Sunday dawned to a beautiful crisp autumn day - a chill to the air, hinting at the cooler mornings to come.
I was delighted when my husband suggested that we take our neighbours to the beach for coffee and a walk. A 45 minutes drive later, we were sitting sipping our MacDonalds coffee, beneath the ageless Norfolk Pines that guard the foreshore parkland of Burleigh Heads, on the Gold Coast. The chill to the breeze, soon had us heading to the sunshine of the open beach. A shimmering aqua sea mesmerised us for the duration of our walk.
This was my 1st visit this year where the ocean wasn't angry.
We were quite impressed with this newly erected sculptured on the foreshore.
This wonderful morning, made me keen to return with my Tuesday walking buddies. Alas, the clear skies did not continue, but we were still able to enjoy our coastal walk of 15 k's.
The cloud cover was most unusual, creating a distant, but low horizon. The calm ocean and muted light created a tranquil atmosphere, which was equally enjoyable as Sunday's sunshine.
View from our starting point, to Point Danger, where we were headed.
A hopeful fisherman making footprints in the soft, fine, white sand.
Pandamus tree growing in the sand.
As we turned the point at Coolangatta, we looked back to the high rise jungle of the world famous Surfers Paradise.
The time of day is about midday, but it was difficult to tell with the low cloud and colour changes, as the sun tried to peep through.
Finally we reached Snapper Rocks, [world renowned to surfers] below Point Danger. Today the ocean was lazily meeting the shore, unlike an earlier visit.
Leaving the shelter of the bay as we rounded the point, the ocean became a little more energetic.
Our last leg soon had us leaving our footprints in the sand behind, as we delighted in the beauty of the Tweed River.
From here it was another 20 mins to my sister in law's home, where she kindly provided refreshments and then drove us back to our starting point.
Early Wet Wednesday saw me heading south of the border to my place of birth, Kyogle in New South Wales. After parking my car and joining my cousins at Beaudesert, we took the scenic 'Lion's Road', which winds through a narrow valley, crisscrossing a beautiful gurgling creek numerous times and climbs and winds its way over the MacDonald Range in the Border Range National park. This road was built by volunteers [my Grandfather and Uncle included] and is still funded by donations.
From being a rough narrow dirt road, it is now fully sealed and sadly the causeways are now all bridges, which makes for a quicker journey, but not nearly as enjoyable. Usually I cannot resist snapping shots of this wonderful area, but I was not in the driver's seat and it was raining.
On arrival in Kyogle, I was able to snap these European trees, sporting autumn leaves, against a back drop of our stately gums. Here in the tropics, summer just runs into winter, which is often as warm as some northern summers! Today everyone is complaining. We woke to 11 degrees C and the max is expected to be 18C. Winter is here.
The purpose of the visit south, was to lunch with the Cullen Clan - my Father's side of the family, who took up a selection at Afterlee [20 ks west] in 1901. Uncle Stan, 92, is the only member of that generation still alive. We try to meet as often as possible to hear him relate his wealth of stories from those early years. On this occasion our conversation centred on the fact a gold mining company is keenly interested in taking over the farm for open cut mining. I've added a clip of Uncle Stan talking on local TV.
On collecting him, we drove to a lookout over Kyogle that I had always wanted to visit. As you can see the rain was drawing closer.
Sunny Sunday, Tranquil Tuesday, Wet Wednesday - three very different days weather wise, but each equally memorable!
Happiness is............
Having time to sit beside a gurgling creek on the way to visit family.
Thanks for visiting. I'd love to hear your comments.
Now it's our turn for all the rain so your photos from your 15km coastal walk are a wonderful distraction for me. I got to visit Surfers Paradise for a week in October of 1999. I even flew over it in a helicopter. Although, I enjoyed seeing it from the perspective you shared above.
ReplyDeleteI am really liking your new blog Helen!
Thanks Alexandra. I watch the Banff web cam regularly since my son was working there and haven't been able to see anything the past few days. Hope it clears soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos Helen.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, Helen. It is interesting to see unique trees and the photo which appears to have Surfers Paradise suspended above the water. We have had a lot of rain recently where it has left far more snow at elevations where I would not have expected so much accumulation. We continue to expect the hiking season to begin soon at higher elevations. Enjoying your blog very much. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete