Category Archives: 🦋 Retirement

Activities, places and photos where retirement takes us.

Cruise time

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With the floods receded and the weather beautiful, we decided to take a dolphin sighting cruise.
My dear friend, Lyn at The Call of the Pen is visiting for a few days.
To our surprise, we were the only ones on the dining room level of the boat until lunch. There were only a few small groups in other areas. At a quick count, there was probably only a dozen on board. No problem here with Social distancing.
As you can see, even zooming in we could barely see the white breasted sea hawk. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any dolphins.
Some of the debris from the floods are still coming down river.
Many of these prestige homes were under water to at least first floor just a few weeks ago.
Going over the sand bar where the river meets the ocean.

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ECO River Cruise

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Today we took in the views from the Port Jet Eco River Cruise Boat.
It was the perfect day with lots of sunshine and clear skies.
The Hasting River Oyster farms were scattered along the route.
An old Sydney ferry waiting to be renovated for river cruises.
This old place was once used by oyster farmers.
Now fish, oysters and other marine life attached themselves to anything submerged.
Mangroves appear as nature intended up and down the north side of the river.
An Osprey watched all the humans floating by in the cruise boat.
Pelicans were the only other birds we sited.
Oyster farms, mangroves and then the mountains in the background made the perfect view.
Under the only bridge connecting the southern shore to the northern shore.
Captain Jake at the helm.
Osprey Nest.
Jodie a wildlife photographer was on board and told us this is a Female Osprey.
Bridge crossing the Hastings River.
Norm took a great photo here of a couple of many pelicans we saw on the two hour cruise.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of resident dolphins or other wildlife which we were assured by the crew was unusual. Perhaps it was the relaxing afternoon that kept them home.

Photos by Norm and Chrissy Siggee.

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A Summertime Christmas

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I see a lot of winter Christmas posts and they’re all wonderful but I thought some photos of a summer Christmas needs to be shared.

It’s our 2nd Christmas at our new home but because we only moved in a few weeks before Christmas last year we didn’t decorate much.
Simple decorations in a little house can look good too.
Poinsettias are common here too.
Outdoors is where you will find us most days.

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In the trees

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But up here it’s amazing.
Sometimes we just wanted to stay awhile.
One of the many huge staghorn ferns we saw.
Amazing trees. Huge and very old.
Now that’s a big tree. We were close to the end of the walkway and close to the ground. We couldn’t see the top of this one.
The base of this one wouldn’t fit into the camera viewer.
We could hear the roaring of the waves of a nearby beach.

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Photos by Norm Siggee

Mathematics and the Cheese Board

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While we were visiting Timbertown a few weeks ago, Norm and I spent some time looking at items made by a local wood craftsman. I mentioned to Norm that I would love a large cheese board but we found nothing that I liked or big enough. Norm said he could try and make one. This seemed a good idea because now that he’s retired he is often looking for something to do but this was not one of his academic projects. We were given the phone number of the suppler who invited us to his property to view his huge shed full of all his wood. Well, I fell in love with some beautiful pieces but they were much too big. We were able to take one home to see if would work but we returned it because it was too much work for Norm who had never attempted anything like this. As you can see all his measurements and calculations went out the window.

Then it was sanded and lacquered on both sides. This took another four days. In the meantime, Norm cooked meals outside on the BBQ or in the pizza oven.
The final look.

Not bad for an academic’s first handyman project except I still need a cheese board.

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Three days in Coffs Harbour

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We took a few days away to visit some of our favourite places and new places too. One of our favourites is the Butterfly House.

These are just some of the butterflies we encountered.
Another favourite is The Clog Barn and the miniature Dutch village.
Clogs are made and sold on the premises. I couldn’t resist the photo with the eastern water dragon that likes to sunbathe or take a shot cuts over the houses.
Day 2 we drove up to the sky pier that gives a panoramic view of Coffs Harbour.
As you can see, Norm had charge of the camera. We were the only ones on the sky pier. We then headed for the break water.
At the end of the breakwater we decided to continue the 2 kilometer/ approximately 1 1/4 miles UP 40 metres/ approx 130 feet above sea level to the to of Muttonbird Island.
Views from half way point. Zoomed in of course.
Yes, way up there is where we went.
While walking the break wall we booked a table for lunch. I had a fresh tuna steak with an amazing salad and Norm had roast duck. We both decided on this Mango cheese cake for dessert. It’s so good for a gluten free dessert.
Day 3 we visited the botanical gardens.
We walked several paths and board walks during the hour we were there.

My apologies if the photos are out of a alignment. I haven’t got these new WordPress changes worked out yet.

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Old Timbertown

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A day’s outing took us to Old Timbertown in Wauchope. With the school holidays over it was a quieter day with very few visitors. Just the way we prefer it. It was nice to wander around with no itinerary.

The old water wheel in working order.
This is Honey, a young Llama with plenty of freedom to roam the town.
A draft horse being hitched on to a wagon. We didn’t hear the name .
The steam engine is powered by timber from the saw mill.
We couldn’t resist a ride.
Magic, another draft horse.
mmm…. it was tempting to leave him there. 🙂
An old steam tractor looking sad.
Old Fire Station.

We bought a few bottles of Timbertown’s red wine and a carved fruit bowl from one of the merchants. The blacksmith was just tinkering but was fascinating just the same. Stepping back in time for a day into the late eighteen hundreds and it’s slow life style made for an interesting day.

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It’s that time of year again!

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I’ve never had so much space to work on my favourite craft and not have to pack up so we have room to eat. I can leave it out ready for the next time I have a spare hour or two.

oops. A little blurred but you can see that I’m making Christmas cards. I’m also making January Birthday cards.

Some finished. Others I need more craft material. Our local craft store has closed temporary because their stock is sitting on the wharf in Sydney where the dock workers are having a strike. Ebay may be my only hope to finish them in time for Christmas mail out.

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Overnight trip to the Hunter Valley

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We stayed in the beautiful Hunter Valley after meeting my newest great nephew.
These photos were taken from the front door to our cabin.
We stayed at the Leisure Inn at Pokolbin Hill
It was very quiet and we saw very view people but there were a lot of cars in the car parking area so we assumed the place was fairly full.
Before setting out for a meal with our daughter, son-in-law and our three teenage grandchildren we took this photo below. It was a beautiful day.
We only stayed the one night but it was very restful.

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Solar System Challenge

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I decided to do this jigsaw while watching Voyager in the late afternoons.

Solar x 1

After connecting the outer border I decided to work on Saturn first.

Solar x 2

The table runner wasn’t making things easy. It was a bit of a trick to remove.

Solar x 3

By Friday, I was impressed with my efforts.

Solar x 4

Monday evening I finished just as Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant.

Solar x 5

I decided to leave the completed puzzle as part of the decor; at least for awhile.

Solar x 6

I slid the puzzle off the clear table protector and placed it on top.

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First Touch

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One question I’m repeatedly asked as a tour guide at the Koala Hospital is: what does a koala feel like to touch? Well, there’s very few volunteers that have the training to work directly with the koalas so I had no idea how to answer until I had the importunity to pat one at the nearby Billabong zoo.
Chrissy's first pat

🦋 Retirement