The old Entrance of Wollongong Hospital at Crown Street
At Wollongong Mall
The other side of Wollongong Hospital
This month there are two birthdays to celebrate in our family, namely on the 5th and on the 9th of December. Instead of on Monday, we celebrated Monika’s birthday two days early, that was Saturday. We may have to celebrate Caroline’s birthday somewhat later because tomorrow, Friday the 9th, is the day when Peter has to go to hospital. We hope it wont be too long before Peter can go back home again.
Last Monday Peter had to go to the hospital for another blood test. We went into Wollongong by bus. There’s a bus stop right in front of the hospital. We thought that this was great. We liked that better than having to struggle to find some parking for the car. At the hospital Peter did not have to wait long. In no time at all he was out again. Another bus took us to Crown Central where we were taking a few Christmassy pictures. We also used the opportunity to do a bit of extra shopping in Wollongong. At the Churro Mexican Cafe we had something to eat and a very spicy hot chocolate drink. Our favourite! Feeling quite tired we went by bus back to Dapto Shopping Centre where our car was parked. Before driving home, we had first to get a few more things in Dapto Shopping Centre. It was a very hot day. We were glad, when we finally arrived back home to have some delicious ice-cream and afternoon coffee and a bit of a rest.
Today, Sunday, Caroline and Matthew invited us to a five course Degustation Lnnch, degustation meaning taking a small amount into the mouth to taste the quality of the food.
Our five course meal was excellent. We sat there for hours enjoying one course after another. We took pictures of most of the courses. As an entree we had tiny cups of delicious soup, also some warm bread and butter. The bread seemed to be damper and was probably baked on the premises. The restaurant is up in the mountains. It was warm, but not too hot. All the rooms were open to the outdoors. No air-conditioning needed! I thought this was great. We felt as though we were being in the country. We were surrounded by lots of things from country life in the past. And we were only a fifteen minute drive away from home! Quite amazing really. The service by the staff was first class. And all the dishes were beautifully presented. We had no problem eating everything on our plates, for the portions were small enough not to fill us up too much.
These scales are probably from the time when this place was a village store and Post Office.
Opposite the restaurant are some restored old miners’ cottages.
This is what the restaurant looks from the front.This easy chair was great for relaxing.Our table was in a separate small room.
Baby Carter arrived on the 21st of November 2016, a Monday. He arrived shortly after 5 in the afternoon. Soon after his birth at Wollongong Hospital a lot of family went to see him and his Mum, Roxy.
Roxy is one of our granddaughters. Our daughter Monika and granddaughter Natasha drove Peter and me to Wollongong Hospital the morning after the Baby had been born. Here are some pictures from Tuesday morning:
Last week we were at the Ocean Beach Hotel for lunch. I published then a little post about our lunch with just one picture. Here now are a few more pictures from that day:
I googled the following add about the Ocean Beach Hotel:
“Who said a room with a magnificent ocean view had to cost a small fortune? At the Ocean Beach Hotel Shellharbour, you can wake up to a beautiful Pacific Ocean sunrise for well under $100 for two people.
All rooms have their own bathroom, fridge, tea & coffee making facilities and a TV. At meal times, you’re only a flight of stairs away from one of the areas finest seafood restaurants.”
Our son had come from Melbourne for a visit. He was staying with us for a couple of nights and then drove on to Newcastle. Our daughter Monika, who is on leave right now, drove us last Wednesday for lunch to the Ocean Beach Hotel. The friendly girl, who had taken our orders, volunteered to take a picture of the four of us.
Frau Tonari included many beautiful pictures in her blog. The pictures reminded me, that Peter and I took also quite a few pictures when we visited this park a few months ago. I looked up the pictures that are in my files and publish some of them now. Martin, our son, was with us in Berlin. So Martin, Peter and I went together for a visit to that park. Frau Tonari wrote that the park had no other visitors at the time she was there. The same thing happened to us. When we arrived there was at times some light rain. We thought, that maybe the weather was the reason why no other visitors were to be seen. We were there on a weekday. We assumed that maybe on weekends some people might be around. There was a cafe, but it was closed.
The above picture shows the entrance. Peter is in the foreground, Martin on the left.
The cafe, that was closed, had a lot of outside seating.
By seven o’clock this morning I was outside in our backyard to take some pictures.
This area on the North side of our house is well shaded by large trees.Some Lavender on the South side ready to be planted.I am happy that some new yellow flowers appeared on the West side of our house.
The East side of our house is Body Corporate area, whereas the three other sides belong to our private area and are fenced in. Yesterday we had our family visiting. The two great-grandsons wanted me to take them to the backyard. They enjoy running around in there from one side of the house, to another one and another one and then back again. Four year old Lucas runs as quickly as he can, and two year old Alexander has fun following his big brother. It gives me great joy to see them running like this.
Caroline and Matthew were staying with us, and we had apart from Lucas and Alexander also four additional adults visiting us for afternoon coffee. Actually, our daughter Caroline had spent the whole weekend with us. Sunday night she had to fly back to Darwin. Mathew drove Caroline to the Airport in Sydney. We went along with them to farewell Caroline.By 9.30 pm we were back home again.
Caroline had purchased for us 15 small lavender plants and did clear the area that was to be planted. While Caroline was busy in the garden, Peter and I took off for a visit to the Temple. Caroline and Matthew had advised us to do this. We gladly followed this advice!
This morning, while I did some washing, Peter took to planting the whole lot along the fence on the South side. He used diluted fertilizer from our worm farm for the plants and then covered them with mulch. It turned out to be beautiful sunny, but early in the morning there was a very cool breeze which I did not like at all!
By the way, today is the wedding anniversary of Ryan and Ebony who are the parents of Lucas and Alexander.
This Camelia kind of survived the slaughter of our trees and is just starting to get some leaves again. Attempting to establish a bit of a veg garden on the West side;
And following are some random pictures near the house on the West side:
Now a few pictures from yesterday (Sunday):
Alexander and Lucas are keeping themselves busy;They loved this cake that Great-Granddad Peter had baked.We had whipped cream with the cake.Here Lucas is having a rest with his Grandma Monika after having been running around for a while.
When going to the above link, you find some previous blogs of mine about the Nan Tien Temple.
Today we took some time to pay the temple another visit.
Near where we parked I noticed this flower.
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This is in the Teahouse where we had some Lotus Tea.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe strolled to the nearby Lotus Pond.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Yesterday, we started our walk near Bondi Beach and walked all the way to Tamarama Beach. The walk took us about three hours, from 9am to 12am. It was a sunny morning, about 24C, but there was a bit of a cool breeze. This is why we did not get too hot. Besides, there were a lot of steps, which made me walk extremely slowly. I was glad that I had remembered to bring my walking stick along. The walking stick was a great help in negotiating difficult parts. It was also good, that a lot of the path was provided with lovely shiny railings that I could hang onto! Naturally, we spent a lot of time just looking and taking pictures rather than walking!
This is where we started our walk.A view towards Bondi Beach
We are going to sit in here for an ice-cream break!
The Gelato was very refreshing!Soon we were on our way again.
Once upon a time there were no walkways along this part of the ocean, just bush.
THIS IS TAMARAMA BEACH
I show in this post mostly my pictures, but some of the above pictures are pictures that Peter took with his camera.
We went back to Bondi Junction by bus and treated ourselves to some wonderful cherry strudel and herbal tea! From Bondi Junction Station we went home to Dapto. It had been a nine hour day for us, and we were very tired, but happy that we had achieved what we had planned on doing: Seeing this years’s Sculptures by the Sea.
With our tea we had yummy cherry strudel and whipped cream.
Tomorrow is the day when we want to travel to Sydney to have a look at this year’s Sculptures by the Sea.
Peter reminded me to reload the battery to my camera. I did it, and now I’m looking forward to taking a lot of pictures!
Today, only a few more pictures from one of my early morning walks.
I guess these trees can be called ‘sculptured’ trees?
The trees you see in the above photo are not far from the front garden with these flowers in it:
A bit further on is this front garden.
I went along here . . .. . . and ended up where this tree is.
While I took a picture of this huge tree, one of the residents approached me, asking me why I took a picture of this tree. After I explained I just liked to take pictures of trees, he started a lot of talking about this tree. Apparently he was very concerned that this tree was in the wrong place, already damaged and in danger of falling over which might cause a lot of damage. It is an Australian protected tree. To remove it, you had to get permission from the council.
The birds love grevilleas. I pass many shrubs like these on my walks.
King tide washes out Sculpture by the Sea
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Perhaps better named ‘sculpture in the sea’ this year, several artworks were damaged as a result of king tides at Tamarama Beach.
King tide washes out Sculpture by the Sea
A rare site as this year’s Sculpture by the Sea is pounded by a king tide at Tamarama Beach
This was not the media attention Sculpture by the Sea was expecting for its twentieth anniversary edition. The world’s largest annual sculpture exhibition held along Sydney’s coastline between Bondi and Tamarama Beaches could reasonably have hoped for celebration of its success in bring art to the beach.
Instead one sculpture has been destroyed and at least three sculptures have been severely damaged by a king tide that engulfed Tamarama on Monday afternoon.
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Founding Director of Sculpture by the Sea (SXS), David Handley told media that they had planned for the the high tide and had moved several sculptures further up the beach in order to protect them . But the tide was beyond what had been expected and the combination of a high tide and pounding surf was ‘unprecendented’.
‘We just didn’t expect that the tide and the surf was going to be as big as it was,’ Handley said.
Less than a week after the opening of the popular festival, a crane and excavators will be brought in for the clean up.
Handley said organisers would wait for the tide to recede to do a full assessment and damage report.
It is estimated that waves measuring two to three metres were hitting the beach and hammering the sculptures at the peak tide on Monday afternoon.
In the events 20-year history only once has an artwork been washed away – in 1998.
Image / video source Instagram @ danny_wh
DAMAGE BEYOND REPAIR
Collingwood artist Bronek Kozka’s artwork Fair Dinkum Offshore Processing was literally picked up by the huge swell and dragged down the beach as onlookers watched.
The sculpture is beyond repair.
It is a bizarre twist given the piece dealt with offshore processing of refugees, largely delivered by the sea.
Bronek Kozka’s destroyed sculpture from king tide
Two further sculptures were washed from the walkway between Bondi and Tamarama and into the sea – a piece by Elyssa Sykes-Smith A Weighted Embrace and German artist Angelika Summa’s Alien: Self Consciousness Is A Virus From Outer Space.
Kozka’s sculpture rested in a heap next to Sang Sug Kim’s 1.4-metre tall carved marble artwork The Window of the Future, which was submerged but remained steadfast.
‘With the base and the sculpture, it was two tonnes. That’s how strong the water was,’ commented Handley.
The remnants of Fair Dinkum Offshore Processing were brought to shore on Monday evening. The other two artworks will be retrieved at low tide.
Artists often ask to have their work close to the waters edge, the scooped beach at Tamarama a natural arena for viewing sculpture is also a highly popular site for artists.
Sculpture By The Sea is showing 24 October to 6 November.
AuntyUta 