GABBYS AT BERRY

This is the Gabbys House where you can have High Tea ($45 per person) for a Relaxed and Delightful Afternoon! Maybe we could consider this for my 80th Birthday? Well, just a thought.

Or what about this place for Lunch? Lunch would probably cost only half as much. Plenty of time to think about it, more than three months actually.

But now let’s go along Queen Street a bit more. We are actually now on the side of Queen Street where the Old Post Office Building is.

On the way we saw this map in one of the windows.

This Bakery Shop is somehow connected with the French Bakery Restaurant in the other street.

We had done a lot of walking and headed back to our car.

Just outside Berry Peter stopped the car again to get out and take a picture of the beautiful landscape. I felt tired and stayed in the car. But I took some pictures from inside the car and later on I tried to catch from inside the car a bit about the road building activities. Peter had to drive slowly within the construction area.

Everywhere are sections where a lot of earth has to be moved for the widening of the highway.

A truck that's being used for road building. — A truck that’s being used for road building.

The ocean can be seen a bit to the right of the road.

This old Kiama Cemetery can be seen from the highway.

Visiting Berry (continued)

This is “Paulchen”, our fourteen year old car. In 2001, when Peter’s sister Ilse stayed with us for three months and “Paulchen” was still fairly new, Ilse lovingly called the car “Paulchen” . Whenever we tried to make a sly remark about the car, she would not tolerate it. She always urged us not to say anything bad about “Paulchen”. Apart from a few little dents, “Paulchen” is still okay, good for a drive in our surrounds.

I think we reached Berry on Saturday at around 11am. We were lucky to find a parking spot straight away right in front of the French Bakery Restaurant.

Another view of our parking spot. To the right we noticed a beautiful cottage

The Restaurant is next to the cute little cottage.

The restaurant was originally a barn. It was cuddly warm with a heater switched on.

Soon our coffee was served in big cups. The pram in the background was a joy to watch it kept bouncing up and down the way a cradle would. — Soon our coffee was served in big cups.
The pram in the background was a joy to watch. It kept bouncing like a cradle!

And yes we had Eggs Florentine and Eggs Benedict on sourdough bread with hollandaise sauce.

The couple with the baby left the restaurant about the same time we did.

I took a picture of Peter before I sat in the car. — I took a picture of Peter before sitting in the car.

This picture is taken through the wet windscreen of the car.

There must have been a little bit of drizzle while we had been sitting in the restaurant.

After our beautiful meal we felt energised to go for a walk through town. The restaurant had been filling up while we were in there. We noticed people had to queue up for seats and parking spots in the street might soon be getting scarce. I urged Peter to drive to the other end of town where we could probably find a parking spot not too far away from the street where all the shops are. We actually were able to park the car somewhere else without any problem. Our walk along the shops could begin!

This is enough window shopping for today. There are still more pictures to come in my next post!

Visiting Berry

Berry is a small Australian town in the Shoalhaven region of the NSW South Coast in the state of New South Wales, located 145 km (90 mi) south of the state capital, Sydney.
History
The indigenous people of the area were the Wodi Wodi people. In the 1810s, George William Evans, Government Surveyor, reported on the Berry district as a possible settlement and on the good stands of red cedar. Subsequently, itinerant timber cutters visited to cut and send cedar to Sydney.
Alexander Berry, with his business partner Edward Wollstonecraft, pioneered European settlement in the Shoalhaven region in 1822. The locality was known as Broughton Creek from its beginning in 1825 as a private town and part of a large rural grant holding called “Coolangatta”. The name was changed to Berry in 1889, following the death of David Berry, Alexander’s brother, to honour the Berry family.

Geography and landmarks[edit]

The township of Berry lies on the South Coast Railway, and on the Princes Highway (Highway 1) between Nowra and Kiama. For much of its early history the town depended on timber cutting and dairy farming, with a tannery and boat building also present, but today, Berry thrives on tourism, with many souvenir shops, art galleries, antiques and collectibles shops, cafes, restaurants, and hotels. A local public hospital bequeathed by the Berry family, the David Berry Hospital, now serves as a rehabilitation hospital and palliative care hospice.

All this is taken from the Wikipedia. To find out more, please look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry,_New_South_Wales

I took yesterday a lot of pictures in Berry. Here are just a few of these:

ALPACA BURGERS are advertised at the Berry Hotel.

Opposite the Hotel in Queen Street is an Old Post Office Building. It is from 1886.

There are 'Posthouse Rooms' in the old Post Office Building as well as a Restaurant called LEAF. — There are ‘Posthouse Rooms’ in the old Post Office Building as well as a Restaurant called LEAF.

LEAF stands for “Love Eating Asian Food”. They tell their customers the following:

“It’s our pleasure to serve fresh, healthy and delicious Thai-Vietnamese dishes to you!
Please come visit us to enjoy your lunch and dinner.
With Love
From LEAF

P.S. Fully licensed. BYO (Wine only)”

Some of the Outside Sitting Area of the LEAF Restaurant.

This is in commemoration of Alexander Berry who lived from 1781 - 1873. — This is in commemoration of Alexander Berry who lived from 1781 – 1873.

Next to the Alexander Berry monument is a little park where I took some pictures of Peter.

To be continued!

Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens

We had come past these gates when we arrived at the gardens.

Isn't this a remarkable tree? — Isn’t this a remarkable tree?

And who's hiding here? — And who’s hiding here?

Peter took this picture and also the following ones.

All pictures were taken on Saturday, 17tth of May 2014.

Breakfast at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney

http://www.hiltonsydney.com.au/restaurants-bars/glass-breakfast-detail

“With the undeniable charm of Sydney’s breakfast culture, why not begin your day with a sumptuous breakfast at glass brasserie? An exquisite a la carte menu or our bountiful buffet will whet your appetite.”

“. . . indulge in the finest breakfast in the city whilst enjoying a captivating view of the Queen Victoria Building from glass brasserie’s vast floor to ceiling windows. What better way to start your day?”

” . . . breakfast and a glass of sparkling with loved ones . . . ”

This was Saturday, the 17th of May 2014.

This special event is the Sydey Half Marathon.

http://www.smhhalfmarathon.com.au/
Find out about running the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon, secure your place using the online entry system and learn how you can run for charity.

The last time Peter did run in the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon was in 2005. Anyone who wants to run this distance can enrol for the event. Peter is sorry that he cannot run like this any more.

Peter has always been an avid reader of the Sydney Morning Herald. He has now an online subscription. The SMH sponsored the breakfast at the Hilton for subscribers. We did not regret having made use of the offer for this special breakfast.

North Queensland, Australia, 1998

In August 1998 Peter and I did fly to Cairns. 60 km north of Cairns is tropical Port Douglas, where we stayed at a Radison Reef Resort. Our travel agent had booked everything for us. Quite a few coach tours were included during our wonderful five day stay in North Queensland.

Views of Cairns and the lush coast from the famous Kuranda Scenic Railway

One of our tours led us to this beautiful Scenic Railway.

This is an aerial view of Cape Tribulation where two World Heritage areas meet, The Grat Barrier Reef and the rainforest.

One of our bus tours took us as far north as Cape Tribulation.

Concordia Club, Tempe, NSW

Today we visited the Concordia Club. It was still quite warm as though the summer did not want to leave us yet. We did meet our family at the club for lunch.

There were our two daughters and our son with their partners, as well as our twin grandsons. One of them was there with partner and beautiful son, who is our great-grandson!Also one of our grand-daughters, who turns seventeen early next month, was also there.

Lucas, our little great grandson soon found company on the lawns in front of the club and kept tirelessly running around.

We had great fun watching the kids from where we were sitting down for lunch.

Australian Bushfires Jan. 2014

I think just about every Australian would have heard by now about all the bushfires that are raging at present.

If you are outside of Australia you may perhaps be interested to find out how we are faring with the bushfires at this time of the year.

I am sure a lot of information can be found in the above ABC’s write up.

This morning I heard on the ABC radio news that a lot of aircraft is at present surveying new outbreaks of bushfires within the southwest of New South Wales.

The ABC’s Transcript about Bushfires:

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Southern Australia is heading for the fourth day of an intense heatwave that’s brought record-breaking temperatures.

The scorching heat has put a strain on electricity supplies and stretched ambulance services.

Tomorrow Victoria is potentially facing its worst bushfire threat since Black Saturday.

Strong winds and temperatures over 40 degrees are forecast across the state and South Australia has also issued a severe bushfire warning for tomorrow.

Lisa Whitehead reports.

LISA WHITEHEAD, REPORTER: Retired kindergarten teacher Kate Porter is used to living with the threat of bushfires. For 49 years she’s lived on this bush block on Melbourne’s northern fringes.

Kate, do you brace yourself every year for bushfires?

KATE PORTER: Oh, you have to. You never know what’s going to happen. You just have to be prepared.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Her two-acre block backs on to state forest in one of the highest bushfire risk areas in Victoria. Two days ago, a grass fire took off in nearby kangaroo ground and was burning out of control.

The phone tree in Kate Porter’s street swung into action. Two of her neighbours who were monitoring the blaze rang and advised her to leave.

A thousand fires ignited across Victoria in the past three days as the state baked in over 40-degree heat. In SA it was a similar scenario, with 350 fires breaking out across the state and there could be worse to come.

GREG NETTLETON, COUNTRY FIRE SERVICE CHIEF OFFICER, SA: We’re confident that we’ve got sufficient resources to deal with the current situation, however, that could change quite rapidly tomorrow, particularly when the hotter weather and the winds come through.

LISA WHITEHEAD: 39 fires are still ablaze in Victoria today with most concern focusing on the Grampians in the state’s north-west.

CRAIG LAPSLEY, FIRE SERVICES COMMISSIONER, VICTORIA: It’s a fire in very steep bush country. It requires aircraft, significant aircraft, and not many firefighters can get into the exact area of the fire, so it’s difficult in that sense. So it’s causing us concern and will continue to do so through the night and into tomorrow.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Severe fire warnings have been issued for tomorrow as strong winds and searing 43-degree temperatures are predicted in parts of Victoria.

Is tomorrow the worst conditions we’ve seen since Black Saturday?

CRAIG LAPSLEY: It’d be up there, without a doubt. It’s not the same conditions as Black Saturday. It’s not a code red day. Across the state, it’ll be severe and extreme fire danger ratings. It’s got potential.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Today, Adelaide’s temperature soared to 44.2 degrees. It’s recorded three consecutive days above 43.5 degrees for the first time.

The intense heat in Melbourne has played havoc at the Australian Open. When the temperature topped 42.1 this afternoon, the tournament’s heat policy was finally activated. Roofs were closed and play was suspended on outside courts.

A Climate Council report released today says the number of hot days across Australia has more than doubled and that climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and severe.

SARAH PERKINS, CLIMATE COUNCIL REPORT CO-AUTHOR: There’s certainly a fingerprint of climate change in the trend in heatwaves that we’ve been seeing. So this means that the change in average temperature that we’ve seen, which is due to human-induced climate change, has had an impact in the severity and frequency of heatwaves that we’ve been experiencing.

CRAIG LAPSLEY: In emergency management, I think we’ve known for some time that there is a whole heap of challenges. Some will argue whether climate change is a reality. I think it’s quite clear. We’ve got challenges in climate, we’ve got land use that’s different, we’ve got different farming scenarios, we’ve got people that have taken tree change or sea change. It’s a whole heap of things.

LISA WHITEHEAD: With no relief from the extreme temperatures in sight until Saturday, the elderly, the sick and the young are being urged to continue to stay indoors, stay cool and drink plenty of fluids. But some householders have struggled to cope after experiencing blackouts as the heatwave and increased peak demand impacts on electricity supply.

In Melbourne’s northern suburbs, Nelum Soysa lost power in her Coburg street for eight hours on Tuesday night.

NELUM SOYSA: It’s like an oven, it’s like a furnace. We couldn’t open the door because it was just so hot outside.

LISA WHITEHEAD: The local GP says she was concerned for her elderly neighbours.

NELUM SOYSA: Elderly people get dehydrated. They can get confused. They get irrational. They can get tachycardia and then they get heat distress and that’s very difficult because they sometimes can’t ask for help or don’t know to ask for help.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Ambulance Victoria is warning people to prepare for yet another sweltering night with the overnight temperature in Melbourne not expected to drop below 29 degrees.

PAUL HOLMAN, AMBULANCE VICTORIA: What happens overnight unfortunately is the body doesn’t get enough time to recover. So we’ve had one night, then two, then three and now four and that’s – so people that are already ill or the elderly, they’ve now got a cumulative effect and their body’s not getting enough time to cool down.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Kate Porter isn’t taking any risks with her health or the weather conditions. A Baptist church agency that regularly checks on her welfare found her a place in respite care.

KATE PORTER: If you’re not able to defend your own home, that you should actually leave. I don’t think it’s wise to stay, because you don’t know how fierce the fire’s going to be. Every since I’ve lived there, I think every year, “Well, if it goes, it goes,” and I go.

Ausflug mit der lieben Sylvia, Sonntag 29.12.2013

An dem Sonntag zwischen Weihnachten und Neujahr waren wir mit der lieben Sylvia zusammen. Sie machte einige Fotos von uns und schickte sie uns heute zu. Hier sind die Fotos:

DIARY, Wednesday, 11th December 2013

I am off the Hook!

I do not need blood pressure tablets anymore!

Well, this is a long story. It actually started the day I had my Carpal Tunnel Release operation. On that day at six o’clock in the morning I was allowed a cup of tea and a very light breakfast. Then I had to wait for more than twelve hours before I could have as much as a glass of water or a cup of tea. I was told ‘nil by mouth’ before the operation, which was to last for only a short time, maybe twenty minutes. Unfortunately I was the last one on the list. Which would have been all right, if everything had gone to plan. However there were some unforeseen delays during the day, which meant my operation was postponed for many hours. I sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting, waiting, waiting.

Finally, well into the evening, it was my turn. What a relief! A lot of precautions, needles stuck into me here, there and everywhere while I was lying on the trolley waiting to be let into the operating theatre. The anesthetist thought I was very relaxed. Then my surgeon came out to greet me. After a little while the doors opened and I was rolled into the room where the procedure was going to take place. There was some background music which I thought wasn’t soothing at all. However I didn’t complain. The surgeon must have felt that this was not my kind of music. He asked me what kind of music I liked. All I could think of saying was: Something ‘classical’. Whereupon the lovely surgeon saw to it that ‘Sound of Music’ with Julie Andrews was put on.

I had been given local anesthetics only. So I could listen to the music during the whole operation. Everything went smoothly, except as they later told me, my blood pressure went up a bit much. They advised me to see my GP (General Practitioner) about it.

To cut a long story short. I did indeed see my GP. My blood pressure went sky high that night when I saw the doctor after many hours of waiting. He did consider to put me into hospital. Luckily the blood pressure came down a bit after a little while. So the doctor let me go home. He prescribed blood pressure tablets and even valium. Peter and I did get my prescription drugs at a close by late night chemist, which delayed us getting home by another half hour. I took the blood pressure tablets as prescribed, but not the valium. I really felt relaxed enough by the time I got home and had no trouble going to sleep.

The GP had asked me to see him again the next morning so he could check on me whether I was all right. By the time I got there at 8 am, there were already eight patients in front of me. So I had to wait again. The tablets turned out not to agree with me. They made me feel sick. Eventually the doctor organised a 24 hour blood pressure test for me. This test showed that my blood pressure was up only slightly during the day, and during my sleep it was absolutely perfect.

Yesterday I did get the marvellous news that I did not have to take the tablets anymore. The doctor said to me, on a day when I felt under a real lot of pressure, I may perhaps take a valium tablet. But not to do this too often for these tablets can be addictive.

After he said all this we wished each other a Happy Christmas and I left his office in a really great mood! 🙂