Travel – Page 4 – Feather Stitching

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Friends & Family, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Lavender, pinkeeps, stitching pals, taupo, Travel, Travel - New Zealand

Napier/Hastings … part 1

19 December, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

We had a lovely drive to Napier/Hastings in the Hawkes Bay. It normally takes 5-6 hours driving time from Auckland (not including stops along the way), and the weather was great for driving. We drove via Matamata to Taupo, where we had a wee break and a wee wander – and just a general “wee” at Taupo’s “Super Loo” ;P

View from the shores of Lake Taupo

After we had a cake and coffee at a Robert Harris Cafe, we called up my good pal Katrina to let her know we were on our way to visit … I’ve been very lucky in that every blogger I’ve met to date has been truly lovely, and Katrina is no exception – she’s one of the loveliest ladies you could meet! When I was flying over to NZ I’d already decided it would be nice to get away for a couple of nights to have a mini-break, and Mum agreed it was a good idea – I’d already decided where I wanted to go … Napier to visit the gannet colony again, and double bonus because Katrina is just a short hop further south, and I really wanted to catch up with her again (you may remember we met for the first time in Melbourne a while ago now) 🙂

As we were driving into Napier, we came across Whitebay Lavender Farm on the main road into Napier, and I just had to stop and take a photo or two … I just loved all the rows of lavender growing – just beautiful 🙂

Whitebay Lavender Farm

Unfortunately it took us a while to find a motel in Hastings, but once we found a nice one (Omahu Motor Lodge – we can definitely recommend it) we grabbed the keys and high-tailed it back into the car without unpacking so we could not waste any more time before visiting Katrina. We also had a lovely treat in store, as we had an additional guest visitor of Kath! What a lovely surprise … and yet another lovely blogger! Hopefully we’ll see Kath gracing our shores across the ditch for an Aussie get-together … the sofa bed’s always free for you, Kath and Katrina – you’re welcome any time!

Katrina, me, Kath and Hannah

As well as catching up with my stitching pals, we did of course get to meet in person the lovely Glenn, and the adorable Hannah … who was immediately monopolised by the Dragon haha. We also got to see some of Katrina’s beautiful stitching in real life, and Kath’s latest Christmas tree creation which is gorgeous (check out her blog to see a photo). Thanks again ladies for a lovely visit – I’m just sorry I wasn’t as lively and chatty as normal due to a bit of over-tiredness … let’s just say we didn’t take any rocking to sleep when we got back to the motel – a quick bite to eat and we were both out like a light!

While I was visiting Katrina I gave her a Christmas ornie that I’d managed to finish just in time before travelling, as well as a very belated birthday present (I’m just dreadful at meeting my commitments of late hmmm). Katrina’s photos are much better than mine, so feel free to wander over and have a gander.

I was also spoilt by receiving an ornie made by Katrina – I’d drooled over these when I saw them on her blog recently, not knowing I was going to be one of the recipients. As with all my hand-made gifts, I’ll treasure this one dearly, and may even leave this one out year-round – thanks so much Katrina, I love it! Unfortunately, though, I just realised I haven’t taken a photo yet – I’ll remedy that as soon as I finish my unpacking and will add to a later post! 😀

Auckland, Christmas, Fireworks, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Travel, Travel - New Zealand

Back home again … and Christmas in the Park

19 December, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Here I am sitting at my computer desk at my little flat – I got home last night, after having a really awesome time back home in NZ. I took oodles of photos so I could document all or adventures, so I may have to spread them out over a couple of posts.

I guess I should start where I left off last time … last Friday we drove over to our closest family friends for a BBQ (including Dad). It was really wonderful to see them again – they are the only people I “have to” see when I fly over, even if it’s just a flying visit I try hard to make sure we call round to visit. They’re just like our family (in fact probably closer than family), and it always feels as though I’ve never been away when I see them, as there is such a level of comfort there. It was great to see Bradley and Danial to see how much they’ve grown up, and of course always lovely to see Heather and John, Tracey and Glenn. I always have such fond memories of our get-togethers. Unfortunately I neglected to take photos, but Tracey took some, so I’ll have to try to get some copies down the track.

The next night (Saturday) we headed off on the train to Christmas in the Park at Auckland Domain. We were very lucky with the weather, as the forecasted rain held off and didn’t show itself at all during the day. I’m so glad we went (Mum and I), as it was a really super show. Unlike Melbourne, these shows are free entry with donations made to a charity on the night by way of buying glow sticks and Santa hats etc. They say Auckland had a record crowd this year, with approx 150,000 people there … can’t say I noticed all the people as we were in our own little bubble enjoying the atmosphere, music and gourmet delights we’d taken along in our picnic hamper (along with a delightful bottle each of red and white wines to wash it all down with!). Following are a couple of photos from the night:

I thought some of you in the Northern Hemisphere might enjoy this one … Santa comes to visit in all his glory in the middle of summer for us – while you’re sat huddled in your jumpers (aka jerseys, sweaters, pullovers), we’re down here in our singlet tops and shorts, but still following traditions with the Santa hats and trees etc 🙂

Crowds starting to fill up in front of Auckland’s Museum – the concert is held in the Auckland Domain, a large parkland which is usually just used for recreation and sporting activities (especially cricket)

And here’s the stage itself as people are starting to fill up the spaces

Lucky last, here is the Christmas tree once the lights have been switched on, and the evening finale of fireworks (which were disappointing compared to previous years, but still awesome to see – and guaranteed to bring the childlike glee from the depths of my soul).

We didn’t get home until just before midnight, and had an early start the next morning, as Mum and I hijacked the car for 3 days and drove to Napier/Hastings for a mini-break … which was absolutely awesome!! That will be the topic of the next couple of posts 🙂

Food, Hunter Valley, Sydney, Travel, Travel - Australia

Sunday … not quite a day of rest!

30 November, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

I just realised I haven’t finished posting about our girlie weekend away last weekend … so here’s the final instalment – that is, if I can remember everything now!!!

After imbibing a fair bit of vino on the Saturday, and the fact I was driving, we took it a lot easier on the Sunday as far as alcohol intake was concerned. That doesn’t mean to say we cut back on the places we visited or the enjoyment we got … we sure as heck made the most of the day, and couldn’t have crammed any more into it if we tried!

Our first port of call was into the nearby factory showroom of the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company, where we sampled different fudges and chocolate – and we all came out with little packages of fudge for a treat when we got back home. We’d been told there was a chocolate fountain there, where you could dip in strawberries and marshmallows, but alas we’d been wrongly advised. We did find out, however, that they had another shop at one of the vineyards, so we added that to our “must do” list for later 🙂

Then we continued on to Adina Wines, as Lisa wanted to try some Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio wines, and none of the vineyards we visited on the Saturday has this varietal. Adina was on the way to our next official destination, so we called in for a spot of wine-tasting for Lisa. It worked too, as she happily came away with some spoils from there, as well as learning the differences between the Gris and Grigio names (one is from the Italian region, and the other French) – good to know they’re essentially the same thing!

After Adina, we continued to our first destination, which was Drayton’s Family Wines (you may remember the name as the one in the news a couple of years ago when there was an explosion in the vineyard where the one of the vintners was killed and someone seriously injured/burned) – I totally fell in love with a Chocolate Port that I’d bought from Flaschengeist in Melbourne, but haven’t been able to find who actually makes it … anyway we heard that Drayton’s do a Chocolate Port so that was our first official port of call. Unfortunately the port was nothing like the one I loved, so it didn’t come home with us … however after sampling the “Christmas pudding in a glass” I fell in love with their Muscat, so that was my treat for the morning.

Our next stop was a few metres up the road, back to Robyn Drayton’s where we’d bought the white port from the previous day. Our plan here was to have a Devonshire Tea – and it was as scrummy as we’d hoped for 😀

After our Devonshire Tea, we drove back to Pokolbin Village Shops where we spent a fair bit of time in the Smelly Cheese Shop sampling cheeses and stocking up on some to bring home. We also bought a few more gourmet delights as well, finishing off with a Gelati.

After the shops we visited another winery – this time Brokenwood Wines. I tried their Sangiovese wine, while the girls tried a few of their whites. I don’t think we bought anything from there (shock, horror!), as you can generally buy their wines from bottle shops at a much lower price. Most of the other vineyards we’d bought from only sell from the cellar door.

Our final wine stop for the day was to Peterson’s Champagne House, where Hunter Valley Chocolate Company had a lovely shop set up … along with their chocolate fountain, woohoo!! It was a compulsory purchase of strawberries on a stick covered in warm chocolate from the chocolate fountain … sheer bliss! We then popped really quickly to the next door building to check out the sparkling wines (Katie’s favourite) where both of the girls came out with a bottle of Blush each 🙂

We finished the day off with a spot of girlie pampering at the local Reflections Day Spa where Lisa and I both had a 1/2 hour relaxation massage, and I had my eyebrows shaped and eyelashes tinted … what an awesome end to an awesome weekend! (I’d really hoped for a remedial massage, as I’ve been suffering quite badly with neck pain and stiffness over the last couple of weeks, but the guy who does them wasn’t there that day – a relaxation massage was a good alternative, though). After our relaxation we drove home singing along to Christmas carols … life just doesn’t get better than that!! 😀

It’s only the second ‘real’ girlie weekend I’ve had (the first one was having a weekend away at Toowoon Bay in October), and I hope it won’t be the last … it was awesome!!!

Since we’ve been home I’ve done one whole row of about 20 smyrna crosses for my current stitching projec, and that’s about it! My stitching has been non-existent, so I hope to get a couple of hours in this morning to make up for it. Then the rest of the day will be spent doing housework and getting the place ready to have the Christmas decorations put up, so not much stitching to be had this week, me thinks. Next weekend is a write-off as well, as we have our Christmas party on Friday night, followed by a stitching GTG at Karen’s on Saturday (really looking forward to that), followed by a holiday back home – so you’re unlikely to see much posting from me between now and Christmas … with any luck, thought, I might get a tiny bit of stitching done in NZ! 😀

Flowers Trees & Gardens, Food, Friends & Family, Hunter Valley, Sydney, Travel, Travel - Australia

Saturday’s adventures (photo heavy)

24 November, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Saturday morning we were awake bright and early – with enough time to shower and have a leisurely breakfast before we got picked up by our tour bus. We chose to travel with the “Cheers Bus” for a vineyard tour. I was really impressed with the entire day – the choice of vineyards was excellent, the driver extremely knowledgeable, and loads of fun had by all. We were 11 in total on the tour, with the remaining 8 all girls having a family weekend away (aunts, sisters, and cousins) – it was a total hoot!! I’d definitely go with them again, and in fact we’re already considering a return trip ‘cos there’s so much still to see!

After picking up the other girls, we ventured out to Ivanhoe Wines – we had a private room set aside where Anne taught us about tastings and how to do it correctly to get the best out of the wines. We then set about with some wine tasting … not bad going at 10.30am!! haha. I must admit there were two of the wines that I loved, so they joined us for the van trip (in fact I fell in love with something at every single place -and have to admit spent up larger than planned).

Our next stop was the Iron Gate Estate – this had some of the most delicious wines, albeit expensive, and I loved them so much I bought two bottles of two of them … just divine! If Mum’s kind to me, I might even take a bottle each over to NZ to share 😉

Our host at Iron Gate was Jason, and he was another winner – the information he gave about the wines was superb, and even had us LOL when he picked on a couple of blonde comments from one of the girls in our group … she was lovely but oh so dopey haha. After the wine tastings here, and after spending up large, we were taken behind the scenes to the back room to see the modern vineyard at work – we got to see the stainless steel vats and oak barrels and learned each step of the wine making process … it was very educational. I have to admit I also fell in love with the building and the decor itself, and took loads of piccies here, so I’ll have to share … I just love the attention to detail they have to create a relaxing and stunning atmosphere (this is where the photo-heavy bit comes in!!).

Our next port of call was to Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard – the views at the top of the hillside where the vineyard is perched on is spectacular, and we had to get the driver to take a photo of us all posting in front of the view! We also nearly killed our driver off as he had to carry our purchases out for us … we made the most of a discounted sale!! We had a private area at this winery as well, where we were taught all about their wines – to be honest the guy who lead this talk was quite pompous, and none of us knew where to look as he sat in front of us on a barstool with his legs parted almost into the splits … after sampling so many wines we also got a bit of the giggles, so that helped to throw some joy into the proceedings …

After Audrey Wilkinson we headed off for a 1.30pm lunch at the Potters Hotel & Brewery – here you could sample beers if you wanted to, as they are a micro-brewery brewing their own beers. I just had a teeny tiny sample of their “Bock”, which is a black beer – it was reasonably nice, but the ladies at the table who’d bought samples of the other beers weren’t nearly as impressed! The food here was OK – my lamb shanks were tough and dry, but the other meals seemed to be OK. It was definitely a great idea to have a full meal at lunchtime, to help soak up the alcohol, especially as we were planning to stay in at home for our evening meal.

Back on the road once again, we headed to Lucy’s Run vineyard … this winery doesn’t advertise at all, and isn’t even listed in the phone book – they only make approx 800 cases of wine annually, but oh boy they’re good wines! The owner is an ex-Cathay Pacific pilot, who not only makes wines but also marinated olives, olive oil and Dukkah … we were in sampling heaven. Another two bottles of wine, a jar of olives and some Dukkah fell into my bag, I don’t know how!! I forgot to take any photos of this vineyard (or the next one, come to think of it – me thinks the wine tasting was starting to take its toll haha).

After Lucy’s Run, we drove to our supposed final vineyard for the day – Ernest Hill Wines. Yet again, the wines were superb, and another two bottles fell into my bag. The host was fun and informative, and we learnt even more about wine. While we were there, the driver found out I love white port, so he sneaked in an unplanned stop especially for us on the way to our final stop … we went to Robyn Drayton Wines, and I have to agree her White Port is the best in the land … seriously!!! Although a little expensive, it’s well worth it! It comes in a glass decanter, and we all loved it so much the three of us all came home with a bottle! When tasting we were told to only drink half of what Robyn poured for us, then she squeezed a couple of drops of fresh lime juice into the remaining port, and oh-la-la what a wonderful blend that is!!! Sheer bliss!!!

Our final stop on the bus tour was to the Pokolbin Village Shops, where we had cheese tastings at the Smelly Cheese Shop … next door was also the Gelato shop, and Chocolate and Fudge shop … gourmet heaven!! And yes, we all found something here to tempt us too!

After that we waddled back to the bus to be chauffeured home to our respective residences. We then got our dinner goodies together and headed into the common lounge room where we spread out our banquet, cracked open a bottle of wine (after chilling out a bit over a glass of lemonade), and ended up in the lounge for the rest of the night. We got to meet one of the other couples staying there, and spent a few hours in their company while we ate and drank. Here’s a view of our antipasto supper with lots of fresh cheeses, pate, crackers, Turkish bread and dips, cold meats, vegetable crudites, fresh fruit (kiwifruit, grapes, strawberries) … and just for me, blue cheese, various stuffed olives, semi sun-dried tomatoes, stuffed bell peppers, artichoke hearts and fresh dates (the others don’t like any of those, so that was my own little treat plate). We’d also bought various types of chocolates, but by then we were too stuffed to eat any, so finished off the night with a glass of the complimentary port instead 😀

All-in-all a VERY good day enjoyed by all 😀

After

Christmas, Hunter Valley, Sydney, Travel, Travel - Australia

Girlie Weekend (part 1)

24 November, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

A couple of months ago Katie, Lisa and I decided to plan a weekend away to the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, which is a 2-hour drive out of Sydney. Unfortunately for us thanks for a few traffic accidents along the way, our trip was a 4-hour journey, but still worth every minute.

We stayed at the Sovereign Hill Country Lodge in Talga Road, Rothbury which was lovely. It wasn’t exactly what we’d expected, but it was still good. The website seemed to show the room as having a kitchen and lounge area, but it turns out that our room just had a small breakfast table and beds, and there was a separate room with full kitchen and lounge that all guests shared. The owners make the venue very hospitable with a complimentary bottle of Shiraz waiting for you, as well as all the foods to cook up a nice breakfast (eggs, bread, cereal, milk, condiments and cheese platter). In the lounge there is a stereo, dining table, sofas, board games, and flagon of port 😀

The view from the property is stunning as it’s up on a hill overlooking the Valley. They grow their own grapes, and the rooms overlook the vines and olive trees across the road. It was a pleasure to see kangaroos hopping around in the faraway fields (at least I found it a pleasure anyway), and to see the many wee rabbits hopping around at dusk! I had an added treat of the owners having two full-grown dogs there, so I was in my element when we arrived and I was covered in doggie hair within minutes of arriving LOL.

Here’s our view from the front of the property:

As we arrived quite late, we worked out where a ‘local’ Irish pub was that served pub meals, and headed on out in the car. I can definitely recommend the food there – my Beef and Guinness Pie was to die for, and the girls loved their Chicken and Prawn dishes. If anyone is out in the Valley, definitely consider heading to Harrigan’s Irish Pub for a meal if you get chance (although it can get a bit crowded on a Friday night).

We’d seen a brochure that said Hunter Valley Gardens had a spectacular Christmas lights display, so we popped over for the last 1/2 hour of them being open, and it was truly magical wandering around the gardens. They have a storybook garden that kids would absolutely adore! Lots of sculptures around the place from children’s books, such as Humpty Dumpty, Mad Hatters Tea Party, Jack and Jill, and loads and loads more. Unfortunately we’d all forgotten to take our cameras with us, so the mobile phone camera had to do, and the quality is dreadful.

I just had to take a photo of this character – he looks kinda spooky on the camera phone, I just love it 🙂

We had a special treat of seeing fireworks going off in the background behind the gardens somewhere – not sure what the occasion was, but it another great highlight of the night 🙂

After that we decided not to head back to Harrigan’s for an hour, as tempting as it was, and we headed off home, as we had a relatively early start the next day …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Sydney, Travel, Uncategorized

Day out down south

9 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

As I mentioned yesterday, Mum and I drove down to Mittagong, Bowral and Berrima on Saturday, and had a really lovely day out. I wasn’t going to write this post just yet, but I’m up (not bright but) early thanks to Lisa coming home inebriated in the wee small hours and spending half the night in bed listening to her throwing up in the bathroom opposite … I figured now is as good a time as any to write it up!

Anyway, we started the day off by driving to Mittagong to Victoria House so Mum could see the stitched models. And we ended up coming out with a few charts from their bargain/sale bins … I didn’t take any photos of the stash, sorry, but basically Mum’s were all Christmas ornament charts, and I bought a couple of Hillside Sampling charts, a needleroll chart, and a wooden bellpull hanger for my Bent Creek Christmas wallhanging. It was nice to wander around and view the stitched models – always my favourite thing to do when visiting a new (or old) needlework shop 🙂

We then drove on a few km’s up the road to Bowral where we’d heard there was a Food & Wine Festival on … if there was, we didn’t find it, so ended up having a very non-Weight Watchers snack of meat pie and pastries from Gumnut Patisserie – this patisserie has won awards 4 years in a row, and it’s easy to see why, absolutely everything we tried from there was absolutely divine!! No piccies, unfortunately, as we scoffed them while on the road (very naughty, I know!).

From there we drove another short distance (about 8km) across country to Berrima, where I’d been recommended to visit – and we weren’t disappointed. What a lovely quaint village atmosphere – and not touristy at all, I thought. The buildings are just lovely, and we spent a couple of hours just wandering aimlessly in and out of all the shops … with the odd thing jumping into our bags every now and then 😉

A highlight for me was Mrs Oldbucks (they also have mail order from their website) – there is a room just filled with every sort of tea imaginable. I bought four as my treat for the day, then Mum bought me one more with a tea filter for my mug … I came home with Wild Berry, Raspberry & Lime, Chai Herbal Blend, Summer Blend, and Marsala Chai – I should take some photos of the teas themselves … just opening the shopping bag up to read the labels my senses are filled with an amazing smell … aaarghhhh 🙂

As well as the room full of teas, there is another long room at Mrs Oldbucks which is filled with all kinds of culinary goodies – lollies (sweets), jams, chutneys, honeys, mustards, etc etc etc … an absolute treasure trove of yummy goodies.

We also spent a little bit of time wandering through the local patchwork shop, and managed to find a fat 1/4 each of fabrics we just HAD to have … plus I bought a wire hanger with 7 hooks on it to use for hanging my scissors up (I’ll try to remember and take photos later when I unpack all my scissor fobs and scissors … yep, still unpacking! haha), plus a couple of small wire hangers that I’d been hunting for for months!

There were also a couple of lovely antique shops that we found in a side street later, but it was getting too late to call in – but I loved a few of the buildings in that wee street (I’m a sucker for old buildings).

When we turned out of the street to return home, we were greeted by the magnificent sight of loads and loads of cockatoos sitting up in the trees – I’ve seen this phenomenon before but Mum hasn’t … it was hard to take a photo, but you can see all the white specks in the trees, well they’re all cockatoos! It’s a glorious sight!! 😀

After we arrived home we decided to celebrate the end to some wonderful adventures, as we were unlikely to be tripping off again during this visit – I cooked a light chicken dinner (stir-though sauce compliments of Leggo’s haha) and we cracked open a bottle of bubbly and placed a hibiscus flower in syrup that I bought in Perth recently in the bottom of the glass (they’re so cool!! – their website has a much better photo and information if you want to check them out), and settled in for the night … a fitting end to a wonderful holiday (I’m just trying hard not to think about work tomorrow as I know I have a gruelling procedure writing session for my ‘huge project’ as soon as I walk in the door hmmm).

Travel

Port Macquarie to Sydney (part 2)

5 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

After spending an hour watching the ocean waves at Flynn’s beach, we hit the road again. Not too far out of Port Macquarie I spied the signpost for Timbertown at Wauchope, and remembered it was something that had appealed to me in the tourist brochure – seeing as the weather was relatively good at that stage, and it was coming up to lunchtime we decided to drop by … we had a wonderful time in there. Although it’s quite a small site compared to places like Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, they have done a great job of it. It’s designed to show what life was like 100 years ago, and buildings have been set up like a small town with businesses and houses displaying items from that era.

We also got to see a bullock team in action pulling a two-tonne log (they were exquisite creatures, and personally a highlight for me was seeing them) – they were regularly walking through the township, with an actual show in the afternoon.

And of course there were a few more animals to delight young children (and those not-so-young, ahem).

Not to mention the odd bit of wildlife not part of the display …

There is also a steam train that runs every hour around the township and forested area … plus rides in a horse and carriage.

And a rest stop just wouldn’t be a rest stop without the infamous scones … although a baby magpie was hanging out next to us just waiting to join in the feast! (Shame he has to grow up, as he was really cute – adult magpies are most definitely NOT so cute!!) 😉

All-in-all we loved our visit to Timbertown … but unfortunately during our last minutes there the heavens started to open again.

It turned out that the remainder of the drive home was the worst drive I’ve had to do in many many years!! It was raining so hard the windscreen wipers were on full speed and still couldn’t cope – you could hardly see two feet in front of you for driving! Mum was so uncomfortable with the whole thing that she suggested we pull off and stay at a motel for the night and drive in daylight the next day (by now it was night-time) – personally I just wanted to get home to the comfort of my own bed … but today my back and shoulders are really feeling the strain of driving for almost 5 hours in the dark fighting torrential rain. My lower back, especially, is really uncomfortable and I’m not in a hurry to do any long distance driving for a day or two now … in fact it’s so bad I’ve just cancelled my ticket to see Michael Buble in concert tonight – I can’t stand the thought of driving for 1 1/2 to 2 hours to my friend’s place, then another 2 hours in a theatre seat … what a monumental waste of money, but better for my state of physical health, I think 😦

Even though the trip had its nightmares (especially the drive home again), we still had a good time away – as always we can usually make good of a bad situation and appreciate the positives … but I’m really glad to be home!! 😉

Travel

Port Macquarie to Sydney (part 1)

5 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

This ended up being our final day on holiday … we’d decided after such an abysmal day in Coffs Harbour that there was probably no point hanging around and thought we’d head home early instead. When we got up, though, there was blue skies and only a little bit of wind.

We checked out of our apartment then headed across the road to Flynn’s Beach, where we spent about an hour watching the huge waves crashing in – it was absolutely spectacular, and we could have spent the entire day sitting on that beach watching the ocean. Instead, we went for a walk up both sides of the beach and took some (well, actually LOADS of) photos before we hit the road back to Sydney. Here are a few photos of the waves and beach:

Travel

Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour

5 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

When we woke up on Tuesday we were not thrilled to see gale force winds and pelting down rain to greet us (although we’d had a few insights into that with the noise during the night). It still didn’t perturb us, though, and we packed up our raincoats to head into Coffs Harbour for the day. The ocean was really rough, but I couldn’t be bothered getting soaked to the skin to take a photo …

I have to admit we didn’t enjoy a lot of the day, although as always we still had some fun highlights to save the day from being a total disaster.

Our first port of call was Fredo’s Pie Shop (thanks Alison, we managed to find it) – this is written up in all the guide books and tourist papers apparently due to its huge array of pies to choose from. Here is a selection of their menu (you may have to enlarge the piccie to read it), along with a photo of a few of the more “exotic” flavours! I had a kangaroo pie just to be different, while Mum had a sausage roll, then we headed next door to sit and eat them while I tried to drink the worst coffee I’ve had in ages … the pies were OK, although I have to admit I’ve had better elsewhere (namely Mascot).

Back on the road again we headed to Bellingen, which is where I had my heart set on driving to. We stopped off at the Old Butter Factory which is a craft co-op with individual little craft shops – this was a wonderful place to spend some time wandering around and admiring the wonderful crafts for sale. Unfortunately the items I fell in love with were a tad out of my price range, so we left empty-handed.

Next up was the ultimate destination for me – The Yellow Shed. This is another craft shop which had all sorts of things in it, including a lot of new age things. The reason I wanted to go there, though, was to replace my mugs that I’d bought on a previous visit. I absolutely adored my mugs, which are by a Queensland potter called Albert Verschuuren – unfortunately, though, my previous male flatmates Fraze and Andrew managed to break one each so I was left bereft of my favourite mugs. Thankfully there were some on sale still, so I stocked up once again for my big splurge of the trip 😀

At this stage the rain was phenomenal … there were rivers of rainwater rushing down the street gutters, and lots of fields were showing signs of flooding, but we kept plodding on and getting out and about. After one more stop we turned back towards the highway again and drove up to Coffs Harbour where the rain was pouring off and on. We drove straight to the Big Banana just to buy some banana honey and have a banana split – the banana split was devoured, but alas no banana honey for sale 😦

After we’d finished eating at the Big Banana, the rain closed in once again … and my walking shoes had finally died, with holes and gashes now letting in water. We headed over to a local shopping mall where I found a cheap pair of runners, along with a pair of much-needed dry socks, before we called it a day and headed back home. At 4.30pm it was already dark thanks to the hideous weather – and I have to say the drive back to Port Macquarie was sure as heck no fun whatsoever, proven by the tension and stress felt in my back and neck muscles by the time we got home again! I was very grateful to see that apartment sign in the distance so we could sit and relax while watching NCIS (we just got home in time to heat up dinner and settle in to watch it).

Travel

Sydney to Port Macquarie

5 June, 200825 February, 2012 Anne S

Bright and early on Monday morning we hit the highway to head up to Port Macquarie – by the time we called past my PO Box to check my mail it was 7.30am when we were earnestly on our way. After taking an hour to get to the other side of Sydney proper, we headed up the Pacific Freeway where we couldn’t see a thing for an eternity due to fog … as it turns out that was to be an indicator of the weather throughout the entire trip!

Eventually the fog cleared, to be replaced with a smattering of rain every now and then … and I have to say I’ve never seen so many roadworks in all my life – they went on for km’s and km’s! Eventually we decided to drive off the main route and take one of the tourist drives via Stroud and Gloucester, and I’m really glad we did, as I enjoyed driving that way much much more – the scenery and drive was much more interesting.

Unfortunately one of my windscreen wipers died a horrible death during the journey, so we called into a wee NRMA garage on the drive through Stroud and had it replaced, before stopping for a rest stop further down the road in Stroud township to have scones with jam and cream, and a coffee for me at a small quaint cafe. Very unusual for me to show scones on this blog, I know haha.

As we were walking back to the car we noticed a craft store selling home-made crafts by local artisans … I always try to buy a little something when I go through these places, even if it’s something little, especially in small townships, so I came home with a hand-painted doorstop, painted blue with white daisies.

We enjoyed seeing a few displays of autumn colours still on the trees here and there …

And this is just something that the non-Aussies out there might enjoy … unfortunately during the drive we didn’t see any koalas this time.

We did, however, see a kookaburra along the way and just had to take a photo … it’s always nicer to see the Australian wildlife “in the wild” and not in a cage somewhere (although the same can’t be said for some of the reptiles or arachnids! hmmm).

After our slight detour we continued back to the main highway where we were greeted with yet MORE roadworks. The weather started turning in even more, but we braved the elements and took a few photos of the Lighthouse and ocean at Lighthouse Beach while trying not to get blown off the hilltop by the high winds.

Five minutes up the road and we found our apartment, but we decided to continue driving and go shopping in Port Macquarie first where I found a T-shirt just perfect for my new pyjama bottoms Mum has made me. Once we returned to the apartment we checked in and settled in with a Christmas ornament to stitch – thanks to over-catering the previous day at the stitching get-together we had plenty of nibbles to munch on for the night … although the next day I had to frog-stitch all that that I managed to stitch that day! Oops 🙂

In case anyone’s interested, we stayed at the Beaches Holiday Resort – it was a very reasonable price for a beautiful 2-bedroom apartment … although away from the “main” part of Port Macquarie, everything was just a short drive away. Our apartment was almost bigger than our apartment here in Sydney!