Robot Claw

Bernard and I took a trip to Caves Beach yesterday for some more photography:

Bernard’s using special filters and long exposures to remove the motion in the photos. This makes the water misty or invisible and the photo quite ethereal. He should post examples to his blog.

That’s two shots of the biggest cave, obviously from out and inside. The tide was very low when we were there, and every cave (there are many) was accessible. I found no monsters…

That’s one of the smaller caves. Can you see Bernard outside?

The rest of the day was spent visiting several other places, including our old uni here in Newcastle and Civic Park, where I saw a Roc’s Egg:

At night we had dinner with my uncle Peter and his family. Here’s a shot of brother and older sister:

We ate at Wests, which is a club here in Newcastle with a dazzling array of poker machines. Here’s a lucky shot of Bernard at the moment of a win:

I won myself! A total of $0.86 😉

Yesterday I walked the length of Newcastle’s beaches; from Merewether to Nobby’s. It took me about two hours in total, following the coast, in warm sun.

The surf was rough and I saw few swimmers (but many surfers). There were however many runners and walkers sharing the path with me.

That’s an old WW2 bunker on the cliff tops above King Edward Park. Here’s a view of the ocean from slightly further along the path:

The beaches were beautiful. These walks are very nostalgic for me, and I remembered many events from my youth as I strolled along.

Here’s one such memory. This is a photo of a bridge over an artificial pond in a park near the foreshore. Note the two kids leaning over the water:

I took the photo because I heard one of the boys tell the other that only ‘stupid people’ would go into the pond and immediately remembered how, on a dare, I’d waded under that low bridge one day in my high school years!

Newcastle feels lost in time as it has for years. Even Michael Jackson still tours here:

There’s plenty of graffiti in the city, both legal and illegal. I’m no fan of the defacing of public property, but here’s a shot of one example which I find uniquely Novocastrian:

That’s written on the path near Merewether beach and says ‘no coal go nuclear’. Many such sentiments are seen on stickers or posters in this town, seen as it is by activists as one of the epicentres of global warming.

That’s a mural in a car park on Hunter Street. Nearby I found this delightful piece depicting a bear riding in a hot-air balloon:

After about three hours of walking I was a bit ruined. Even though I (thought I) had slathered myself with sunblock, I had burned myself slightly in a couple of places.

After a frozen coke and a quick sit in an air-conditioned mall Bernard picked me up and we went on a bit of a drive to yet another mall.

In the evening we all watched The Hobbit (the first one). We’ll go and see the second one together later this week.

Jenolan Caves is about 2.5 hours west of Sydney, in a valley on the edge of the Blue Mountains. The drive was pleasant… except for the last 9 kilometers.

The last stretch of the road was extremely narrow with many blind turns and perilous falls. Oncoming drivers were rarely considerate and somehow we shared the road with massive tour busses. It was quite an experience! Eventually we arrived here:

This is ‘the great arch’ under which all traffic much drive to reach…

Caves House, which was built in 1896. This was to be our accommodation for the night, but first we had a scheduled spelunk ahead of us.

The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves estimated at 340 million years old. There are 11 main caves in the system, in addition to dozens of smaller caves and many more believed to be undiscovered. Jenolan Caves have been a popular tourist destination in Australia for well over 100 years.

In a small group of nine, we took a 90 minute tour through ‘the ribbon cave’. It was beautiful and unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

There were a lot of stairs in the cave, and even an ancient metal ladder bolted to a steep incline. The chambers ranged from tight with low ceilings to massive with cathedral ceilings and meters-tall stalagmites.

Visiting the cave was a remarkable experience. I’ve wanted to visit since I was a child and I’m very happy I finally did.

Afterward we explored the immediate vicinity of Caves House, and headed down to see the Blue Lake.

The colour is from the limestone suspended in the water. A bit further along the path we found a waterfall:

Lovely isn’t it? I thought so, and as I approached by walking down a steep gravel slope I fell and grazed both palms badly.

It hurt a lot! Even worse, my entire left arm was in agony and I was deeply fearful I had injured it. Happily – since I am writing this the next day – I can reveal all is now fine. But those cuts will take a while to heal!

After an intensely relaxing evening (no TV, Internet or even phones) we overloaded on an abundant breakfast before the next days activity. But that’s the topic of my next post… 🙂