We arrived in Ballina last Tuesday afternoon.This is our third day here. On Wednesday Martin drove us to the Wetlands and we had lunch there.
Yesterday Martin served us for lunch some delicious wraps and today we went for lunch to the NORTH EASTERN HOTEL:
Today also started in Benalla the Wall to Wall Festival:
http://www.walltowallfestival.com/
On the 1st of January 2017 we visited our grandson with his family on our way back home from Melbourne. These pictures are from our visit at the farmhouse where Tristan and family live now.
. . . . . Recently we have been visiting Benalla in Victoria. Unfortunately, because of bad eyesight, I cannot drive anymore. So Peter had to drive to Benalla and back all by himself. We were driving to Benalla to visit our son Martin and to see his new place. Door to door it was about 600 km only, whereas when the son lived in Melbourne (Essendon) the distance was about 800 km.
Since we are in the midst of winter now here in Australia, daylight hours are only about for ten hours, namely from ca. 7 am to 5 pm. Well, Peter had no problem driving the distance within daylight hours. However, I suggested that on the way back we could stay in a motel in Holbrook for one night to interrupt the journey, and that would give us the chance to look around a bit and familiarize us again with some things in the area. But oh no, Peter insisted on driving straight home. I like to call it ‘homeritis’!
On our last day in Benalla, a Saturday, all of us went for lunch to the Art Gallery Cafe. We were very happy that our Grandson and his wife and two daughters could meet us there.
Son Martin took these pictures of Peter and me on the terrace of the Cafe.
It was a bit too cold to sit out there. It was better to have lunch inside.
Here is some of the food that we had.
After lunch we had a look at some of the pictures in the Art Gallery.
It was lovely to see great-granddaughters Kia and Jaki again as well as Tris and Steph. And now I include some more pictures from another park nearby that we took on another day.
And on the 6th of July 2017 I wrote this:
We had arrived in Benalla two weeks ago on Wednesday in beautiful late afternoon sunshine. I was very happy that we had found our son’s new place straight away and that we had made good time on our a bit more than 600 km trip. We had left Dapto early in the morning as soon as it got a bit light and we made it to Benalla before it got dark. In Benalla the air was fresh and cool, but the sun still warmed it a bit. Martin, our son, said that during the night the temperature could drop to freezing point. First thing in the morning he would look outside and check whether the birdbath had been frozen over again. In Martin’s house it was warm and cozy. A cup of tea was very welcome. Later on we had an excellent home cooked dinner.
Martin had bought a two bedroom house. We were given the spare bedroom. It was similar to what it had been like when we used to visit him in Essendon in Melbourne, where he had rented a two bedroom place. Before Martin left the place in Melbourne, he had given away most of his furniture for he was in the lucky position to take over the Benalla house with all the furniture and other things in it. This is furniture, I might say, is absolutely great to have and very tasteful. On top of it it saved Martin quite a bit of moving. Still, he had to get rid of his old furniture in Melbourne, which was not all that easy, I guess.
The stuff that he had to move to the new house some 200 km away he packed into a hired van. He had to return the van the same day after having travelled the 200 km to Benalla and back. Martin is 57 and not used to lifting heavy things. He’s only used to office work and a lot of walking and he even did quite a bit of running in the past. In Melbourne he did not need a car. He could walk everywhere or use public transport. For travelling he often hired a car.
Now, in Benalla, he’s already used to walking the few minutes into town. Still, he says he might perhaps buy a car sometime soon. But he’s not sure yet. At the moment he has problems with sitting. With all that sitting at the office his back was vulnerable. Now with having had to lift a lot of stuff to clear his place in Melbourne just a few weeks ago, his back became very painful, still is very painful when he is sitting down or lying down. He can never sit for very long. He does most things standing up. Walking, he finds is very easy for him. So he feels fine walking. But lying down is difficult and he has trouble sleeping through the night.
Peter and I were lovingly looked after by our son as always. For the four nights in Benalla we stayed in Martin’s spare bedroom, which is the Japanese room. I show here some pictures of it:
In that bedroom there was also a large built-in wardrobe. And a heater was set up for us. We never felt too cold in Benalla.
Peter and I just returned from an outing to Austinmer Beach where we had some lunch at the Austi Beach Cafe. After lunch we drove to the Ruby’s Cafe at Bulli Beach for some coffee. It was a beautiful late summer day here in the Illawarra of Australia, and we took heaps of photos again, that is, I think I probably took most of the photos!
Yoga classes seem to be popular in Austinmer.
For lunch we had fish and chips, a small salad, and some ricotta pancakes.
The following pictures are taken at Bulli Beach.
Two weeks ago was the wedding of Caroline and Matthew. During the week after the wedding they went to the South Coast for a little holiday. When they returned from their honeymoon they stayed with us in Dapto for one night from Friday to Saturday. I think it was on Friday when they drove us down to the lake where we went for a lovely walk.
Well, and then on that Saturday one week ago they invited us and some friends to the Hellenic Club in West Wollongong. We had always wanted to get to know this club. So far we had never made it there. So last Saturday we finally actually went to this club. and had lunch there. We did like the club very much and definitely want to go there again.
http://www.wollongonghellenicclub.com.au/
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Yesterday, on the last day in February, I spent the day exploring the Wollongong Harboursite a bit while Peter had to spend the day in Wollongong Hospital. It was a glorious late summer day. I used the Free Tram to get to the Harbour.
Click to access gongshuttlemap.pdf
Since we had had a very early breakfast that day I felt already a bit hungry. So first thing I sat down here in Osborne Park and had some cheese on Rye as well as some grapes and water. Before going down to the harbour I took some more photos:
Walking down to the traffic lights it was easy to cross the road to the other site. The next pictures show where I walked along then.
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4835205/see-wollongongs-new-blue-mile-tramway-take-shape/
Here at this bus stop I caught the free tram back into the city where I had some lovely hot chilly chocolate drink. Then I took another bus back to the hospital where I spent a bit of time at the outside terrace. I waited then for quite a few hours in different areas in and outside the hospital until Peter was ready to go back home. Our daughter Monika was called at work when Peter was ready. She came and picked us up and drove us back home to Dapto. Next Monday Peter has to see his cardiologist. So we have to wait and see what he has to say.
http://www.visitwollongong.com.au/things-to-do/lookouts
Today, the 26th of February, I think back on the last few days. I feel it has been a long time since I mentioned anything that is going on in our lives. Too many things have been happening, mostly very lovely things! Saturday, the 17th of February was definitely the best of all the recent happenings: It was the wonderful wedding ceremony of daughter Caroline and son-in-law Matthew.
As usual I am running out of time again. So I just want to insert a.few photos and write another post when I have a bit more time.
THE RECEPTION WAS AT THE MARRICKVILLE BOWLING CLUB. THE CEREMONY HAD BEEN HERE AT THE STABLES THEATRE;
I can publish some photos of the wedding ceremony when we get the official photos from the wedding photographer. Here now are some photos I took at the club of people dancing. I want to mention here that Caroline and Matthew did a magnificent opening dance, and I’ll show some pictures of the bride and groom dancing at some other time when I get some photos of it!
A few weeks ago I referred in my blog to something I had read about ’emails and tweets’:
https://auntyuta.com/2018/01/27/nobody-inherits-emails-and-tweets/
“Nobody inherits emails and tweets!”
This is what Wally says in Di Morrissey’s novel:
https://auntyuta.com/2018/01/26/the-red-coast/
I regard email writing more or less as a substitute for letter writing, and I do save a lot of emails for future reference. I like that these days some instant communication is possible with email writing. In the past a letter would take quite a while to reach the receiver. Even though instant communication is possible per email, most people seem to prefer the making of phone calls or sending messages by phone or using something like Facebook or twitter. These messages would probably not be kept for very long. But to my mind if you use emails as a substitute for letter writing, these emails might well be of some interest for future generations.
Or what do you think?
Peter and I saved heaps of letters that we received in the olden days when we had to rely on the postal service for the delivery of letters. We usually made copies of the letters we sent away and these copies are in these folders too. Well, all this someone interested might find in these folders once we’re gone!
I think it was Wednesday when the weather suddenly went from very hot to much, much cooler. This was the day when I baked some vegetables in the oven. I cut up one of the kohlrabis and some potatoes and arranged the pieces on the sides of the tray. In the middle of the tray I placed the cut up carrots and right behind it some pieces of sweet potato . The whole lot I sprinkles with olive oil and a bit of sea-salt.
It was nice to have a bit of red wine with the meal.
On Monday we had some goulash and dumplings left from Sunday. Peter liked the spicy gravy very much. He also got a little bit of left over red cabbage and some other vegies. I chose the following for my meal: Cannellini Beans ( Peter did get some of these too), Natural Yogurt, and Beetroot.
To the beans I added some Psylium Husk Powder and grated cheese. I also added some Turmeric to the beans and there were also some salad leaves on the plate. We were both very happy with our meal!
The other day at Bunnings in Warrawong we did get a spray can for painting the outside table a bright yellow. Peter also bought a new shower head. He already changed the shower head. And the new one works very well! Good job done Peter.
We always buy a lot of different fruit. Every day we eat a bit of banana. The banana skin gets cut into small pieces for the worms in our worm farm.
Up until last Sunday we watched a lot of tennis on TV. They showed quite a few very good matches from the Australian Open in Melbourne. The adds were very tiring though. It was usually very hot during the AO. Here at our place we had a lot of hot days and nights the past few days. We even put the air-conditioning on a few times!
AuntyUta 