Sunday March 19th & Wednesday March 22nd, 2017 - In My Mother's Footsteps

You might have wondered whether I would also trek after my mother if you've been following this blog, as I spent so much time travelling around the land connected to Dad's origins! Indeed, my final goal has been to spend time around people from her side of the family, so have been spending a week in the beautiful north-coast of New South Wales where she grew up. In fact, this is the area I usually visit when I am in Australia, as my sisters Nadine and Toni live here and I have an aunt and uncle I like to visit.

So, I decided to visit Mum's alma mater on my way up from Sydney, which was the University of New England in Armidale.

Here she is, doing a lab in Chemistry back in the early 1940's.

Her family believed it was important for women to be educated, and she had always been a very competent student. We were always told she had been dux (that means #1) of her class in the local school in Murwillumbah. She told us that she had wanted to become a pharmacist, but for some reason I never figured out, she ended up with credentials to be an industrial chemist instead. (I think it had something to do with her father selecting her classes - but perhaps they weren't offered there.)

Here's the pharmacy building today - it definitely wasn't there when she went there....although I was a little worried about the plants growing on the roof - wasn't sure if it was intentional or weeds!

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science with a major in Chemistry and minor in Geology. During the war she had worked in a munitions factory in Brisbane, but had not liked that and went to Sydney to become a dietitian in a hospital instead. It was in Sydney that she met Dad. Sadly, this was the time in history when it was not customary for married women to work, so she stopped paid work when she married. A tragic loss of a capable mind in the work place!

But, the outcome or her and Dad's efforts was that all three of us graduated with Bachelor of Science degrees, so we all put on our robes to celebrate when Toni graduated in 1974. Five out of five science majors in the family! (Left to right - Nadine, Toni, Mum, Dad and good ole me!)

I found the building behind this group. It is called  Booloominbah. Mum is second from the left here. It was the dining hall and probably the boarding house. It is the administration center today. 

The university is a smallish campus - and I think was even smaller in her day - probably not much bigger than many American high schools today. 

The stained glass windows in the building were wonderfully retro!

I could picture people in slower-paced years enjoying the shade and possibly a cup of tea on the porch of Booloominbah.

The campus had clearly been expanded and old buildings removed, but there were still some old classrooms/buildings like this with peeling paint that could have been from the 1940's. Clearly they are slated for replacement as they are not being maintained.

It was an attractive campus and looked as if it was a very manageable size.

Another way that I attempted to connect with Mum's past was with a visit to Ballina with Toni to look at the town my maternal grandmother - Jessie Stirling - grew up in. I was told that her mother's family, the Eyles's,  had already been in the area for a couple of generations - one of them had owned the entire central block in the city. They were seafaring people, and like my paternal great grandfather in Tasmania, had been involved in shipping timber - in this case red cedar - to markets elsewhere. Sadly, there were few stands of the trees left after all was said and done!

Toni was my tour guide and historian. The block that our ancestor had owned was the one you see behind the white car at the end of the walk way.

Jessie's parents ran a general store in Ballina which my grandfather visited when he was a travelling salesman in these parts, selling tea! (Those of you who know my penchant for tea now understand how it got into my blood! LOL!) He fell in love with her and wooed her to come north to Murwillumbah where they began a banana plantation!

Many of the family where long lived, but the one Eyles grave stone we found had only lived 64 years. It was one that had been rescued into a 'memory' wall by an American woman in recent years. The original cemetery had been on a flood plain so the gravestones would get knocked about by the flood waters and according to Toni, sometimes bodies (or their remaining 'bits') were displaced by flood waters too! I don't know if the graves have been relocated, but I was glad the stones had been rescued.

Toni and I also visited another cemetery and found a few other gravestones that belonged to ancestors. Toni could tell you all the details; I'm just happy to know that they existed!

Ballina is like Fernandina Beach in that it is actually located on an island. This is the Richmond River which separates it from the mainland.

Ballina also takes pride in their prawns (shrimp to Americans). I rather liked this very large one near the hardware store!

Before the day was done, we decided to take a ferry over the other end of the island to the mainland at Burns Point. Toni said other family members had been sand miners here in the past - looking for gold and possibly tin.

The ferry was held by strong steel cables - you can see it here going under the grey steel pipes at the bottom of the picture. It doesn't need to be steered - just gets pulled along by pulleys gripping the cable. The attendant just sits in his booth, collects the money and switches directions when it lands.

Back and forth, all day long......

It was a blustery day and there has been so much rain, the waves were brown from all the silt that has been washed down the river recently.

The blocks of concrete at the end of the breakwater almost looked like huge gravestones too. 

By the end of the day, I decided I much prefer to visit the living than the dead, so was happy to return to my accommodation and plan more visits with folks before I head off next week to Asia.

Before I go, I have one more set of photos to share from the delightful time I spent in Brisbane. That will be the next and final post from Australia on this round of travel. 

Saturday March 11th through Friday March 18th, 2017 - Highlights fromThe Fast Track ....To The North!

My indulgence in beauty spots shifted as I headed north - not the beauty spots - but my availability to focus on them. Now that I'm on a track to visit family and friends, I have spent time either behind the wheel of my car, or enjoying rare visits that didn't include the camera.

I've travelled from Melbourne to Brisbane via Candelo, Canberra, Sydney and Armidale - a distance of about 2,000 km (1,250 miles). While there has been a lot of iconic Australian landscape - browned off pasture spotted with gum trees and sheep - it was a very beautiful drive.

It began well in Marlo, Victoria with a lovely sunrise.

It was still....and the water was pond-like.

The fishermen were already out.

As I looked at the patterns in the sand, I could see how some of the rocks at the Grampians may have formed.

This was followed by some rock hopping at Cape Conran nearby. 

West Cape Conran at Salmon Rocks.

There were lots of fishing trailers. It was a holiday weekend and people were making the most of the opportunity.

The rocks were red with lichen, similar to those from Bay of Fires in Tasmania, but my camera was not able to really capture the color.

The East Cape was a quieter spot.

Driving up the Monaro Highway to New South Wales, I passed briefly through Bombala on my way to visit friends Ian and Nienke who live outside a lovely little town called Candelo in the Bega Valley. 

They live a highly sustainable lifestyle with solar power backed up by a small hydro generator in the creek. Gardening, raising cattle, goats and chickens gives them a high level of independence in food production. It was a marvelous respite from the world,  even though my visit was brief. 

The area was very green after recent rains.

This is the first time I have seen camels among the livestock!

On my way to Canberra I went up to the tablelands through Brown Mountain which was spectacular.

On a clear day you can see the ocean from here.

I was curious to see this drone being operated. The young man and his Dad were using it to put together a video of their travels. I wanted to know if the women gave it a second thought before they passed under it so casually!

Once up on the tablelands, the typical Australian rural landscape was spread out before me.....brown vegetation and sheep........

In Canberra I was able to connect with a cousin of my mother's along with several university friends.

I couldn't leave the area without stopping in at the vineyard Dad created outside Canberra when he retired from the Navy. It is now called the Lake George Winery. It was good to see that there have been even more vineyards established in the area and that his vines are still being tended by new owner, Theo.

Dad had named it 'Westering', so I was pleased to see that the name is still represented.

Theo was interested in my stories about Dad and seemed to care about the heritage of the place.

In addition to the cellar door and restaurant, the house that Dad built is still there with an extension. Theo said it is a good house to live in.

The plaque near the front gate is still there. Theo said he should move it closer to the cellar door so people can see it. I suggested it was fine where it was, but I was probably wrong!

On the way to Sydney, I stopped overnight at one of the Chesterman relatives I had met at the reunion. It was in the lovely Blue Mountains, but it was here that the rain truly began, so spectacular views were obstructed. This will have to wait for another trip.

Sydney was rapid - enjoyed the hospitality of my cousin Jane and her husband, Johan and had a wonderful day with an aunt, Susan.

Finally the push north began seriously as I headed up the New England Highway after another marvelous visit in Terrigal with family historian and cousin of my mother's, Quentin.

Quentin's wife, Jan fixed a delicious lunch to send me on my way.

It was fortunate that I wanted to visit Armidale to see where my mother went to University, as it turned out that heavy rains had closed the Pacific Highway, the other, shorter route to Brisbane. While I drove through bursts of Florida-like rain, I mostly experienced either light or no rain as I drove. 

I passed through lots of little country towns.



Finding rest areas is a bit trickier than in the USA. This one was a pit toilet but I'am always grateful when they have toilet paper in them, which has usually been the case.

Near the end of the day, I came across a lovely lookout - the Moonbi Lookout. The rock is ugly, but the views were not.

I'll pick up the story next time with my visit to the University of New England in Armidale where I spent the night.

Thursday March 9th & Friday March 10th, 2017 - Cities Are Hazardous For the Health of This Blog!

You have all been very patient with my travels in the marvelous natural wonders of this land down under, but when I get to a city I struggle to take care of your photographic curiosity as I am having so much fun catching up and visiting with people. As a result, you're not getting to see much of the usual tourist sites.

Shrine of Remembrance built with some of that Grampians sandstone.

However, I don't want you to miss out entirely, so I grabbed a few pictures around Melbourne for you.

First of all - TRAFFIC! I regret that my opinion of Melbourne roads is even lower than those of Sydney (which is not good). Perhaps it's on par with Miami, except that in Melbourne the freeways just stop and dump you in the city to deal with traffic lights and two lanes and trams and buses! Roads seemed very narrow to me and without my navigation system it would have been rendered almost impossible.

One big difference that Americans would immediately notice is driving on the wrong side of the road. It takes a while to adjust, but I just have to keep reminding myself when in doubt that 'the steering wheel goes in the middle of the road'!

Another is the presence of speed cameras all over the place. It feels like being in a traffic 'police state' with the constant sense of BIG BROTHER watching 24/7! The worst ones are in the country where they have an 'average speed camera'. One gets tagged on the way in and again many kilometres down the road, so one has to be good the whole way! I don't like those. As a result, unlike most of the USA, the traffic is usually going UNDER the speed limit, which is very aggravating! 

They are also pretty strict about enforcing DUI limits, so the pubs have breath testers so you can see if you are under the limits.

A third difference is that one has to go into the 'petrol' station to pay for gas (petrol). In Tasmania they sometimes pumped it for us, but so far on the mainland they are more trusting than the Americans, as one pumps the petrol first, then goes in to pay. No credit cards at the pump so far.

After returning from the Grampians I had to fill time while waiting to rendezvous with a cousin of my mothers. The shock of immersing myself in the busyness of the city felt too much after all the traffic andfollowing my wilderness adventures, so I chose to visit the Royal Botanical Gardens on the Yarra  River, not far from the city center.

It was a very lovely space and viewing the city from a distance was much more attractive for me.

Most of it is planted with exotic species.

A garden for children

But there were some lovely eucalypts there as well.

I also went down to a beach town east of  the city where I used to live, called Bonbeach. My old high school is no longer there and the beach has been developed much more than it was, however, it still had sand and water!

Friday finally saw me sadly saying goodbye to Angus and Judy and I headed east toward Marlo. We had to try a selfie to record the momentous moment of departure! 

 I visited a place we had been to as kids called Lakes Entrance. It appears to have grown enormously and I didn't recognize the area we had been.

Walking bridge crossing the inlet at Lakes Entrance.

 Surf life saving club at Lakes Entrance

Life guard observation box.

More sand and sea!

Finally, I arrived at Marlo in time to catch the tail end of a sunset at the pub and enjoy a very nice scallop dinner.

 It's a good thing the food was good, as the pub was the only open business in town on that Friday evening!