There were plenty of people about, even on a cool, blustery morning. Kids were paddling in the shallow. There was a group of (what looked to be) little nippers training, and of course the occasional surfer. Off-shore, the tankers/cargo ships were lined up like ducks on the horizon.
The vegetation was of the usual beach kind, with lots of pig face about. It was nice to see them blooming.
It was almost the end of winter when we took a Sunday drive to Shelly Beach. The beach is in between Terrigal and the Entrance, but is a world away from those crowded tourist traps.
Being book-ended by a golf course and a national park certainly helps keep things low key. It’s certainly a hidden gem on the Central Coast.
As with prior visits, I was fascinated by the change of seasons. The trees on the avenue were leaf-less, and the late afternoon light was very delicate.
The quality of light made simple things, like fence posts, special.
Even the contrasting textures of the wood, the moss, the barbed wire, the bolt, were beautiful.
It’s the little things that make winter special.
Back in August I was again at Jamberoo Abbey for another winter visit.
Last year the prayer yurt was a shambles after being blown over by a succession of storms. This year they rebuilt a more permanent structure.
It might be deep Spring, but I’m still knitting. I knitted these gloves to match my skirt. No real dramas this time – the pattern was as clear as crystal and the yarn more or less behaved. Unfortunately, I finished them too late to enjoy them, but I’m sure they’ll get a lot of use next year when hubby and I travel to Europe.
It really hit me that we were going home when we came to the edge of the Gregory River – the boundary of the Riversleigh fossil fields.
This was my last glimpse of the lush, green oasis by the Gulf rivers.
It was also exciting the slip through the water like that. And the water was relatively deep too.
Half way back to Mt Isa, we passed by the gates of this station. It reminded me of Mr Thornton in North and South.
We glimpsed a couple of cowboys mustering cattle in the dusty yards, but I was most curious about whether the station was founded by a Mr Thornton or not. It would be rather exciting if a Mancurian industrialist did turn pastoralist in the Australian outback. It would be quite a story, anyway.
And that is the end of my journey to the Gulf. I’ll be back soon with a post about somewhere much closer to home.
On the way, we saw plenty of Brahman cattle, the main breed in the Gulf Country.
They’re not incredibly elegant, but they are hardy, and seem to have more common sense than other cattle breeds. For example, when faced with approaching motor vehicles, they know to get out of the way quick enough. Even the little ones.
The end of the week came all too soon – it was time to go home. At Riversleigh, the palaeontologists bagged all their specimens.
And then put them in the 4WD’s to bring back to Adels Grove.
There, they put the bags on to palettes, which will eventually be taken back to Mt Isa, and then transported by train back to Sydney.
For them, it’s really just the beginning of their discoveries – the extraction, and then the identification and write up are all still ahead. They certainly have enough work to tide them over until next year’s trip to Riversleigh.
Boodjamulla (formerly Lawn Hill) National Park, is actually a very large place. It encompasses both the gorge area, Riversleigh fossil fields and beyond, all the way to the Northern Territory border.
A mere kilometre or so from the gorge, the landscape once again turns dry.
The geologists can’t help having a squizz at the rocks.
I was more interested in the flora. There were, once again, long wattles.
But I was more fascinated by this tree.
And the mottled bark pattern on its trunk.
Was it caused by insects or naturally occurring?
All too soon, it was time to head back downstream. There was no shortage of people going the other way.
We saw a few interesting things along the way, like an entrapped creature in a spider web.
And cave paintings (Hubby thinks it’s of a turtle).
All in all, it was a lovely afternoon in a wondrous place.
Static and Silence 