The weather was stifling hot when we arrived back in Sydney and the humidity was very high.
Zak spent a very hot day working on fixing an on-going leak problem we had on our van. Fortunately the van was well covered up during our month away in WA and had been kept dry from the several big thunderstorms that went through.
The next day was Australia Day and we wanted to experience how Sydney celebrates the Day. Especially as Sydney is where it all began. On 26th January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guided the fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts and settlers to the colony of NSW.
It was very thought provoking for us to be in Sydney Harbour and imagine how the aborigines must have felt standing on the headlands and watching these strange looking boats make their way through the heads to Sydney Cove and setting up a Settlement there.
We waited until the weather cooled a little in the late afternoon before we caught the train into Sydney. There were many other people making their way into the city as well. It surprised us to find ourselves to be the only ones wearing Australiana gear making us think they do things different here than in Perth. Once we arrived in the city though we were once again surprised to see the amount of Australian and Aboriginal flags that were being distributed free to all the people.
We made our way through throngs of people to the forecourt surrounding the Opera House and were very fortunate to get a bench seat to sit on in a prime position looking out towards the Harbour Bridge. We had many hours to wait until the fireworks at 9pm or so we thought, but the time passed very quickly with loads of entertainment going on in front of us on the water.
A FINALIST IN THE BEST DRESSED VESSEL
A LARGE PASSENGER LINER PASSING UNDER THE BRIDGE
NEWLY AWARDED AUSTRALIANS OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE BEST DRESSED VESSEL
It was pleasing to see the aboriginal people fully involved with the celebrations of the day and playing a leading role in the entertainment. Although we hear in the media of protests from Aboriginal and Non Aboriginal people in regard to celebrating Australia Day, to us, it appeared, here in Sydney a way had been found to celebrate together, what a great country Australia is today.
At least 12 jet-skis carrying both flags were zipping about at intervals throughout the evening. As it got dark fireworks exploded from them giving an amazing display.
The Harbour Bridge was lit up beautifully along with boats on the water.
A Flotilla of yachts made their way around the harbour at intervals. All travelling in sequence along their way.
As the dark deepened the yachts changed colour to give an amazing display
Sydney Harbour Bridge changed colour many times.
We were amazed to see the results of the skill of Drone Handlers as they manipulated many drones across the sky. As the drones flew by in sequence, fireworks erupted from them lighting up the sky and making one unsure of where to look next.
FLAMING DRONES
Suddenly the sky exploded above us as fireworks exploded from the roof of the Opera House.
At approximately 9 pm the main display of fireworks began with a vengeance. It was time now to put the camera away, sit back and enjoy the show.
It was a fantastic display... the whole afternoon and evening. We were SO pleased we had made the effort to join the crowds and experience this spectacular sight.
Monday morning we said good-bye to the Asmussen's who had been so kind to put us up and cared for our caravan and ute while we went across to WA. We headed for the Southernmost town in NSW, seeking cooler weather and a Caravan Park with space where we could make one final attempt at fixing the van. To back up a little....the night before we left Asmussen's a huge storm came through dumping lots of rain on us and to our dismay we discovered we still had the leak. Our thoughts were to find a place where we could do repairs and not leave until the leak was fixed. The place we chose was Eden. The caravan park owners were helpful and lent Zak a long ladder to aid in the repair of the van.
EDEN NSW
After several attempts and looking further afield on the roof of the Caravan it was determined that the leak was coming from a completely different area on the roof to where Zak had been doing the repairs. To repair the job meant taking out the Four Season Hatches in the roof completely, resealing thoroughly, replacing the hatches and resealing again. Unfortunately before Zak could get the hatches back in, a very heavy downpour came through and we had a huge water problem IN the van. EEEK too stressful to talk about! After a large mopping up job we managed to get a good night sleep. The next day was a nice sunny day and Zak managed to finish the huge job of resealing up the hatches. We do hope and pray that the leak problem is fixed. The next heavy downpour will tell us if we have been successful.
SWANS ON LAKE CURALO
ASLINGS BEACH
In between fixing the van we took time to sight see and swim.
CEMETRY WITH A VIEW
We thought it quite unusual that the Eden Cemetery had some of the best prime land around.
Beach walks were very good along Asling Beach
A CRUISE SHIP WAITING JUST OUTSIDE THE PORT OF EDEN
A PRECARIOUS PERCH TO PHOTOGRAPH THE EDEN WHARF
MERIMBULA
MERIMBULA LAKE
On the last Sunday in Eden we visited Merimbula a nearby town. It was a beautiful day for lunch looking out over the lake.
Oyster Farming is one of the main industries here and we could see plenty of evidence of this in the lake.
After lunch we looked around more of beautiful Merimbula.
LOOKING BACK OVER MERIMBULA FROM MERIMBULA POINT
BEGA CHEESE FACTORY
The next morning we packed up from Eden and got on the road looking for the next spot to stay. We visited Bega Cheese Factory along the way, tasting some of their lovely cheese samples.
ULLADULLA WHARF
DOLPHIN POINT
The place we chose to stay for the next week was Dolphin Point in the vicinity of Burrell Lake. It was a good place to put the kayak in and we had a very good few hours paddling one day. Swimming was amazing here, we made good use of the waterways while we were there. The caravan park was very close to the rivermouth.
LOW TIDE
THE RIVERMOUTH
WALKING THE BEACH
This featured blog entry was written by Zak and Jenny from the blog Roaming Our Sunburnt Country.
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