It was nice to get away for a few days last week. These are just a few photos we took while roaming Charlesworth Beach in Coffs Harbour N.S.W. Our time away was relaxing and enjoyable. Pool, gym, spa and walking. Oh, and of course a little bit of shopping.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

We have just returned our granddaughter, Amelia, to her home in Sydney after a full week of non-stop activities. We explored wetlands, visited aircraft and historical museums. We also visited the Koala Hospital, a Butterfly House, indigenous art galleries and walked on a sky bridge high on a mountain. We went whale watching on a catamaran and did lots of hiking. Amelia also got to swim with dolphins. We took hundreds of photos – many we haven’t sorted through as yet. Now, for a week of sleep.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

A 2 man job. Takes 2 hours. – Well in theory, and if the instructions are clear. It’s been a worthwhile project though and with the assistance from a couple of neighbours it’s almost completed. The sliding doors are all that needs to be added and Norm is doing this as I’m writing. I’ll post an update when it fully assembled. I’ll be able to keep all my gardening tools, pots, bits and pieces a whole lot tidier.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

Last week we traveled about 90kms north of home to do a little sightseeing. We stayed the night and travel home late Saturday.

We were there just long enough to decide we would like to visit another time. Perhaps for three or four nights. My favourite place was the Shell Shop to which I will definitely revisit.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

On Thursday May 30th 2024 we finally returned to Tamborine Mountain in Queensland for a visit. The first gallery shows just a few random photos of the many we took in the main street.

The highlight of the day trip was our bush-walk to Curtis Waterfall. My greatest achievement was descending and ascending the numerous steps. My new knee held up well. I’ve also limited photos in this gallery being mindful to my media page GB usage. There’s more in my Facebook holiday album.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

Last week Norm and I spent a few days relaxing in Hunter Valley Wine Country. We didn’t take a lot of photos because we just wanted to enjoy our time away. We did take these three photos at Ivanhoe Winery. There’s better photos here: https://ivanhoewines.com.au/ – Click on ‘About’ then ‘Gallery’ on their website. It’s a stunning place.

We also visited Pokolbin Cider House where we tasted new varieties of cider before purchasing a six pack to take home.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

Last week we had four days away in Coffs Harbour. We visited local places of interest and the Clog Barn but mostly we just lazed around the resort we stayed in.

On Wednesday we attended a workshop at Coffs Harbour Nursery. We learned a few new things about growing vegetables and herbs in pots as well as confirming ‘most’ of our knowledge was correct. Norm took notes.

Most of the time though we just lazed around. The room we stayed in was the ‘Presidential Suite’ and we were well spoiled. The suite would be easily than our whole house and land. It’s bathroom was huge and the large spa bath was used every day. The kitchen was spacious with plenty of room to cook together.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel + Retirement

We spent the morning cleaning away winter clutter and sticky dust.

We also pulled out the gurney and cleaned the tiled area.

With the weather warming up, we hope to cook and eat outside more often…

and entertain outdoors.

With the table being extendable, and 6 extra chairs, we can cater for up to 10.

Yes, I think we’re ready for Summer.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel and Retirement

With my knee keeping me indoors most evenings and a knee replacement surgery not until late November, I’ve started making 2023 Christmas cards. This year’s theme is poinsettias. It took me a few weeks to make the individual flowers in various sizes. Not every evening but at least three nights a week. I had my craft supplier assemble the tiniest poinsettias for me. These days my fingers can’t cope with the finer work. Every card is, and will be different in one way or another so everyone will receive a unique card made for them. Sixteen done and another forty or so left to create. I hope I don’t run out of ideas.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

We spent a few quiet days up the coast late last week in Coffs Harbour.

Above and below are photos we took on our early morning walks.

And below: the photos were taken at the Japanese Garden in the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden.

North Coast Regional Botanic Garden – Coffs Harbour

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

Four days away in Coffs Harbour was relaxing and fun. On the final day, we took a walk down to Charlesworth Bay for a beach-combing expedition. The sun was bright and the breeze warm. A truly beautiful autumn day.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

Yesterday, May 9th here in Australia, we had a “surprise” visit from our eldest daughter Cyline, eldest grandson Evan and one of Norm’s nieces and her husband Andrew. They all live over 2 hours away so it was an unexpected visit by Norm who turned 70. I knew about it but not the details. It was difficult to keep Norm at home and away from his BBQ kitchen without explaining why. He had even suggest we went to Bunnings. When I declined he said he could go alone. Bunnings would have been a dead giveaway because they had all met up in the Bunnings car-park just 2 minutes away before all driving in together. Oh yes, and they brought all the food and the caramel birthday cake – Norm’s favourite kind of cake.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

Last week I promised to explain why the outdoor kitchen divider was in front of the clothes line. The past 10 days have been rather busy and messy around here. These photos will show the work we have had done on our long undercover driveway and the footpath on the other side of the house.

First was the repair and grind.

Then a sand. The foot path on the other side was also repaired grind and sanded too.

The prep and first coat of cement rendering took quite a while to dry and giving a few days to blend.

The second cement render took another day and a half before Jake the tradesman could walk on it to roll the first sealing coat. We decided on the roll-on instead of spray because of the close proximity of neighbours and also it would be 3 years before a reseal instead of 1 year with the spray.

The final coat of the sealer went on 3 days ago. 1 more day before the sealant will have had time to cure. Once it’s cured we can start washing the dust off the walls and side gardens. It will be another 3 weeks before we can start placing things like the divider and herb pots back in place. Then it will be ready to bring the car back in. Climbing over the gnomes in the front or out the backdoor, past the clothesline into next door to use the neighbours footpath is not fun but it will be all worth it.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement & Travel

Today is my birthday so I decided I would have to better last year’s swimming with dolphins outing.

Port Stephens N.S.W. has a Shark & Ray Rescue Centre but now they also have a butterfly room.

Injured and surrendered reptiles are also a new additions.

There’s also an out walk-in bird aviary which also has a turtle pond. Unfortunately, the water was stirred up with heavy raindrops. So no turtle photos in the pond. However, this cheeky one decided he liked to sit on my head.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

I actually started in December when I made Birthday cards for three family members and a friend who have their birthdays in the first few weeks of January. Now I’ve completed a few of each – male, female and a couple of children’s cards – although I’m yet to make and cards for the younger boys. Our eldest grandson will be 18 in February but he loves penguins. I do have a shop bought card with a photo of a group of penguins on the front so I might give him that one. Does anyone know if a “group” of penguins is correct or is there another name?

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

Here are some more photos of our week’s holiday in the Hunter Valley.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

After doing a little grocery shopping this morning we decided to head back to Harrigan’s for lunch before visiting the Cider House. Thankfully we were sheltered by the hot sun while we shared a paddle of three tasting size ciders and the taste of a local red wine.

The cheese platter was delicious and made to fit our taste and my allergies.

This child size house looked so adorable.

It was empty so we supposed it was for children to visit while their parents tasted.

Archived in: 🦋 Travel & Retirement

If there’s one thing I like to do, and I can do it more now in retirement, it’s card making. Throughout the year I make birthday cards for special people in our life. Now that Christmas is not to far away, I have set aside October to make the Christmas cards which are to be posted. I don’t know about where you live but our slow mail is really slow. It took two weeks for my daughter’s wedding anniversary card to reach her place just over 2 and half hours away by road. We could have delivered it in person if it wasn’t for being unable to travel that far yet.

Archived in: Retirement

This morning’s weather was loads better than recent weeks. The sun was shining and very few clouds to spoil the blue of the sky. The chilly wind off the mountains in the west also had ceased.

The Coastal Walk was tempting but beyond the Breakwall it gets rather rocky for walkers as well as rollers. That is – Not friendly for prams wheelchairs, roller skaters and skate boarders. Norm is improving with his steering but occasionally I almost get flipped out of the wheelchair or bogged. 🙂 All fun.

The painting on rocks along the Breakwall has been around for quite a few years. Some I saw were dated back in the late 1990s. Graffiti is rarely seen here which is probably why the rock painting began in the first place. People tend to respect other people’s art work; no matter how bad it is. Some people wrote commemorative messages for pets, family members a or friends. I wish I could show more but there’s way to many photos for WordPress.

On our return along the Breakwall we stopped for coffee and dessert at one of our favourite eating places – the Pancake Place. A very bright place to eat.

On our return along the Breakwall we stopped for coffees and desserts at one of our favourite eating places – the Pancake Place.

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Forever and Always. I’m so blessed to have you as my wonderful husband. You’re my best friend, my partner in life, my husband, my hero, my love…my everything. You make me so happy just by being the man and the husband you are. Even after all this time, you never stop amazing me. – Happy Birthday!

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It’s been two days since we returned from a two day break in beautiful Port Stephens. The weather was nice with just a few showers over night. This is where we stayed. This photo is a photo of an advertising photo taken from the other side of the golf course. The apartment we stayed in was on the first floor facing the golf course in the building centre right of the photo – one of the taller buildings with the triangle frame at the top.

On the first morning we took a ten minute drive to Nelson Bay where we enjoyed a quiet coffee while we waited for the ferry to take us to a little riverside town named Tea Gardens.

The ferry was pretty old but it added to the glamour of the trip. There was only half the passenger capacity so social distancing wasn’t a problem and the captain, and one crew man, were very informative.

With the swells being quite high through the heads, it was not easy trying to stand let alone holding a camera and taking photographs. These are just a few photos taken on the way to Tea Gardens.

After some window shopping, we wandered around to read the lunch menus on various cafe and restaurant windows. We settled on the Seagrass Cafe with gluten free options. I ate just over half of my meal. Norm ate all of his and almost the rest of mine.

The Singing Bridge was named after the hand-railed pedestrian fence that had been installed. Apparently when the wind blows, from a certain direction at around 80 kilometres an hour, a very loud whining can be heard up and down the river until the wind lessens and changes direction. On the first occurrence, those who heard it were quite frightened by it. We didn’t get to hear it though.

The outing took just over three and a half hours with our return ferry ride being escorted at one time by a lone dolphin. We did see a few dolphins leaping out of the water some distance away on the trip out too.

Most of the time away was just to relax and watch the day go by. Returning home on Good Friday would have been OK except for road works that backed up traffic. We discovered just over this hill, two lanes suddenly became one. This photo was taken when the traffic came to a dead stop. We then proceeded at a speed of 2-4 km an hour for the next 5kms. As soon as we passed the roadworks, the traffic disappeared.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

We have been in this beautiful town of Coffs Harbour since Sunday March 13th. We have so far visited the dolphin and marine research centre, a pebble beach, walking trails, spa, swimming pool and restaurants.

We also visited the Honey Place today but no photos. The information on beehives and whole honey process was very interesting. We’ll be here in Coffs Harbour for another three days. When we return home, there will many, many photos to sort through.

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What did I do on my 65th Birthday? Swim with a dolphin, of course.

She’s teaching the dedicated team of vets and researchers more than they can teach her.

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I have always wanted a white picket fence. Because we live in an over 50’s lifestyle village, there are rules for height and colour etc. The local Bunnings store had these garden surrounds made from treated pine.

Day. 1 & 2. Painting the pieces.

Day 3. Joining the pieces together and marking the location of where each spike will go.

After we had eaten Norm’s wonderful roast beef dinner cooked to perfection in the outdoor kitchen the rain came down in force. It was such a heavy rain we couldn’t see the new fence from the front window.

Over the next few days, I’ll touch up where the ends were cut as well as hiding the screw heads with white paint.

A job well done, Norm. Your handyman skills are improving.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Archived in: Retirement

I hope you enjoy some of the animals I met on one of my morning walks this past week.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

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.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

A beautiful morning.

A beautiful beach.

Cool wet sand.

A quiet place.

Two cameras.

Beautiful pebbles.

And shells.

Dead coral?

Strange rock shapes.

Here and there.

End of the beach.

Enjoying the view.

Clear water.

So weird. 🙂

A very enjoyable morning at the beach.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Photos by Norm Siggee

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.

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

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

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.

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

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

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.

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.

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Some not so great and some tougher memories of 2020.

Drought

Water restrictions

Broken pipes

Broken garden tools

New plantings during Covid19 lockdown

New plans

Painting

Compost making

Finding new hobbies through a Covid19 winter

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

Archived in: 🦋 Retirement

It’s whale season here on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Whales head north to warmer waters from the Antarctic to breed and give birth. Just a few days ago, we were taking the ocean road to head home the long way when I spotted a whale breaching of the coast. We parked the car at one of the lookouts and enjoyed the view. Unfortunately, we left our camera at home. Today we set off with the right equipment but sadly they were 15 to 20 kilometres off-shore. Even the long distance lens didn’t help. We met a gentleman who is one of the official whale counters who told us that 396 whales passed the headland and just a couple of kilometres off the coastline yesterday. Sadly, these are the best of 50 photos we took today.

Because you have read this far, I shall reward you with a few photos taken back in June 2016 – three years before we moved here. We had brought my dad up here from Sydney for a holiday. The whale watching cruise was the highlight of his trip. These whales came within 20 feet of the boat with one coming up alongside the boat to check out the humans.

Note: Boat owners are not allowed to approach whales but sometimes the whales come to the boat so engines are switched off to wait for the whales to move on.

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With some COVID-19 restrictions lifted, a drive to the lake and coast was the best thing we could have done. Better still, all this is just 15-20 minutes from our front door.

Archived in:  Pre- Retirement