jetjackson's PhotoBlog

Leaving Toowoon Bay

2008-10-02T19:33:24Z

This morning, was our last at Toowoon Bay. Only a 60 mile drive to Sydney and the end of 8 days away with my dad and stepmum

Terrigal - Wamberal - Toowoon Bay

2008-10-02T19:08:31Z

The next day of our stay at Toowoon Bay, we drove to Terrigal, about 12km away. When I was young, we often went to Terrigal to watch the Life Savers Surf Carnivals. These were very exciting events, particularly the Surf Boat races. The beach at Terrigal was quite long, very wide and with a gentle approach to water, which meant walking out quite a way to swim. These days, the beach has changed dramatically (over time) and is much narrower (not as much sand). The Norfolk Island Pines, are still there, but the large green picnic sheds that I remember have gone. The shopping strip has changed, many cafe's with outside dining. Huge apartment building also have been built. A familiar landmark, The Skillion, has always been a challenge to walk up,,,some folk even run up, is a good vantage point to take photos. A drive around to Wamberal Lagoon saw more changes. What used to be a fun place to swim and have picnics, is now a fauna reserve, mainly for the many water birds.

Toowoon Bay - Long Jetty

2008-09-25T20:46:34Z

We took it easy the next morning,,,,,we're on holidays,,,no rush. After a look around the holiday park (to see what had changed), I took some pics, then we drove into The Entrance, which seems to have suffered the same fate, as do most holiday resorts. High rise buildings (plenty of them). A leisurely look around, plenty of "gee, look at this,,,,wasn't here last time", and afternoon tea at Long Jetty.

Gunnedah to Toowoon Bay

2008-09-25T19:15:08Z

We left Gunnedah after my father had shown us around the district. He kept remembering bits and pieces from when he was young. He had recorded most of the things he had done, but occasionally something he saw, jogged his memory, and out would come another story. All this was just fantastic. So we packed the car and headed back down the New England Highway to Maitland, then joined the Newcastle Expressway which would take us to Toukley, where we would turn off and detour to The Entrance and Toowoon Bay. When I was young, we would spend the Summer holidays at Toowoon Bay, and I have many fond memories of the beach. I did pack my swimmers and was hoping to have a swim,,,,but the water was quite rough,,,and cold. We arrived at Toowoon Bay late in the afternoon and booked into the Holiday Park where we would stay for 3 nights. The last time we were there was in 2001, when we had our caravan. My, how things change in just a few years. By the time we unpacked, the sun was going down, so only managed a few pics.

Moving on - Gunnedah

2008-09-23T18:22:22Z

I managed to drag us away from RAAF Williamtown, and headed back to Maitland, where we turned off and joined New England Highway to go to Curlewis and Gunnedah. Along the way, at a town called Quirindi, there is a place named "Who'd a Thought It Lookout", which of course is a lookout viewing over the town of Quirindi and surrounding districts. Not being able to pass up a chance to see what ""Who'd a Thought Lookout" is, we motored up the very steep hill to see. A very well maintained (by Rotary) lookout and playground with good views of the countryside. From there we continued to Gunnedah, where we stayed. My father was born in a house in neighbouring Curlewis, grew up and went to primary school there, and went to high school in Gunnedah. He wanted to show us the places he worked at (farms and silos) before coming to Sydney and joining the Army during the War. My grandfather was a farmer, and also had a truck, which he carrier wheat and other grains from the local farms to the rail at Curlewis. He also had a contract to carry water from the Government Dam to to houses in the district. We drove around Curlewis and the back roads, dad showing us the points of interest and some of the places he had worked for, before ending up at Porcupine Lookout,,,,,,and a cup of tea :) A most interesting story told by my father,,,,his older brother had contract to cart gravel for the new road over the Breeza Plains, in the mid 1930's. The old road, when wet with heavy rain, would just go to bog in the black soil. When the road was boggy, travellers would have to detour around the Breeza Plains, adding about 30 miles to their trip. The road was surveyed by both Gunnedah and Quirindi Councils, however, when the road was built and the road was to join up at the council boundary,,,,it didn't. Someone had made a blunder and these two halves of this very straight stretch of road didn't meet. Their answer,,,,,,,just create a "dog-leg" and then they will meet,,,,,,well, that "dog-leg" in the Breeza Plains Road,,,,is still there....:)

RAAF Williamtown

2008-09-22T21:34:27Z

This morning we left Port Stephens to travel to Gunnedah. Our plan was to go via Gloucester and over the Barrington Tops. The views across are quite spectacular, and we were looking forward to the drive. This detour would have added about 80km to the trip, and in good weather would have been worth the extra, for the views and camera shots,This road is only half sealed and in bad weather the road is closed. The morning was very wet, so we decided to skip the drive over the Barrington Tops, and headed south to Maitland, where we would join the New England Highway. This leg of the trip took us past the end of the runway at RAAF Williamtown, so I thought I would pull over for a few minutes, to see if there was any aerial action. I had only just stopped the car, and another looker-onner, motioned to me to see what was coming in. I could hardly get out of the car quick enough. Luckily, I had my camera in the front seat, and was able to get some quick snaps of a RAAF C-17 cargo plane, coming into land. I did stay a little longer, and was treated to see a P-51 warming up, and then taking off. An extra bonus was seeing one of our new Hawk fighter jets doing some low level passes.

More Pelicans at Soldiers Point

2008-09-22T21:06:48Z

The afternoon we were at Soldiers Point, we had sat down and had a cup of tea,,,,and waited to see if there any pelicans arrived. At first there was 1, then there were 2, and then there were 5. I was able to lean against a tree, to steady the camera and get some good pics with full zoom. I did already show a couple of pelican pics in my last post,,,,but I have a real soft spot for pelicans and couldn't resist taking more.

Nelson Bay - Tea Gardens

2008-09-19T20:09:24Z

Our next day at Port Stephens took us in a ferry trip to Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest, which are settlements on the other side of Port Stephens. We had checked out the ferry trip times, the day before while at the wharves in Nelson Bay. The trip across takes about an hour, so we decided to go on the 11.00am trip, have lunch and a walk around at Tea Gardens and come back on the 2.45 trip. The ferry is an old one, originally working the Hawkesbury River, and has been well maintained and decorated inside with old signs/plaques and other stuff from old railway carriages. The captain did say that often they see dolphins in the bay and to keep an eye open,,,just in case any were about. The route across seemed quite dog-legged, and the captain explained this was necessary due to the sand bars and shallow channels. Tea Gardens is very pretty with plenty of well kept old buildings. We had lunch in a cafe and a bit of a walk around before the ferry took us back to Nelson Bay. From there, we drove back to Soldiers Point, hoping to catch the sunset.

Cowan - Port Stephens

2008-09-18T17:53:43Z

We left Sydney headed for Port Stephens the day after we arrived in Sydney, just one night at my father's place, pack their stuff in our car,,,,,almost a struggle to get the tailgate of our station wagon closed. A leisurely drive, out of Sydney along the Newcastle Expressway, first stop, Cowan - Hawkesbury River and lunch beside the river. Almost every time we have stopped there, an old ferry can be seen plying its way. I found later, on a ferry trip from Nelson Bay to Tea Gardens, the ferry we were on, was originally named "Hawkesbury" and had plied the Hawkesbury River during the 1940's and 50's. We actually stayed at a "resort" at Salamander Bay, which is just one of the many townships around Port Stephens. Our first outing, was just up the road a bit, to Soldiers Point, where there were a number of pretty flash boats at the Marina, and a few lovely sculptures, then a drive along the beach front road to Nelson Bay, Nelson Head, lunch at Shoal Bay. So many interesting places to see, like Nelson Head and the light station. This used to be a manned lighthouse,,,nowadays it automated, and home to the Coastal Patrol. During the War years, there had been a number of gun emplacements at the head.

August Holidays - Gundagai

2008-09-17T19:07:39Z

It sure has been a while since I last posted any photos,,,,sort of lost my way a little and got caught up doing other things. This August, my wife and I, travelled north, to Sydney, to meet up with my father and step-mum. From there, we shared 8 days away,taking them on a holiday to; Port Stephens, Curlewis and Gunnedah (where my father was born and grew up), back to Central Coast - Toowoon Bay, then back to Sydney, where we spent another week with my dad and celebrated his 87th birthday with them. While in Sydney, we had the honour and pleasure, of meeting with one of my Photoblog friends. This was most exciting for both my wife and I,,,and my Photoblog pal (I do have a pic to share,,,later). After leaving Sydney, we motored south, and stayed at beautiful Narooma,,,mid south coast,,,for just over a week, before finally heading back home, 3½ weeks later. I have started this post, on the day we left to drive to Sydney. I think it will be easier to post the pics in same day order they were taken. It was very easy to take over 1000 pics while we were away. This could only be done using a digital camera (imagine the cost of film and processing???). The first night, we stopped at Gundagai, which is about half way between Melbourne and Sydney, along the Hume Highway, and this is where the photos start,,,,,,and no,,,I am not going to post all of the pics I took,,,,just the ones that really appeal to me :)