D: Deniliquin Ute Muster

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Deniliquin, a small town in south western New South Wales wanted to be famous. They wanted a festival that made a statement about who they were. After much deliberation and collaboration the idea of celebrating the ute was born. In country Australia utes are everywhere. They are the backbone of country life. So it is no surprise that the first Deniliquin Ute Muster was a huge success. Held in October each year people come from everywhere to celebrate all things country and utes.

The first Deni Ute Muster created a Guinness World Record for the number of utes gathered in one place. Over the last 20 years this has been exceeded on several occasions.

Over the years the festival has grown adding more fun things to include all. There is now a blue singlet count, ute parade, tradie challenge and many other activities including stars of country music. Below are the poster and layouts for this years muster. I would love to go one year but I think Covid will need to be more under control before I join the thousands. We did tour the Deni Ute Muster museum and had a great time learning about it.

I personally love how the ute theme has spread throughout the town. Deniliquin certainly did put itself on the map. My favourite was found in a park and was called Re-utilize.

C: Cape Otway Lightstation

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Described as Australia’s most significant lighthouse, Cape Otway Lightstation is full of history. It includes not just the lighthouse but also the surrounding buildings and areas. It is Australia’s oldest lighthouse.

Built where Bass Strait meets the Southern Ocean it was sailors first contact with Australia. Actually is was also their first contact with land since leaving their departure port. This was also a very dangerous area. To travel around mainland Australia there was a very narrow opening of 84 kilometres known as the Eye of the Needle. This is between Cape Otway and Cape Wickham on King Island. Captains who misjudged this space ended up shipwrecked.

The photos below were taken from the top of the old lighthouse. We could walk all the way around however when on the southern side over the ocean we thought we would be blown off. The wind gusts were huge so we could get a real sense of how hard and isolating it would have been.

The above photo gives an indication of how amazing the old stone work was in the lighthouse.

Cape Otway lightstation included a telegraph station. Built in 1859 it was the first attempt at linking communication between mainland Australia and Tasmania. After this failed it began communication with every ship’s captain that passed Cape Otway. It’s task was to separate the healthy and unhealthy ships before they landed in Melbourne.

Another hidden aspect of the area during World War 2 was a radar bunker. It was so secret that when it informed about an enemy vessel it wasn’t believed. I love finding these surprising stories of our history on our travels.

Unfortunately during our visit we were told that this amazing piece of Australian history is to be sold. Let’s hope common sense changes the government’s mind.

B: Black Lighthouse Queenscliff

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The Black Lighthouse is one of only 3 in the world that are black. The black colour comes from using unpainted bluestone. It is part of Fort Queenscliff. Built high up shining its light to guide shipping and other vessels through the often treacherous water at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay.

It has a sister lighthouse known as the white lighthouse. This is found lower down on the entrance Port Phillip Bay. With the high and low lights working together those on the water can tell where they are.

Both were replacement lighthouses built in 1863. Despite their age they still look and work well today. Unfortunately, timing didn’t allow us to visit Fort Queenscliff so we couldn’t get up close and personal with this beautiful building.

A : Australian National Surfing Museum

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On our recent holiday exploring the Great Ocean Road and regional Victoria our first stop was The Australian National Surfing Museum. It is located in Tourquay at the start of the Great Ocean Road and Surf Coast. The museum is said to be the largest surfing museum in the world. And describes 100 years of Australia’s surfing history. I found this fascinating. Despite growing up on the coast I had no idea of the culture and history attached to surfing in Australia. This visit really put it in perspective for me.

I particularly loved the display of Gordon Stammers Storyboards. These are very quirky and fun to read. Each tells a funny story by runaway teenage surfer. He writes a letter to his parents on the front of the board. On the back is the response from one parent. They were so creative and funny.

At the time we visited it was hard to believe that the local beaches got the waves that were described in the surfing history of the area. Our experience on all beaches was flat surf. Bass Strait however has a history of being wild and untamed. Apparently it depends on the time of year. Personally I would love to see the big surf as described around the museum, in the hall of fame and on the historical surfing videos being shown. Easter ever year sees Australia’s biggest surfing competition held at Bell’s beach not far from the National Surfing museum. I think we must have traveled about six weeks early.

2022 A-Z Challenge: Recent Travels

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Wow I can’t believe it’s April tomorrow. Where has this year gone? For me, over a month was spent travelling around regional New South Wales and Victoria in Truby. (Our Iveco and Slide-on camper). It was our first trip and we had a great time exploring our country and learning about the grey nomad lifestyle. Despite being nearly 60 most of the places we explored I had never been to before. We found many interesting places, history stories, hidden surprises and the amazing natural beauty of Australia.

Initially our aim was to travel the Great Ocean Rd one of Australia’s and possibly one of the world’s most iconic roads. It was truly breathtaking. For our remaining two weeks we made it up as we went along and had a ball. We drove over 4500 kilometres.

Whilst travelling I decided the best way to share my experiences is by again joining the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. This is a world wide blogging challenge that I first joined in 2015. It will be the fourth time that I have participated and each time I have grown as a blogger. The goal is to post every day in April except Sundays. Most people have a theme that connect their blog posts. This is only half of the challenge however. The other equally important part is to visit other blogs and connect through commenting. I love it and have meet some amazing people on my journey and am hoping to meet many more this year.

If you are interested in joining here is the link Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

CMMC: FLOWERING GUMS CLOSE UP

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Being the first week of the month Cee’s Mid Week Challenge is about exploring macro or close up photography. I like to think of it as getting up close and personal time. When deciding on what to photograph I was memorized by the large bushes I saw in the gardens as I was leaving the hospital. To my surprise, I walk along this path every day but hadn’t noticed these beautiful shrubs before. So I explored their beauty closely and to my delight saw that the bushes were in various stages of flowering. They truely were a sight to behold.

Not knowing what the plants were I asked around and was told that they are Mini Red Flowering Gums. ( Corymbia Ficifolia) They are grafted eucalyptus trees, native to Australia that grow easily and are hardy. Bees and nectar eating birds love to feed on them.

Do you have a favourite? Mine is the last one that also shows the bees gathering the pollen.

Thanks to Cee for hosting this challenge it is great inspiration.

CMMC: Australia loves V

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This year I have just discovered a new and exciting weekly challenge, Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge. (CMMC) The theme of this week is words that contain the letter V. So in recognition of Australia Day yesterday, I decided to base my post around things important to Australia and Australians.

My first choice is the superfood of our nation, Vegemite. Full of vitamin B it is a unique taste. One fun thing we like to do is give taste tests to our international guests. Often the looks on their faces are priceless. Most Australians also don’t leave Australia without a jar packed in their suitcase. I love my larger size Vegemite from Costco.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Our country is an island so lifesavers are an essential part of our daily life. They do an amazing job saving many people from drowning and keeping our beaches, pools and rivers safe. While some are paid positions, many are volunteers supporting their communities.

The waves on our beaches are constantly changing. I love going to the beach during all seasons just to watch the waves. It is a peaceful exercise that helps to ground me. Unfortunately, it is not always safe to swim in the waves. Mother nature definitely rules. This summer every time I’ve had a day off the beaches have been closed so I haven’t had a swim yet.

Australians love their sport and one of our favourites is diving.

Rivers are another waterway Australia has a lot of. They can be coastal or inland and are reliant on the rainfall. This photo was taken at the end of last year when the rivers suddenly burst into major floods cut ting off towns and communities in a few hours. Drought is also a problem when the rivers dry up.

Sydney’s Vivid Festival is amazing. It is very creative and celebrates light, music and ideas. Every year it gets bigger and brighter with more displays over different parts of Sydney.

I love the Australian humour in this Lavatree outside a waste disposal centre in rural NSW.

On our travels we found amazing sculptures carved into the walls of an underground opal mine at Lightning Ridge.

Finally the last thing Australians love it traveling. For us this gaining a new momentum as we have just bought ourselves a new Iveco to carry our slide on camper. Vacationing in the Iveco a very fun way to visit.

Thanks to Cee for hosting her CMMC January V

Coffee Catch-Up # 40

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If we were having coffee I would wish you happy New Year and tell you I can’t believe the last time we chatted was early November. Life has changed a lot in Australia since then. Most of Australia is open and we can travel to all states but Western Australia. The problem is Covid has taken over. Staffing is a problem for business as many people are either sick or isolating. Another problem is the shadow lockdown. Minimal spending as many of us are choosing to stay at home to minimize their risk of contracting Covid. It’s the health verse economy battle.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited my husband and I were to buy our new Iveco to carry our slide on camper (Ruby). We had spent months researching what to get and by the time we made our final choice we were told that there were none in the country and we needed to order one. Then out of the blue my husband made one further enquiry and they had one on site. It was perfect. It had everything we wanted and a bigger engine. To my delight it was also blue not boring white. So to add to the fun we have named it True Blue and together I have named them Truby.

You can’t miss us travelling on the road. Red and blue just like our local football team, Newcastle Knights. So if your in Australia and pass us don’t forget to wave.

If we were having coffee I would ask you about your Christmas. Our was a little different to usual this year as some family members made other plans to void the Covid risk of larger gatherings. Last years colours were purple and gold which together we dubbed Violet Crumble Christmas. A fun and busy day was had by all.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how weird it was last weekend when the tsunami warning from the Tonga volcano eruption, closed our beaches. I don’t think I have ever seen our beaches look so bare. Usually if no one is swimming, someone is surfing. It was strange. The baths were full of people as they weren’t at risk.

I was a little fascinated with the red flag with the diamond in the centre by the side of the baths. I’m assuming it was a warning to the surfers who regularly surf of the rocks nearby. I had never before noticed a diamond on the usual no swimming flag.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I liked someone’s simple ide of putting baubles in a gum tree outside their house. What a great Aussie way to acknowledge Christmas.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world.

Thanks to Natalie for hosting #weekendcoffee share

Coffee Catch-Up #39

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was last Thursday to escape town for a few days. As I was finishing work on Wednesday afternoon I felt a little manic. My husband and I took a road trip to Tamworth, 3.5 hours northwest of Newcastle. It felt so weird when we crossed the imaginary line of our LGA (Newcastle Council) because during restrictions it was the limit we could travel to. We had planned to have lunch at an historic pub at Wingen many times and Thursday was the day.

To celebrate the first trip to a pub since lockdown ended I did what most Aussies did and ordered a beer on tap. I don’t often drink beer but thought why not. It was so cold, fresh and memorable. The food was also pretty good. I would have loved another beer but time did not permit. It was great to be out of the city connecting with the country again.

View from back verandah of The Durham Hotel

If we were having coffee I ask you if you picked the winner of last Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup. In Australia it is known as the race that stops the nation and is Australia’s most famous house race. As it is over 3200 metres it is particularly hard to pick a winner for and this year proved no exception. The favourite, Incentivise was leading with 400m to go when suddenly Verry Elleegant swept in and won.

If we were having coffee how excited I was to find my missing house keys. These keys had been missing since before last Christmas and I had searched everywhere for them. I had given up hope. Then about a week ago I got to catch up with a girlfriend for breakfast. So I dressed up and matched my handbag to my outfit. Then just as we were leaving the café and I was searching for my mask I opened one of the many side pockets and to my surprise found my missing keys. I let out a shriek with excitement and made many heads turn.

If we were having coffee I would tell you about the hydofoil surfer I enjoyed watching this morning at the beach. He was difficult to photograph but mesmerising to watch. The beach was high tide and only the surfers were out because of the conditions.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world.

Thanks to Natalie The Explorer for hosting our weekendcoffeeshare.

An Australian Original

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Today on my walk around the suburb my attention was drawn to an usual sight. A Banksia plant was displaying several stages of the Banksia cycle all at once. There are over a 170 species of Banksias ranging in size and shape, with all but one of them native to Australia. They were first discovered by and consequently named after Sir Joseph Banks when Captain Cook discovered Australia in 1770. They are a truly an Australian original.

The photo below shows the flower in bloom. This flower was one of the last for the season.

This photograph shows the cone after the flowers have dropped off. It is here that the seeds are stored in pods until opening up. For many Banksia species this is triggered by heat – bushfires or drying out.

I love the contradiction in this photo as it shows a new cone with pods developing as well as a dried out empty cone.

In Australia the dried out cone has inspired many craft and woodwork creations. However, in many ways their greatest claim to fame is being the inspiration for May Gibbs’s Big Bad Banksia Men in her Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books. The Banksia men were the villians. They were always out to create trouble. Owing to the commonness of the species, dried cone can be found everywhere so growing up every child could relate to them. I’m sure my family wasn’t the only one to create their own Banksia boys adventures.

Photo credit: May Gibbs books.