With the Greatest of Ease.......

Well I bet you can guess where we spent Saturday afternoon...yes thats right...we visited Stanwell Tops, just as the Hang gliders were setting up for a wonderful afternoon flying through the air with the greatest of ease. They were so graceful and made hang gliding look so easy. J and I sat back on the grass enjoying afternoon tea and watched many of them warming up and preparing to take off, or in their case....jumping off the side of the mountain. After several hours some heavy dark clouds rolled in from the south which made it time to head home.

Wind in the Willows

Sunday was a very windy day. The sounds of gusts blowing up began in the late afternoon of Saturday and all during the night it whipped up a fury to the point of it keeping us awake. By Sunday morning the noise continued to grow and it had the fearsome sound of immense fury crushing anything that got in it’s way. One could imagine an invisible force ripping through the national park and stripping the trees and ground of anything that could move….thank goodness that J and I were inside. Every now and then we could feel the vibrations all the way up through our arm chairs whilst we watched DVDs. However, it was not until Monday morning that we realized the full effects of those winds.

J and I arrived at work 5:30am. All along Jervis Bay rd. the debris was evident; like the wreckage of a plane strew for kilometers; the remains of trees lay everywhere. Entries and roadways through Jervis Bay National Park and Boodeeroo National Park were a mess. I watched in awe the enormous trees that must have survived decades and decades yet in one single evening, had been overturned and in some parts, completely snapped in two. Their huge roots exposed after many decades of keeping that tree upright. We simply could not fathom how powerful the winds had been. Upon entry into Cresswell my heart went out to those who tender so caringly, the grounds of the base. The golf course was laden with huge branches, shrubs and rubbish everywhere. The gardens were now devoid of their beautiful flowers and were replaced with bark and leaves in enormous quantities. Kangaroos carefully moved amongst the ruins and like us, seemed confused about the mess. The gusts had reached 115 kilometers-an-hour at times and the destructive winds left their mark everywhere. Our shop is in a protected area and thus, received no damage from the storm but the historic old boatshed down on the docks was destroyed, rafters and all. Many of the residents lost power and will not have it reconnected until Thursday. It would seem that mother nature was indeed upset about something. We watched as gardeners, personnel and volunteers organized the green rubbish into piles ready for the trucks to pick up.

Today was a beautiful day, the birds have returned and order has slowly returned as well. Many are still without power in their homes however, I guess if one compares the imposition of no power to those who are homeless in New Zealand due to earth quakes or those who are trying to save their homes from floods in Victoria, these winds are not so bad.

A Wet Day in Paradise.....

It poured rain all day, torrential to be exact . Even the kangaroos hopped off to find relief in the national park.
As J and I drove home this afternoon visability out towards the island was minimal. It is supposed to be like this for the next few days. The clouds appeared so low over the bay that I felt like holding a hand up to touch them. I guess that when living in the city we do not realize how much we miss out on amid tall buildings and lots of lights.

Bodalla NSW 2010

A quick visit by J and myself found us in the little town of Bodalla, south of Jervis Bay. The name Bodalla is usuaqlly recognised as the name of a cheese, just have a look in any supermarket and one can find Bodalla cheese there. As you can imagine the township of Bodalla is preimarily a dairy town and is nestled in the hinterlands of the Tuross River Valley. We stumbled across Bodalla quite by accident whilst on route to Narooma and ended up spending a number of hours here exploring the area.

The original cheese makers came from England back in 1870 and since then many small cheese making factories have sprung up.We stopped to sample many of the cheeses and purchased a few to enjoy at home. I was fascinated by the All Saints Church which dated back to the early 1800s. The woodwork and glasswork is absolutely beautiful. Some years ago much of the masonary was restored and whilst pulling much of the damaged and aged stone away many little surprises were found such as old wares and tiles. You casn stand and follow the dedication stones to generation after generation of various families that lived in Bodalla and worshiped at the church.

There is a peace and serenity to be found in Bodalla. The countrysides are lush and green as a result of the rain and the pastures were shared by horses, cattle and sheep. After lunch J and I made our way home.

Early Morning Colours......

The world is a carousel of color,
Wonderful, wonderful color.
The world is a carousel of color,
History, comedy, fantasy,
There�s drama and mirth,
There�s old mother earth
With all of her secrets to see.












The world is a treasure-trove of faces,
Fabulous, faraway places.
The hopes and the fears,
The joys and the tears
Of people like you and like me.
The kingdoms of magic science,
The glorious story of art,
The world of romance,
Of music and dance,
This world where we each play a part.








The miracle of imagination,
The marvels of earth, sea and sky,
These wonders untold
Are ours to behold
In the funny world,
The sunny world,
The wonderful world of color.

How beautiful the early mornings can be here, I am often left in awe of Mother Nature's pallet of vibrant colours. I wonder how much we constantly miss by sleeping until noon. The words above are from a song I knew as aq child by Walt Disney called "A World of Colour".

New Beginnings......

I have just began work on a new site out at Jervis Bay. It is part of a navel base and a completely new experience for me as the base is totally different to any work environment that I have previously known.

Upon entry one drives down a winding road which passes through a golf course. The golf course is interwoven throughout beautiful gardens and many beautiful Australian antive trees. Dotted around are a few historic houses that the personnel live in as well as the college and adminstration areas which date back to 1911. However, all have been retained to blend in with the natural environment and are ever so serene to walk amongst. There is not just a beauty about Creswell but also a peace and tranquility about it. Initially when J first asked me to work here I imagined a gloomy atmosphere which reflected navel ideals and the military's way of life, instead there is a distinct calmness to be found. For example, one can think clearer there, the sounds of birds and the ocean come from all directions as Creswell is located out on a penninsula. There is a stillness about the grounds that is interupted occassionally by a wallaby or kangaroo making his/her way into the Boodewree National Park which surrounds the base. The gently sloping hills and lawns give such a feeling of harmony that one tends to forget the stresses of everyday life. It has taken a week for me to appreciate just why I feel so relaxed here indeed, I have spent a week away from most of my habits. there is no television here, no shops, no advertisements anywhere. It takes a while to slow down and then one realizes that your brain is at rest, free from the commands of noise, the consuming frenzy of stores, the business of time constraints and obligations to meet. Yes, over many decades Creswell has grown to embrace a quietude that the rest of the world can only envy. Few cars are driven here and those that are used on the roads travel throughout the grounds at no more that 25kms. My developed urges to hurry, hurry, hurry have become not so rushed or panicked to hurry onto the next task. It has been almost a soulful experience.

What was that word???? Ahhhhhhhhh yes...."just beathe".

Last weekend J and I decided to take some time for ourselves and have the weekend away exploring a lovely little town which we saw on "Getaway". The town was called Bermagui and is located at the start of the Sapphire Coast. We set out on the three hour drive and enjoyed lunch at Ulladulla along the way.

The entry into that section of the south coast is absolutely beautiful with the coastline as blue as it's name "sapphire". There are many penninsulas and small townships along thr way however, we loved Bermagui, it was everything that was talked about on Getaway.

The smalltown was built around a harbour back in the mid 1800s. It is obvious that fishing is a very important way of life for many of the permanent residents there as it is mid winter here and there were many people out still casting their fishing lines late into the evening. J and I had read that the continental shelf is only a mere 20 kms away hence, the deep sea fisherman fish for marlin there. I stopped to shoot some photos of a very beautiful sunset and was captivated by the beauty of the harbour with small fishing boats dotted around.

J and I visited the Bermagui Country Club for dinner and sampled some of the local catch which was delicious and then headed back to get settled for the evening.

Early on Sunday morning I awoke to some noisy honey eatters overhead. I think they were fighting about some leftover cones on a Banksia Tree. J made a quick coffee for us and we headed off to find the famous Bermagui Blue Pools at the bottom of the cliffs.

This is a most beautiful sea pool which was built back in 1936 by a local philanthropist Bill Dickenson. The pool follows the natural form of the rock and blends in to the cliff area beautifully.

As I stood taking some photos J and I marvelled at the ocean which was only a few meters away. The surf's swell crashed into the side of the pool and at times was twice as tall as us. In all it was a very exilerating experience.

From the blue pool one can see further along the coastline to some magical beach views filled with enormous waves roaring in on the white sands. We stood enthralled at the scene and all I could think of was a song I had heard recently called "If This Is It".... no one move, no one speak, please don't say it's only me....it's just not me. And even though I won't forget I just don't want this to end just yet, not just yet......and one look on J's face said that he wanted to stay a lot longer too.