I am happy that I managed to walk a lot these last few days, well whatever is a lot for me. On Sunday I had this walk to the pool and back. Yesterday, on Monday, I had my homehelp coming in the morning as is usual on any Monday that does not happen to be a Public Holoday. So I had dear Summah with me yesterday. I always enjoy her presence. She is such good company and does so much for me during the three hours she stays with me. Yesterday she dropped me off at 12,30 to get my hair done. I have a hairdresser’s appointment every four weeks now. It is so good to get my hair washed and blowdried by my marvellous hairdresser. Yesterday she did a bit of haircutting again too. Also, there is always a lot of talking going on at the hairdresser’s. I find it is good for me to find opportunities for some talking. So, my lovely hairdresser did a good job again. Her shop is not far away from the Shopping Center at the Dapto Mall. So I could easily walk to the Mall with my rollator to have some lunch at a cafe called the shed. The other day I had looked at a blog of mine that was about ten years old and where I mention a nice meal I had in Berry with Peter, my husband. We always loved a trip to Berry. As a meal that day we both happened to choose Eggs Benedict with lovely crusty rye bred. Yesterday at the shed I daringly went for Eggs Benedict in rememberace of that lovely meal at Berry. To my surprise I did get exceptionelly good Eggs Benedict served. They were as good as the ones that we had in Berry the way I remember it.
Yesterday was an extremely hot and humid day. So, I was happy to stay for many hours in and near the the Shopping Center, doing a lot of walking as well as a bit of shopping. After an exhausting day I took a taxi home. After a lot of sleep, I feel refreshed this morning.
We were lucky the cafe was open today, Wednesday, the first of May. We had some good breakfast there and ‘bowls’ of excellent coffee. Then we drove a bit around the backroads of this small town called Berry. Our first stop was here:
There were still a lot of wreaths and flowers from Anzac Day.
From Wikipedia:
“Anzac Day (/ˈænzæk/) is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served”.[1][2] Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914–1918).”
Berry Station is just down this road!
Our next stop was the Berry Swimming Pool that was closed for the winter months from April to November.
Here is some Wikipedia information about this town :
“As of 2013, the small town has a variety of arts and craft shops, restaurants and cafes, a hotel, club, post office, supermarket and other businesses, including an ambulance station, general practitioner and a chemist.
Kangaroo Valley has a bus service to Nowra and Moss Vale. Priors Scenic Express also provides a long-distance coach service to Bowral, Mittagong, and Sydney as well as to the Shoalhaven and South Coast, as far as Narooma.”
We stopped at a very nice cafe in the main street.
Oh yes, we had not great difficulty pretending it was 1995!!
On the way home we stopped at the Robertson Pie Shop for a cup of refreshing tea and some delicious fruit pie.
Here is a link to a post Peter (Berlioz) wrote seven years ago:
Among other things you find the following in Peter’s post:
“The other day, on the First of May actually, we were enticed by the beautiful sunshine to drive into the country site. Not far from where we live, about 70 km is Kangaroo Valley. On the way there and back we passed through Berry, a town on the Princes Highway. It is “old charm” town where on weekends well to do people from Sydney come to visit and do some shopping for things that do not come from China, like craft work etc. . . .”
“When the Cenotaph was unveiled in 1921, a tree was planted for each of the dead along Alexandra Street, at the base of each of these trees a bronze plaque was set recalling the soldier to whom the tree was originally dedicated. . . .”
Peter also did mention in his post from 2012 the Cenotaph in Berry that we visited again today:
“We drove a bit further and suddenly saw the town’s Cenotaph erected for the fallen of the two World Wars. The floral tributes from the recent ANZAC Day were still to be seen. I realised then, that perhaps Berry represents, in equal parts, the modern and the old Australia, and the fallen soldiers are the connecting element of this duality. Without knowing it they gave their lives for just the Australia we have become. Migrants of the countries that were fighting in the Great War of 1914/18 are now here. . . .”
In my post from seven years ago I mentioned the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street:
” . . . we drove on to Berry where we had some pies for lunch. We also bought some cake at the Milkwood Bakery. This is a newly opened bakery in Queen Street. They are a branch of the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street, which is famous for very good breakfasts.” So today, seven years later but also on the first of May, we did actually have breakfast at the cafe in Prince Alfred Street.
“Early in the morning we heard a song about the Hampden Bridge and we thought why not go there today? It seems to be the right thing to do. First of May is not a holiday in Australia. But what the heck, our life is a constant holiday and we can go to the Kangaroo Valley, that is where the bridge is, any time we want. So off we went. The Illawarra is a beautiful part of NSW and we are proud to live here. . . . ”
Today we passed Hampden Bridge again, but did not stop there but drove on to the village of Kangaroo Valley.
Hi Peter! I am sure this day and the two posts you wrote about it are going to stay in my memory. I had a lovely day. It was such a good idea to go for this drive, wasn’t it? Love, Uta
Now, seven years have passed and today Peter sent me an answer with the following invitation:
Hi Uta, it was indeed a lovely day and I invite you to do same drive on the 1, May this year. Love Peter
I just answered: Yes, Peter, sure I’ll love to do the same drive with you on the 1st of May this year. So, this is coming up in three days!! Very much looking forward to this. Love, Uta 🙂
The following two links are to Peter’s two posts about our outing seven years ago:
Last Sunday at Mass I was confronted with the above question. As it happened it was a day when I was in quite a bit of physical pain. The pain didn’t start out to be really bad. I would be all right walking to church, so I thought. But far from it. After walking the distance, which took about twenty-five minutes, the pain was getting quite considerable. I arrived at the church at the last minute. But Father was still standing there shaking hands. He shook my hand too.
I happened to find a seat beside Sister Kevin. I greeted her and sat down. I told myself if I could just rest my knee and concentrate on my breathing, the pain would be bearable. I started reflecting on how God probably wanted to tell me something. Maybe God wanted me to make changes to my life as to correspond better with my aging body. What changes to my life should I make? What sort of changes did God actually want me to do?
I was very moved by the beautiful singing in the church. Both Fr Francis Tran and the Seminarian, Mr Stephen Varney, were singing Mass. Both have such beautiful voices! The church choir sang very well too. Stephen was given the homily that morning. He pointed out that for some people the Priesthood can offer a fulfilling way of life. They may think that it might be too hard to stick to being a priest. Even though for most people it is right to get married, you may think about it that it is also often not easy to stick to being husband and wife. It all depends on what God wants you to do, doesn’t it?
Monday has come and gone, so has Tuesday. Today is Wednesday and the pain is still there. I can cope with it as long as I don’t do too much! I cancelled the walks with my neighbour, Irene. I didn’t even go to the pool on Monday or to the Thai Yoga class on Tuesday. Peter could have driven me to the pool. But I declined.
When Peter suggested on Tuesday, the first of May, we could drive to Berry and then further on to Hampden Bridge, I joyfully agreed to this. We had a lovely day out. The weather was perfect for an outing. The good thing was, I didn’t have to walk much. Peter took lots of pictures. I took quite a few pictures too, some of them out of the window from the car.
This leads to Peter’s blog about our outing and another blog about his thoughts to the 1st of May:
At the moment I do not want to think about seeing the doctor or the dentist or the optometrist. Within the next couple of months I ought to see all these people. Just now I only want to rest and get better.
Peter looks over the coast south of Kiama
From there we drove on to Berry where we had some pies for lunch. We also bought some cake at the Milkwood Bakery. This is a newly opened bakery in Queen Street. They are a branch of the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street, which is famous for very good breakfasts.
These are some autumn leaves in Berry and the following picture shows a tree with autumn leaves in this particular street in Berry
This is where we turned off from Berry taking the Tourist Drive to Hampden Bridge
We saw some unusual cloud formations on the way. This was one of them.
This is part of the Kangaroo Valley Road
Further along the Tourist Road
A gate to a property along the Road
Nearly there at the Bridge
This sign tells us that there are wombats in the area
Hello, Aunty Uta. Sad to hear you are in pain. Do you have arthritis? Or is this an old injury? I hope it’s been looked at and you are getting the right treatment for it.
Thanks for your concern, dear Mary-Ann. It’s not an old injury. It’s probably old age, don’t you think:
Some mild discomfort and initial stiffness that gradually alleviates with increased movement is natural in aging but not the pain you described. I would recommend that you have it examined if it recurs or persists. It may be something that’s easily treated. The last thing you want is something that will restrict your mobility. This would be very detrimental to your continued well-being.
You’re right, Mary-Ann. What you say makes a lot of sense to me. Actually Peter has to see his doctor for his annual check-up so he can keep his drivers’ license. In the past he liked to see his doctor at the Medical Centre Wednesday nights, when he was on night duty and there wasn’t a very long waiting time. We both tried to see this doctor last night. There were already ten people signed in waiting to see him. This would have meant a waiting time of more than two hours for us. After consultation with the receptionist we decided we would see the doctor early Friday morning, because on Thursday he’s not available. So I hope for the best now, that it can be easily treated.
From Berlioz (Peter):
“What does God wants you to do?” How can an atheist, like me, answer this question? Philosophers, sages and other wise people have thought about this important question for centuries. It is practical the same as asking, “What is the meaning of (my) life?”
Let’s assume that your implied assumption is right and there is a God. I think he does not want you to do anything other than to be. His purpose for you falls under the inscrutable. Who knows what God wants you to do? Even bad people have a mission given to them by God. Think of Judas. Without him Jesus could have escaped capture or not? Even Jesus wasn’t sure what was happening when he asked, “Why have you forsaken me?” He of all people should have known that was his purpose.
To say your cross is your hurting knee, might be a bit harsh, but it is a reminder that our bodies are subject to decay and sickness; two other aspects of God’s plans for you.
And what if we assume there is no God? You have to take responsible action and be happy with what you done. Try to be sure within yourself. Every action is the basis for the next action – cause and effect. Resting in the church was the right thing to do. Seeing a doctor will be the next right thing to do.
Thanks, Berlioz, for this comment. Of course I realise that seeing the doctor is going to be the next right thing to do. It looks I won’t be able to avoid it!
Having the outing with you was the right thing to do. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the clouds in the sky were performing in an artful way.
The bakery in Berry is a French bakery and it felt like a trip to the “Provence” in the Autumn.
The cake was delicious and the bread wholesome.
The bit of “Provence” in Berry was indeed very welcome. I loved the whole outing. We are very blessed to live in such a beautiful area.
Hi Uta,
I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing some pain and I hope that you find some comfort soon.
However, it would appear that, in spite of your pain, you still managed to find some enjoyment. Perhaps there is a lesson for us in that ie even in our most difficult moments, we can still find joy in our lives.
Get better soon,
Carthage
Hi Carthage, Oh yes, there’s a lot of enjoyment in life even in old age. Pain just tells me I have to change something. Maybe just slow down a bit more?
Thank you very much for your good wishes. Uta
LOVED LOVED LOVED your pictures, and very much envy you! An excellent blog, & very interesting. I am sorry you appear to be n pain & I hope things even out, work out. Sincerely, Noeleen
Thanks, Noeleen.
Aunty Uta, I meant also to say that I think it’s great you do thai yoga & swimming. I think these things are perfect. I am genuinely sorry about your pain & I just don’t know what you can actually do, because I truly would have thought the swimming would do it. I truly hope you’re better at least today… And the pictures, sigh. Great camera! 🙂
You are right, Noeleen, thai yoga and swimming are perfect exercises for me or have been for as long as this arthritic pain didn’t overwhelm me. Yes, I found out now from the doctor that it has to do with arthritis. My knee was xrayed. So now I am on anti-imflammatory tablets.
The doctor didn’t mention diet. Personally I think I ought to do some changes to my eating habits. Wish me luck with this, Noeleen!
Thank you so much for thinking of me. I keep thinking about you a lot too!
By the way, Noeleen, if you would like to see some more of those pictures we took last Tuesday, please go to Peter’s blog. If you go to the end of my writing (before the pictures start) you’re going to find the link. I think you’ll be interested in browsing through Peter’s blog!
Actually Peter wrote about our excursion to Hampden Bridge in two parts. Both parts have some good photos in it.
I do wish you luck, Aunty Uta, all all luck! YOU CAN DO IT!!
Yes, thank you, Noeleen
Sending you healing light and love… the answers will come. 😉
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 new bridge is being built.
A truck that’s being used for road building.
The ocean can be seen a bit to the right of the road.
Passing Kiama Exit
This old Kiama Cemetery can be seen from the highway.
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
We thought this cottage looks lovely.
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 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 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!
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.
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:
I took yesterday a lot of pictures in Berry. Here are just a few of these:
At the Berry Hotel Lodgers are welcome.
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.
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.
Next to the Alexander Berry monument is a little park where I took some pictures of Peter.
Today, on Saturday, we actually did go out for a drive. Peter and I, we were both very happy that we actually did do this. However, we refrained from going up Macquarie Pass. I saw the clouds hugging the escarpment and urged Peter not to go up the pass. It definitely looked like there could be quite a bit of fog further up there. Not a good idea to make an elderly gent drive in the fog along all these curves of the pass, right? Not a good idea at all even though Peter is a confident driver. There was a time – many years ago – when he had to go up and down the pass every day. More likely than not he still does know every curve on that pass extraordinarily well!
We agreed it would be good to go down south towards Kiama and weather permitting further on to Berry. Would it rain today? This was the question. It turned out we were lucky all day. Off and on there was a slight drizzle. But no rain to speak of. Often there were quite threatening clouds, but also a bit of sunshine did get through in between very, very dark periods. It remained pleasantly warm for there was no wind, none at all. We could really call ourselves lucky that the weather had turned out all right after a very doubtful start in the morning.
We bypassed Kiama and Gerringong. This is what it says in Wikipedia:
Major roadworks are currently underway and are due for completion in 2014. Commenced in 2012, the major infrastructure project will include a new overpass over the Omega rail level crossing, major highway widening, with additional exits and safer on and off ramps.[5]
The $310 million upgrade will provide 7.5 kilometres of upgraded highway and include two new interchanges with access to Gerringong and Gerroa.”
Bypassing Gerringong on the highway we could see along this 7.5 kilometres stretch a lot of activity, never mind that it was Saturday. Will they be able to finish the upgrade this year? I wonder.
From Kiama it was another 25 kilometres. Soon we arrived in Berry for Brunch at the French Bakery Restaurant.
I chose Eggs Florentine
We had big cups of coffee.
Peter had Eggs Benedictine.
This Baker’s Sourdough Bread and Cakes are very popular.
Our brunch was very good tasting and very filling. We knew we would not need any more to eat for quite some time. Strolling along the main street of Berry later on, we had a good look at the various shop displays and took quite a few pictures.
Then on the way home I took some more pictures from the car, mostly pictures on that section where we had to slow down a bit because of all the road building work that was going on. I am going to publish some of these other pictures in my next post.
Last Sunday at Mass I was confronted with the above question. As it happened it was a day when I was in quite a bit of physical pain. The pain didn’t start out to be really bad. I would be all right walking to church, so I thought. But far from it. After walking the distance, which took about twenty-five minutes, the pain was getting quite considerable. I arrived at the church at the last minute. But Father was still standing there shaking hands. He shook my hand too.
I happened to find a seat beside Sister Kevin. I greeted her and sat down. I told myself if I could just rest my knee and concentrate on my breathing, the pain would be bearable. I started reflecting on how God probably wanted to tell me something. Maybe God wanted me to make changes to my life as to correspond better with my aging body. What changes to my life should I make? What sort of changes did God actually want me to do?
I was very moved by the beautiful singing in the church. Both Fr Francis Tran and the Seminarian, Mr Stephen Varney, were singing Mass. Both have such beautiful voices! The church choir sang very well too. Stephen was given the homily that morning. He pointed out that for some people the Priesthood can offer a fulfilling way of life. They may think that it might be too hard to stick to being a priest. Even though for most people it is right to get married, you may think about it that it is also often not easy to stick to being husband and wife. It all depends on what God wants you to do, doesn’t it?
Monday has come and gone, so has Tuesday. Today is Wednesday and the pain is still there. I can cope with it as long as I don’t do too much! I cancelled the walks with my neighbour, Irene. I didn’t even go to the pool on Monday or to the Thai Yoga class on Tuesday. Peter could have driven me to the pool. But I declined.
When Peter suggested on Tuesday, the first of May, we could drive to Berry and then further on to Hampden Bridge, I joyfully agreed to this. We had a lovely day out. The weather was perfect for an outing. The good thing was, I didn’t have to walk much. Peter took lots of pictures. I took quite a few pictures too, some of them out of the window from the car.
This leads to Peter’s blog about our outing and another blog about his thoughts to the 1st of May:
At the moment I do not want to think about seeing the doctor or the dentist or the optometrist. Within the next couple of months I ought to see all these people. Just now I only want to rest and get better.
Peter looks over the coast south of Kiama
From there we drove on to Berry where we had some pies for lunch. We also bought some cake at the Milkwood Bakery. This is a newly opened bakery in Queen Street. They are a branch of the Berry Sourdough Cafe in Prince Alfred Street, which is famous for very good breakfasts.
These are some autumn leaves in Berry and the following picture shows a tree with autumn leaves in this particular street in Berry
This is where we turned off from Berry taking the Tourist Drive to Hampden Bridge
We saw some unusual cloud formations on the way. This was one of them.
This is part of the Kangaroo Valley Road
Further along the Tourist Road
A gate to a property along the Road
Nearly there at the Bridge
This sign tells us that there are wombats in the area
AuntyUta 
Thanks for your concern, dear Mary-Ann. It’s not an old injury. It’s probably old age, don’t you think: