waves.

The drive to Sydney from Terrigal on the 1 required us to go from the coast up the mountains. The climb was so steep, that our ears were popping. Dave calls the climb/descent "the chute". Tristan said he saw a waterfall on our way out.

We saw a beautifully furnished 3 bedroom 1st floor apartment in Dee Why. It was too small for our family. Some of the features included a glass wall that opened up to the balcony. Amazing! It also had a 2 car parking area where the first car was driven onto a hoist, then lifted and the 2nd car was driven into the stall below. Wild.

We also saw a 4 bedroom house in Freshwater - not impressed.

Over all, our time in Sydney's Northern Beaches proved to us that it's not our "cup of tea". We'll be spending the rest of the week actively looking for a home to rent in Terrigal and other suburbs of the Central Coast.

Please revisit some of the earlier posts about our trip to Sydney, I've added photos. The first entry are of Surfer's Paradise Beach. The 2nd day are pictures of Park Beach. There are also some pictures of the old growth RainForest that I took while we were driving. Overall, the trip was about 1000 km long, and much of the roads were winding, hilly, 2 lane highway.

Port Macguarie to Terrigal

On Saturday morning, we found a holiday rental for 1 week in Terrigal. So we had about the same length of drive as Friday.

Fortunately, this stretch of road was much better - it was a divided 4 lane highway. The scenery included tall mountains with bits of cloud dropping down into the treetops. It was majestic and inspiring.

We made really good time and stopped for lunch just before the New Castle byway. We arrived in Terrigal about 2pm.

Terrigal is a wonderful little beach community. Fairly small and beach oriented. The ocean is clear, and blue.

We have a 3 storey townhouse. With 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The main floor contains all the kitchen, living, dining. A bedroom on each level.

Sunday was our day of rest. We didn't get in the car - except Clara and I to gather provisions from the local mall. There were many stores there. And there were many Christmas shoppers too. No sign of a recession at that mall.

In the morning, the whole family walked along the beach in Terrigal. Later, the kids swam in the pool.

The Queenslander

I had promised to post some pictures of the Queenslander style of house. The story goes that in Queensland, the early settlers were looking for something that could get them away from the bugs and other crawlies while capturing the ocean breezes. So these houses are often high, even on a hill, with wide verandas and porches.

These pictures are of houses in walking distance of our holiday house. There are some better specimens in other locations - but I didn't think about photographing them until I realized I might not be seeing them again....because of our Sydney move.

I had to post the picture of the tree - isn't it amazing!

Ballina to Port Macquarie

WOW! Thanks so much for your prayers and good thoughts! It made all the difference on this stretch of road. The driving was EXHILARATING! The roads were curving 2 lane highways with many oversized and double cargo trucks coming at us, a few narrow bridges, oil on the road, and rain. A little rain at first to make things slippery, but more to cause a little flooding on the road and hydroplaning at one point. The lines on the roads are all painted white. In the US, the center lines would be yellow.

On the two lane highway, the passing was facilitated by creating an additional lane at varying points along the highway. All traffic was directed to remain left, unless overtaking another vehicle. There were also rest areas. A few kilometers prior to the rest area, a sign read: Stop Revive Survive. There were also several speed cameras on the highway. And a couple of cameras that assessed for fatigue. I don't know how that's done...or what they do if it's determined that the driver is fatigued.

We made reservations in the morning for Port Macquarie - calculating a distance about twice that of the previous day. We got started by 9am. Our first stop, for lunch was at Gosford.

After lunch, we took our mini caravan to Choff's Harbor for a little time on the beach. This beach was named Park Beach and had a small island. The tide was on the way out. We walked a fair piece of the beach.

We saw some beautiful scenery again today. There were sugar cane fields, cows - some with small horns, others that looked like beef cattle, horses, a couple of sheep, bananas, and a rose grower. We also saw signs for wild horses, an antlered animal, and kangaroo. I saw a kangaroo today - but it was road kill so probably doesn't count.

I have logged more then 600km so far in 2 days. Today was the most exhausting because of the conditions.

Journey to Sydney

Thursday morning, we took Dave to the rental car place to pick up the luggage vehicle I had rented. Then bank, food for the road, lunch and the kids and I left. We stopped at Surfer's Paradise and played in the amazing surf!!! It was wild and beautiful.

We continued down the road to Byron Bay. Along the way we saw some exciting signs like watch for Koalas and kangaroos!! Thrilling!!! We didn't see any, though.

The kids and I stopped at Byron Bay to get supper. Then drove the back roads to our little trailer overnight here in Ballina - it's pronounced BELL ina. The Ocean Vistas were STUNNING!!!

Even along the Pacific Hwy, there were many amazing sights - mountains and glimpses of ocean.

Dave had to wait for the contract that was arriving by express mail. But he was on his way by 2:30 and actually beat us to Ballina - he didn't stop at all.

South to Sydney!

We have been looking for accommodations here in Queensland to stay over for Christmas. We either cannot find anything OR it's extremely expensive - we're talking $2000/week!

So, given all that, we're going to begin our trip down to Sydney! The plan is that we'll arrive in about 1 week, find a permanent rental, then settle in and wait for Dave's start date - which has been moved back to 12 January. The biggest problem with this plan is that the rent in Sydney is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE then in Brisbane. While we were looking at $450/WEEK here. Sydney is more like $800/WEEK. In addition, the companies require a 4 week bond PLUS 2 weeks rent in advance.

I rented a 2nd car for 8 days. That will be our "pack" car. It will have suitcases and room for 1 child, possibly. The rest of the stuff will be in the van along with most of the children.

Dave's contract didn't arrive today, as hoped - it was sent express mail. So he'll have to wait for it to arrive tomorrow. In the morning, we'll get the car from the airport. Pack it full. Then the kids and I will head out in advance of Dave. The mail arrives around 3:30pm. He said he doesn't mind traveling without a break - and we'll probably need to take many.

It could be tricky coming up with reservations along the way - even for 1 night in hotels. I just spent 20 minutes searching for something about 120 miles down the coast....many required multiple days. Most don't accommodate the entire family. I finally found a little cabin in Ballina. Hopefully it will be nice.

Considering that this is our last night in Queensland, we'll get our favorite pizza. Also, I went around and took pictures of the lovely Queenslander Houses in Shorncliffe. I'll have to post the pictures later.

It's a really hot and muggy day today - 32 degrees - which is over 90. I've heard more then 1 radio commentator call these kind of days: "Stinkers".

Got to get packing!