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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Our First Aussie Christmas - Dec 2008


Our Christmas Day started out early. We finally got the bike approved for the road and that is just where we took her on Christmas Day - a long road trip. No place in mind except to ride North of Sydney. We passed many beaches on the way with people doing many different things from surfing on Christmas day to fishing to having a major bbq to just relaxing and enjoying the weather and being together with loved ones.

Left: Bryan all geared up and ready for a good ride!
Right: Picture of the approximate route we were going to take.

We decided to ride down the 'Coastal Highway' as to try and take in as many views as possible. One of the stops we made was at a look-out point for the 'Sea Coast Highway'. It is a bridge that was just completed about seven years ago along the ocean with huge cliffs backing it. The highway was made out in the ocean because the cliffside kept on falling on the existing highway. There is also a walking path that you can take.


Left: The bike with the 'Sea Coast' Hwy in the background.
Right: View of the 'Sea Coast' Hwy from the look-out point.

Above: Another view of the "Sea Coast Bridge'.


While riding on the bike I thought I would have a little fun! When we ride I take the pictures for Bryan's hands are kinda busy! I thought I would take a couple of shots of us on the bike. The picture of Bryan in the mirror shows that he has a black ball in front of his mouth. We decided to get microphones for our helmets. That way we can talk to each other (without yelling over the road noise) while riding. They work very well. We can also listen to the radio on them too.

We finally saw a beach that we thought would be a good place to have our Christmas picnic lunch at. Geringong was that beach. It was really nice for it wasn't crowded at all. We got out of our bike gear and into beach gear. The day until then was clowdy. Once we set up our blanket and lunch the sun decided to peek through the clowds. Nice of the sun to accomodate us! We had lots of fun peeling our King Prawns and enjoying the wonderful fresh taste of each morsel. Oh ya, we just had to have turkey as well so we bought some turkey breast slices and made up some turkey sandwiches to go along with our lunch. It just wouldn't be Christmas without the turkey!


Above: The two of us obviously enjoying our day and the King Prawns.

After lunch we went for a walk along the beach and yes even though it wasn't the warmest (about +25C) we had to go and get wet in the ocean as well. Then we decided to go for a walk along the coast and see what we could find. And we found lots. We saw a bunch of different kinds of crabs and lots of other little ocean life among the small pools of water along the rocky terrain of the coast. We found lots of big shells too.


Left: Bryan doing what he loves - climbing rocks.
Right: Me holding huge snail shells in each hand.

This was our first Christmas without snow. We enjoyed that aspect a lot! But something was mising. A snowman!

Above: Our sandman! I forgot the carrot at home, sorry!

After we were done exploring the coastline we changed and hopped on the bike again to see what else we could find. We drove up to the Illawarra Tree Top walk where you can climb up and see a fantastic treetop view but when we got there it was closed. So, we made our way back down the road and stopped in to see the 'Carrington Falls'.

Above: "Carrington Falls"


Above: View from the top of Carrington Falls.

Above: Close up of Carrington Falls. Note-picture is in color not black & white.

Our Christmas day was coming to a close. The sun was thinking of settling down for the night and so were we. What a day it was! Fantastic food wonderful companionship shared with each other and awesome breathtaking views. One could not ask for more of a gift on Christmas. Christmas 2008 will be one to remember so sure!

I'm getting there. Just about all caught up. Keep checking, I'm getting closer to being caught up!
Love,
Bryan & Maureen