Next Update from Oz




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/ It seems like an age since I last did a diary update and I sense we shall be home before I get to complete it all. Still I think I left you last as we were just about to go and stay with my Auntie Jan for a couple of days. So here goes ........
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/ Wednesday 7th April
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/ Up at 7am today to shower, pack and get ready for our stay with Jan. Ju and Shu were up and about early as well and we all caught the same ferry across to Circular Quay. At the train station we said our goodbyes - it seemed a bit weird, as if our time here had gone really quickly. Still we get to see them again soon in the Red Centre - so no tears ! They will have left for their Easter trip to Jervis Bay before we get back from Jans. We caught the suburban railway from Circular Quay to Central. Safely there we found the Intercity train to Gosford was leaving from Platform 10. We were there a little early so we popped to the loo and then had a quick flick of the magazines in a shop. The train was due to leave at 9:17am but it was slightly late leaving and seemed to lose more time as we headed up to Gosford. We were due in at 10:32 but didn\'t arrive until 11am in the end. Jan was there to pick us up with was grand.
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/ We headed off in the red mobile for a grand tour of the whole area. We went up to a local lookout point and with the help of Jan\'s local map we managed to get our bearings. We were going to see the Brisbane Water Area, Broken Bay, Gosford, Patonga, Pearl Beach, Woy Woy, Ocean Beach Road, Teringa Beach and Woolamba beach - the last two being local to Jan and lovely. We grabbed some fresh rolls and fresh king prawns from a fish stall and headed onto a beach opposite the head of the river, I think it was called Hawksbury head. The prawns were delicious but after a while the wind whipped the sand up from the beach into our sarnies and prawns so we retreated to a picnic area just behind the beach to finish off our lunch. From here we set off on our tour going over the rip bridge to other secluded areas and beaches, some of which managed to keep the lifestyle they have always had. Others of which have been overrun now by yachties, actors etc moving in and building huge houses changing the character of fishing ports etc.
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/ By now Trev is complaining about lumps he can feel on his face. I finally turned round to see what all the fuss was about to see a very flushed Trev with large white lumps on his face. His skin looked stretched and taut - basically he didn\'t look in too great a shape. We stopped soon after this at a bay where Jan and family used to hire a house right on the beach front for the Christmas holidays. It was a lovely spot with a rocky headland where the strong winds whipped the sea up into a frenzy. By now Trev is looking quite uncomfortable and the bizarre spots/lumps are beginning to spread down his chest and arms. A debate broke out whether it was the prawns or the sand that had caused this reaction. I had some piriton with me so Trev took a couple of them. Sadly we didn\'t have a paper bag to put over his spot ridden face but fortunately the beach was empty. We all climbed about on the rocky headland looking at the pool that Gran and Penny used to swim in as it was much calmer than the sea. After here we stopped to see Gran\'s beach at Terringa Bay - another sheltered spot - before going along the front for a cup of tea. By now Trev\'s face was beginning to return to norma, well what passes as normal - which was a bit of a relief !
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/ We stopped briefly at Jans local beach before heading back to Webb Street to Jans place. Having parked the car in the garage we admired Jans backyard with its herbs and the like, before heading in for a tour of the house. With our bags popped in our room we settled down for a cup of tea and some raisin toast and had a good old natter. After a while we helped Jan to make dinner of Steak, Sausages, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, sugar peas, broccoli and carrot. It was fun all 3 of us being in the kitchen and very relaxing. Trev whistled up some gravy which after a bland start was rather delicious. The whole dinner was grand, washed down with a couple of bottles of wine. We then had cheese and biccies - some Tasmania cheese which was delicious !
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/ After we had tidied and washed up we sat down for a nightcap of Bundaberg Coffee Liqueur and a cup of tea. Trev was struggling to keep his eyes open so pottered off to bed. Jan and I finished our drinks, tidied up and weren\'t far behind him. It had been a long and exciting day.
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/ Thursday 8th April
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/ A nice leisurely start to the day. When I got up Jan was already up and about. We started to make tea and the like and Jan cracked on cooking tomatoes on toast. I sat and had a bowl of cereal before cooking myself some tommies. Finally Trev got up and wandered through. Jan bless her cooked him some tomatoes and egg on toast. After a quick cleanup and a pack of our things we set off for more adventures.
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/ We headed to a local animal sanctuary where we were going to have a guided tour. As we entered the Calga Springs Sanctuary we were immediately stalked by an emu ! He seemed to take quite a shine to us and we wondered whether he might take a chunk out of us. Jan wandered on unphased by the big bird, while Trev and I kept our beadies on him. He followed us up to the cafe area where we bumped into a very Australian young man. He seemed a bit shy to begin with but soon came into his element. We booked a guided tour with him and then just had to wait a while until he had finished cooking his muffins. It seemed he was shopkeeper, cook and guide all rolled into one. While we waited we mooched around the shop and then went back outside to see the emus again. While we were standing there a little Eastern Grey Kangaroo hopped into view, a real cutey.
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/ It wasn\'t long until we were met again by the guide, Brent, who asked us to follow him inside to meet Rodney, the pet Kangaroo. In the office laid under a desk on a nice comfy blanket was Rodney. The guide told us he had been hand reared after his mum had been killed by a car. We all had a good stroke, he was very soft, his fur being softer than I imagined. There was another chap in the office, an older guy who had been Minister of Culture and Minister of the Environment in his time. He told us he also was hand rearing a female roo at home who lived with them and their dogs. The only thing being you can\'t house train kangaroos. They asked us about our trip and he gave us some tips on Canberra - he was a huge fan of the place. We also saw some piccies of his roo at home hunkering down to eat next to the dogs - most odd !
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/ Then it was time to head off on the guided tour outside. Brent was more used to taking packs of school children around, but he soon got into the swing of things. He told us about the problems they were experiencing with their wildlife diminishing. This is as a result of a large population of foxes and wild cats. The cats can get up to a size of 13 kilos ! We also walked past some rather huge anthills with bull ants whose bites can be rather painful. Brent went on to tell us he was in a fight with his mate that evening. He hadn\'t trained for a while so was sceptical about how well he would do. He later told us he was a boxing trainer so that put it more into context. We then continued on our walk past some frog ponds. These had been put in by a telephone company that had ripped up a lot of the area when putting lines in and not made a great job of making right the ground.
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/ As we headed round the track we realised that we were being followed by an emu - clearly intent on getting us ! At the ridge of the walk there were aboriginal carvings in the rock. They were carved into sandstone so the erosion of the rock maed them shallower than they would have been in the past. One of them was a kangaroo. It is believed that the tail, feet and front paws all point to significant areas for the aboriginals, like water sites etc. There was also a mean looking boomerang which is thought depicts the area as a good one for hunting. Slightly further on there was another carving of a giant emu with short legs. This was thought to be an initiation sight for men as it overlooked the highest peak in the area. The mountain peaks were allegedly the sacred sights. The people from the sanctuary were hoping to be able to explore the mountain to see if there were any aboriginal sights there. They were waiting for permission to park close enough to do the research.
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/ The initiation ceremony for men was circumcission, knocking the front teeth out with a stone or skin scarring. Women were banned from such a site and if found there they were sentenced to death. Our final aboriginal site was in a carved out piece of sandstone, here they had used ochre to make hand prints on the rock. To do this they mixed water with the ochre, put some in their mouth and spat it out over their hand. They believed in doing this they became one with the land - it was a sacred ceremony for them.
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/ We continued on our way round into the more animal area of the reserve. The scenery was fantastic with gum trees and exposed rocks. We learnt about the different leaves on the trees and how they had evolved to help survive against the elements. They tended to be waxy and hard to stop water evaporation. We passed a gum tree - red gum. It was oozing sap, Brent stopped and made us try it. To begin with it tasted sweet like raspberry, quite nice ! Then the horrific after taste came which dried the mouth out and made it feel numb. In much larger quantities it is a local anethestic, making things go very numb. In a cut it has antisceptic and anti-bacterial affects and dried in crystal form and crushed to a powder it is good for diarrhoea. Altogether good stuff - but it didn\'t help the gross taste in our mouths. After the plant he had made us try earlier which was 100% glucose and very nice indeed it was a cruel joke ! After berating him we moved on and swiftly began to see lots of wildlife.
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/ There were Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Paddimelons, a couple of varieties of wallabies, the old man - who was an old kangaroo with a grey mohekan down his back, a broek finger and a dodgy eye. We also saw some red necked wallabies and the kangaroo that had started a fight with Rodney who had no idea what to do so ran and hid in the office. As we walked through the manager of the place had come out to feed them as for audit purposes he needed to count them. As such we saw lots of the animals as they all dashed out for the food. We even saw a paddimelon with a roo in its pouch which was really sweet. All too quickly we were back at the cafe and it was time to go. It had been a really fascinating tour, we had learnt a great deal about Australia and the Aborigines as well as seen the animals.
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/ From here we took the scenic route rather than the freeway to a place just round the corner from Brooklyn, Hawkesbury Head, where the river postman leaves from. We found an ideallic spot by the water and all had flathead fish, chips and salad for lunch - it was delicious and great to watch the activity on the water while we ate and chatted. No reaction from Trev this time on the seafood. After lunch we hopped back in the car ready to return to Sydney. As we got close to the freeway Jan asked if we would like to continue the scenic route or hop onto the freeway. We decided on the scenic route and as we drove along were amazed at the level of traffic on it. Jan told us it was unusual but we put it down to Easter Traffic. Then as we crossed the freeway we realised the reason for this, the freeway was solid. Looking at it I knew if Jan took us into Sydney she would be sat in traffic for hours. So a new plan was formed. Jan would drop us at the closest train station and we would head back via train allowing Jan to get home before the traffic got even worse. She had a camp to get ready for at the weekend. At Cowan station we said our goodbyes as the train pulled in and then we were off heading back to Sydney. We got back safely to Ju and Shus where we watched some TV, caught up on the diary and read about Western Australia before crashing out for the night. I omitted to say we tucked into an Easter Bunny which Ju, Shu, Bunts and Uncs had given us - delicious !
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