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Bye-bye dingo, farewell fish

Posted on February 25, 2015 by John

So the holiday is over. We had a lovely last day with a bit of swimming and some fishing. On Sunday I caught some small whiting and a baby flathead, then returned them unharmed to their watery world.

In the evening we headed out to look at the stars. They are spectacular in this part of the world because man-made light interference is not so bad away from the cities. Unfortunately there was a bit of cloud around. On the way back from the beach a dingo wandered across the road. We stopped and chatted to it and it seemed only a little wary of us.

Monday morning we packed up all our stuff, returned the keys and headed to the Boatshed cafe at Tea Gardens for breakfast. Lovely breakfasts there. It fortified us well for the 2 1/2 hour trip back home. It was lovely to have no traffic, no traffic lights, no traffic jams and no parking problems for the 12 days of our holiday. The cats were pleased to see us when we returned.

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Mt Kilimanjaro – photographic evidence!

Posted on February 25, 2015 by John

Now I’m home with good broadband, I can put pics on the blog more easily.

Therefore I pay tribute to the great mountaineering team of Arnott and Cook by putting their pictures here in my blog, which as you know, has thousands of faithful readers.

What’s next for the dynamic duo? May I suggest Everest – go for it boys.

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Jolly boating weather

Posted on February 21, 2015 by John

Thursday: a grey day, but warm and dry. We hired a little half cabin boat from the Tea Gardens boat shed and motored gently under the Singing Bridge towards the mouth of the Myall River.

The boat chap showed us on the map some good fishing spots and we headed for one of those. A few other small boats were there. We chucked in our lines with a delicious selection of live beach worms and frozen prawns.

Jan caught several fish, but they were all the horrid little toadfish, aka puffer fish. We chucked them back. I had a few nibbles, but no fish. Nobody else was catching anything either! Still, it was lovely and peaceful on the water with plenty of bird life to keep us interested. We even spotted the local dolphins cruising along the shallows.

We had a dip in the afternoon and walked to the local restaurant and bar for beer and pizza in the evening. Luvverly!

Friday: a morning swim and sunbathe. Then a treat – brunch at the Boatshed cafe. Bacon and poached eggs for me, Jan had something with green slime all over it – probably avocado. The tatty old boatshed has had a makeover with its waterside verandah extended. The food and coffee are very good and the genus loci hard to beat. We then wandered along the riverfront at Tea Gardens and watched the pelicans. I took lots of pelican pix.

Afternoon was spent on the golf course. A grey day again, but good golfing weather as it was only mid-20s, not too hot. I managed one par and was not bested by Jan this time. Jan was hitting some good shots as well.

Dinner was takeaway fish and chips.

Saturday: lazy morning reading the papers. Then a swim, then lunch, then more reading. Tonight is dinner at the lovely Tillermans.

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Kilimanjaro Conquered!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by John

Biggest congratulations to mates Steve Cook and Norm Arnott for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. A huge achievement. I might give it a go some time if the porters are allowed to carry you to the top!

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Swimming, cycling, golfing

Posted on February 18, 2015 by John

Weather has been good here in Hawks Nest, great for swimming in the mornings but getting windy in the afternoon as the sea breeze kicks in.

I gave fishing a rest for a while as we ate fish for dinner three days running. Did a bit more today, but just caught little ones and threw them back.

We played nine holes of golf. Lovely course here and not too hot with the breeze going. Jan plays once or twice a year. I have to admit that she beat me one one hole, scoring four on a par three to my five! Oh the shame! She’ll remind me of that occasionally I’m sure.

We had a beer outside the clubhouse and watched some school kids having a golf lesson on the range. It was very funny. Some of the bigger boys – seven or eight years old? – could wallop the ball quite well, but sometimes spun around completely. A couple of tiny girls could hardly lift the clubs and had to slide them along the grass in an attempt to make contact. Everyone was having fun.

Yesterday we hopped on our bikes and set off to ride 60 kilometres past Mungo Brush to Bombah Point and back. We started gamely, but we faced stiff headwinds along the way. I chickened out just past half way and we rode back. Still, it was a good 33 k ride. We showered then hopped into the car and drove there instead!

We took a tiny car ferry over to a cafe at Bombah Point and had some lunch. Then drove along a dirt road to Bulahdelah, then back to Hawks Nest via the highway.

Posting stuff on the blog and downloading the Sydney Morning Herald has blown out my phone data allowance (using it as a hotspot). There is free wifi at the local library so I’m about to try that.

Hey, WiFi works!

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