Margaret and Clare picked us up at Lou’s for the drive to Richmond. We’re doing the reverse of our arrival where Alex and Gloria picked us up at the airport and drove us to Richmond to meet Lou, Margaret and Clare. It was six weeks ago that we actually arrived in Australia.
It is about 2-1/2 hours from Rylstone to Richmond along the same route to Lithgow and then on to Richmond. It’s a pretty drive over the Blue Mountains and today the scenery was spectacular as the escarpments were shining golden in the clear morning sun. It was much less humid today (and very cool) so the visibility was really good. I wish we had had time to stop and take photos, but we were on the fast track because Margaret had an appointment to get to.
We met up with Alex and Gloria at McDonald’s and said a quick goodbye to Margaret and Clare, who were a bit late for the appointment. I don’t like goodbyes and I get all teary. But with a big hug and a kiss we said goodbye to Margaret and Clare.
We had a coffee with Lou, Alex and Gloria, catching up on the goings on. I think I didn’t mention in any of my posts that Michael, the Caruana sibling we visited in the nursing home on January 28th, died last Tuesday. He had progressive supranuclear palsy, a very rare organic brain disorder. It’s a difficult thing to say, but it’s a blessing that he has passed now because he had been in such pain. He can rest easily now. So Lou and Gloria are grieving the loss of yet another sibling. There were 10 and now there are 6 remaining. It’s a sad time for them, but we are blessed to have visited Michael and seen him on one of his last good days. Rest in peace, Michael.
It was finally time to say goodbye to Louis. We all had tears. Lou has been so wonderful and we have treasured our time with him. Although we come and kind of take over his home, being with him is a joy and a delight. We will miss being with him terribly. Thanks for everything, dear Louis.
Then it was on to Gloria and Alex’s. Alex treated us to lunch at the club in Ettalong. Then, as we were almost at home he got a call from his youngest son Bradley, who had been out in his boat with his two girls and the boat broke down. After some discussion, Alex and Bradley had a plan. Alex would go retrieve his Zodiac inflatable boat that was in his garage at the Daley’s Point house and Bradley would meet us there and they would go and retrieve Brad’s boat. I asked if he needed any help and Alex invited me to come along.
It all worked out as planned, with one one little hiccup. Alex couldn’t find the drain plug for his Zodiac so we had to go to Brad’s to get one from another of his boats. That worked, and we were on our way to a boat ramp for launching. Alex and Brad made quick work of launching the Zodiac. Brad’s daughter Layla and step-daughter Jemma were with Brad and we all hopped into the Zodiac and off we went.
I think Alex enjoyed driving the boat kind of fast and the spray got us all wet. We arrived to retrieve Brad’s boat, tied it up and headed back to trailer the boats. It was a very fun little side trip out on Brisbane Waters that I thoroughly enjoyed.
While we were out doing boat rescue,, Christine and Gloria stayed home. The giggle girls had a great couple of hours together.
We got cleaned up for dinner and went back to the club in Ettalong for dinner. Marianne, Gloria’s sister, was joining us, as well as Bradley, his wife Fiona, and the two girls, Layla and Jemma. We had a lovely evening and enjoyed everyone’s company. It was nice to get to talk with Marianne. We saw her at the family gathering the end of January, but had really been unable to talk with her. She’s doing well, but her husband is in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, which is always very difficult. Bradley and Fiona are lovely people. I’ve never seen Brad without a smile on his face. So it was a nice evening. Thanks, Alex, for another great evening.
Marianne and Christine
We were all tired after a long day and we each went to bed pretty quickly. We’ll be off to the airport in the morning at 8:00am. And just like that, a little over six weeks has flown by, and it’s time for the loooong flight back to the States.
Thank you to all the cousins and their families for making this a wonderful and memorable trip. I’ll write a short post when we get home, just in case I need to report on something that happens while we’re traveling. We’re ready to be home, but we don’t want to leave Australia!
There was a nice sunrise this morning, although I hope the saying about red skies in the morning doesn’t hold true.
We walked into town for our cuppa. It was a bit cool this morning, as it was yesterday. I said that Mother Nature was trying to toughen us up in preparation for our return to the cold north, although I understand that the temperatures have been very mild most of the time we’ve been away. As always, it was a nice walk.
We enjoyed our coffees. Lou and Christine have cappuccino and I have a flat white. We don’t even have to say our order as the cafe owner knows what we like.
Walking back to the house we strolled by the show grounds to see what was happening. It was still a little early for a lot of the setup activity, but trucks with stalls were coming in.
Carnival rides setting up in the distanceThe show grounds
This is a favorite stretch that we walk through on our way home.
After breakfast it was time for Lou to get his baked goods to the exhibition hall. We fretted a bit over the instructions for how to display each item. The instructions were not clear and very confusing. The carrot cake was to be placed on a board to be covered with paper, fabric or contact paper, so that went on a cutting board wrapped in foil. The Anzac biscuits were to be placed in a glass vase. That threw us, but Christine suggested a glass swan that Lou had. There was no direction for display of the pumpkin scones, so they went on a doily-covered paper plate.
It was kind of confusing at the exhibition hall. At the door, the young greeters weren’t too sure about how the entries should be made, all as one, or each separate. After they figured that out, we went to the baked goods reception table. The woman checking in each entry promptly dumped the Anzac biscuits out of the glass swan and on to a paper plate stating that they should have been on a plate. The carrot cakes also was taken off the board and plunked down on a paper plate. I guess the instructions weren’t correct, or at least they weren’t written well enough for anyone to understand exactly how to present the items. At any rate, Lou’s items were registered and taken off to display cases to join other entries.
The room was filling up with flowers, vegetables, and baked goods. I’m looking forward to going back this evening to wander around and see what takes the blue ribbons. I will say I saw the biggest zucchini I have every seen being carried in.
Back home we spent the rest of the afternoon organizing and packing as we’ll have an early departure Saturday morning for the ride to Richmond where Alex and Gloria will pick us up. We’ll stay with them Saturday night and then they’ll take us to the Sydney airport on Sunday.
At 6:00pm we walked back into town to go to the exhibit hall to see the results of the judging. Let me just say it was a big day for the Caruana and Chadwick entries. Lou entered 3 items and came away with a first and 2 second ribbons. The pumpkin scones, which were a disaster in the making, won first prize!
Margaret, who entered 3 cakes, received 2 first place awards and 1 second.
Daniel, who entered 4 cakes, won 2 first places and 1 second place.
Clare, who entered 6 cakes, aced them all with 6 blue ribbons! Just incredible, but of course, this is the young woman who, as a teenager, runs a creative cakes business online. She’s amazing. And sorry, but I apparently missed photographing one of her winners.
Clare also won a blue ribbon for one of her drawings and two blue ribbons for her costumes, the ones she showed us at her house one evening.
We milled around the exhibition hall taking in all the displays. It was fun and of course we all were giddy with all the blue ribbons, especially Lou who was really tickled that he won with those pumpkin scones.
We all went back to Lou’s for dinner. We had the wonderful timpana that Lou spent hours making yesterday. It was very delicious! And Margaret made trifle, another of Christine’s favorites. What a great way to end our stay in Rylstone.
After a long day, as our last day in Rylstone, we went to bed tired, happy, and full!
When you start a trip for nearly 7 seven weeks, it seems like a really long time, but here we are on our last few days in Australia. The time just sped by; I guess that’s because we were on the go a lot of the time and did many wonderful activities, so time flew by. At any rate, we’ve had a low-key last few days with Lou.
That storm we watched last Friday night, marveling at how the sky turned from black to orange/red, really was actually the result of a grassland and bush fire. Lightening caused a fire within a couple of miles of here that burned for several days. We did smell smoke that night, and now we know why. Fortunately, fire crews, mostly volunteers, fought the fire for two days and were able to get it out. It’s scary to know how easily a significant fire can be started and how difficult it is to extinguish a fire in the dry grass and bush once it gets going.
Monday, Lou had a physiotherapy evaluation in Lithgow and so he accompanied Margaret, who also had an appointment. Lou had a knee replacement 3 years ago. He unfortunately got tangled up in a snafu related to districts of service and didn’t get physio for weeks after his knee replacement. That put him behind in movement, and he has remained unable to flex his knee fully. I urged him to get a PT evaluation to see if he could regain additional flexion in that knee. He is able to walk pretty well, as he has done on all our adventures, but steps are difficult, and things like getting in and out of the car are not easy. While he and Margaret were in Lithgow, Christine and I went exploring in The Common, a council owned parcel of land in the bush right across the road from Lou’s.
The Common offers a lovely loop walking track. It was to be a hot day, so we started in the morning to avoid the sun and heat in the middle of the day. We really enjoyed the walk as it was quite beautiful through the bush, the grassland, along the river, and close to some interesting rock formations.
Christine is wearing the head net over her hat that Daniel had given her. It helps tremendously to keep insects out of her eyes, ears, and nose. It was a great gift from Daniel and I know Christine will wear it a lot, especially at our cottage while clipping in the woods.
These lovely little flowers were all along the track up to the top of The Common. They are called pavonia and are related to the hibiscus, but are much smaller.
Tuesday we walked into town in the morning for our cuppa. I’m going to miss these early morning walks. It’s a nice stroll of about a mile into town and we hear and see lots of birds, see nice views across the golf course and keep track of the work being done at the Rylstone Caravan Park. I noticed this web in the sunlight this morning.
Wednesday was shopping in Mudgee, riding with the ladies and Margaret. Then when we got home, Lou started baking. This weekend is the annual Rylstone Kandos Show. It’s a big deal event, somewhat similar to a large county fair. There will be all kinds of exhibitions of livestock, flowers, fruits and vegetables, cake decorating and baking, and competitions like a dog show, wood chopping, horse jumping. There will be all sorts of activities including a parade, carnival rides, and fireworks. I’m sorry we’ll be missing it, but Friday night we’ll have an opportunity to go through the cake decorating and baking exhibits. Clare, Daniel and Margaret are all entering items in cake decorating. As I mentioned, Clare is running a creative cake business, so I’m sure she’ll have some amazing entries.
Lou wants to enter some items from his mother’s recipes in the baking exhibition. He has his mother’s well-used and well-loved binder of recipes. He’s selected carrot cake, Anzac biscuits, and pumpkin scones. Sounds like a lot to me, but he set to work on the carrot cake and biscuits this afternoon.
Thursday I started the day in an early Webex meeting for the hospital. Unfortunately, the dicey internet here didn’t have enough bandwidth to stream audio and video signals and I had a big problem with hearing what was going on in the meeting. Everyone was in a conference room and I was the only remote attendee. At least I tried to connect and attend. I’ll be glad to be able to attend future meetings of this special team working on a project in-person. Christine accompanied Lou on the walk and cuppa this morning without me. Then it was laundry. We’ll be able to go home with more clean clothes than dirty!
After pegging out the wash, Lou drove us to Kandos. Christine had had a nice morning with Clare yesterday going to the pool and then touring around the main street of Kandos. Christine wanted to go back to get a birthday gift for Clare and to show Lou a painting she spotted in the Community Shop that she thought he’d like. We did get Lou the painting and he bought a black glass vase and Christine bought two really sweet plates. Kandos is the sister town to Rylstone, 7km down the road. It was home to the Kandos Cement Plant which produced cement used in the building of many famous buildings. Unfortunately, the cement plant closed and Kandos has lost some of its luster. But it is a nice little town and the shopkeepers are very welcoming.
Kandos has an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, where Clare and Christine went swimming yesterday while Lou and I were in Mudgee. It was a nice opportunity for Christine to bond a bit with Clare. I think they had a good time.
On the way back home, I suggested to Lou that we try and find the Rylstone reservoir. The cafe owner had mentioned it to us as a nice place to hike and gave us some directions, but we didn’t manage to find it earlier in our stay. Today, I used Google Maps and we did get to a road that took us to a gate, so we couldn’t drive any farther. We walked up the road a ways through some very nice scenery. Just when we all decided that we’d walk far enough and didn’t find the reservoir, we came around a curve and there it was! We found the Rylstone reservoir.
The Cudgegong River is so interesting. It’s described as a perennial stream, and yet with the Kandos and Rylstone weirs, large masses of water are created, like at Dunns Swamp where we went kayaking. The Cudgegong is dammed by the Windemere Dam which creates Lake Windemere, a very large lake. The river eventually travels a total of 250kms and meets up with the Macquarie River where the Burrendong Dam dams both rivers to create Lake Burrendong. We’ve crossed over the Cudgegong many times in our travels and in most places it does look like a very narrow, barely running, stream. The Rylstone weir, though, has created a lovely reservoir. We see only half of it from the weir. An equally large section is around the end of the reservoir in the photo above.
You can see the tiny blue lines going into and out of the reservoir. That’s the size of the river and the reservoir is the big blue stuff. Really interesting, and we’re glad we found it. Next time we’re here, we’ll plan a picnic lunch at the reservoir as it’s a really nice area.
Once back at home, the last baking job was pumpkin scones. These were quite the challenge because the dough never really got to the right consistency. At any rate, Lou worked hard to produce nice pumpkin scones.
Lou then dove into a special recipe for tomorrow evening’s dinner. Margaret, Daniel and Clare will be joining us. Sunday is Clare’s birthday so we’ll have a joint celebration, our last night in Rylstone and Clare’s birthday. One of Christine’s favorite Maltese dishes is Timpana, a wonderful baked macaroni dish in puffed pastry. We’re really looking forward to eating it tomorrow.
Tomorrow is our last day at Lou’s. Saturday we go to Richmond where Alex and Gloria will pick us up to stay with them in Bensville for the night. Then they take us to Sydney airport Sunday for our flight to Los Angeles. Hopefully, I’ll have more to report tomorrow on the Rylstone Kandos Show. I’ll certainly make a final post summing up our wonderful time with Lou. Boy, does time fly!
We didn’t have anything special planned for the week, so we got to enjoy being at Lou’s place and Margaret’s place. It was nice to “be home,” hang out, do a little work around the property with Lou and with Margaret, and just generally relax and have fun.
On Monday, Margaret, Clare and Daniel came for dinner and they all surprised Christine and me with a Happy Anniversary (a day early) celebration with a lovely pavlova. February 14, 2023 we are 42 years together and it was so very nice for our anniversary to be recognized.
After dinner, we enjoyed playing UNO, which was great fun. We hadn’t known about UNO until Eve turned us on to the card game when we last visited her in December. Come to find out, the whole Caruana clan grew up playing UNO. It was one of Bice’s (Lou’s mother) favorite games.
Tuesday we helped with some yard work. Christine has gotten into clipping and pruning Lou’s rose bushes and other shrubbery. Lou loves roses and he has several rose bushes around his property. I swept the verandahs and driveway after Lou mowed and weed whacked. Lou keeps busy every day feeding and caring for his birds, watering the garden, and mowing. The weather has been quite hot this week, in the 90s daily, so we have to be careful not to do too much in the hot sun.
Australian and Maltese Flags
Wednesday was shopping in Mudgee. Margaret, with two ladies in tow, picked us up for the drive to Mudgee. We were meeting Clare there as she was delivering two young goats to a buyer, and also had some lab work scheduled. One of the kids was one of the triplets that our namesake goat Christine had a couple of months ago. We met the buyer in the carpark of the lovely old Mudgee train station.
When we returned home, Lou and I moved Wally into his new home, a much larger cage that had housed 3 other ringnecks in the garage. Lou moved those three ringnecks into the aviary cage with Oliver, Olivia, and Angel. Wally was in a smaller cage that limited his ability to flap his wings and fly a bit, so a larger cage was necessary. Lou was a little nervous about both bird moves because not long ago he lost a bird that escaped while Lou was trying to move him. So at least with Wally, we planned carefully for the move. Wally was a little nervous about leaving his cage, but the enticement of some peanuts in Lou’s hand in his new home finally lured him. Once in the new cage, Wally seemed quite happy and he spent the rest of the day exploring his new home. Lou has been spending time sitting by his cage and talking to him. Banjo isn’t too keen on that and keeps coming over to Lou for attention. We all like seeing the new cage out on the side verandah. It’s an elegant-looking cage and we can see Wally while we sit at the dining table.
Thursday was one of the hottest days, 95+, so none of us did very much other than stay indoors with the AC on.
We do take our walk to the cafe most mornings, which we really enjoy. It’s a nice walk into town along the road bordering a golf course. The views across the course are really beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone playing golf on the course, but I have seen some guys unloading their golf carts, so it must get used. During the week the cafe is a stopping place for many workers getting their morning brew with some brekkie (breakfast). Some other regulars stop in, several with dogs, so we all go on about our pets. Banjo is a magnet for folks. He gets petted a lot. On the weekends, the customers are mostly tourists, holiday-goers, who stop on their way through Rylstone. There is a town caravan park between Lou’s house and the cafe, so we suspect that many of the weekenders may be camped at the caravan park or are staying in one of the two small hotels along the main street.
Golf courseGolf courseRylstone main streetMexican restaurantCrape myrtle treeSidewalk heading to cafeOne of my favorite cottagesEntrance to a B&BTraditional style homeCafe is also a galleryLouOur shadows
Friday evening we were invited to Margaret’s for dinner. Tonight was Clare’s turn to prepare the meal and she made pork kodon, a Japanese dish with pork, rice, and egg. It was delicious. We said to Clare and Daniel that anytime they wanted to come to America, they could be our chefs. Both are excellent cooks.
Clare then showed us some of her costume creations and artwork. She is one very talented artist! Both she and Daniel are creative and artistic and they make the most amazing things. Clare is also running a specialty cake business and is a very skilled cake decorator. The costume below was very elaborate with lights that changed color and loads of emblems, symbols and lettering.
Her drawings and portraiture are fantastic. We wish and hope that she will get further training because we think she’d have a great future in the art world or in costuming. This picture below is a side-by-side photo and drawing that Clare did. Half is a photo, and half is her drawing. Pretty amazing!
We then played UNO again, continuing our game from Monday night. It was lots of fun and everyone laughed and had a good time. Clare won, having not lost a single round. Sorry, Christine, I didn’t notice that I didn’t get you in the photo.
Saturday Lou and I went to Margaret’s to help finish the concrete job we started last month. I am happy that the project got finished and that Margaret will be able to move her new plastic water tank onto the pad. I must say, Clare and Margaret are really hard workers!
Lou then mowed Margaret’s grass, which worried me, as it was 90+ with hot sun and he’d already been out in the sun with the concrete job. But that wasn’t the end of the work. When we got back home, we went to work on extending the aviary roof to create a bit of a veranda that enabled more shade for the birds. Lou had planned it out using brackets that he had and some metal sheets. We had taken some rebar and a bit of timber from Margaret’s to use as well. I found some PVC pipe in his shed that we also used. It was one of those projects where you use what you can find and try to make it work. And, Lou was actually successful in getting it done. The birds have a little more shade and the apples and fruit that he sticks in the wire to feed the birds is more protected and will stay fresher longer out of the sun.
After dinner we watched a big storm approach. The clouds were ominous, but then the storm clouds turned pink and orange. The orangeness was a bit concerning because it looked a bit like fire. As you recall, the Australian bushfires of late 2019 were horrific and so lightening storms are worrisome here. We could see lightening and hear thunder off in the distance but the bulk of the storm skirted around us. We had been hoping for some rain as it has been very hot and dry the past few weeks. It did rain just a bit, but not enough. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees in just a few minutes. We all were sitting inside at one point and Lou said, “I smell smoke.” We all jumped up and went outside, where the smoke smell was quite prevalent. We ran around the house and looked up and down the block and off across the back paddock, but we didn’t see any flames anywhere, thank God. We don’t know where the smoke smell came from. When Christine and I were getting into bed later, we smelled smoke again, but didn’t see any cause. We still don’t know what caused the smoke smell, and it was alarming for a bit. All the photos below were taken over the course of only about 6 minutes, so you can see the sky went from dark and ominous to pink and orange and very angry-looking.
This morning we awoke to another fine day that felt fresh and clear. Below is the view from the top of Lou’s driveway looking over the neighbor’s house.
It has been a very nice week and we are loving being here.
Today’s adventure is a trip to Jenolan Caves. Our friend Terry Matthews had suggested Jenolan Caves and so when we were talking with Louis about things to do during our stay in Australia I had indicated that I would like to see Jenolan Caves. This came up in conversation the night that Darren, Selina and Rachel came to dinner at Lou’s the second day we were here. They wanted to participate in a trip to Jenolan Caves and Selina then suggested also going to high tea at the Hydro Majestic. Over the next few days she arranged all the bookings and reservations and so our day out was set for February 12.
Margaret picked us up a little after 7:00am for the near 3-hour drive to Jenolan Caves. We had to navigate some very off-the-beaten path roads into the Blue Mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range, as one of the the main roads to the caves had been washed out and was closed. At one point, we were driving along a ridge at nearly 4,000 feet. It was really beautiful with views of the mountains on one side and views of the tablelands on the other. We had a bit of trouble finding the right road to the caves, but Margaret stopped and asked directions so we finally found our way. Not only was there a road closure on the way to the caves, there was some washout on the road down to the caves so the protocol was to wait up top until an escort vehicle came. The cave tours were on a time schedule so we waited for several cars to arrive for their timed tours before we were escorted down.
The drive down to the caves was breathtaking, in a bit of a scary way. We went from nearly 4,000 feet to about 1,500 feet down a narrow winding road that had several hairpin turns. It was a long way down into the valley and the hairpin turns and steep drop offs were kind of scary. Once down to the car park, we then boarded a small shuttle bus and were taken to the entrance to the Jenolan Caves House. The Caves House is an historic hotel that drew lots of tourists over the decades.
Jenolan Caves HouseNice flowers near the Caves House
Jenolan Caves are limestone caves embedded in the mountain. The caves have been assessed at over 340 million years old making the cave complex the oldest and greatest known open caves in the world. For thousands of years, the Jenolan area has been part of the culture of local indigenous peoples and holds significance to the Gundungurra and Wiradjuri peoples. The first European to discover the caves occurred probably in 1838 when a man had been tracking a convict who had stolen several items and stumbled upon the caves. It’s hard to imagine how people actually moved around through the bush from the mountain down into the valley. It’s very thick vegetation and very, very steep. However, by the early 1840s tourists were visiting the caves that were known at the time. There are now some 22 different known caves covering about 25 miles and stretch across 5 levels. Eleven caves are open to the public and can be toured. Researchers continue to explore the cave complex and are still finding new caves. For the very experienced spelunker, one can go on a tour that crawls through narrow openings into various chambers. That is not something I would choose to do! Below is a diagram of the main show caves and as you can see, the complex is extensive.
Listing of main caves in the complex
The Imperial Cave is the most accessible cave, although it is reported to have 358 steps throughout the hour-long tour. Ten of the family started the tour of Imperial Cave. This included the Calleia’s eldest daughter Naomi, whom we had not met before.
You enter Imperial Cave through the Grand Arch, a very large opening that now contains a road, and enter into a large chamber that is open on one side. It’s a massive hole in the limestone.
From the entrance we climbed a set of steps and walked along a corridor through the limestone. In many places you had to bend over to get through the corridor.
The formations within the corridors and cave were really interesting. In limestone caves, after the natural process of erosion and excavation, a simple but slow natural process is responsible for the decoration of the bare, dull walls. Falling rain picks up atmospheric carbon dioxide. On passing through the soil, more carbon dioxide, from plant roots and decaying vegetable matter, becomes dissolved in the water, along with complex organic acids called humic acids. This ground water easily dissolves limestone. The solution slowly descends into the cave and deposits the dissolved calcium carbonate, sometimes including impurities of iron and other minerals. On reaching the cave, the water droplets fall to the floor, leaving behind a tiny deposit of calcite crystal. This is known as precipitation.
One of the cool things in the Imperial Cave is the underground river. The Jenolan River flows through the cave complex. and it gives kind of a an eerie sense. The lighting throughout the cave added to the ambience in the cave and at the end of the path for our tour the river was really beautiful.
There were many interesting formations, all created from dripping water that has seeped through the limestone. In many areas the guide pointed out the presence of fossils within the limestone, creatures such as Brachiopods, that could be seen on the ceilings of the caves.
We saw a particularly beautiful formation called a shawl. A shawl or curtain is a calcite formation in the form of wavy or folded sheets hanging from the wall or roof of a cave. This amazing structure forms when water runs down the gentle slopes of the cave walls rather than dripping directly onto the floor.
There was an area within a narrow opening that is called the Crystal City. It’s an area containing several different types of small stalactites and stalagmites forming patterns that look somewhat like building structures within a walled city. Very cool!
As we finished up the tour, going back out the way we came, we were able to spot the Blue Lake. This is a man-made lake that was created in 1908 when a dam was built. The dam was created as part of a hydro-electrical facility and the electricity generated was used to power the lights in the caves.
The Jenolan Caves have been one of the biggest tourist destinations in the Blue Mountains, and the caves have been well-developed to inspire this booming tourism draw. I definitely would make a return visit to the caves since there are many other caves to explore.
After our tour we had another fabulous event planned, High Tea at the iconic Hydro Majestic. We were on a very tight schedule and we were quite anxious about the time since we had to wait in the car park until we could be escorted back up the winding road. That put us about a half-hour behind schedule. The Calleias were ahead of us and managed to contact the Hydro Majestic to tell them we would be late. We all hooked up at the Hydro about an hour late, but High Tea was still available.
The Hydro Majestic is in a Blue Mountain town named Medlow Bath. The Bath part of the name was added to the town’s name after the Hydro was created as a resort spa. The Medlow Bath Hydropathic Establishment opened in the early 1900s when “the water cure” was very fashionable and health retreats were big business in Europe and America. Mark Foy was the creator and he was quite the elite guy with grand visions and big ideas about the spa. The Hydro was the place to go and be seen. It was overall a theatrical affair, exquisitely detailed in expensive furnishings, artwork, and the latest facilities from all over the world. It has an interesting history.
The Hydro Majestic stretches more than a kilometer across the top of an escarpment and has a drop-dead gorgeous view. The main dining area has a whole wall of glass overlooking the valley. It’s fantastic!
Looking out the dining room window
High tea is quite the affair. There are several options on the menu and most of us chose the one that serves different types of scones, petite sandwiches, and various sweets. I didn’t think that sounded like much, but we couldn’t eat it all. Everything was delicious! The servers came out with these 3-tier plate serving stand. Each stand contained double of each item and so one stand was set between 2 people. It was beautifully presented.
Christine and I started with the middle plate containing the petite sandwiches. There were several varieties including egg salad, salmon, beef wrap, among other tasty offerings. I then went for the scones with jam and cream. Wow! Totally delicious. By then I was already full, but forced myself to try a couple of the several sweets. Very yummy!
While I didn’t get a photo of our stand of food, please note the stands on the table in this nice group photo.
Selina was so nice to ensure that we knew what every item was and that we were enjoying our high tea. She is a delightful woman with a wonderful smile and it was so lovely to be with her, Darren, Naomi and Rachel.
After tea, we wandered around the Hydro Majestic. It has undergone a big renovation after changing hands several times over the past couple of decades. It’s a grand old hotel and it’s nice to see someone trying to keep it going.
What a memorable day we’ve had! Our thanks to Selina and Darren for making it possible.
We said our goodbyes as the Calleias were returning to the Sydney and we were returning to Rylstone. It was an uneventful trip home and we were getting back home just as the sun was going down. The escarpments around Kandos were beautiful with the sun shining on them and Margaret took an unexpected turn up a small dirt road to an opening on a hilltop where we could see the escarpments and countryside around Kandos.
We returned home happy and still full, no dinner for us tonight, and with a small carryout container holding the sweets that we could not finish at tea. We’ll save those for another night. Again, it was a very memorable day.
When we were kayaking at Dunns Swamp last month, Christine suggested that we go again and make a day of it with a picnic lunch. Today’s the day to do that. Since Margaret is back driving the school bus after her summer holiday we have to work around her schedule for our outings; Daniel’s, too, as he is working part time at a grocery, Woolworth’s, in Mudgee. Saturday is the perfect day and the weather is fantastic.
We loaded up a picnic lunch, got the trailer hooked up to Lou’s car, and made sure that the kayaks were secured. We didn’t want a recurrence of the flying off kayak this trip. We met up with Margaret in her car with the kids and off we went.
It’s a beautiful drive to Dunns Swamp and nearing the campground and boat launch you drive past and around Pagoda rock formations. These were the backside of the rocks we kayaked past last month.
This being Saturday, the swimming area and campground were much busier and so getting the kayaks unloaded and into the water was a bit of a challenge navigating around lots of small children playing at water’s edge. We finally managed to get us all in kayaks onto the river with Clare on her paddleboard. We opted to go up the river in the opposite direction.
I didn’t think we would see as many rock formations, but I was wrong. It was a beautiful paddle because we started in a wide section of the river where there were reeds lining the bank, a wonderful color of green. We paddled along until there was a fork in the river and we opted to go left into a much narrower channel. Here we did paddle along great Pagoda rock formations.
It’s always so amazing to see things growing out of rock, as in the photo above with the large gum tree appearing to grow straight out of the rock. The photo below shows some ferns that were inside a bit of hollowed out rock. Wherever there is a crack where a bit of debris can lodge it a place where a plant will take hold.
We paddled through narrow winding channels of the river and Daniel would take shortcuts right through the reeds. He and Clare played at knocking into each other and had lots of fun outdoing one another.
It was a really hot day, but out on the river there was a nice breeze and being able to paddle into the shade of rock formations helped keep us cool. We eventually decided to turn back as it was nearing mid-afternoon and we all were wanting lunch. The breeze gave us a workout and we had to paddle quite hard at times to head downriver back to the boat ramp. Taking out was even more of a challenge than putting in because there were twice as many people in the water and at the river’s edge. But we finally managed to get ourselves, our kayaks and our gear back up the boat ramp to the car.
Christine found a relatively shady picnic table near the river’s edge and we enjoyed our picnic lunch.
After lunch came the big job of getting the kayaks loaded onto the trailer and tied down. Because it was hot, we were all a bit uncomfortable and it seemed more difficult to get everything stowed away and tied down. But we were finally successful.
Just as Christine was getting in the car, she asked me for her phone and quietly snapped a photo of a kookaburra that was just 2 feet away on the car’s roof rack. Kookaburra’s are a very special symbol the Caruana family holds as a memory of their sister Angela who died in 2011. Angela was a teacher and she used the call of the kookaburra to teach kids the vowel letters A-E-I-O-U because as a kookaburra begins its laugh, it sounds very much like the vowels. Apparently, Angela could imitate a kookaburra with great proficiency. Ever since her death, when the Caruana siblings see/hear a kookaburra, they say, “Angela’s here.” She was with us at Dunns Swamp.
We got home in good order. We were invited to Margaret’s for dinner, so we had a shower and got cleaned up and headed to Margaret’s. Daniel once again prepared a wonderful dinner of Beef Massaman Curry, and boy was it good. Early in our stay we had dined at a Thai restaurant. Daniel and Christine both ordered the beef Massaman curry. The server came back out and said there was only one serving of the curry, so Christine changed her order. As a result of that, Daniel had invited us for dinner and had made us beef Massaman curry. It was SO delicious! He even packaged up the leftovers and sent us home with them. Well, he cooked beef Massaman curry again tonight. This time, the curry was a tiny bit spicier and had peanuts and cashews added. I think it was even better than the first curry. We all enjoyed it very much. And, again, we went home with the leftovers. Daniel is a very thoughtful young man.
So we came to the end of another wonderful adventure. Kayaking on the Cudgegong River at Dunns Swamp is definitely a great activity and I think we all enjoyed it very much.
There was nothing specifically planned for this week, which we appreciated. We’ve covered a lot of ground and have engaged in some wonderful activities, so a quiet week at home will be nice.
Two weeks ago, Lou welcomed a new ringneck parakeet into his outside aviary. The new bird was a female and is a striking yellow bird. He has other ringnecks, but Lou has a passion for birds and so when the pet store owner called to tell him he had a stock of new ringnecks and one of the was yellow, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. He put the new bird in the aviary with a green ringneck and a white ringneck. As we were sitting watching them, I asked about names and he hadn’t named the ringnecks, and so I suggested Oliver for the green male. Lou immediately said Olivia for the new yellow female. He then said Angel for the white female. The new girl in town turned Oliver’s head pretty quickly and I felt sorry for Angel who had had him all to herself. Lou thinks Oliver and Olivia might mate, so there may be new birds in the future.
OliviaOlivia and AngelOliverOliver and Olivia
The most significant thing this week is that Lou got another new member of the family. The newest addition is a male Sunday conure who’s name is Walnut, Wally for short. He’s relatively young and he is actually the baby brother of the conure Macadamia, the bird owned by the guy next door. Lou intended to keep Wally in a cage inside the house, but it became clear pretty quickly that Wally was too noisy and too messy to be inside, so his cage went to the screened in verandah where Lou’s has his spa (hot tub). Wally is a very colorful bird and will get more so as he ages. He’s quite a character. It took him a very short time to figure out how to dismantle some of his toys, including untying a knot holding one of his toys. He also nips pretty hard if you put your fingers on the cage. Lou wired all the doors closed because we’re sure Wally has already scoped out where potential escape portals are. Hopefully, he’ll be able to move into a bigger cage because he needs to fly. Currently, he holds on to the top of the cage and flaps his wings while upside down. Lou’s trying to figure out some better living conditions for Wally. Banjo knows he has a bit of competition for Lou’s attention at the moment as Lou is spending time with Wally. Banjo goes over to Lou as he’s sitting talking with Wally just to be sure Lou pays him some attention, too.
Wednesday Lou and I went to Mudgee with Margaret. One of the things Margaret used to do was drive a bus to Mudgee taking some of the town’s ladies shopping in Mudgee. Ultimately, the bus company stopped the run. Margaret felt badly for the ladies, so she’s using her own transport to take the ladies to Mudgee every Wednesday. She recoups her gas expense from the ladies, who gladly pay. Lou has been tagging along with them to do his shopping, so I joined them.
The drive to Mudgee is quite beautiful. I relish seeing the mountains and the fields as we roll along the central tablelands.
During the week Lou and I walk into town at 7:00am most mornings and have a cuppa at one of the cafes. It’s been a nice way to start the day. I see and hear a lot of great birds on the walk and we keep track of what’s going on in the neighborhood.
Gulahs (pink and grey cockatoos)
This is where we have our coffee on the main street in Rylstone. It also is a gallery space and Clare once had an exhibition of some of her costumes and other work there. We enjoy watching the comings and goings as workers and locals stop for coffee and a bite to eat. We see a lot of the same people so Lou is getting to know people. Banjo is a magnet for conversation as most people stop to pet him.
That’s what’s been happening this week. I’ll have more exciting things to report for Saturday and Sunday as we have activities planned. Stay tuned.
We left Tony and Liz’s on Saturday morning for a drive back to Alex and Gloria’s for the night before our return to Rylstone. We had an uneventful trip for the most part, but we had a bit of a scare when Christine left her bag at an eatery in a rest area. She realized it about 10 minutes later while we were going over a bridge. Lou had to work hard to figure out how to make a U-turn on the highway and get back to the rest stop. He managed and Christine and I rushed into the eatery. We first looked where she thought she left the bag, in the ladies room, but it wasn’t there. Fortunately, some good Samaritan had taken it to the counter and we were able to retrieve the bag. What a relief that was!
On the way out of the rest stop, Lou misread the signage and we ended up on the old two-lane highway that had been the main thoroughfare for traveling up and down the coast. Now the Pacific Coast Highway is the highway used. The old road was quite rough and we bumped along for about 30kms until we were able to get back on the highway. I don’t mind the secondary roads because you can see so much more of the beautiful countryside, but it is certainly slower.
We arrived at Gloria and Alex’s in the late afternoon where we found Warwick working on the lift preparation. He had done quite a lot of work to cut the underside of the hole and to remove the walls of the utility room on the second floor where the elevator will terminate. The lift is due to arrive week after next which will make things easier for Alex and Gloria.
One of the reasons for going back to the central coast was for Louis to pick up some furniture that he had loaned his friend Margaret Contini. We were going to get it Sunday morning, but Lou decided to get it just after we arrived. We hooked up the trailer and headed over to Margaret’s flat. We had some difficulty getting in because the realtor’s lock box was open and the key was gone. Margaret called the agent, who fortunately came over and let us in. We loaded up the trailer with a bed and side tables and returned to Gloria and Alex’s.
Reservations had been made for dinner in Ettalong at a place called Beef and Barramundi, a very nice steakhouse. Alex has always been very, very generous treating us to many meals during our visits. This was an especially fine meal. Christine and I thoroughly enjoyed our beef Bourguignon. It was delicious. Then, to my surprise, the owner of the restaurant, Trevor D’mello got up on a little stage and started singing. He had a music machine that probably had a thousand accompaniments to songs. He also played the saxophone and guitar. He was really good and we enjoyed him. Alex went over to him and said he had cousins visiting from New York in America and could he sing something for us. Naturally, Trevor belted out New York New York and we hooted and hollered and sang along. Christine asked for You are the Sunshine of My Life. Alex made another request and the song Trevor sang, which we weren’t familiar with, made Gloria cry. We’ll have to ask about that the next time we see her just before we leave. It was a very nice evening, dinner and a show! Thank you, Alex, for a wonderful evening.
Early the next morning there were 3 kookaburras in a tree right outside our bedroom. They were making a big ruckus with their laughing songs. I hadn’t realized how large they are, or how noisy they are.
After breakfast, we packed up for our drive back over the mountains to Rylstone. Alex made sure that Lou had the trailer load securely tied down.
We had some lovely views going through Gosford. This is Lou’s old stomping grounds.
It was an uneventful drive back to Rylstone. Lou took us on a bit different route and we went on the Westconnex motorway, a new 33km highway that includes a 7km tunnel. It was an amazing tunnel, all bright and well-lit, and then a part of the tunnel turned into a spaceship-like feeling. It was very cool!
We got back to Rylstone in good shape, unloaded everything, and then returned the trailer to Margaret. She was taking care of Lou’s dog Banjo while we were gone. He was ecstatic to see Lou. He’s a really sweet dog, a dog that even Christine loves.
So after a wonderful 8 days away, we’re back home in Rylstone and looking forward to several days of resting. We don’t have anything planned for the week, so it should be low-key.
Sometimes when you turn around in Liz’s kitchen you’ll find Jack standing there waiting for his bottle. You never know when he’ll turn up. Liz has been feeding him a bottle of milk. He sucks down about a quart of milk non-stop in about 2 minutes. Then he’ll get a carrot. While drinking or eating, he’ll grab hold of your finger to help keep his balance. He has very sharp claws! He is very cute, though. No one knows how long he’ll stick around. He would have been weaned by now so continuing to feed him by bottle may keep him coming back. He does go off into the bush during the day. When we were walking down the drive, Jack was in the paddock and Charlie saw him and took off after him. Jack rapidly bounced away with Charlie at his heels. Both moved very fast, but Jack clearly could out run Charlie.
All over the property are huge grey gum trees (eucalyptus) that are my favorite Aussie tree. Apparently, there are over 900 species of eucalyptus trees, and the red gum tree is probably the most common in Australia. But I love the huge, tall, straight grey gum. Tony and Liz have a couple of wonderful grey gums growing along their driveway near the house which I really love.
When we were here 3 years ago, it was just 2 months after the devastating bush fires occurring all over eastern Australia. A couple of homes of Tony and Liz’s neighbors burned down just down the road. Tony did yeoman’s work to save his house and because he practices good property management his house and shed were not terribly at risk. The other thing that provides Tony with some protection is the several dams (we call them ponds) that he created all over his acreage that provides him with a good source of water to fight fire. Here’s a photo that Tony took during the bush fire on his property.
I took a walk around the property to see the difference from 3 years ago. Mother Nature is truly amazing. The regrowth was remarkable. From charred skeletons of trees, the undergrowth is now green with loads of gum trees saplings. Here are some comparison photos from 2020 and now.
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One of the reasons Tony and Liz were able to save their house was the diligence taken in keeping the undergrowth in check in a large circumference around the house and outbuildings. Tony keeps the timber lots very tidy and he slashes the tall grass and rakes up the debris. It makes for a very nice look as well. You can see a pile of debris that is swept up in the photo below on the right. Keeping the undergrowth down is really important. Having cattle around to eat the grass certainly helps, too.
Here’s Lou in the LandBoss with Charlie waiting for their tour around the property with Tony.
Friday was a really hot day, in the 90s, and we were all sweltering. Tony and Lou went into Coffs Harbor for a medical appointment and said it was really hot there. Lou was back about 2 minutes before he got in the pool. Liz served him lunch in the pool.
I spent some of yesterday and this afternoon today helping Tony troubleshoot his satellite internet. We fiddled around with placement of the modem and considerably improved the WiFi. We couldn’t get the WiFi connection to reach his office so we worked on an Ethernet connection. We had cable running everywhere as he was also trying to get TVs upstairs and downstairs connected and working. We did have some success but we didn’t really understand what worked and what didn’t, we just kind of stumbled upon somewhat of a solution. Anyway, I was happy to help and the good news is that the internet was better.
Friday evening we went to the Coramba Hotel for dinner. Coramba is a little town nearby. We met Tony and Liz’s daughter Kristen and her husband David there. It was a lovely spot with a large veranda overlooking a nice pastoral view. We sat just inside so we could enjoy the view but be protected. There was quiet a cloudburst with a few moments of heavy rain, and then a great rainbow, and then a lovely sunset over the mountain.
Sadly, we will be leaving in the morning. Tony and Liz are fun to be with and are wonderful hosts. We’ve enjoyed our time with them very much.
We had a wonderful day today, starting with a great drive through the countryside from Nana Glen to Moonee Beach. It’s an interesting area with pastoral scenes of rolling hills, agricultural fields, lots and lots of blueberry farms and other fruits, and heavy bush areas of great gum trees. It’s really beautiful.
Moonee Beach is a great spot. The estuary of Moonee Creek flows into the sea and at low tide, the tidal flat of the creek provides a very large sandy bottom. Arms of the estuary flow through the sand creating little pools for kids to play in and creative patterns in the sand to admire. Every several feet you have to wade across a bit of the estuary until you get to the widest part. One can swim across the estuary to get to the sea beach. One of the great things about Moonee Beach is that there are large pines bordering the sand so there is wonderful shade and a refreshing breeze. Nearby is a caravan park and the whole area is well-maintained.
The estuary before the sea beach
I took a walk out to the estuary but didn’t go all the way to the beach. On my return, Christine came out to meet me and we walked back out to the estuary. It really is a great family spot because kids could safely play in the small pools at low tide. There was one family with 2 kids in the estuary. The water there was moving pretty quickly towards the outlet to the sea. The dad was downstream and the kids would run upstream, jump into the estuary, and flow down to the dad where he would catch them and put them onto the sand for another run upstream. They were having so much fun.
The rest of the group relaxed in the shade and watched the comings and goings.
Tony, Lou, Christine and LizLiz and Tony
We left the beach in the early afternoon and drove in to Coffs Harbor for lunch. We went to the Surf Club Restaurant, a beautiful restaurant on the beach housed in the Coffs Harbor Surf Life Saving Club building. The SLSC was founded in 1923 and is run by volunteers to educate the community and visitors on water safety, conduct patrols to protect beach goers over the summer weekends and ensure that everyone who visits the beach has a great experience. There was an interesting display about the club’s history and the important role volunteers play in water safety and life saving.
We had a great lunch and enjoyed being outside on a covered deck enjoying the sea view. We saw two paragliders zipping up and down the shoreline in a pretty stiff breeze.
View from the Surf Club Restaurant
After lunch we had another adventure, driving up to Sealy Point Lookout. We went up a very steep, winding road with significant drop offs down the mountain, through banana plantations, but the trip up was absolutely worth it. Sealy Lookout sits in a flora reserve in the Orara East State Forest. While there are lots of hiking trails through the forest, the real draw is the Forest Sky Pier.
From the end of the pier you get a grand view of the Coffs Harbor area and all up and down the coast. It was magnificent.
Across from the pier was a wonderful shady place to sit and we enjoyed the cooling breeze in the shade. It was a very lovely spot as you could still look out over the vista to the sea.
We made our way back home and enjoyed a pleasant evening with Tony and Liz. It was a wonderful day.