Tag: Nature

Coffee Catch-Up #12

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that I enjoyed my job interview last Monday and am very excited to start work at my new hospital in early August. The unit has a calm feel to it and I am pleased to be back working in my home town, although I have been happy living a free lifestyle for the last 2 months.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how surprised and in some ways saddened I was, to hear on Friday nights news that they were closing the wooden escalators in both Wynyard and Town Hall Stations over the next 12 months. Apparently there are only 7 wooden escalators left in the world — 4 at Wynyard, 2 at Town Hall and the other in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Of the 4 at Wynyard Station, 3 were opened in 1932, the same year as the Sydney Opera House and the 4th in 1952. The Wynyard wooden escalators were the first in Australia and over 80 years later are still working hard carrying over 150,000 commuters daily.

Growing up I remember that I loved to ride on the wooden escalators in David Jones stores as they had a warm and inviting look to them which made me feel like a part of history. Unfortunately, these escalators were taken out over a decade ago and since then using the escalators is just a means to an end. My mission now will be to make sure that I get to Wynyard Station before they close the wooden escalators for one last ride and reflection.

Wynyards wooden escalators

close up Wynyard Staion Wooden Escalators

If we were having coffee I would tell you about the walk my father and I went on, from his house along Throsby Creek to Newcastle Harbour and back again. With stopping off along the way to explore, our walk took us 2 hours and as you can see it was  a magical winters day. I couldn’t believe the growth that has occurred in this part of Newcastle including the formal walking trail includes many beautiful sculptures like the large lounge shown below.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I can’t believe how quickly this year is going. Tomorrow is the 25th July which means that it is exactly 5 months till Christmas Day. Wow! Then I think about how much I hope to get done between now and Christmas and that is when I get truly exhausted. Start a new job, pack up one house, do repairs to our Newcastle house before moving in, move in, finish book, catch-up with old friends, shop for Christmas and plan a trip to Japan to visit our son. Think positively is my motto so I am sure it will sort itself out for the best. After all, its amazing what one can achieve when motivated to do so.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?

Unpredictable

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Life is unpredictable and that is what makes it great. If everything we did was the same everyday, yes it would be safe but also boring. One of the things I love about mental health nursing is that no day is ever the same. It’s the interactions with people that make the difference and change the course of the day.  I see being unpredictable as adding the following to my life:

Uniqueness

Never boring

Passion

Richness

Enjoyment

Daring

Individuality

Change

Trust

Adventure

Brilliance

Learning

Experience

Unpredictability makes life more exciting, like the difference between riding the rapids or a calm stream. A mixture of both allows us to use all of our skills.

 

Lower Tonangiro River

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/unpredictable/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curve

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The Sea Jelly Spectacular at Ocean Park Hong Kong is an amazing display of over 1,000 sea jellies from around the world. In these underwater gardens there are curves everywhere. The display tanks are round and highlighted by neon light and special effects.  The sea jellies themselves are curvaceous and their pulsating movements help emphasize the musical score. If ever you are in Hong Kong do yourself a favour, visit Ocean Park and get lost for a while in the cleverly planned maze that is The Sea Jelly Spectacular.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/curve/

The Butterfly Story

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Life is a personal journey. Others can help and support along the way however, they cannot do the work for us. When they rescue us, we never learn the skills required to save ourself when things get tough. Sometimes life has an odd way of putting the challenges we require in our path. But, it is important to notice what we learn from each experience — the good as well as the bad. The following true story of unknown origins explains the importance of struggles very well.

A man finds a butterfly cocoon, which develops a small hole. Over several hours, he notices the butterfly struggling to force its body through the small hole.

After a period, the man noticed that the butterfly appeared stop progressing. In trying to be helpful, the man decides to cut the cocoon open.  The butterfly emerged easily however its body was swollen and it had small-shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly expecting at any moment the wings to enlarge and expand enough to support the body.

Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around the ground. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not realise was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle by the butterfly to break free was nature’s way of forcing the fluid out of the butterfly’s body and into its wings so that it is ready for flight when the butterfly emerged.

Like the butterfly’s journey out of the cocoon, the struggles, we overcome help to develop our strengths needed for later life. They allow us to overcome obstacles that would otherwise cripple us. Without them we are unable to fly.

All our journeys are unique experiences and remember, there are no maps.

Butterflies-in-cocoons-emerging

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/struggle/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth

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I love getting back to nature and the earth with a walk in the Australian bush. This walk in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales was in winter — the air was crisp but the sun was shining and it was a glorious day.The walk itself took us about 6 hours as we stopped along the way as we marveled at the different aspects of nature including a rare bird sighting. I hope you enjoy some of our photos of the diverse bush we found on our walk.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/earth/

Y – Yabbies

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The yabby is an Australian freshwater crustacean found in swamps, dams, streams, creeks, rivers and reservoirs. Growing up in Australia many children get to go yabbying, however this yabby, which we found at Protest Falls was the first that my husband and I have ever seen in nature. He was alone and we loved watching his antics in the little creek. Our yabby was a blue-green colour which is common for turbulent waters.

yabbie on the falls walk

W – Waterfall Way

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The Waterfall Way is a beautiful scenic drive from Coffs Harbour on the coast up the mountains for 191 kilometres and on to Armidale. It takes it name from the number of very beautiful and yet very different waterfalls in the area. Unfortunately being a winter’s day it was raining and their was no sunshine to reflect off the water but I am sure you can imagine. There are also many treasured National Parks in the area so if you get the chance it is definitely worth a visit.

DANGER FALLS

UPPER EBOR FALLS

LOWER EBOR FALLS

NEWELL’S WATERFALL — Crossing under the Waterfall Way

V – Vincentia

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Vincentia is a seaside town on the shores of Jervis Bay, 200 kilometres South of Sydney.Arriving at our B & B, we decided to take an afternoon stroll and found ourselves taking in the natural beauty of the White sands Walk along Blenheim Beach and Jervis Bay National Park. It was a glorious winter day and a great way to relax.

S – Sheepyard Opal Field

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The Sheepyard Opal Field is next to the Grawin and Glengarry opal fields and together they make a memorable day out for tourist to the Lightening Ridge region. If you are driving around stick to the main roads or you’ll get lost in the maze of dirt back roads. When we drove from Glengarry Hilton to Sheepyard Pub, we saw many unusual signs and interesting actions including a young boy, far to young to hold a license, driving his father between pubs. His father rode in the tray of the ute not in the back or front seat, and just hopped off the back when he arrived telling the young boy he would find his own way home. No wonder there is a sign that says cars with brakes give way — here obviously anything can happen.

The Sheepyard Inn

Sheepyard War Memorial

 

G – Grawin and Glengarry Opal Fields

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Last year on a road trip around northern New South Wales, my husband and I  discovered the unique Grawin and Glengarry opal fields.  Located 40 kilometres SW of Lightening Ridge — Black Opal Capital of the World — these fields mine seam black opal and were where opal was first found in the area back in the early 1900’s. It is a very rustic, natural area that makes recycling an art. Every one and everything is different and it is like nothing I have ever seen before.

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The Grawin Golf Course

The Club In The Scrub

The Glengarry Hilton

This warning sign at the entrance to the area reminds everyone that you are entering an old working mine field, littered with dangers so keep to the tracks and beware.

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