The Gathering of the clans and now home

Last Saturday......gosh has it really been that long??? I have been a bit crook since getting back so here is my end to our trip to The Entrance.  Yes, last Saturday we went to the gathering of the clans a Scottish festival at Norah Head. The flags were raised and it was a beautiful day, although I was at the beginning of some hideous flu/cold lol.

Got to love the kilts and marching up and back.

Bagpipes really are beautiful and I find it quite moving hearing them, perhaps it is the way back Scottish link in me ☺☺

There was a good crowd and they played and marched for almost an hour, having to weave back through each other once the reached one end of the arena area.

There was even some great crochet and knit items.

Tried haggis once when quite young but have not repeated lol.

Fantastic armour helmets.

And many swords.

How cute are the dolls and the teddies.

Lots of kilts to be had. Was a great morning and our final thing to do, before we packed up and headed on back home. Took 2nights to get back and by then I was real crook and ended up staying in bed for roughly 36hrs. All good now and was able to head out yesterday (Friday) to catch up with family.

Drove down Melbourne way to catch up with my bro in law for his birthday for some yummy yum cha. Also with my sis in law and ma in law. They are actually ex in laws, but we like each other so still get to catch up which is extra neat ☺☺♥

There he is, not a great shot but at least I have got one shot of each us.

Yep, ma in law.

Sis in law (its her mum and hubby)

The man trying to ignore my camera lens.

Oh yeah and the self portrait of me, and I look way better than I looked a few days before lol lol.

Good lunch, great fun catching up. Going to see them again in October for ma's 80th, special occasion for sure.

This is the bird outside Gumbuya park which we pass whenever we go down to Melbourne and back. Doesn't he look great.  Last year someone bombed the poor bird and blew up the rear end and they thought would not be able to repair, but a clever group of locals got together and have him looking better than ever. gumbuya park

Was a beautiful full moon too last night so just had to get a snap, but this is with the old camera so may try again tonight with the new big boy.

Hope everyone is keeping well and have not missed me too much or at all maybe?? lol

take care xo

Visiting distillery, Newcastle and other fun.

Hello again!! On Thursday we were expecting a warm day, well for us, very warm of 30 Celsius. Where we live currently the high is around 12 lol. Soo we thought we would check out a few places that had been suggested and this distillery was one of them.

Water feature bottle out the front in the herbal garden.

Got to love lavender ☺☺

Here is the selection of  liqueurs that were up for the tasting.

A gin that the man here makes and won a Silver (world wide) for this.

The equipment used to make the many fruit and herb types.

He can distill up to eight times, so we are talking beautiful, smooth liqueurs without the higher alcohols. Less chance of hideous headaches and nausea. Have a few shots of our purchase later down the post.

We then drove on to a fruit winery (no grapes used here) but no opportunity for photo's. Then as getting near lunch time was advised about a neat spot with BBQ at the ready.

We then headed off to have a BBQ lunch and this lovely kookaburra thought he might get a chance at pinching one of our BBQ hot dogs(we like them that way).

So the man was keeping a close eye on the cooking and that bird lol.

Couple of low fat type hot doggies and onion on our special non stick mat. It means if you come across a filthy BBQ then can just put the mat down and cook away. Crisps and bbq's wonderfully.

Just some Aldi wraps to hold it all together, yum.

 Then off back to van as the wind was really picking up and it did get very hot, but with air con in car, just fine for us ☺.  Got back and the heavens opened up and that is where vanning can be fun, running to the loo in a mega downpour of rain lol lol. Good for my fitness levels eh??

Today (Friday) we headed  to Newcastle link for info which is about 75klm from The Entrance and expecting another good day but only about 21.  And came across the sea baths there which are apparently one of the biggest in Australia.

Lovely view from across the road where we parked the car.

Amazing path/road in the distance going up that hill.

The large salt pool.

The smaller salt pool running across the end of the larger one.

Picture obviously of both pools.

And still can't help myself with the zoom. Could see many seagulls way out in the water and thought I would have a look and take a snap. I think I can just see one or two fins which could belong to sharks or dolphins.

The original salt water pool which is just a fenced part of the sea, so sandy bottom and tidal. We went to find the information centre as the man likes to see what other things we can visit but after over 1hrs walk and no sign of it apart from a road sign, we found out it had closed....... 

Then we drove on over to check our Redhead beach just out of Newcastle where they had this wonderful beach sign fall  of warnings. Despite all of these warnings there were a few people in the water. They must like sharks lol.

View across Redhead beach.

View from the other way, gorgeous day.

Oh and a little sea daisy for you to enjoy, well there HEAPS but just got this one.

Off back to the van for the night.

Here are the Liqueurs we bought. A wonderful Gin, tasted fantastic, nothing like those cheapies. The lemon myrtle was great too and he recommended straight up with ice or tonic water.  And the man's favourite, short black which is coffee beans and really just tasted like a short black with a bit of sweetener. Lovely.

Now these are the 2 wines, which as you can see is Lemon wine and a Blackcurrant and Coffee wine. 2 very different tastes, but we like lol.

Now for a bit of fun here is my little Doll Mishap sitting up on the railing with a small rubber bat and my special cushion of Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Xmas. I like different things and these guys travel with us.  While the man was out an about on one of the days he came across a shop he thought I would like. 

And here is the little girl we purchased, her name is Vile-ette, isn't she sweet lol. And if not to your taste I fully understand. I have 2 other's of this type of doll back home and they are out of their boxes and hang out in my old doll's cot, but this one we think we will keep in the box as they can become a rather expensive collectors item.  Hope I have not scared anyone way.

Thank you for visiting and also for the comments I have been getting. It's nice to share our travels and the crafty things I can do in between. take care and tomorrow we are thinking of checking out "Gathering of the Clans" at Norah Head, so should be great ♥☺

Australian Reptile Park and more touristy things

                                         On Tuesday we decided to do some more touristy stuff with a drive along
                                          the scenic road which had heaps and heaps of trees blocking views lol.

We stopped off at a lookout just near Terrigal beach and that is the town down the bottom to the left.

View from up the lookout with a lower down lookout in the distance on that grassy mound.

Zoomed in on one of the many ships out there waiting.

Beautiful view up here for sure.

The steps and path back down, quite a climb, but hey we are fit.... lol not.

Some interesting homes along the cliff front, some magnificent views for them.

Another stop along the way.

Sydney is way out looking straight to land beyond, where Rex lives near..... xo

Not much of a view here lol

Okay, now enjoy the pictures and I will only comment if I know the animal ☺☺

Emu walking and sitting ☺

The beautiful Tasmania Devil, constantly on the move.

A very young Alligator which the man got to pat☺

Burmese Python with lucky lady to hold and pet lol

A very tired Koala.

Tawny Owl.

Blue winged tipped Kookaburra

Major Mitchell Cockatoo

Superb Parrot

Lots of Alligators, apparently 28 girls and 4 very lucky boys lol Wonder if the ladder is so the girls can escape???

Still loving the zoom lol Is he smiling??

How cute are these seats, love them!!

Oh and this looks like the poor little person got taken.........

Okay, now look away if you HATE spiders....I am NOT a fan, but in the name of education, well here goes.

Hideous Funnel web, one of the really bad ones that live in Oz, nsw.

There is a great song about the Red Back spider and the toilet in our wonderful country. lyrics here

Now this is better, Stick insect creatures.

Ooh a nice mummy to the entrance to lizard world.

Chameleon

Bearded dragon

Desert Monitor.

Green tree snake.

Mr and Mrs Bush turkey.

Elvis the saltwater crocodile and MASSIVE.

Rosella's. 

Little Kangaroo.

Echidna.

Very young Cape Baron Geese.

The man and mum Cape Baron Goose seem to be having a stand off lol.

Little turtles.

Dingo and funny thing my camera detected face recognition lol.

A young Koala, posing nicely.

My favourites, flying foxes and I also love bats ☺☺

A mother and her baby getting wrapped up.

No going in with the Cassowary as there is no messing around with them at all.

Wallaby, darker and much smaller than the kangaroo.

A crane, did not see his/her name.

And one my son's!! Rex, I am always happy seeing one of my boys and this one lives roughly 9hrs away by car so we like to call in on him when on the road when we can ☺☺

Hope you liked all of the pictures and do know there was HEAPS but love sharing.

Now a few more days here with the van so who knows what else we may do and see.

Hello and thank you for coming by to say hey. ☺♥