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Brewarrina and Beyond

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Brewarrina and Beyond

This page began in an Outback town in NSW and early posts tell the story of the magnificent transformation of the landscape when the drought ended in 2020.

In late 2021 I returned to Sydney, where I continue to write about and photograph places I visit.

09/08/2025

Waverley Cemetery Blooming..

05/08/2025

Bronte going crazy

27/07/2025

Burrows Park track and the clifftop at Clovelly this morning

04/07/2025

Back at Bundeena, and Bonnie Vale Campground

T'was a cool visit to Bonnie Vale today to see the old fisherman's shacks. I had forgotten, for it has been many years since I have been here, about the Bonnie Vale Campground. A beautiful spot in the Royal National Park; peaceful, but only a ten minute walk or five minute drive to the coffee shop and supermarket. I was told about bootlegging during the depression; apparently it was pretty wild here. And I totally recommend fish and chips at 'Vinegar and Brown Paper' (that's before you go walkabout, back on the main strip at Bundeena).

Starting at Central, take the T4 to Cronulla and walk five minutes to the Wharf. Here you can pick up the ferry to Bundeena.. a half hour bliss trip across the Port Hacking River.

From the Wharf at Bundeena, go towards the shops and then follow the main road towards Bonnie Vale (Googlemaps or a friendly local will help you). After about ten minutes you'll see a sign turning right (Seabreeze Lane) and will find yourself at Bonnie Vale Picnic Area. We're away from most of the homes now, unless you include those tiny fisherman's huts, built in the 1940s. I'm not sure if they are still inhabited. Beside the picnic area is the campground, which is currently pretty empty.

Walk in.

Birds, again; kookaburras, cockatoos, ground parrots, ducks and general birdy banter mix with the sound of waves lapping and some stunning visuals if you like light and shadow, trees and scrub, and large, almost inaccessible ponds. Walk around the inaccessible bits to find little tracks that take you to the water's edge.

On the beach, (still in the campground), the views to the National Park are just wild. If you like stunning vistas, Green, and trees, and blue.. so much of it, then here might be your thing. Locals sit, not needing to engage. Sitting still.

Walk back when you've had your fill and finish with a cup of tea at Earth Thingz back on the main strip near the Wharf.

29/06/2025

A ponder down Fairy Dell Track in Springwood today. Just quiet. Really quiet.

Take the TBMT from Central, with its marvellously purple interior, and hop off in Springwood ninety minutes later. This is my favourite shopping strip in the Mountains; hippie shops and bakers; a book shop and a gallery, plus so much more. Springwood is busy on the street and silent on the edges.

Once you find Fairy Dell Track, things get quieter.. and quieter.. and Still. Birds keep you company. Tiny wrens with playful twitters, all around in the trees. And cockatoos and pigeons.. and more steps as you go deeper in.

I walked a small section but there are choices. An eager beaver might walk the 12kms to Faulconbridge and catch the train home from there.

Someone less prepared, like me, stands still.

🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃

23/06/2025

In 2022, early, I came across a view on Macpherson Street that was my introduction to Bronte. I literally walked around a curve in the road, and there I stopped, and I think the word ‘wow’, actually left me. I was looking down on this little beach, and there were steps leading the way, wiggling down the hill past the houses. It was sunset, and surfers were out there doing their thing. Tiny people were jogging along a little promenade. Beside me, a couple of benches, for people who just wanted to watch.

Yesterday, on Clovelly headland, we were treated to a large pod of dolphins who played and leapt, on occasion, right out of the water. It was such a joy, almost as though they were entertaining us. Silver glimmers of bodies, almost vertical sometimes. The muscular strength!

There’s a lovely walk along the cliffs from Calga Reserve to the furthest point of Waverley Cemetery. Keep going and you’ll come to the cliffs at Clovelly and look down on another beach. Here is where the big blue groper swims, and people snorkel.

If you do get to Bronte and walk to Clovelly Cliffs, you can catch the 360 right back to Bondi Junction.

😊

21/06/2025

Bondi to Manly walk - Taronga Zoo Wharf to Taylors Bay

Catch the ferry from Wharf 4 at Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo Wharf. This is where you get off if you want to go to the zoo. But follow the hill up to the lower zoo entrance and on the right hand side of the road you’ll see a trail and a Bondi to Manly Walk sign. This is my favourite section of the Bondi to Manly walk. We’re here for the colours, the sounds and the water. And we’re going to Taylor’s Bay. In summer, water dragons a’many can be seen, on the footpaths, on the trees. But not today. Today they’re all wrapped up, cozied away from the cold I suspect.

So many tracks down to so many beaches, tiny ones, and because my destination today isn’t too far I take each of them. The second captures me; Athol Bay. A tiny cove where I linger a’while as a bush rat scampers past and nibbles on a piece of plastic, and a tiny Spotted Pardalote flirts with me, darts and then hovers.

I am captured, and today I allow myself to linger, not worrying about my destination. I watch, bewitched, as light that changes by the second changes the colours of the rocks, the shadows. I am alone on a tiny beach, with water lapping at my feet, a bush rat nibbling on a piece of plastic, a tiny bird hovering and a view of a harbour bridge.

I never make it to Taylors Bay - apart from glimpsing the view (final photo). I don’t have time to traipse down because I visited another unknown cove along the way and ran out of daylight (you have to allow time to walk back to the ferry again).

Keep things small and more wonders will surprise you, I thought today. Choosing not to rush meant that I saw more detail, slowed down and felt a different pace.

Taronga Zoo Wharf to Taylor’s Bay. That is enough. It allows time to explore tiny places.

17/06/2025

Cronulla Ferries - A trip to Bundeena

Take the T4 from Central to the end of the line and you’ll find Cronulla, a beachside suburb in the south. This is where I began my Aussie life, if you don’t count my arrival in Darwin, buying a 1975 Ford Falcon with the last of my travellers cheques, and tottering on down to Sydney, crossing (and getting stuck in and towed out of) crocodile infested waters and filling up with petrol whilst the engine was running because it took so long to get the car started. Cronulla is where I began, bunking in with future in-laws and enjoying the swings in the local park. I was twenty one.

The ferry from Cronulla Wharf has existed since 1908 and transports you across the Port Hacking River to the sleepy, peaceful town of Bundeena in the Royal National Park. The vessel that shipped me today was eighty six years old, built well and maintained with lots of love, I was told. At Bundeena there are short walks and long walks, cafes, a great deli in the local supermarket, and locals willing to share their stories. From Jibbon beach, a 20 min walk from the wharf, you can see the sunrise and the sunset, so I was told (not at the same time ;)), due to the angle of the beach. I walked the wharf beaches today, turning the opposite way to the main beach, and rock hopping to little coves where locals sat drinking beer in the afternoon sun.

On the ferry on the way home, I noticed how peaceful I felt. Noted, I thought. A place to come if the psyche needs soothing, perhaps.

🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃🌿🍃

15/06/2025

I went to Campbelltown this morning. Odd choice, perhaps, but the markets were on and I had heard they were great, so I hopped on a bus to central (the trains were out, I discovered once I had arrived at Bondi Junction) and then the T8 out to Campbelltown. I have to give the place a huge plug! From the students who entertained us from MacArthur School of Rock, to the Art Gallery (with fabulous, fully booked cafe) and a historic Glenalvon House which served a perfect cup of tea, it was a day of surprises and I really enjoyed it. I have to give a plug to the owner of phytocosmetics, who I met at the markets. She’s an industrial pharmacist who designed a range of herbal soaps, and really knows her stuff. So, from walking, to eating (KFC today, I never do this!!) .. to art gallery and a little bit of op shopping (because the prices out there are a tad cheaper than the Eastern ‘burbs), and a smooth trip home, it was a great day out. And the travel itself.. cost nothing. Opal is a great friend of mine; once you’ve spent $50, every trip is $0.

The vibe is cool, cultural and creative.
Stay well 😊

13/06/2025

How bootiful these mountains are.. them Blue ones. Caught the local bus from Katoomba town to Echo Point, a ten minute trip (you could walk it actually) .. and the guys in the information centre tell you all that you need to know. Lots of walks and pretty views. Coffee and food available in the cafe 😊

18/05/2024

Michael Minns Photography Menindee, again. Pelicans, pelicans, pelicans.

Thank you Michael for the video, and for your words:

HAPPENING NOW: Menindee Lake inlet 18th May 2024. If your in the area it’s worth coming for a look 😎 footnote🦶: The appearance of being blue must have something to do with my phone because it isn’t quiet like that with the naked eye

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