Parra Power......

It has been exciting to see the Mighty Eels rise from position 8 on the NRL table, to play in the Grand Final on Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium. Today J surprized the family by organising tickets for us to attend the game. We have been to watch the footy many times over the years, I think Ms. K was about 8 weeks old when she attended her firsat game ; Grandma had knitted a small size 0 blue and gold jumper for her to wear. Alex and Ben both wore that same baby jumper in the years to follow.

One year Grandma, Gandy and the rest of us attended the finals when Parra played Newcastle however, after all of the games we have watched ovedr the years, this game next Sunday will be my first Grand Final. Traditionally we have had a BBQ, invited friends and made a great Sunday of it and so this year J decided to do things differently. I must say that I am very excited about going. I spent this afternoon chasing up some Grand Final-Eels T-shirts for us to wear and so hopefuilly those T-shirts will arrive by Friday. When I thought about it I am not only looking forward to watching the game live but I am looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere of the other fans, and enjoying the emotion and excitement with my children and husband. Win or lose the Mighty Eels have turned the tables by simply reaching the Grand Final this season. Good luck boys...Go the Eels....Parra to win!!!!

Dust Storm......

September 23, 2009 I got up to commence my day and looked outside. The sky and areas all around home were filled with fog, it was everywhere. I commented to John that the fog was probably a result of the hot humid air from the previous day mixed with the cool evening air. As I walked down the staircase to my car it soon became evident that this was in fact dust and not fog; some sort of dust storm had blown in overnight. By the time I had driven out to the site the sun had begun to rise giving the entire atmosphere a surreal look that made the construction site appear more like Mars than the South Coast of NSW.
As the day progressed news reports of Sydney and the rest of NSW came in via the internet and radio. It appeared that a wall of red dust which comprised of top soil from farms out in central and western NSW, had been blown into a frenzied storm and covered the area of the east coast. It certainly gave off an eerie glow and by the end of the day authorities declared the air pollution to have reached the worst levels since 1939. So severe were the changes to the coast that NASA’s Terra satellite captured the entire incident. Stories have circulated of tourists standing to the side of Sydney Harbor and not being able to even see the Bridge. It caused travel chaos with air flights being grounded or redirected and many trains slowed to a snail’s pace. Traffic slowed down as well.
I think what fascinated J and I, more than anything, was the reddish/orange hue than blanketed everything, and we were viewing the event from Jervis Bay. I had never seen anythi8ng like it and many are convinced that it is just one of many climate changes, the result of mismanagement of the planet by us humans. Could be, maybe, possibly, but I am not convinced. Even with such a strange event as this dust storm, I still wonder whether climate change is a natural phenomenon.

Misty Mornings.....

Each morning at 5am I drive to the bakery to purchase fresh bread rolls for the shop. The drive takes about 15 minutes and for most of the year it is undertaken in darkness. This morning however, the sun was making it's way into the sky as I neared the town; to my surprize ahead opf me was a meadow. Mist was drifting in along the meadow floor like thick low laying clouds of cotton wool.

The tops of the trees stood tall and peered through the mist, they were the only objects in plain view, everything was shrouded in white. As the morning progressed I made a point to keep my eye out on the changing landscape as the sun burnt off the fog and rearranged the colours and shadows all around; bringing the world to life. Fog and mist have always appealed to me; it gives everything a spiritual look about it as though the trees are floating out on an endless ocean.

With the mist comes a stillness and a silence which I enjoy. Then as the sun moves slowly moves about, that same view of the hillside changes so dramatically that it amazes me.

The photographer in me wants to constantly capture the changes on camera but I rarely do the scene justice.

For Nicole light a candle
We'll reminisce together
Of the times we met her here on earth
As the flame flickers we'll smile and remember
Her livliness, her energy, her worth

Those goldern curls, her unending smile
Nicky's spirit and bubbly way
All too young to leave this world
Peacefully sleeping now in eternal days

As angels carried her broken heart
They carried her troubled soul
And wisked her away to another world
to rest......healed and whole

Oh glow little candle, so brief (like her life)
You'll know Nicky's memory won't die
As we see her sparkling face in your radiance
Wipe our tears, say a prayer, wave goodbye.

In memory of Nicole Lloyd
7/7/1966 - 5/9/2009

Time to Relax.....

Well this weekend has been relaxing indeed. After a particularly busy week J and came home yesterday and headed for the beach. I had almost forgotten how relaxing it is there. With the warmer weather fast approaching we enjoyed the sun on our backs. The water is still a tad too cool to drive into however we waded through the wash of waves and enjoyed the breeze. While wading ankle deep John called me over to where he was to watch a young shovel nosed shark enjoying the surf. He swam around our legs and disappeared as the waves washed back out agaqin and again. I was surprized at just how well he blended into the sand and surf, being almost clear in colour. Their mouths are about the size of a fifty cent piece so there was no chance of being bitten. I believe they migrate to cooler waters during warmer weather so this may be the last we see of them this year. The photo above was not snapped by me.

Well, I am watching the mighty Eels playing a great game against the Dragons; the score Parra 25 Dragons 12 and J is cheering his voice hoarse lol. So I will wish you a good evening and go cheer with him.

Cheers

Performing Pelicans.......

A wonderous bird is the pelican

His bill holds more than his belican

He can take in his beak

Enough food for a week

But I'm darned if I know how the helican!

Dixon L. Merritt 1910

While sitting enjoying lunch with J we watched some pelicans trying very hard to convince the tourists to feed them. They poked their heads into car windows, turned in circles and tried every trick in the book to get a free feed.

I have always loved their awkward waddle from one webbed foot to the other but their bills are surely what most people remember about them. I have often wondered if their bill could hold more than their belly could and when I asked a ranger this he informed me that a pelican can hold approximately 10 kg of food and fluid and it's stomach can hold approximately 6.5 kgs, thats a lot to lose along the way down.

A Wollongong Weekend.....

When I was a small child we visited my father’s uncle and aunt several times. Uncle Harry and Aunty Else lived in Wollongong, some 82 kms south of Sydney, and back in those days, it was a very long trip indeed taken along old winding roads. Harry was my Grandfather's brother and as a seven year old I remember thinking that my grandfather would have looked just like him if he were alive. My childhood memories of Aunty Elsie was that of an elderly buxom woman with straight gray hair and wrinkles. Uncle Harry also seemed old and drove a tip truck out from Port Kembla each day. I remember him once saying that it was a waste of resources educating females as they ceased work once they were married anyway; how times have changed since then. Harry and Elsie lived in an old weatherboard house that had not seen a coat of paint for several decades; their children grown up and moved away. Families occupied most of the neighboring areas; the populous all working in services that were in one way or another, related to the Steel Works or the grain industry.

Some years later I visited Port Kembla Steel Works with our school class of year 6 and remember thinking that it was a very dirty place, soot everywhere and more air pollution than I had ever witnessed in my life. Port Kembla was, and still is, primarily an industrial port that handles bulk goods and commodities such as iron ore, grain and coal hence, the sooty look of a bygone era.

Several weekends ago J and I took a drive to Wollongong and decided to make a weekend of it. Nowadays, it is a beautiful city, if fact one could say that it is clean, green and environmentally conscious when you drive around and witness the many facilities and parks available. Many locals commute between Wollongong and Sydney on a daily basis to work and I read in the mall that Wollongong is now the 9th largest city in Australia. It is hard to believe that many of the dairy farms are now fully occupied residential suburbs, and that the once dirty waterways are spotlessly clean and used as surfing beaches that are overlooked by hotels.

The locals warmly refer to Wollongong as "The Gong" and as we entered the township I could see out to the water ways ccupied by many of the ships carrying steel from the steel works to overseas destinations. Even though they travel a fair way out from the coast the busy shipping lanes are an awesome sight.

Around the outskirts of Wollongong the Illawarra Escarpment sits and there are three particularly beautiful lookouts that we visited; Mount Keira, Murray and Kembla. If you ever have the time or are in the area, they are well worth the visit. The foothills and forrests give the outter Wollongong areas a sort of "gently rolling" character about it and the views look out over the Pacific Ocean.

In contrast to the mining and steel works is a prinstine coastline. The beaches are picturesque, clean and very inviting. I didn’t think to take our fishing lines along and I am sure that some fishing from these beautiful beaches would have been very relaxing. I did remember to take my camera and so I have quite a few photographs of the area now. J and I were surprised at how much the Steel Works have been cleaned up and a great deal of emphasis has been placed on blending it into the natural environment as much as possible. In the evening we shared a lovely dinner and stayed in town.

On Sunday morning we headed off to the Nan Tien Temple at Berkerley. The temple is tranquil with beautiful gardens and an atmosphere, which encourages peace and a stress free environment. I loved roaming around.

Surrounding the outer eaves of the temples are the loveliest red

lanterns Apparently the name “Nan Tien” means paradise of the south and a small piece of paradise it is indeed.

In one of the many vast halls was a concert arranged for visiting Buddhist Monks and I stood and watched some of the performances which included everything from red dragons to young people dancing hip hop lol. I browzed through the small art gallery which was a good experience and very worth while.

According to Buddhist teachings Buddhism was to be spread through out the western world via culture and beautifying the world through art. I must say that the art here really was supurb and depicted so much of the history of the east.

Before we knew it it was time to move on. The Nan Tien Temple was such a quiet, peaceful environment there that one can not help but come away more relaxed for the visit. Anyway. after a lunch of John Dory and chips I snapped a few photos of some local pelicans who were trying so hard to poke their heads in through the wondow of a car lol. The evening loomed ahead and so we headed home to Jervis Bay. I had a wonderful weekend thanks to J, it is always great to have a relaxing weekend with family and friends but a relaxing weekend for just the two of us is even better.