Early in the morning of the 1st of January 2015 we stopped at the Cobargo Bakehouse for breakfast. But more about this later.
We left Martin and Essendon early in the morning of the 31st of December 2014. Our first stop was at the information centre in Sale. Toilet facilities and free maps were welcome. The place looked the same as we remembered it from a trip along the coastal road to Melbourne that we did many, many years ago. I am not sure, maybe it was ten years ago. We then stopped in the town of Sale for refreshments:
When I sat down I noticed this title page on one of the tables.Here are our cakesand tea or coffee to refresh us.
Soon we were on our way to Lakes Entrance, a very beautiful place at Bass Strait. There we enjoyed a stroll along the promenade next to where all the boats were. I did not walk as far as the others. I relaxed sitting down for a while and watching all that was going on around me. I include here some of the pictures that Peter took. I took only some of the pics!
This view we had at the back of the General Store.
We ordered a very good lunch at the General Store. They did bring it out to us where we were sitting at the back of the store.
We did not take photos of our lunch. However I remember I shared one portion of fish and chips with Peter. The fish tasted very good and was a very large piece which was definitely enough to eat for the two of us. I think we had ginger beer to drink. And later on we bought an ice-dream in the store. I also remember they had some good toilet facilities at the back.
We looked around the place a bit more. And Peter acted as the photographer again. Here are some of the pictures he took after we had finished eating:
We were already close to the border of New South Wales.
We were welcomed by this sign.
The booked unit at the Motel in Bega turned out to be a two bedroom unit: Very good for the four of us for an overnight stay.
Casey, who came to pick us up from our motel in Bega, stopped the car here to show us the view.
Here are some more pics that were taken at Tathra with our camera:
A visitor shortly before New Year’s Eve end.
First stop after we left Bega the next morning was Cobargo. It turned out they had good coffee at the Bake house and also – surprise, surprise – some Berliners (Pfannkuchen!) or you may call them Jam Rolls.
It was a lovely summer’s morning and we were sitting outside.
Next stop was Bodalla for buying cheese.
A great variety of cheeses to choose from.
Then another short break in Berry. And, voila, thanks to Matthew’s excellent driving our beautiful rental car got us back home to Dapto in the early afternoon! It was good to see home again. Everything was the way we had left it. Of course we opened all the windows to let some fresh air in.
And soon we had some refreshments on the table. There were still some things left from Christmas and the place looked quite all right. We even turned the lights on our Christmas Tree on again! It was not too hot, not at all.
Our Christmas Tree and all the Christmas things we packed away on Wednesday, the 7th of January 2015. Soon it is going to be Christmas again. Then we are going to start all over again. Or maybe we won’t do all the Christmas decorations another time? Well, so far it has been fun to still be able to do all this. So let’s hope for another time! 🙂
Peter discovers a rose in the park in front of the station.
The above pictures are from last Sunday when we took the train to Tempe to meet the family at the Concordia Club. We also took the train last Saturday going to Redfern for a W.A. Dowe Memorial Lecture. The speaker was our good friend Richard Lawrence Giles. The talk was about THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF LAND VALUE TAXATION and started at 2 pm. At a coffee shop near Redfern Station we had some coffee and cake.
Next time we are at this place I’d like to try some of the healthy things that are on offer for 6 Dollars: ‘Immunity Boost’, ‘Detox’, ‘Revitalise’, I think all this sounds good. We happen to know that a lot of university students and maybe teachers get off the train at Redfern to walk from there to Sydney University. Any coffee shops on the way would probably be patronised by some university students and teachers. In this particular coffee shop two very friendly young guys did look after the customers.
Today is Saturday again. We had been contemplating to go to Redfern today to watch a free movie. We did get an invitation to:
CINEMA ET SYMPOSIA. It is a seminar on film – based on Shirley-Ann Hardy’s book “Stolen Land, Stolen Lives and the Great Con Trick of Debt. It says a moderate discussion of the film follows. Free Admission. Refreshments Served. Time 2 pm – 4 pm.
Why did we not go? Simple answer: We needed to stay home to have a rest. Since Peter’s eye operation nearly two weeks ago our life has been a bit too hectic for our liking. After all we are not spring chickens any more! So what did we do apart from the two above mentioned train travels? Well, after the operation Peter went to see the eye specialist already three times for consultations! He also had to get a new referral from a GP (General Practitioner). On the day of the operation our daughter Caroline was able to stay with us. She did the driving to and from the hospital. It was great to have her around. In the evening Matthew joined us too and we had a good time together. Next morning C and M had to go back to their respective work. They keep themselves busy with working and studying.
The next day one of our neighbours inquired how Peter was going after the operation. We mentioned that the doctor in Figtree who had done the operation in Shellharbour Hospital , wanted to see Peter for post operative care. When the neighbour heard about this he was kind enough to offer us a lift to the bus stop. He even would have driven us to Figtree, but we said we would be all right catching the bus. On the way back we caught a bus which stopped a bit closer to home, so we did not have to walk very far. The operation had been on a Tuesday, the trip to Figtree on Wednesday, then on Thursday I found out that another neighbour, my friend Irene, was about to drive to Dapto Mall Shopping Centre. I asked her could I have a lift. When I told her I wanted to go for a haircut, she said to wait for her at the hairdresser’s. She would drive me back home then.
Irene parked in an area where it would be easy for her to drive out again. Apparently she is not all that confident yet with her parking. Her husband had been driving for all these years. When her husband recently died very unexpectedly it was up to Irene to get used to driving again. Irene gave me an idea. Maybe I was capable too driving to the Shopping Mall the way Irene did it? All of a sudden I felt I might be able to do it. I told Peter about it when it turned out Peter had to see his doctor in Figtree again on Friday. Surprise, surprise, I actually managed to drive the car to that beautiful parking spot on that Friday. From there it was not far to the bus stop. The following day, Saturday, I managed to park the car near Dapto Station. We left Dapto at 11,35 am and did not get back till nearly 7 pm. But fortunately it was still a little bit light and rained only a little bit. Something similar again the next day, on Sunday, when we caught the train to Tempe. We did get a lift back home in daughter Monika’s new car. Mark was the driver and dropped as off near Dapto Station where our car was parked.
Now to the second week after the operation. On Monday Peter had to go to the Medical Centre to get a new referral for the specialist. I drove him to the Dapto Mall Shopping Centre again. From there he could walk to the Medical Centre. On Wednesday, when Peter wanted to see his eye specialist once more for he still could not see very well with his right eye, well on Wednesday I parked the car in the Shopping Centre again. Just to make sure I asked Peter did he bring the referral from the GP. It soon was obvious that he had left it at home. So I drove back home with Peter. Peter found the referral at home. Then back to our parking spot in the shopping centre. We ran to the bus stop. Peter was sure the bus would have left without us by now. But he was wrong. Luckily the bus was running very late again. We were really lucky to catch it. Peter had thought it could not possibly be running that late. And it goes only once every hour!
We made it in time to the doctor’s appointment or 10 am. But we had to wait for quite a while. Several other patients were waiting for Michelle, the doctor. So Peter had to wait his turn. The bus going back to Dapto is also only once every hour. When we approached the bus stop to go back to Dapto it turned out the bus had left ten minutes ago. That gave us a lot of time till the next bus was due. We used the time to go for some lovely coffee and cake. 🙂
As I mentioned before we went to the Concordia Club in Tempe last Sunday. I found some more pictures from that day which I had not published yet. Here they are:
A picture inside Concordia Club
I took this picture because I thought it looked cute. I think I saw a Swiss flag inside the club. I am not sure where these traditional outfits are from. Maybe Switzerland or Bavaria or Austria? Anyway, I think these dolls look cute!
This sign is in the outside area of the club.
The Australian and the German Flag outside the Concordia Club
Michelle, the doctor, told Peter by the end of the week Peter can drive again. I think she meant by the end of this week. This kind of lets me of the hook. I have no vision in my left eye and Peter has at the moment hardly any vision in his right eye! Aren’t we a nice pair?! 🙂
By the way, we go to Martin Place when we see our dentist, and we go to Bondi Junction when we see daughter Caroline and Matthew. We are very happy that we have a good train connection from Dapto to Sydney. And a ticket for the whole day for public transport (that includes now buses) is for pensioners only 2,50 Australian Dollars! We really like this. 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Simpson_Kirkpatrick
AuntyUta 
