One Word Quiz

This one word quiz was emailed to me recently.
USING ONLY ONE WORD! It’s not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you however, you will find that using one word answers is not as simple as it first appears
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1. Where is your mobile phone? - Loungeroom
2. Your significant other? - Loungeroom
3. Your hair? -messy
4. Your mother? -asleep
5. Your father? - deceased
6. Your favorite?? - holidays
7. Your dream last night? - forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? - coffee
9. Your dream/goal? - peace
10. What room you are in? - study
11. Your hobby? - writing
12. Your fear? -dependance
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? - working-holiday
14. Where were you last night? -asleep
15. Something that you aren’t? -famous
16. Muffins? - chocolate
17. Wish list item? - motorhome
18. Where you grew up? - Guildford
19. Last thing you did? - reading
20. What are you wearingclothes
21. Currently on your TV? NCIS
22. Your pets? birds
23. Friends? - smiling
24. Your life? - hectic
25. Your mood? - fatigued
26. Missing someone? - no
27. Car? - dirty
28. Something you’re not wearing? - swimmers
29. Your favorite splurge? - Beautician
30. Your favorite color? - blue

It's A Beautiful World......

On Sunday we went for a drive to Orient Heads and Crookhaven Heads. What a wonderful surprise they both turned out to be.

Crookhaven Heads is east of Nowra and dates back to 1872 when a lighthouse was constructed on the point. The light consisted of a red lantern from a ship’s mast-head and was propped up by two simple poles. A few decades later on this was substituted with a brass lantern in a wooden lighthouse.

The old lighthouse still stands today, although it is nothing like it use to be. It actually overlooks some of the most spectacular ocean I have ever seen. By the time I walked the track in search of the lighthouse and climbed out and up on the little island, a gusty wind had blown up on that side of the island

It whipped up the ocean’s waves into a frenzy and with great force smashed the waves against the rocks. I stood in awe of the shear power of the ocean, as it was truly a beautiful sight to see.

Meanwhile on the other side of the small island was the most gentle and calm waters that I felt like I was in a completely different area. The waters flow into the entrance to the Shoalhaven River, which is 300km long, the lower 50km is subject to the tides.

Nowra is located about 18kms upstream. One has to sail outside of the heads to open sea and come back into the Jervis Bay entrance to get to where we live. The waters of the river appear to flow from estuary to estuary and go on and on and on. Most are fringed with mangroves, wetlands and marshes and everywhere that we stopped there were locals fishing, shorebirds and reptiles.

I spent hours taking photos and exploring the areas but found my day topped off when a small pod of dolphins made their way out of one of the bays towards the open ocean. I could not attach my 300mm lens fast enough and even with that on I could only photograph them in the distance.

I stopped to talk with some of the locals on the way home, who informed me that the dolphins are there regularly and that I should perhaps bring a tripod and a picnic next time in readiness for them. They even told me where to set it all up. Now how is that for good public relations lol.

Saturday afternoon......

Well I am sure that I have said this many times before....the beach is forever changing. Today I went for a short stroll, camera in hand, to find the beach deserted. The dark clouds were being blown in from the south east as I stood gazing out at the looming storm. They were murky and bleak and made the ocean look leaden.

As I made my way along the sand it struck me that there were very few shells this afternoon, no sea weed, no pieces of drift wood either. Instead, there were thousands of blue bottles.

For those of you who have never seen a bluebottle they have a float or bottle-shaped blue sac, which sits on the water's surface. They have many string-like tentacles hanging down from the float Bluebottles eat tiny fish, small crabs and plankton. Now if you have never had an experience with them, I suggest that you keep it that way lol.

Bluebottles usually attract people when they are washed up on the beach. When they are in the water the bluebottle appears translucent and is often unnoticed. However, against the sand they are quite colourful and are often mistaken as shells or weed. Should you try to pick one up it will give you a good sting.

As children we went to the beach and my sister thought that she was piking up a shell. Her hand was stung badly enough for my parents to take her to a lifeguard. He explained that although the sting was not deadly it was extremely painful causing a massive burning sensation that was painful enough to make a grown man cry. The toxin secreted by their tenticles is about 75% as powerful as cobra venom and leaves a nasty red tail-like welt where the tenticle lays against your limb or body. The lifeguard washed the area with vinegar and my sister lived to tell the story.

Anyway, I took a few photos and sat and watched as the dark blue skies turned to dark gray clouds and eventually they became a light rain. I made it home before getting completely soaked.

Colour Your World....

One has to marvel at Mother Nature here. These tulips were photographed at the Bowral Tulip Festival last Spring, 2008.

Mr J, my sister and I spent the weekend browzing the gardens and even after hours of photographs, lunch and more browzing, one never grows tired of the colours that are brought to life in each picture.

It poured rain all day as well but that did not stop me from taking it all in; such perfect shapes and spectacular colourings. Should you get the chance to go this year, I would strongly recommend it.

A sensitive tulip in a garden grew,

And the young winds fed it with silver dew,

And it opened its fan-like petals to the light,

and closed them beneath the kisses of night.

~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Sensitive Plant," 1820.

Here's cheers everyone

Revitalizing My Day......

It is night time here right now. From my window I can hear the waves on the beach clearly. The ocean here is constantly changing, it’s waves rolling in on the sand in such a gentle fashion. They sound calculated and regular as sleep even though they are strong as they pound and move smoothly over the sand. The sound of the waves has it’s own distinctive character; I wonder what it would be like without the sounds of the crashing water…..very quiet indeed.




I arrived home from work today exhausted. The fatigue seeped through my body, shoulders heavy, back tired and brain mentally drained. Mr J and I sat and shared dinner then he went out to play chess. Prior to his leaving we watched in horror yet again at the bushfire disasters that had taken place in Victoria. 181 dead, over 1000 homes burned to the ground, people hospitalized and homeless. This is day five of the fire horrors and the news is constantly depressing; so much destruction, so much grief.

On impulse I picked up my camera and headed across to the beach. I knew a beach walk would revitalize me.





There was a coolish breeze that was fresh and the further down the beach that I walked the more energized I became. I could smell the salty air which added some pace to my stride. There is something extraordinarily refreshing about a brisk walk on the beach. During the working week here at Callala most people have returned to Sydney so the beaches are relatively deserted. There were three other people about, one was a man on a small motorless cart being pulled along by a large kite that was caught in the breeze. It pulled him along on the wet sand at a fast pace; he looked excited and alert. I snapped several pictures to which he smiled and gave the "thumbs up" sign.




I then walked along futher watching the clouds moving across the sun. Their colours reflected over the water changing the appreaance of the entire area as the waves crashed against the shore. The tide was definately coming in. It creepd in further and further as I walked down the beach.




At a guess I think it is high tide out there right at this moment and possibly a king tide as well. The sounds of the incoming waves are clear and loud as I type. Watching and listening to the ocean is relaxing. It is a little like breathing; regular, soothing and tranquil.




When the children were babies I marveled at how natural their breathing was, it simply happened without any effort, it was continuous without any work and it maintained life. The ocean's waves are similar in nature. They waves happen without any effort from us, they continue without any work and it maintains life under the water at the very same time.




I spent an hour and a half taking photos but they do not do justice to the shear beauty and energy of the moment. At times such as now one can hear and feel that energy in the air, I could not imagine ever leaving here even though I eventually will have to.

Have a good evening everyone

Tidal Changes....

Mr J and I went for a swim after work yesterday. The sea was calm, a few gentle waves around the shoreline and because the waters here are crystal clear one can see right to the bottom. I became enthralled with the numbers of small hermit crabs that dotted the floor of the bay; hundreds of them. I am not sure what brings them out at that particular time however, their shells were all sorts of colours, shapes and sizes. They seemed happy enough to climb back into their shells each time that I picked one up to have a look lol. The beach was deserted except for Mr J and myself and so we stayed, walked along the shores in search of seashells and had a final swim before walking home at 7:30pm.Now today was totally different. The gusty breeze sprayed the dry white sands around the place. Even down close to the water I was whipped several times by the sand. I walked about one km down the beach and as I returned I could see the swirls of white sand in the distance, a mini sand storm of sorts. Surfice to say that my beach towel was covered with it when I picked it up. What amazed me was the waterline of the shore; it was covered in millions of tiny seashells. Even down in the shallow waters were many seashells too. I have no idea why there were so many today however, it is incredible how much the water and winds can change from one day to the next; perhaps it has something to do with the currents, the winds and the moon. Normally the sand is podwery white and soft to walk on however, today it was much corser and greyish in colour. I bet by the time I return in the morning the shoreline will be cleaned up by the overnight tides. Seeing the day to day differences is like watching the changes in the seasons, except that this is on a daily basis. I often wonder how long one has to live here before we begin to take such beauty for granted; if one misses it today there will always be tomorrow....that sort of attiture. I couldn't imagine ever getting sick or tired of walking here, these beautiful white sandy beaches, the sapphire, turquoise sea, the bay's waters lapping gently on the sands, the sailing boats docking the water's edges. Late this evening there was no cloud cover and the sun formed a huge orange fireball which usually means that tomorrow is going to be a warm day. I look forward to it.

Time For A Sea Change......

Mr J and I have settled into our little home here at Callala Beach. Although small, the house has quaintness about it and I enjoy being home in such a relaxing atmosphere. It takes only a few minutes to clean up leaving me plenty of time to rest after work and on weekends. Many of the homes here, including our place, have been built on stilts to take advantage of the ocean breezes. This means that the entire house is raised, usually with a small room down stairs. The verandah upstairs here is about eye level with the tops of a massive Banksias tree. The inhabitants of the Banksias tree are numerous Rainbow Lorikeets, some Australian King Parrots, a family of Rosella’s and some Red-browed Firetails. Several large cockatoos have tried to move in however; I have chased them off as diligently as I could so far. There are also a group of honey eaters that visit when all of the parrots have disappeared. I am not sure what they are called exactly however they are brown and gray streaked and have long slender bills and legs that are black. It is fascinating to sit and watch them searching through the banksias for nectar and sap however, once any of the parrots return they are quick to take flight.

The parrots are amazing to watch. The lorikeets have no fear of me and chatter endlessly while eating or chasing each other around the branches. To listen to them one would think they were a bunch of old women engaging in harsh chatter and scolding lol. They arrive promptly at 6:45am each morning and are better than any alarm clock lol.
Right now the Crimson Rosella are lively in the tree. They have crimson plumage and blue cheeks. The wing feathers have broad blue edges and a blue tail. I read that the young Rosella’s have an olive-green body with just a little red around the head. The young bird gradually attains adult plumage over a period of 15 months.

I am sitting typing on my laptop on the verandah as they prattle on in front of me. About fifteen minutes ago I climbed the ladder to fill there seed bowl with “Wild bird Seed”, a second product called Harmony Wild Bird which is a nectar mix that is powder in nature and smells almost like vanilla and I added some kiwi fruit and nectarine. It is mesmerizing to watch their reaction to the new food. The red headed females land first. She souses out the dish then climbs in. Several young males then land and follow in her footsteps (or bird claws in this case lol). She chases them off using her beak and shrieking voice, one can almost imagine a bossy grandmother taking control and order of the household. Several more males land to inspect the bowl only to be scolded by her so they passively sit and wait their turn. These parrots are so beautiful to watch. The males are predominantly green; the colour of green that a granny smith apple is. It is vibrant and eye-catching. On top of their head is a small patch of red; scarlet red and on the ends of their wings I can see the colour blue. These are the males of the flock. They chatter like old men to each other but I am surprised how truly dominant the females are. There does not appear to be any greed among the males nor between the females however, the females snap, peck and screech at the males as if it is important to show who is boss and will have the final judgment in the pecking order lol.






A huge gust of wind blows up from the ocean and sweeps through everything in its path, including the Banksia tree. Even I am caught by surprise at the strength of it. The little birds simply flutter to keep their balance and continue feeding. The animated females soon leave the bowl and hop out along the thick old branches to take flight. The males look relieved and join each other silently to indulge in the amazing treats there. The branches around the bowl are very old and withered. I have no idea of the age of the tree but the bark is like the skin of an emaciated old woman. The wrinkly creased in the aged bark make it easy for the wildlife to keep hold at all times. It is easy to imagine the Banksia would have many stories to tell if it could. It protrudes out of the ground and immediately forks into four different directions. The four main branches are thick, furrowed and faded in colour. From these main branches many thousands of smaller undergrowth spreads out to almost fill the front yard. The serrated foliage covering the undergrowth is also thick and gray/green in colour with cone-like flowers called inflorescences.


One of the things I have found is that they are surprisingly striking close-up yet can look indistinguishable and plain from a distance. These particular inflorescences are a green-bronze colour and the tree is covered in them. I should get my camera back over the weekend so hopefully I will have some photos to share very soon. The darkness of nighttime has slowly moved in so the birds will disappear for the night. I have no idea where they disappear to but sure as eggs, they will return in the morning.
























I too will say good night, have a good evening everyone
Heather