Day 481 Norman Lindsey House Blue Mountains

In our now rush down the coast, Stephen had ear marked the Blue Mountains as a must see....well that was all well and good, but we arrived to a pea soup fog...the clouds, the rain and the freezing conditions. So from the Hunter and shorts and swimming in the pool..we arrived to extra blankets, fleecy tops and hot soup. With this weather we decided to do some of the inside attractions..the first was Norman Lindsay's House. The colourful and controversial artist was so prolific with his art it makes your head spin. And of course the subject matter is right up Stephen's alley!!!! Now you are not allowed to take photo's of the Etchings, Water Colours, Oils etc. but you are allowed to take pictures of the 15 sculptures that dot his old garden.
This is not one of them....but is of the Magic Pudding, character. Not only did this guy, etch, paint etc, but he also wrote books and a couple of children's books..the most famous of course is the Magic Pudding.
Back to the sculptures....these were all (bar one) made in situ..all are visible from a window, door or verandah of the house, the Studio or the Etching Room.
They are outstanding works of art in their own right and I had no idea that Norman Lindsay had done this style of work at all!!
The proportions are amazing...his love of Greek Mythology appears everywhere..the verandah posts replaced by columns is just one of those examples!!!!

Day 477 The Hunter Valley

Now you may think this is a strange photo to take...but it is in fact the new boots on Toby..after three punctures and 57,000 k's we blew the budget completely and bought the new tyres. Not o the original plan but we were not happy to travel up to the Blue Mountains (our next port of call) with next to slick tyres.
While in the Hunter we managed to catch up with Budgie and Jane. Stephen had not caught up with Budgie for around 25 years and had never met Jane. We had a very nice lunch then back to the van for a cuppa and a chat. Thanks for making the effort to join us..great to catch up/met you both...maybe next time we can come to Sydney and meet again?!
The following day Stephen and I went on a find a great winery expedition....we had been sadly disappointed on the previous raids...then came across this gem. This is Bimbadgen Estate. The entry to the cellar door had these caged wines....Stephen could not resist asking if that was were they kept their Bad Wines!!!!!!
What started as the usual tasting became one of those fabulous experiences. Firstly we met Melissa, who we discovered has a similar sense of homour. She plied us with wine, we joined the Club, we had a fabulous light lunch...with wine and left we freebies and a big grin on our faces.
Not a bad looking Vineyard either...special people and a special place...great wine too!

Day 475 Hunter Valley Gardens Part 4

The Lakes Walk Garden included this lovely Church. This Church can be entered from the main entry into the Gardens and as you can imagine is very popular for Weddings.
With formal areas to have photos taken and lawns that people can gather on, it makes it a perfect spot...not bad for a leisurely stroll on a Spring Day.
Can you imagine the scent from this pillar of roses...we need smellovision!!!!!!
The insect life was enjoying the day to...never seen so many Ladybirds before in my life.
And all tis is the brain child of Bill Roche. This man was the name behind Neutrometics and has designed a few other gardens in the past. This Hunter Valley Garden was his and his wife's retirement dream...apparently he still roams the gardens listening to the comments of the tourists..all I can say is well done...for a ten year old garden it is fantastic and can only get better and better!!

Day 475 Hunter Valley Gardens Part 3

Yep there was a Japanese Garden here as well...Stephen still thinks that the one at Toowoomba is the best but this had some really good qualities too.
Being the Spring season and as we are traveling South, we are still picking up the colours in all of these gardens...fantastic
The proportions of these places make me feel very small..the vision of the designers and the work of the team of people that establish these places is mind blowing..
I'd just like one of these Lillie Pillie Trees..mind you keeping it like this would be a full time occupation.
And the variety and combination of colours are typical of the Japanese theme.....

Day 475 Hunter Valley Gardens Part 2

The Rose Garden had over 8000 roses and over 350 varieties.....the perfume was intoxicating.
The other name for this area was Grandmothers Garden. The sculptures in the centre was of a Grandmother supervising a large number of children at play. If you blow the picture up it gives you some more details.
Caught having a sit at one of the lovely pergola style areas around the Rose Garden. Each of these had different classical music playing, large tables and chairs, pots filled with water and floating roses...talk about fill you senses and ease your soul...
This was the table that I was sitting at......
the workmanship is outstanding, Lapis Lazuli & many other semi precious stones have been used....has to be seen to be believed!!!!!

Day 475 Hunter Valley Gardens Part 1

The Hunter Valley had been calling and not just for the wineries!!!! This gem is the Hunter Valley Gardens and there is so much to see here that I have put this into 4 parts. This fabulous garden has 9 Theme Gardens. All set on 60 acres with lovely hedging and paths connecting them. The one above is the formal garden.
This Indian Garden had the smell factor down to a curry!!!...yes, actual curry ground covering plants which emitted the curry smells as you walked into the gardens through the Elephant Gate.
My favourite (but then I have never grown up) was the Story Book Garden..this one (Wee Willy Winkie) reminded me of Robert...I wonder why?
Great conversation was had with Alice and the Mad Hatter!!!!
Then round the corner to the Waterfall Garden and Sunken Garden.

Day 473 Forster

Our relentless movement in the Southerly direction continued. We moved on to Forster, pretty place... but we were not happy there!!! We arrived thinking that we had plenty of time to look around and stay another night...unfortunately, we selected the Council Caravan Park, normally these have been pretty good...we could not get the Turtle into any of the supplied sites...and then poor Stephen clipped the back of the van on a Fire Hose Reel. Not Happy Jan!!!! He was still seething in the morning so we moved on....great place to visit though, especially if you have a tinny and you enjoy fishing!!
You can see what I mean with this picture of the mouth of the river, rushing in..choice fishing spot!
And just around the corner is the calm..with the view a across to the bridge between Forster and Tuncurry.

Day 471 South West Rocks

This hidden away part of the coast is a joy to behold. Mike drove us around and up to the Lighthouse for a peek...so many beaches without anyone on them..which considering it was the school holidays was quite amazing!!
We have seen so many of these but they still make us look in disbelief as to how they were built (and by whom), and the stories of the original people that manned these buildings. The whales were out again and by now the mothers are teaching the calves to breach...awesome!
The boys on the cooking detail....Stephen had to really push the point to get into the kitchen to help..... had a great time Guys...thanks again.
Jenny had just had a cataract operation so had not been able to come touring with us...that did not stop us having a couple of great evenings...good food, great wines and beautiful company!

Day 470 South West Rocks

In our travels we had met Jenny and Mike in both Croydon and Atherton. We originally were not going to do this part of the coast but with Stephen making the decision that it was time to go home... we had altered our plans...one quick message and the invite came back to come and stay on their property at South West Rocks. We had a lovely time, and Mike took us on a tour of the area...this Big Boy has his patch up by the now Duck Pond (which used to be the water supply for the Gaol)
This is the old Gaol...very impressive..they had had a sculpture display on just before we got there but not all of them had been removed...
....no comments allowed on this one... I had enough from his lordship!
Very unusual mirror and table...notice the phantom photographer?

Day 468 Waterfall Tourist Route

The cold got to us (just as Alan had said it would), so we pushed on heading back to the warmth on the coast. Along the road , which is the Waterfall Way, we stopped to admire a few of the many waterfalls. This is Ebor Falls.
Then on to Dorrigo..were we found the smallest Bike Museum that seconds as a cafe!! This 2 cylinder monster is Big Ned, 200hp. home made bike inspired by, you guessed it Ned Kelly ! It was awesome!!
These are Dangar Falls...Stephen had last seen them over 30 years ago..the strange thing is that before this trip even started I had had a dream about a waterfall with a rock face that you could swim between...if you see what I mean...well this is the closest I have come to it!! Having said that it was too cold to swim even if you could get down to it.
The things you see, this would you believe is the sign post for the Water Treatment Plant...could not resist! Laver-tree!
There is also a Skywalk on the outskirts of Dorrigo..the rolling hills and the top of the trees...fantastic..looking out to sea,all made a lot better in the fact that the dust appears to have settled...what a difference a couple of days make!!!!

Day 466 The Road to Armidale

This beautiful church is in a small place called Clunes...now you may ask "why take a picture of a church?" Well Stephen has always fancied a church to do up.... this one was sold but we did manage to catch a couple of people out by telling them we had bought this instead of buying something in Nimbin!!!!
We were off again, through from Byron Bay, Clunes , Lismore, Tenterfield and into Armidale..this Armidale is sooooo different to the Armadale in W.A. It was bitterly cold and so we did the drive round guided tour supplied by the Tourist Information Centre.....great again!
This was the old Railway Station..and the previous picture was in the main street...huge variety of architecture styles...very well presented and maintained. What we really liked was the fact that there was a lot of buildings on the drive that were privately owned and lived in...so you could not look inside but what the heck it gave you a very good idea of the houses and building of the region and times.Double click on this & have a look at the detailing.
This one we did sneak into...being attached to the University...now a function centre and offices for the University, with lovely lawns etc.