March in March

http://jenniferann1970.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/march-in-march-sydney-photos-2014/

Australia is a beautiful country. Everyone in this country, that I know, leads comparatively a rather good life and does not want this to change. So who are the people who joined the protest march? I actually do not know one person who joined the March in March. Even though I would have liked to protest about quite a few things, somehow I did not make it to do this marching. I am impressed with the people who did. I remember when we protested against the Iraq war, we were called “The Mob” by prime minister Howard. I have the feeling most establishment people would probably put the March in March into a similar category.

Uta’s Diary

These pictures were taken by daughter Caroline this morning while we were waiting for Peter to come out of surgery. Caroline took the pictures with her phone. I had forgotten my camera. Still, I looked around taking some pictures in my mind. The tree I was touching in the above pictures looked marvellous. It was really smooth to the touch.

Peter’s cataract operation went well. After a couple of hours he was allowed to go home. It was good that Caroline could drive us. Peter has to wear his eye-patch till seven 0’clock tomorrow morning. The patch starts irritating him a lot. He keeps having the feeling that he wants to take it off. At the moment he has been lying down a bit trying to catch up on some sleep.

While we were waiting for Peter, we were able to spend a bit of time in the sun in the hospital grounds. It was a beautiful sunny morning. The older I get the more I love spending time in the sun. I have been reading lately a lot on the benefits of sunshine in connection with the need for Vitamin D. My favourite page on Vitamin D right now is this one:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/how-do-i-get-the-vitamin-d-my-body-needs/

FITZROY FALLS

This is a picture that Peter took with his tablet.

He also took this picture of me. I had a good rest there at this Lookout before we turned back towards the entrance of the Park. — He also took this picture of me. I had a good rest at this lookout before we turned back towards the Visitor Centre.

I would have loved to see the twin falls. However I felt to walk that much further would have been too much for me. — I would have loved to see the Twin Falls. However I felt to walk that much further would have been too much for me.

In our memory sticks another walk more than forty years ago when we went all the way down to the Grotto with our children. Old age is definitely creeping up on us now. Still, we are happy to be able to walk at all and go on outings like this one. It was so rewarding for us to spend last Sunday walking up to at least the first of many lookouts. I think this is also going to stick in our memory, especially since we did take a lot of pictures. It was a Sunday, and naturally because of this there were lots and lots of walkers about, many with very happy, lively children. Everyone was overtaking us! We are used to this by now that everyone is faster than we are. At most places we go to we are usually the oldest and slowest people around.!

Giggle Page

This page I copied from the VOICE OF PENSIONERS AND SUPERANNUANTS OF NSW

THE VOICE is the paper of the CPSA (COMBINED PENSIONERS & SUPERANNUANTS ASSOCIATION OF NSW INC).
They are celebrating 83 years of service. The above page was the back page of the March 2014 issue.

On page 10 I found a cartoon where one person tells another one:

“I have just tweeted a retweet of my tweet that said this is my first tweet.”

Diary

Thursday, 13th March 2014

Dapto, NSW, Australia

Yesterday Peter and I spent the day in Sydney. Both of us had an appointment at a Holistic Dental Centre. Shaileshni, a Dental Hygenist, did for me a Clinical Perio Analysis & Recording as well as Removal of calculus. I explained that I could not wear my top partial dentures because they caused too much pressure on my gums which then became very sore. Shaileshni called in my dentist who after a bit of oral examining tried to adjust the dentures. All in all I had to pay close to 300 Dollars for the visit. Peter paid for his visit a similar amount. Peter did get the bad news that some of his teeth needed treatment. The estimated cost: $ 1165. Peter says this would make it hard to save up enough money for an overseas trip. But I think Peter is very reluctant to give up his plans for another trip to Berlin. He just does not want to think about it that he may not see this city ever again. Well, at least he knows just about everything that goes on in Berlin via the Internet. It is really amazing how without any problems it is possible to stay in touch with distant places like this.

Peter went in first for his dental treatment. I stayed in the waiting room and busied myself reading some very interesting literature. I was especially interested what Dr.Mercola had to say about the importance of Vitamin D and that it was best to get it via exposure to the sun. When I got home I read another article of his on website.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/21/how-to-get-your-vitamin-d-to-healthy-ranges.aspx

Keeping this in mind I made sure Peter and I had our afternoon tea out in the sun as soon as we got back home to Dapto. Later on we saw on the news that Sydney’s afternoon traffic ended in chaos because of a fire emergency on the building site at Barangaroo.

Barangaroo fire triggers Sydney CBD chaos

is the headline in today’s paper. We had been going to Sydney by train. When we boarded our return train at Sydney’s Central Station the fire had probably just started. Of course we had no way of knowing about this.

We were lucky that we could enjoy a bit of sunshine as we got back to Dapto. Just before I went to sleep last night it started to rain again. When I got up this morning it was still overcast, but no more rain. So far the sun has not been out yet today. I like it that it is still warm. We have not needed any heaters for a long time. During the few very hot days we just used our fans. We have no air conditioning. I believe where we live it is possible to survive quite well without it. So far so good. This may somewhat change over the years.

Fitzroy Falls Reservoir, 9th of March 2014

This reservoir is managed by the Sydney Catchment Authority. It is a beautiful lake in the highlands and can be used for recreational purposes as for instance for sailing. On that Sunday, when we passed there, we saw in the distance quite a few sailing boats. On our way back from the Fitzroy Falls Peter stopped the car near the lake to have a closer look.

Quite a bit of information to be found here on all four sides which I took pictures of. — Quite a bit of information is to be found here. I took pictures of all four sides.

Ah, this is what he had been looking at!

Peter took this picture crawling up close to it. I wonder what sort of mushroom it is. — Peter took this picture crawling up close to it.
I wonder what sort of mushroom it is.

Before we drove on I took some more pictures while sitting in the car. I loved the little yellow flowers.

Maybe I should have been shooting one of the beautiful yellow flowers lying on my tummy! I am sure this would have made a better picture!

I think Peter took this picture just before we drove on to get home for a well deserved cup of tea and some delicious apricot pie which we would get in Robertson from the pie shop.

This reminds me Peter took some more pictures in Robertson Here they are:

Robertson is famous for its potatoes. This replica is to remind us of it.

We said, that it looks inviting but we would give it a miss today.

Robertson has become quite touristy, especially on a Sunday.

And here we are again at the pie shop to get this delicious apricot pie for our afternoon tea at home.

From Robertson Peter drove down Macquarie Pass towards our home town of Dapto. We had had a truly lovely Sunday!

Fitzroy Falls on Sunday, 9th of March 2014

We had to walk through the souvenir shop to reach the walking tracks. When we left the shop we to start our walk we noticed a construction site. A little bit of the beginning of the track was closed off. Some renewal of the wooden board walk had been started. The wooden boards are being replaced with a less slippery cover. Presumably some recycled material is used for the new track cover. Something that does not rot like wood does.

Not far from the entrance to the falls we had actually seen a dead wombat near the road side. It had probably been hit by a car.

Soon we could get a glimpse of the waterfall and the vast, vast gully.

I tried to capture a few of the signs along the track.

Another glimpse of the waterfall at the other side of the gully

Peter found a seat next to some more signs.

The following is the sign that greeted us near the beginning of our walk. Well, we made it to the Jersey Lookout. I took a rest there while Peter walked a little bit further. When he came back, he took a lovely picture of me (if I may say so) with his tablet. I have to ask him to give me this picture so I can publish it.

So we never made it to the Twin Falls or to the Grotto. More than forty years ago we actually made it to the Grotto with two of our children. We think it was Monika and Martin who were with us at the time. I wonder whether they can still remember that we went to the Grotto with them.

This is it! Sunday, 9th of March 2014

Yesterday, on Sunday, we made it to the Pie Shop. We made it actually twice to the shop. In the morning, on our way to the Fitzroy Falls, we stopped there for a meat pie and a cup of tea. On the way home in the afternoon we did buy an apricot pie with fresh cream to take home. This apricot pie was absolutely delicious. Sorry, I did not take a picture of it. But I took a picture of my curry meat pie which was lovely too.

On the way to the Fitzroy Falls we wanted to drive through BURRAWANG. We went along a beautiful scenic road. We stopped to take some pictures.

This place looks great. I say "let's have a cup of coffee here". Peter agrees. — This place looks great. I say “let’s have a cup of coffee here”. Peter agrees.

Peter finds a beautiful display of cakes in side and decides to order some rhubarb cake together with the coffee.

We took a table outside. The friendly young waitress carries our cake outside being watched by a customer's dog. — We took a table outside. The friendly young waitress carries our cake outside being watched by a customer’s dog.

We have been given two sets of cutlery to share this lovely cake.

This is another old building in this pleasant little town.

We did make it to the Fitzroy Falls yesterday. But this is going to be another post.

12 Years a Slave

Best movie at the Oscars: 12 Years a Slave. We had planned on seeing it in Newtown today. It would have involved taking a very early train to Sydney. However, we did find out this morning that this movie is already being shown in our local cinema. There is a session at 12,15. So we decided we are going to see it here in our neighbouring suburb this afternoon.

Peter had already informed our children via Facebook that we would be all day in Sydney. He also pointed out that they would not be able to reach him via mobile phone the reason being that he cannot find the phone. The other day when he went out for a run and I was out too, he hid the phone in a secure place so the robbers would not be able to find it. Now he cannot find his phone any more!

While he was looking for his phone, he found his new watch which he had also been hiding in a secure place and could not find for a few days. The problem is, Peter tends to hide his valuables in different spots all the time, instead of just sticking to the same spots which would then be easier to remember. I happen to know a few of his hiding places. But I have not idea where his mobile phone could be. By now we looked everywhere and we just cannot find it.

I do not own a mobile phone of course. I am happy to just use our house phone.

Please have a look here what it says here about the book and the movie: 12 Years a Slave:

http://www.dw.de/for-new-yorker-12-years-a-slave-is-personal/a-17404840

Beginning of Autumn in Australia

Today is the first of March 2014. The first of March is officially the beginning of autumn in Australia. Here at the East Coast of Australia we are at present in a rain period. For quite a few days there’s been some steady, drizzly rain. However since last night the rain seems to have increased a lot. Probably we are going to have quite a bit more rain before the sun shines again. The temperature is still a bit above 20 Celsius most of the time. This is why I would call this rain a ‘warm’ rain and I like it. Everything looks beautiful fresh and smells nice. Who knows, our area may have been a subtropical rainforest area in earlier times? With all this vegetation growing we seem to be getting more and more birds here. We can often hear lots of different birds, but hardly ever see any. They are mostly well covered in the dense bush along the neighbouring creek. Sometimes we notice a flock of galahs or rosellas.

We, Peter and I, had been discussing that we should visit one of the waterfalls in our area some time soon. We haven’t been to a waterfall for quite some time. Would be good to take some pictures there. We decided now, it’s better to wait a bit until the rain has eased off a bit more. Peter reckons in this kind of weather it can be very foggy up in the escarpment.

This morning I had another look at my January pictures. Bear with me when I publish once more a few more of these sign pictures I took. What I did this morning is that I cropped all these pictures quite a lot so as to make the writing better visible.

Outside my window it’s pouring, pouring. A really huge downpour. I think it is best to stay home today!

Wishing all my blogger friends a very good weekend.