A long weekend

We went away as a family, firstly to Cessnock and then on to Gwandalan.

Whilst we were staying in Cessnock we visited a small village called Wollombi.  It had some really interesting buildings and lots of rust.  Guess what you're going to see now!!

There are more photos of rusty chains but I'll spare you!

The next day on our way from Cessnock to Gwandalan we went to a Putt Putt (Pitch and Putt) place where all seven of us played.  It was harder than I thought!

The Airbnb in Gwandalan was amazing.  The garden backed onto a saltwater lake - it looked like a lake but there was a small inlet from the sea.

There was everything there for the kids to play with so we didn't go out except for one visit to Caves Beach.  I didn't climb down the rocks to the entrance to the cave so I have no photos of its interior.

On our way back to Wollongong we stopped off to pick oranges.  I didn't know oranges grew in Australia.

We were now into our last few days in Australia.  Come back on Tuesday to find out what we got up to.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

New South Wales

Our son picked us up from Sydney Airport and took us to his new home in Wollongong.  The family had only moved in properly the evening before.

Our first outing was on the Monday when the whole family went to a pretty town called Berry.

On the way back we went to Kiama to see the Blowhole.

The next day Roger and I took the train from Wollongong to Hurstville.  We had views of the coast and of the Royal National Park.

The centre of Hurstville has some Art Deco buildings.

Plus a small Museum and Gallery housed in a Tudor style house built in 1929.

In May I had applied to the Artist in Residence programme for a place in 2026.  I heard at the beginning of September that I was successful.  I will be the Artist in Residence from 7th September to 2nd October 2026.  The museum provides a self-contained apartment which provides accommodation and a studio.

The purpose of the residency:
The Georges River Artist in Residence program allows artists time and space to explore new ideas and create new works, to experiment with their art forms and to interact with the local community through public programs. This residency aims to provide opportunities for artists to develop their work, while also contributing to Georges River Council’s cultural programs.

I have offered to run two mixed media based workshops on Identity.

We walked down to Carss Park where the apartment is.  It's the top floor of this building:

And this is the view from the apartment

Next door (an 85 metre walk) is a fabulous cafe that is open for breakfast and lunch.  I will need a lot of self-control to not eat there twice a day!  We had lunch there.

We got the train back to Wollongong and after picking up the grandchildren from their various holiday clubs we went to Shellharbour where we ate Sushi in a park. Of course, I couldn't resist taking photos of this rusty sculpture.

Plus the views on the way home.

Lots of adventures to tell you about on Saturday.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Last two days in Queensland

Our penultimate day in Queensland started with another fig tree.  This time the Cathedral Fig Tree.

Next, we went on a boat trip on Lake Barrine.

We walked the Mobo Creek Crater Walk.

We drove to Tinarro and walked along the dam

Our final day was spent driving from Yungaburra to Clifton Beach via Kuranda where we went on another boat trip and saw another waterfall.

After checking into our last night's accommodation, we drove further north to Port Douglas where we saw the sun set and we eat a Thai meal.

We got up early the next morning to get to the airport to fly to Sydney.  More on New South Wales next time.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice