Australia Day 2010
Manly Beach, Sydney
Today is Australia Day, celebrating the day on which the first European settlers arrived in Sydney Cove in 1788.
Australians love a public holiday, and especially this one being in the middle of summer. Many people gather with family and friends and have barbecues, picnics, visits to the beach or attend major sporting events.
Near Mrs Macquaries Chair, Sydney Harbour
With the vast majority of Australians living near the coast, water activities are on the agenda for people. Swimming, sailing, surfing, fishing, canoeing and other water sports are all very popular.
Picnic at Swanport Reserve, Murray Bridge
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine, Victoria
We stayed a few days with our friends in Gisborne, Victoria on our way back from Sydney, January 2009. while we were there we went to visit the historic town of Castlemaine, about a half hour drive north of Gisborne. While we were there I managed a few photos of some of the beautiful old buildings. I’d love to spend more time wandering around this historic place.
Castlemaine, Victoria
We spent quite a long time looking through an antique shop. We found a great place to have lunch and we also browsed in a wonderful bookshop for quite a while. I love old bookshops; you never know what wonderful titles one will find. I didn’t find anything this time.
Castlemaine, Victoria
One of the interesting – and curious – things about the bookshop was the large statue of a cat on the roof over the footpath. The photo below shows a close up of the cat.
Castlemaine, Victoria
Mallacoota to Gisborne, Victoria
Leaving Mallacoota, eastern Victoria
We reluctantly left Mallacoota in eastern Victoria after only about 15 hours stay overnight. In the little time we had available we had become enchanted by this small coastal town and vowed we’d return again in the near future for more than just a few hours. A week or more is needed to fully explore this beautiful area. In fact, I could easily spend several months exploring the south eastern coast of Victoria and the adjacent south coast of New South Wales. The photo above was taken through the car windscreen as we left the town.
After about twenty minutes of driving we returned to the main highway and headed west towards Melbourne. We were due to arrive at our friends’ place that evening for dinner, so we had a long day in the car ahead of us. After several hours of driving through beautiful forests on both sides of the road we all agreed that we had seen enough tall trees for a while.
We stopped briefly at the lovely town of Orbost to have morning tea. We found a lovely park on the banks of the Snowy River (see photo below). As we journeyed on the day became hotter. We had lunch in the small town of Stratford and by then it was quite warm. Travelling was okay because of the good air conditioning in the car. After a very long and tiring day in the car we reached Melbourne and had a very quick passage along the freeway, through the tunnel and on over the bridges, tollway and freeways heading north. We arrived at our friends’ home in Gisborne a little late but pleased to stop driving.
Orbost, south eastern Victoria
The harbour at Mallacoota
Estuary at Mallacoota, Victoria
Our evening walk at Mallacoota, eastern Victoria, was right on and after sunset.
The setting sun showed up the beauty of the setting, especially the harbour and estuary.
Estuary at Mallacoota, Victoria
Birds of Mallacoota, Victoria
Bird life, Mallacoota, Victoria
On our walk around Mallacoota we followed the edge of the estuary. In the inlet and on sand bars and small islands we could see many water birds. I was kept busy taking photos, checking them out through my binoculars and jotting down the species’ names in my notebook. During our stay of about 18 hours I made quite a healthy list, mostly water birds. A stay of a week or more would undoubtedly add considerably to this list.
In the photo above I have captured Australian Pelicans, Yellow-billed Spoonbills, cormorants (not sure but probably Little Black) and Silver Gulls.
Black Swans, Mallacoota, Victoria
The photos above and below show the numerous Black Swans feeding in the shallows of the estuary.
Black Swans, Mallacoota, Victoria