Narooma Time

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When we drove down the coast to pick up our new girls we realised we have not been doing many day trips in this direction, so we chose to remedy that on Saturday with a drive to Narooma. They have a gorgeous inlet there, it is incredibly pretty.

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I’d chosen us a place to have lunch on our previous trip however we ate pies from Haydens Pies instead, so no lunch was required. We drove past the place I picked and it was packed full of people, virtually bursting at the seams. So this time we decided to make that our destination.

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Unfortunately it did not turn out especially well – the best we could say was average. Just ok. I’m not going to name the place as I would not recommend it and I would not go back. The worst part was that they had all the doors and windows open, it was windy and cold even inside the cafe. That might have impacted on how we felt about the food. Maybe on a hot summer day when there is no wind, this might be the Place To Be. I will show you our food photos. :)

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I chose flathead fillets and chips, The Other Half chose a burger. You know it is bad when I leave half a large cup of Chai Latte behind. To be fair, the Chai Latte at Heatherbrae pies is amazing and it takes a LOT to beat it, but this would have been the worst coffee I have had in a few years.

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We made a better choice of heading to the boardwalk for a stroll – that is probably going to be a post on its own. On arrival in the carpark we spotted this large rock wall and chose to walk out there. We were glad we did as there were seals just chilling and hanging out in the channel.

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It was very windy, though. I was glad that I keep extra jackets and a beanie in the car for such situations. There were huge granite rocks and we saw the coolest thing. There were surfers in the water and I saw something odd shaped swimming under the surface, just a dark blob. The water here is so crystal clear it is unbelievable. I thought it might be a stingray or a large fish.

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It turned out to be a seal, who was checking out the surfers. The seal swam right up to them, and then did a little surfing. As if to say no, here is how you do it. You don’t need that board!

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On the way home we stopped in Mogo for a stroll around the shops there. One of them – IndoDirect – had a stunning black rainbow vase for $125. I loved it but I would need a whole new house if I bought it. That needs to be the centrepiece of a formal entry way with white tiles, white walls, white everything. It was so beautiful I did not take a photo of it, for fear that I might talk myself into going back and buying it. I did take a photo of this elephant which my Mother would love, but it was a bit up money at $159.

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On the way home we made a diversion through Booderee National Park, to see if the trail we want to walk is open yet. Sadly it is not. Both sides of the road here are usually green, so you can see how much of an impact the fire had. If it had been a natural fire started by a thunderstorm, it would not be so upsetting to see this. But this fire was deliberately lit, they believe.

New South Wales, NSW

Beach Walk Day

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Unlike the protected beaches of Jervis Bay, Seven Mile Beach gets the full force of wind and waves. Some days the sea spray appears like a hazy fog blanket. We only walked just under 6km here on the 22nd of May and by the time we were done, my glasses were completely covered in sea spray, not to mention my eyeballs and face felt like they’d been sandblasted. Hey, some people pay big money for that kind of effect!

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Still, it was an absolutely gorgeous day out there. 24 degrees C (75F or so) and the wind was warm, not cold.

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Each beach here has their own character, their own different kind of sand, different shells that wash up, different sea items. This beach has a sparkle to it which is difficult to capture with the camera. It is like someone hid glitter in with the sand.

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That was our best attempt. It does not do this glittery beach true justice. For that you need to go there with your own eyeballs, I think. :)

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This area here is sometimes opened up to the sea. This photo looks back towards the Shoalhaven River. If you look at my track of this walk, it looks like we walked on water for much of it. However we were quite safe on the sand. :)

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beach walk, New South Wales

Plane Spotting

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This jumbo will NOT come to you as a surprise!

Ever since I was a baby, probably before I was even aware of it, I have been a plane spotter. I had grandparents who lived under the flight path in Adelaide, and the head office of the family business was also directly under the flight path – as in planes flying over so close you could almost touch them. My Nanna and Poppa were both crazy for planes and every single member of the family inherited this craziness.

There is just something special about a plane flying. The magical scientific mystery that it is even possible at all – that tonnes of metal can be lifted into the air – is awe inspiring and breath taking to watch.

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So, Qantas were retiring the first 747-400, and they decided to donate it to a little known outfit known as HARS – or the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society – little known unless you are a plane spotter like me and thousands of other plane geeks in Australia to whom HARS is a well known awesome band of volunteers who have kept the Connie and many other planes flying or in tip top shape to be displayed to the public for many years now.

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HARS have an excellent museum at the Illawarra Airport which will shortly be made all the greater for having the 747-400 VH-OJA “City of Canberra” on display.

This event was hyped up in the media and full respect to HARS because they deserve every single bit of media attention they can get.. but unfortunately, people are crazy and what happened was an example of sheer and utter lunacy.

It is not HARS fault, they had a plan. And they announced that plan very clearly in the days leading up to the event – where people could and could not be. However plans are just that, and there was no way in heck that anyone could have moved these people from the spots they had arrived at in the early hours of the morning.

We also had a plan, thinking that every man and his dog would want to be close to the end of the runway, we were going to the carpark of Hungry Jacks at Yallah. But when we got to the Yallah turn off? Gridlock. Nobody could go anywhere. The exit from the highway and the road that leads to Hungry Jacks was a carpark. ps1

Though you cannot see it in the image, there were cars and people stopped on the bridge that goes across the highway there. It turned out that there were cars parked all through Haywards Bay – I bet the residents there were super pleased! People parked their cars and then walked off in search of what they thought was the best vantage spot.

Cars were just parking wherever they felt like it, including in the no stopping lane on the highway, or like this one we spotted as we were leaving – that black car there is parked, there is no owner with the vehicle. SRSLY?

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I hate to be the one to tell these would be plane spotters – many of whom arrived at the airport this morning from 3am onwards in order to secure a decent vantage point – just one hour down the road in Sydney, large planes like this plus the A380 are landing all day every day, and you can get a lot closer and it is not nearly so crowded.

Anyway, we ended up next to a field in the middle of nowhere and yet not very far from the end of the runway, and we did get a couple of semi-decent shots.. though we had a lot of electrical wires to shoot around.

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I’ve been flown over by all kinds of planes many times, so I was perfectly fine with not being right at the end of the runway for this one. We will go back to see the plane close up once they open it to the world. HARS estimates this will be in a month or so. I will be able to fulfill one of the items on my bucket list, which is to stand right next to a 747.

While we were there to see the plane fly over, my parents were at home expecting to be able to view this on news channels who had spoken about bringing the landing live to everyone – and when it came time for the landing? Nothing. They were airing a speech by Barack Obama instead. KTHX Obama, I know you are fascinating and all, but this was a special local moment which should have gone live to air.

Later on they discovered the landing was on Sky via the multichannel where you press red to see extra channels, and all you get is a tiny image and you can’t record it. Not cool, media people. Not cool at all.

Here is a video – they actually closed the highway for the landing and I think that was a good idea not for plane safety reasons but for people safety reasons, because there were just SO many people there.

It might be just me, but I still have great concerns about the apparent inability of people to enjoy a moment without having to use their phone, iPad, or various other means to capture it. And another video which gives you an idea of the large amount of people –

For other shots from the day –

This photo here sums up the absolute insanity of newbie plane spotters.

This is a great shot here.

HARS has a photo album online which you can view here.

Here is the HARS Facebook page – there are quite a few videos linked from there.

About Snoskred, country life, New South Wales, photography, photos, planes, Who Is Snoskred

Jervis Bay and KKW

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By this time I am sure you’ve all heard that Kim Kardashian West visited Jervis Bay in November 2014 for a photo shoot.

What you do not know is the beach she visited is the one I chose for the new header image. It is Green Patch at Booderee National Park and you can camp there if you like.

The photos for Vogue Australia were pretty disappointing in my opinion. They were at a beach that is absolutely stunning. The beach is super white, and the water is a gorgeous shade of green, and if you look at the photos they could have been any old where.

One of the local video guys filmed some footage while they were shooting and you can see the white sand and the gorgeous shade of blue water..

What a pity they failed to capture any of that, at least in the photos I have seen. Why bother going to a location at all? This could have been done in a hotel swimming pool or a studio.

Australia, celebrities, Jervis Bay, New South Wales, travel

The Berry Cow

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If you visit the small town of Berry on the New South Wales South Coast, you will meet this fake cow which stands outside of the Berry IGA..

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I don’t know how artists make these things so lifelike but up close with the exception of the chipped paint, you would swear this cow is real and speaking to you loudly with her eyes..

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I don’t speak enough cow to interpret this look, though.. perhaps you do? :)

I mentioned in my paperweight post that I would be heading to Berry – and I did head over, but on that occasion the cow was GONE. Everyone I was with was in complete shock. We suspect it went for a repaint and will hopefully return soonest.

Australia, Berry, country life, cows, New South Wales

My Paper Weight

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During a family visit a few years ago, we went to this little shop called Global Contact in Berry. It is the kind of shop you’d recognise by the smell, which is a blend of sandalwood and patchouli and various incense scents..

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You are either a person who loves that kind of shop, or you hate this kind of shop. My Mother is the only person I know who does not love a shop with incense, crystals, jewellery but I assume that there are other people who are not related to me who also may not like this kind of shop. :)

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Berry is this quaint little country town with a shopping strip, all different kinds of shops. You can find everything from cuckoo clocks to sausages, from candles to teatowels, from artisan wool to artisan gelato. It is an absolutely delightful place to wander for an afternoon and window shop, but if you have some money to spend it is even more awesome.

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For some reason I was drawn to this paperweight. Well, if you know me well enough you’d instantly know why I was drawn to it – because this thing marries two elements I very dearly love. Cobalt blue, and gold. You’ll note the blue is almost exactly the shade of blue which makes up the background of this blog.

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It is not actually scratched. I had just cleaned it before I took these photos and I have gone back and double checked it since seeing these photos, and there are no scratches. Weird! But I do think some of the bobbles you can see here are caused by the liquid on the glass wipes I used.

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Anyway, while I was cleaning this area I noticed that the top of this cupboard is stained from the whiteboard eraser which has sometimes rested on top of this cupboard. So, I decided to re-do this area and I’ll post about that another day. The photo you see below is after a *lot* of cleaning.

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I’ll head over to Berry soon and take some photos and write an actual post, or even a series of them, because Berry is the perfect driving distance from Sydney for a day trip. You can also catch a train there, and the main street is a very walkable distance from the train station. Bring a tote bag in case you shop up a storm, though!

And to end this post on a weird tangent, Berry was the location for Village Vets Australia, which was a fantastic tv show on the Lifestyle Channel on Austar, and if you missed it, the episodes are sometimes on youtube for a couple of weeks, until they are taken down again..

The show was awesome for so many reasons – I learned a lot of new things about cows. They did a rumen contents transplant on a cow which was absolutely fascinating if terrifying for a germophobe. But be aware the show does contain some surgery on animals, and some very sad moments, in among the great moments of which there are also many.

Australia, Berry, Happy Snoskred, Home, New South Wales, Snoskred hearts

In Which I Panic

Today being the first sunny day since last Thursday, we decided to go snorkelling in our favourite place Honeymoon Bay.

I find when you’re going snorkelling it is easiest to put your wetsuit on before you even leave home. That way you don’t end up with sand in places sand does not belong. However on a warm day this can be a hot way to travel. Today by the time we got in the car even my knees were sweating.

The Navy happen to bomb the land adjacent to Honeymoon Bay from time to time and as such they can just up and close the entire place anytime they like. There is a sign on the way there that tells you whether the park is closed or not. And today, it was closed. :(

We decided to try another place in Jervis Bay that we had heard of. Unfortunately there is a bit of red algae near the shore at the moment, which made the water murky. It was scary for me. Plus the water was icy cold – the kind of cold that makes you gasp – the water is usually warm in Honeymoon Bay. The murkiness and the coldness made me freak out. It is clear to me that I still have a fear of sea water. I lasted about two minutes before I desperately wanted to get out of the water.

It was not a complete loss though – we got some pics with our new underwater camera. Which incidentally is bright pink in case one drops it. Why did we buy an underwater camera? We wanted something waterproof to take with us on the Kayak – which we hope to pick up tomorrow.  Here’s some of the fish we saw.

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You can see it was pretty murky. The water in Honeymoon Bay is usually crystal clear other than the sand you kick up with your flippers.

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The following image is a panorama which the camera is supposed to sew together – it didn’t seem to work so well but it was low on battery. Click for a larger view..

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New South Wales, snorkelling

The Oracle Knows All.. At Least Some.. Well Really Just One Thing.

So, you’ve moved to the beach? You’re going to need an Oracle. What is an Oracle, I hear you ask? It is the God of the Ocean. It is the one thing you must consult before heading off to the beach. It is vital and important, not just for beach walkers but for boaters and for fishermen..

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I do not believe in any One God, but I do believe in the Oracle. And now I am going to show you the Oracle. Are you sitting down? Paying full attention? ;) This is *important*!!!

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My Oracle is a simple piece of paper with important things printed on it. Some people have an Oracle that comes in book form. Some people who are highly advanced creatures consult the Online Oracle.

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As always, I hear your thoughts. Why is an Oracle necessary? Why is this important to someone who wants to walk on the beach? You see the above photo. That is a local creek. There is no bridge over this creek, and at certain times of the day where I am standing to take this photo I would be about neck deep in water. So the Oracle can help me work out when is the best time to take my beach walk and be able to cross this creek.

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What the Oracle cannot tell me is what I will see when I get to the beach, if there will be any dolphins there, if the weather will be ok, and a multitude of other things. It simply tells me when the tides will be high or low. Someone tells me this has something to do with the Moon, but I am not sure about this.

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(image courtesy Google Earth)

As you see there are a couple of creeks on my beach walk paths. If the Oracle has not lied to me, I am able to walk a very long way on the beach. If I go when the Oracle has said “Don’t Go” I cannot walk very far at all.

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All beach photos in this post were taken by me earlier today – I saw two different pods of Dolphins today. I walked a long way but managed to lose my pedometer sometime after 4,256 steps. :( and I still had a long way to walk when I last checked the meter! I walked for over an hour and a half on top of my 20 minute short walk this morning when I foolishly did not listen to The Oracle and could not cross either of the creeks.

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This post has been a Hump Day Hmmm. Feel free to write your own Hump Day Hmmm, it is simple and easy to join in! The topic this week was –

Take a topic, any topic, something that is weighing on you, bothering you, troubling you…and find the humor in it. Write about it from a humorous angle. It can be general or personal, just take a troubling topic and bring out the humor. FWIW, sarcasm counts. Letter style, onion style, Shakespeare style, prose, any style you want.

I suppose The Oracle is not a troubling topic for everyone, but it has become a new troubling topic for me this week. I am now joined at the hip to a piece of paper because someone could not simply say – High tide is at midday and midnight, and low tide is at 6am and 6pm! No, they have to make it *complicated* and *ever changing* just to confuse poor little me. :( As much as I love the moon, I believe Juliet was right when she said –

O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

beach walk, beaches, country life, Hump Day Hmmm, New South Wales, NSW, photo blog country NSW, seachange

Beach Walk(s) with photos.

Yesterday while The Other Half was in the shower and we were making plans for the day I had a thought – I felt like going for a beach walk. It didn’t take much to talk him into it and it was a lovely day, so we were off to a place I’d heard much of but hadn’t been to yet. First up, Wowley Creek at Callala Bay –

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No wonder I’d heard much about it, because it was very beautiful. I got my shoes all wet crossing the little creek to get up on those sand dunes and look down into the crystal clear water.

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But it was worth the wet shoes. Little fish were jumping out of the water, and other sea life could be seen in the creek including some mud crabs. I’m going back here again for sure. After we were finished at the creek we went to one of our favourite spots for a walk out into Jervis Bay. This is also in Callala Bay.

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At low tide you can walk out quite a distance into the bay without getting feet wet at all. This photo below looks backwards from where the above shot was taken.

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If you look closely you can spot the nice little bridge that goes from Callala Bay to Callala Beach over mangroves with much sea life in there.

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Pelicans are absolutely huge birds but in this photo above they look small.

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This shot above looks towards Huskisson and Vincentia, both lovely towns situated on Jervis Bay and much sought after to live in.

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This shot above looks out towards Honeymoon Bay, where we like to snorkel in summer. The Other Half named this next shot “Worshipping the Bird God”

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Next we drove to Currarong, where apparently one of the people behind the Survivor series lives. It is a really beautiful place.

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We were met by a Kookaburra and soon after we made our way to the beach this guy and some of his friends were laughing. ;)

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They have a beautiful rockpool at Currarong where you could go swimming, it is quite protected from the waves and as I stood there on the little stairs I was watching fish swim by. Beautiful!

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This is my favourite shot from yesterday and coincidentally I took it. See the little star effect created by the small aperture?

I hope you enjoyed my beach walk photos. ;)

beach walk, country life, New South Wales, NSW, photo blog country NSW, photos