Whale of a Day

What an amazing day Whale Watching we arrived at Fingel Bay on Friday around lunch time then went straight down and boarded a Whale watching tour, boy we were in for such a treat, the three hours turned into a Whale watching carnival, breaching and playing in front of us we did not know which way to look just amazing.  Brian took this photo love it !!!We saw a mum with her calf, males showing off in front of females, also dolphins and seals what a day 

Today Saturday we walked across from Fingal Bay to Fingal Island, it can only be accessed when the tide is out. We walked up to the lighthouse and it was well worth it. When we reached the top we could again see heaps of whales passing by so blessed 

It sure is a beautiful part of the world, we have been so lucky with the weather, it is a bit chilly in the morning but we soon warm up when we start to walk, today we have walked 16,000 steps, quite hard going sometimes on the sand for me.

Tomorrow we hope to get on our bikes and have a look around, there looks like there is a bike track next to the side of the road near our camp site so that hopefully will be another fabulous day before we have to head back to Sydney for a week or so

Talk soon 

Seal Rocks, Dolphin & Whale Watching

We have spent the last couple of days at Seal Rocks, what an amazing little place, every morning we have watched the dolphins straight across from our camp site, they are very fast and very playful in the surf. The weather has been amazing can’t believe Brian and I have been in shorts and Tee Shirts, but not complaining 

The last two days we have walked up to Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse and watched the whales go past on there way north, I have never seen so many at one time, loved it. I didn’t get any close up pictures but I think Brian got a few .

It was about a 2km walk up too the lighthouse but absolutely worth it, we then had a walk down to the beach at that side, not as sheltered and a lot more rouged lots off Rocks to climb 

We sure are getting in a lot off walking, but i must confess I did have an ice cream on the way down but i think i deserved it.

We will be moving tomorrow to Fingel Bay for three days before we have to go back to Sydney for a couple off appointments. We hope to get out on a whale watching tour as the weather has been so good the sea just so calm so fingers crossed.

We are sure enjoying the coast each place we have stayed has its own charm, no complaints about any of the sites all very well maintainedThe Sunliner has behaved its self and we are getting better at setting up and packing up to go on to the next place, we are stocking up on food about every three to four days, so lots of fresh fruit and veggies eating very well and mainly healthy !! Brian and i are both enjoying our traveling so far so good next stop Fingel Bay

See you all soon in Fingel Bay Dawn & Brian

Great to catch up with the Locals

We had a great couple of days at Hawksnest & Tea Gardens we had close encounter with kookaburras it just sat and posed for me love it. They have been our alarm clock each morning plus a dingo howling but we have not been lucky enough to see him. We have had a walk on the beach every morning then a bike ride in the afternoon so keeping nice and fit. I also had a close encounter with a Pelican I came up to me looking for food !!! I gave him a bit of fish then told him to go catch his own

We have seen Dolphins ever time we have been down to the beach feeling so very lucky they make my day. Ok I know the picture is not that good but they are hard to photograph lolBrian & I have enjoyed our first week in the Sunliner, we are getting into a little routine and learning stuff everyday.  We are moving to Seal Rocks tomorrow for three night, it’s frustrating that we can’t go far as I have an appointment in Penrith on the 12th & 19th of July that I have too attend but that’s ok, we are having a good time and as I said learning heaps about each other the Sunliner, and enjoying every experience. 

I am loving getting out on my bike, and managing not to fall off in the last two days is a big plus lol

Yesterday unfortunately Brian got a puncture hence the sad face but we pushed the bikes back to our camp and Brian had it fixed in no time. A lot easier to fix than the van was thank goodness and back out on it today 
I am sure we will be back to Jimmy Camp site really is a very nice place, talk to you from Seal Rocks
Happy Travels Everyone 

Dawn & Brian

TW3 – That Was The Week That Was (addendum)

 

We had 3 nights in Dubbo and then on Thursday the 29th we headed off to the lovely coastal town of Hawks Nest. NSW school holidays started on the 30th and we were wondering how busy our chosen Tourist Park would be – we needn’t have been concerned. The North Coast Holiday Parks site at Jimmy’s Beach in Hawks Nest is beautiful, immaculately clean and tidy and located in a fantastic position Jimmy’s Beach. Hawks Nest sits on a narrow neck with the Pacific Ocean at one side and the delightful Port Stephens on the more sheltered side.

The photographs speak for themselves  – every day we have seen pods of dolphins. The ocean is always in motion and it has been a mixture of windy/heavy swell to flat and mill pond – or as flat as The Pacific Ocean can be…

Dawn on the white sand

Pelicans are everywhere in this lovely place

This is the Port Stephens side – lovely sheltered waterways

Hello Love

Seaweed in the swell

3 metre swell

Goodbye July 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful sunset

From Dubbo To Hawksnest

We drove across from Dubbo too Hawknest on Thursday, arrived at our campsite and very pleasantly surprised, every thing you need very clean, friendly staff, spacious place to park the Sunliner, all good. Even had a couple of good BBQ’s

Brian and i have had a good couple of days, still getting used to the Sunliner but no major issues so pleased about that.  We have done a couple of walks on the beach which is on the doorstep. One side is very calm the other side very rough, the waves have been bashing in as it has been very windy, that did not stop us though we got rugged up and off we went to take some pictures.

I did get a bit carried away and the waves came crashing around my feet and yes i fell over and got very wet !! I know i am making a habit of falling over, no I didn’t hurt my self but was pleased with some of the pictures I captured 
I feel so at home when i am on the beach and near the sea, it could be because i am a Pisces !!!!  We even got to see Dolphins yesterday as we were walking along the beach, they didn’t hang around for long but they made my day.
There are two different ways down to the beach, one side is sheltered one not so the pictures i took were very different 

I was like a child today collecting shells, and i found these i think they are shark eggs
Brian and i are going to get the bikes out tomorrow if the wind drops, we will cycle round to Tea Gardens (i will try not to fall off)  and we will check this place out hopefully there will be some markets on, looking forward to another good day tomorrow 

That’s all for now Brian & Dawn

Back On The Road

Well we have finally got back on the road, had a short drive to Wellington caves on Monday, then on to Dubbo to look around the Zoo Yesterday and today. Yesterday was so cold and today very wet but we still enjoyed our time, we cycled around yesterday which was great, apart from me falling off my bike into the mud nearly destroying my camera, but Chris managed to clean it up and saved the day. (No I didn’t hurt my self ). Today we went down in Chris’s car as too wet to cycle.We got to the Zoo quite early so not many people around, we had the baby elephants too ourselves I could watch it all day soooo cute. He was throwing dust around and rolling in the mud having a ball in the rain just gorgeous 

It was our first time at the Zoo and at Wellington Cave both well worth a visit. The accomodation is nice at Wellington Cave not as busy as the Big 4 Park in Dubbo but both nice and clean and well kept. 

One of the Caves and the old Mine we went into on Monday
We said goodbye to Chris today, cant thank him enough for all he has done in the last month will miss him heaps 

Our next stop will be Hawkes Nest looking forward to seeing the sea 

Return of the Sunliner, Re Start Our Trip

Yay at last we have picked up the Sunliner, all back to her sparkling self

We are packing up the Sunliner once again, cleaned her all inside, cleaned the fridge, repacked the cupboards etc

Beding and towels all washed and ready to go back in, went and did some shopping restocked the cupboards, heading to the farmers markets on Sunday to restock the fridge and then we will head out on Monday 

We are going to go to Dubbo and stop at the Zoo as we have always driven through but never stopped, we are planning to cycle round weather permitting give me a chance to try out my new bike again

It will be hard to leave my kids again, thank goodness for FaceTime, was lovely to catch up with Ayshea and Phil and Chris

I would like to say a big thank you to Chris for letting us stay out his place, it has been great, thanks for taking me out bushwalking and cycling you sure have had a lot of patience with me lol     love you heaps will miss you loads xxx

Ayshea and Phil and Isabel always good to catch up with your little family, got in a couple of extra visits and meals out which i never say no too lol.   Love you all to the moon and back will miss you beautiful girl xxxxx
We are going to dinner with our good friends tomorrow night Geoff and Bhajan always puts on a good meal, it feels like we have done this all before lol hope this time our trip lasts a bit longer, always good to catch up though xx
Thank you to our friends that have helped us out with cars and lifts we have been very lucky to have such good family and friends that have been there for us.

Well my next post we should be on our way feeling very excited but a little sad hate saying goodbye 


Stay tuned Dawn xxxx

From The Mountains Too The Sea

June Long Weekend, well we thought we would be up in QLD for the Long Weekend but still waiting for the Sunliner to be fixed

We did make the most of the lovely weather though, Brian bought a new camera to replace the one that was stolen, so Chris took us up to Lawson in the Blue Mountains on Sunday to give it a go, there are quite a few different waterfalls on the track we walked along one of them been Cataract Falls. (These are the photos i took Brian will post his later)

The walk is about 2 hours normally but with all the stops for photography we doubled that lol but well worth it great day out.

Chris taking some shots of the waterfall, he does an amazing job so was good to have him come along and give Brian some tips

We saw lots of different fungi some stunning colours, and the colours in the leaves just glorious this time of year.

Chris also spotted this tiny birds nest in the tree

Monday Brian and I decided to do the Clovelly to Bondi Coastal walk its a great walk very popular especial when its a very pleasant 19 degs. We walked to Bondi had fish & chips then walked back a good 10km walk 

This is the start of the walk at Clovelly gorgeous little beach 

We are about halfway round in this shot, we spotted some whales but just the spray from their blow holes as they were quite far out, love whalesmakes my day i always look out for them hoping one will pop up and put on a show

I could smell our Fish & Chips by the time i got to here, Bondi is a very popular place for locals and visitors but we managed to get a table and devoured our late lunch, we hung around for an hour or so before heading back to Clovelly to the car.

Hopefully my next Blog will be good news and we will have the Sunliner back !!! Fingers Crossed hope you all had a lovely long weekend 

Day trip to Davistown

Well some GOOD NEWS, we have finally got the Sunliner into the repairer at Smithfield, near Parramatta they are working on it as we speak so hopefully not long now before we are back on the road and can continue with our Trip Around Australia.

We decided to pay our daughter Ayshea and her partner Phil and Isabel a visit on Sunday as it was a lovely sunny day, we got up early and Chris drove us to the station as we decided to travel by train for a change up to Gosford. I have not done this trip before by train and was pleasantly surprised how quickly the journey passed and how beautiful the countryside was.

Chris didn’t come with us as he was coming down with a cold and was not well at all.

Ayshea picked us up at the station, it is always lovely to see her, she drove us out to have a look at the block of land her and Phil have just purchased she is very excited about the future and they are looking forward to building their first home together.

We then went to her unit and met up with Phil and Isabel, we decided to take the ferry to Davistown and have lunch at the RSL Club

On the ferry across we saw heaps of the local Pelicans both in the water and out, Isabel and i had a competion who could spot the most, she is full on never stops love her to bits.

The ferry ride across is lovely you get to see a lot of lovely homes, both old and new. We then hoped on a bus to the RSL for lunch it was very busy so Brian and Isabel were running around in the park like crazy people and had lots of fun while waiting for our meal to be cooked. Isabel was on the slide and bouncy castle having heaps of fun.

Ayshea Foster with her dad Brian Foster on the ferry to Davistown 

We all enjoyed our meal and had a good catch up, it is great to see how happy Ayshea Phil and Isabel are such a lovely little family.  Brian and i are very happy for them, as parents we are very proud, it always lifts my spirits when we have a visit to see them or they come and see us it gives me my fix for a while lol Love both my kids very much 

The sky was beautiful on the ferry ride back what a lovely day we all had i think we all slept well on Sunday night i know i did.

Vivid Light Show Sydney NSW 28th May 2017

It is great when something good comes out of some thing not so good, we are still in Sydney waiting to get a new door made for the Sunliner but that gave us the opertunity to go into the City too see Vivid, the City just comes alive with the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, the boats on the Harbour and Lots of the buildings been lite up creating a wonderful display of amazing colour and lights. We walked around on a very mild night taking in all the sounds and sights, we had a great time.

I hope you like some of the photos i took

I got treated to a lovely meal at my favourite seafood restaurant “Nicks” just love that place, Lobster & my favourite white wine 

Thanks Brian for making Sunday very special, it is great spending this time with you and re finding our selves, I think i can get used to this retirement thing lol  

I know we are both itching to get back on the road in the Sunliner and continue our Trip Around Australia hopefully not long now !!!!!!

Brian Foster & Dawn Foster Darling Harbour