Albion Park

After putting our faith in the GPS we struggled through the remnants of the peak hour traffic through the southern suburbs (we waived to Matt and Kelly in Kogarah, and they either weren't home or they ignored us!) and onto the freeway for the trip to Albion Park.
We made our usual stop at lovely Sublime Point Lookout (Photo, right) which gives glorious views of the Illawarra. It was a shame not to see the famous landmark, Port Kembla copper smelter stack, which was demolished in 2014.

In keeping with the world-wide trend of vandalising (oops) famous tourist attractions with padlocks, the council has provided 2 chains to allow lovers this symbolic gesture, and the warning that locks not on these two chains will be removed. If the depth of love is measured by the size and cost of the lock, then one couple's love must reign supreme. The lock John's holding in the photo was a monstrous, stainless steel Lockwood with a shaft at least 15mm in diameter! As you know, the ritual involves closing the lock and throwing away the key. We reckon there must be a pile of keys at the bottom of the vertical escarpment, a couple of hundred metres down.

No trip to the Illawarra is complete without a scenic drive through Port Kembla. This area is a prime example of the changes in Australian industry. Many of the once thriving workshops and factories centred around the BHP Steel Works are now derelict. The main commercial centre of Port Kembla today is a far cry from past prosperity. Very few shops appeared to be operating and we could have counted the number of shoppers we saw on one hand. A sad byproduct of globalisation. Prior to 2014, the 198 metre tall chimney, built in 1965, stood on the site in front of John and Dave (right).

Who remembers TAA? Albion Park Airport incorporates a well respected air museum called HARS. Their display includes a 747 (called the City of Canberra) which caused great excitement when it landed on the smallish runway.  It was a matter of local public debate as to whether it would stop in time! Other aircraft on display include a Constellation (Connie), Catalina, F111, DC3 (pictured) and Tiger Moth. If you are interested in aircraft a visit to the HARS web site will not disappoint.

The Illawarra Yacht Club would have to be in one of the most delightful spots. On such a beautiful day, how could you not enjoy the view after a coffee at a window seat?

Where would we be without Halloween! Yesterday was our mate Dave's birthday - Halloween. A walk around their neighbourhood showed just how involved some people get. This yard (right) got our vote for the most creative. The front yard was peppered with graves, bones, headstones and skulls. Maybe they had a lot of budgies that died all at the same time!

Sydney

Another day, another adventure.
We started the day with a poached eggs on toast breakfast with Emily at a local eatery about 50m up the road from the hotel (Called : 22 Grams).
We walked with her to the university so she could head off on a science demo troupe road trip through southern NSW.
We then drove to and parked at Clovelly Beach so we could enjoy the Coastal Walk along the headlands and inlets to Bondi Beach.

Along the way we saw a huge queue of people (photo left) and John commented that the last time he'd seen a queue like that they were giving out free pies! Unfortunately this wasn't the case here but we did get to see many of the Sculptures by the Sea which were dotted along the coast from Tamarama to Bondi. (If you have seen the Dulux Paint ad you'll recognise the Surf Club on the left). It was great to see the nippers in competition at Bronte Beach.







There were more than a hundred sculptures created by some very creative artists. In the interests of you not spending several hours looking at photos, we've just included a sample of what we saw. John thought the thong was particularly humorous and thought it must have been a big person to loose a thong that big.

Wicker birds nests

The thong

Perspex female-made with horizontal layers of perspex

Recycled white plastic objects - the foam is milk bottles.

For anyone is planning on buying real estate here in Sydney, our advise is to start saving now. Emily told us that the other half of the duplex in which she lives sold at auction recently for $1.8m. Yep. 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 0 car space, 1/2 duplex. Insanity!!!

Seen today: A pawnbrokers called Happy Hockers; amazing stained glass in a church near our hotel; fabulous weather in the morning.

Brisbane to Sydney

 Our 2016 road trip got off to a good start. It was great catching up with Tessie in Coffs Harbour, and the walks on the beach set a relaxed tone which we hope to continue for the trip.
We had a pleasant drive down to Newcastle and the Pacific Highway drive will be much quicker when the multiple roadworks are completed.  For a city that was supposed to suffer greatly at the closure of the steel works, Newcastle appeared to us to be thriving, with beautiful beaches, lots of historic sights and a great deal of development. Although it was rainy at times we did the tourist coastal walk from Merewether Beach to the AnzAC Memorial Bridge. (John on the bridge and Chris showing she's a ''Popular Girl''. We doubt whether in this age of political correctness they could even have  such a competition, listing the 4 winners. Things must have been very different in 1930!)

In the afternoon we took the Tunnel Tour at Fort Scratchley. The fort's claim to fame, as told by the volunteer guide, is that it held the only land-based gun to be fired at the Japanese in WWII. This occurred when a Japanese submarine surfaced to shell Newcstle town and the fort faught back! The tour took us underneath the fort to the powder rooms where supplies of black powder were kept at the ready. They developed ingenious procedures for supplying the numerous guns with powder and shells stored below.

We left Newcastle this morning, had a relaxing catchup and lunch with friends in Terrigal on the Central Coast and are now spending the first of 2 nights in Randwick, Sydney. It was lovely to catch up with emily and see her so happy and enjoying her research at the uni.