Archives for March 2014

The Upgrade

A few weeks ago I posted some images of the cane furniture that sits on our verandah.  I was very careful not to allow too many extreme closeups as I would have been mortified if you had all seen just how stained and sad this furniture was looking. We bought the two three-seater sofas and […]

Secret Creek Cafe, Lithgow NSW

While we were on the hike to the glow worm cave, we chatted to a friend of ours who has appeared on this blog before; firstly when he organised a fabulous wine tasting evening and secondly when he attempted to make Peking duck pancakes with spelt flour. He had driven up from Sydney the day […]

Wollemi Glow Worm Tunnel

Carl doesn’t like to rise early on a Sunday morning so he wasn’t very pleased when I told him we had to be up at six to take a three-hour drive to go and see some glowworms. ‘What for?’ he asked. ‘Scouts.  It’s a scout activity we were supposed to do a year ago but […]

Sandyfoot Cafe and Bar, Shoal Bay, NSW

A short drive from Nelson Bay is Shoal Bay, the eastern-most suburb of Port Stephens. When we were staying at Nelson Bay we drove to Shoal Bay looking for somewhere to enjoy breakfast and directly across the road from the stunning beach we found the Sandyfoot Cafe and Bar.  The cafe has indoor and outdoor […]

The Hymn Book

A few weeks ago I was trying to help Alfie with his homework while also cooking dinner and bringing in the washing and feeding the dogs and keeping an eye on the news and sorting out the RSVPs for Archie’s 21st while playing solo parent because Carl had a late meeting.  And the phone rang. […]

Malai Thawng Thai, Nelson Bay, NSW

When we arrived at Nelson Bay during a cyclone that caused the entire area to lose power resulting in every restaurant shutting its doors, I did wonder if we would have any luck finding somewhere to eat for the night. By a stroke of good fortune the power was returned to our part of the […]

Archie and the Possum

Last weekend Archie took my car to a 21st birthday party that was a few hours from Sydney and out in the bush and where my car had to go along a lot of dirt roads.  He brought it back so filthy it is impossible to tell what colour the car is.  He said he’d […]

Mantra Aqua, Nelson Bay, NSW

Now that the cyclone has been and gone, I’ll show you the resort where we stayed in Nelson Bay. As we were booking at the last minute, I went on to Wotif to find accommodation.  There weren’t a lot of places to choose from or in fact, many places with rooms still available, but Mantra […]

Nelson Bay, NSW and a Mini-Cyclone

Last weekend, we thought we would take a mini-break and find a lovely place to stay for a night not too far from Sydney. I’d never been to Nelson Bay, a coastal town with a population of just 5,000 that’s part of Port Stephens and just two and a half hours from home.  With the […]

Balmoral Beach Club Centenary

In 1914 a group of young Mosman men who called themselves ‘The Smugglers’, met at the site of the old Euroka Camp to swim in the harbour.  They decided to form a social and swimming club and held a meeting in the Mosman Town Hall and on the 12th of February 1914, the Balmoral Beach […]