We walked from our hotel on the Foreshore to the V&A (Victoria & Alfred) Waterfront. It used to be the major dockyards for the city but now has largely been gentrified and upgraded for tourists and locals alike.
The main docks are now elsewhere but it sometimes still gets some maritime trade.
Though we walked through relatively early on a Saturday morning, we saw plenty of people out jogging, cycling, even dragon boating.
At the end of August we headed for South Africa where Hubby had a week-long conference in Cape Town. I was lucky enough to tag along on what was my first visit to Africa.
Cape Town is dominated by Table Mountain. I’ve seen lots of images of the mountain and the city, but it wasn’t until I got there that I realised that the mountain was right in the middle of the city.
At just over 1,000 metres in height, it’s like having the Blue Mountains popping out of your backyard.
It dominated the city-scape and made for a very scenic backdrop.
It’s been a funny old Spring with the weather see-sawing between summer and winter. Some of the plants in our garden are a bit confused, but the ones that seem to thrive regardless are our grevilleas – this one in particular which flowered all through winter.
The local rainbow lorikeets particularly enjoyed this shrub. They hung around it for weeks on end. It made a particularly cheerful (and noisy) scene in the mornings and evenings.
Being deep in suburbia, it was really nice to have some native birds around the garden, even if it was only one kind. We even saw a bit of a mating ritual happening in our crepe myrtle.
Finished knitting projects for this winter were both for me! One has to be a bit selfish sometimes.
The major project this winter was this cabled jumper from a Pom Pom Quarterly pattern called Jean. I named it my Fisherwoman’s Jumper. The pattern wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be and the jumper is very comfy to wear.
My travelling project were another pair of Fika socks using some variegated yarn that I bought in Tokyo last year. These were some well-travelled socks, having travelled with me to the Kimberley and South Africa!
The crowning glory to visits to these parts was the view from Bald Hill in Stanwell Tops. It overlooks Stanwell Park Beach, the Sea Bridge, and the greater suburbs of Wollongong in the distance.
Such a view meant braving a few crowds and even a tourist bus, but concentrate on the scenery and even such inconveniences were tolerable.
On a cove north of the Sea Bridge is Stanwell Park Beach. Golden sands, a blue Tasman Sea, all hemmed in by green hills make this an ever photogenic beach.
This visit was in late July, but the temperature on the sand was warm enough to encourage some hardy souls to head for the surf.
Watch out for the rips, ladies!
It’s been a seriously long time since I visited the Illawarra coast line north of Wollongong. In fact, the last time I posted about the area was back in 2009!
Since then, the Sea Bridge at Coalcliff has become a bit of a tourist attraction, and on a day out with M, we decided to see what the fuss was about. We started the walk on the north end of the bridge, and walked down to the south end to get this view.
Just note that it was very windy there out on the bridge. The view of the coast was better when you’re walking south to north, but only in the morning/late afternoon/cloudy days. And do not attempt to do a ‘Titanic’, as we saw some Chinese tourists do in the middle of the bridge. I mean, really?
The end of the day came at our campsite at Windjana Gorge by the campfire.
It was made even more spectacular against the backdrop of the gorge. It became my final picture of the day.
The final day, we made our way back to Highway One, although there were still a few sights to see along the way, like this very long cattle trough at Myalls Bore.
By morning tea we were back on the Indian Ocean at Derby – a sleepy town compared to Broome with a long jetty, mud flats and 10 metre tides.
And by afternoon tea, we were back in Broome and ‘civilisation’ and the end of our fortnight in the Kimberley. I hope you enjoyed the journey. It was certainly more than a series of grand landscapes – it was a place of rich and deep history, too.
We’re on the final stage of Jandamarra’s story. After being severely wounded in the siege at Windjana Gorge, Jandamarra retreated into the hills and caves that he knew around the Napier Ranges. One of his hideouts was our next destination – Tunnel Creek. It was from here that he conducted more of his raids on the surrounding properties. The local police for years after had trouble locating him. We’ll soon see why.
We walked along a sandy track, and then around large boulders, down to the cave entrance.
It was cool, wet and sandy inside the cave. In fact, a creek flowed through it (hence the name). It’s a sanctuary also for freshwater crocodiles in places, though we didn’t see any.
The deeper we walked into the cave, the more interesting the cave formations were. There were even some micro bats living in the rafters of some places.
Half-way through, there was a part of the cave that had fallen in, giving us a glimpse of daylight.
And then more daylight – we reached the opposite end and had walked right through the Napier Range! Obviously, Jandamarra used this place to great effect after his raids. So effective was he many people thought that he held supernatural powers.
But he eventually ran out of time. The police eventually found his hideaway, and he was shot dead at the entrance of Tunnel Creek. He might have died almost 120 years ago, but his story has not been forgotten by the Bunuba people. Now others have the opportunity to learn of this piece of Australian history.
Entering Windjana Gorge, I immediately realised that this was a sacred place.
The high walls of the gorge kept out the heat of the day, and there was plenty of water, even in the dry. It’s a sanctuary for all sorts of wildlife, including freshwater crocodiles.
There were so many of them, floating like little logs.
Some got closer than others.
But despite the serenity of the place, this was where Jandamarra and his people (numbering fifty or so warriors it was said), fought the pastoralists and police in a bloody battle. Jandamarra was severely wounded, but escaped into the caves not too far away from here.
Static and Silence 