September 2016

Fine and mainly sunny in Sydney today.

While Jan and Di had a girls day together, Andy and David went to Balmoral Beach for a coffee at the Boatshed Cafe and a wander around the area, followed by a drive around Middle Head. In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant La Capannina in Milson's Point for an excellent meal.

Boats moored in Hunters Bay from Balmoral Beach.

The Boat Shed at Balmoral Beach.

Boat Shed Cafe at Balmoral Beach.

A view from the Boat Shed Cafe at Balmoral Beach.

Another view from the Boat Shed Cafe.

Looking along Balmoral Beach towards Rocky Point Island.

The Bathers Pavilion at Balmoral Beach - now a restaurant.

Rocky Point Island at the end of Balmoral Beach.

Naval Hospital at HMAS Penguin on Middle Head.

We had rain overnight and a few early morning showers but the day turned out mainly fine for our trip today.

We were on our way at 9:40 am for the 265 km trip to the Lane Cove River Tourist Park. We retraced our steps to Bungwahl on the Lakes Way and turned left for Bulahdeleah where we re-joined the Pacific Highway. Just past Raymond Terrace we turned right onto the New England Highway before turning left onto the M1 Freeway (the old Newcastle Freeway) for the run into Sydney. It is starting to show its age and will need an upgrade in the near future to cope with the volume of heavy vehicles that use the route.

We arrived at the caravan park just after 1:00 pm after a fairly uneventful trip and checked in for 4 nights. We were allocated our requested Site 2 and did a basic set-up before heading over to Artarmon to stay with Jan and Andy for a few days.

MaMa and Aunty MaMa at Artarmon.

Fine and mainly sunny again today.

The plan was for quiet day at the caravan park to get organised before we move on again.

As it turned out it was not so quiet - early this morning a crane and two large over-length and over-width trucks turned up with a pilot vehicle to deliver two sides of a building to the caravan park. I don't think that it would have been a good experience to have met them on the quite narrow Seal Rocks Road. The building turned out to be the new managers residence and reception area. The two halves of the building were lifted off the trucks and placed side by side on footings about a foot apart. Apparently the next step is to winch the two parts together.

Truck with the first half of the building.

Crane preparing to lift the building.

The other half of the building.

Crane at work.

Ready to lift off the trailer.

Ready to place the first half on the footings.

The two halves in position ready to push together.

Truckies like a back load - this cabin is going to the south coast of NSW.

Mainly sunny and fine again today.

Today we decided to drive back to Forster-Tuncurry to enable us to get some scripts filled and to do a bit of super-marketing. While we drove through the area the other day on our way to Seal Rocks we did not get the opportunity to look around. Forster (pronounced Foster) and Tuncurry are twin towns on either side of the entrance to Wallis Lake that makes up one of the Great Lakes in the area that include Smiths Lake and Myall Lake. Tuncurry town centre is generally run down unlike the more upmarket Forster town centre. After visiting the pharmacy and the newsagent we found a cafe for a light lunch, before moving on to Woollies for a few groceries.

On the way back to Seal Rocks we drove into the Cape Hawke Lookout to see if the whales were about, and also drove into Boomerang Beach to check it out. There were whales about 5 miles out in the distance but far to far away for a decent photo.

View of the Forster waterfront.

Maritime Services patrol vessel.

Another view of the Forster waterfront.

Viewing tower at Cape Hawke - it would have been cheaper to cut down a few trees.

Cape Hawke named by Captain Cook in 1770.

Great Lakes from the Cape Hawke Observation Tower.

Boomerang Beach.

Another view of Boomerang Beach.

Today we decided to walk from the Seal Rocks Caravan Park to the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse. The walk was about 40 minutes to the Lighthouse including a very steep climb at the end. After about 15 minutes taking in the sights it was an easier walk back to the caravan park.

The lighthouse was built in 1875 at Sugarloaf Point, also known as Seal Rocks Lighthouse, is an active lighthouse located at a point about 3 kilometres southeast of Seal Rocks. It guards Seal Rocks, a treacherous rock formation to the south. It was the first lighthouse designed by James Barnet and is one of only two towers in Australia with an external stairway.

Boat Beach at Seal Rocks.

Fishing boat on the beach at Seal Rocks.

View across Sugarloaf Bay at Seal Rocks.

Another fishing boat on Boat Beach at Seal Rocks.

Walking to The Lighthouse at Sugarloaf Point.

Lighthouse from the road to Sugarloaf Point.

Waves breaking in a gap between the rocks at Seal Rocks.

Sugarloaf Point Light-Keepers Cottage.

Seal Rocks from the the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse.

Lighthouse Beach at Seal Rocks.

Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse.

Di at the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse.

View from the road to the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse.