A Peaceful Visit with our Friends in Batemans Bay

Our first week has been lovely spending time with Jane and Louise and enjoying some alone time as well.  Both of our ladies have full time jobs in education and that kept us on our own for the first few days.  With one of their cars at our disposal we wandered around a bit, got in some needed shopping for replacement supplies and we saw a bit of the coast.  Bobbie had an optometrist appointment to get a new pair of reading glasses and we found a few thrift shops where some travel pants were discovered.  At the end of the day we would get together to hear about their days, enjoy a great home cooked meal, and share our adventures.  It has been great to be "home" for a while and enjoying the simple, day to day living that we don't get as travelers.  Even though we have had long stays in other cities, it is just so very different being in a family house.  So very different indeed. 

On the weekend the girls took us down the coast to the village of Narooma.  The drive along the coastline on an almost perfect day was breathtaking.  We stopped in a weekend market.

and then on to the sculpture exhibition in Bermagui.  With over 110 sculptures being shown on the grassy headlands and in the community center,we were kept busy for an hour or more.  Some creative local talent gave us lots to look and wonder about...great imagination. 

From there we traveled down to the Blue Pool for a swim.  The pool is a section of a rock slab at the beach that is enclosed in a cement wall.  The swim was refreshing.  Later we enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking the coastline.

The coastline here is beautiful.  One of the rocks is shaped like a camel.  We could not have asked for a prettier day.

On the way back we visited some friends who have a homestead up in the hills.  Their place is an Australian movie set with a tin-roofed country home and sweeping verandas overlooking ponds and seemingly endless eucalyptus forest.  They had a number of flowering plants and a tree that gave a flower I had never seen.  My girls back home would have loved their garden.  They have built a gypsy wagon to be used as a guest room and that was very cool.  While there we hitched up a utility trailer for the next day's gardening task at one of Louise and Jane's properties.

On Sunday we got geared up for a day of gardening, drove out to their investment home south of Batemans Bay, and cleared undergrowth in the garden, removed and dismantled a couple of screen doors, and did a few odd jobs.  It was so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o nice to have a project for a day!

On Monday were were alone again as they went off to work.  We busied ourselves with some housekeeping chores, laundry, and such and then took a drive to a nearby village for a stroll along the coastline, a nice lunch, and a swim in the ocean.  We stopped in at a local butcher and scored some awesome Scotch Steaks (ribeye) for tonight's BBQ.  Ah, the life!!!

The remainder of our visit included a bit of local sight-seeing, a few walks along the beaches and headlands, rustled up a Texas/Alaska style BBQ for the girls and their friends, and enjoyed some restful days lounging, reading, and finishing that Japanese gardenscape I started in Osaka.

Louise made us a traditional Sunday Lamb Roast with all t he fixings.  That was grand.  For out last night together we fixed a traditional Mexican dinner.