Holy Cross Catholic is the oldest church on the Central Coast, and the 5th oldest church in the country in continuous use.
Built from lovely Hawkesbury sandstone, it sits on the sleepy Kincumber South peninsula, surrounded by water and fields.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Not Happy, Jan
The beagle slumped herself on the sofa. She was not amused. It was hot, humid, rainy; meaning no walks along the beach, and no chasing after birds and flies in the garden. But worst of all was the severe lack of attention paid to her that endless afternoon. One can almost hear her huff, “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me…”
Summer Blooms – More Treasures from a Sub-Tropical Garden
Let’s delve a bit deeper into BB’s garden, shall we? Apart from a variety of grevilleas, there are the usual suspects: bottle brush, a rather cute green kangaroo paw with a golden stimen. Not sure what the purple flowering bush is but the flowers are pretty with its white border.
But the crowning glory of the garden at the moment is rose and blue bromeliad. Spectacular, isn’t it?
Summer Blooms – Grevilleas
I’m continuing the Summer Blooms theme with a look around BB’s garden at Umina Beach, on the NSW Central Coast. BB has only lived at Umina for two years, but in that time he’s transformed the garden with a combination of natives, tropical blooms, and even a vegetable and herb garden.
He’s a big fan of the grevillea, since they are easy to grow and are hardy. They also come in many shapes and colours, as can be seen from these specimens in the garden.
Summer Blooms – Hibiscus
With all the rain, my garden is quickly growing into a jungle. But it’s a colourful one at that. I love the vibrancy of the hibiscus with its multi-coloured stimen.
Port Noarlunga Jetty
Unlike Adelaide and Melbourne, Sydney is rather bereft of long jettys like this one in Port Noarlunga, just outside of Adelaide. It’s a historical jetty, but one that is obviously well maintained. I like how the water is turquoise, and the planks and piers roughly weathered and mangled by shellfish.
On a Sunday morning, the jetty is a hive of activity with fisher-people, walkers, and in the water, divers, even on a cold, June day.
McLaren Vale
While scoffing a bottle of D’Arenberg GSM the other day, I was reminded of my long weekend in Adelaide, four years ago now. A group of us from Sydney stayed at KK’s place near McLaren Vale. We had met through the C19 forum, drawn together by our love of period dramas and good wine. Yes, they do go together superbly, especially on a cold winter’s day. We’d tasted some great wines that weekend, from both the Barossa and McLaren Vale. KK was a superb host, and although our group has drifted apart since then, I still have fond memories of that long weekend in the Vale.
Coastal Notes – A Dog’s Life
I’ve never had a dog. As a kid, whenever I asked my parents for one, the answer I inevitably got was, “Are you going to feed it, walk it, wash it, play with it, pick up its poo every single day?”
“Why? Aren’t you going to help?” I asked.
“No, since it’ll be your dog.”
Being an extremely pragmatic child, I wasn’t going to all the trouble of doing everything, even if it was the cutest dog in the world. So my childhood passed without a dog; in fact, without any pets at all, and this state of petlessness was sustained into adulthood.
But things change. I’ve now discovered the joys of dog walking on the beach. The dog is a ‘borrowed’ – very naughty beagle, who rejoices in digging holes and marking territory whenever and wherever she can – but her joy is infectious, even on a dreary, overcast day.
Fire in the Sky
Ah, Australia Day. Hot and humid during the day, it thankfully cooled down by the time we arrived at Carrs Park, Blakehurst, for an Australia Day dinner. The park was filled to the brim, with an eclectic mix Anglo, Asian, Arabic and Southern European families (with a few Africans for variety) – the usual mix around the inner south Sydney. And after dinner, everyone was treated to a pretty spectacular fireworks display – almost 10 minutes of it! So that’s where our rates go to…
Midsummer Walk – Flora
We found a lot of flowers blooming around the track mid-January:
Grevilleas, mini waratahs, the last blooms of the Christmas bush…
A few unnameable blooms, but most spectacularly, different types of banksias.
Static and Silence 