Except we weren’t really at the base, per se.  We were at the base of the first drop of the waterfall.  What makes the National Pass trail unique is that is takes you midway along the sheer cliff face, following a natural ledge that separates sandstone cliffs above and below the trail.  It is a tough hike due to the massive sets of stairs that bookend the walk, but well worth it for the vistas and numerous waterfalls encountered along the way.

Photos taken 07 Jan 2012

Start driving north from downtown Sydney, and within an hour you’ll find yourself at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.  This amazing landscape is situated where the Hawkesbury river meets the Pacific (Tasman Sea to be precise), and is an absolute treasure to Sydneysiders.

We started our exploration at the western inland region of the park.  First we walked the nature trail at Kalkari Discovery Centre, a large enclosed area.  We encountered the Australian Brushturkey, and our first semi-wild kangaroos!  They weren’t easy to spot, but we managed to catch a glimpse off the trail on our second go-around.  There were also spectacular views of our next destination down by the river, called Bobbin Head.  There we explored the mangrove boardwalk.

Next, we headed out to the West Head region (which is the east side of the park) with a spectacular drive along the spine of the peninsula all the way to the tip.  There, we caught the tail end of a wedding (quite the backdrop!), and took in the outstanding view.  Then we backed up down the road to hike the America Bay track that brought us to the top of a small waterfall and yet another amazing vista.  We had quite the time listening to and recording some bird calls on this hike.  We wrapped up the day with another gaze out at West Head.  Then it was back to Sydney, but not before stopping to enjoy dinner with one of Andrea’s work mates who lives nearby in the Mona Vale area.

Photos taken 29 Dec 2011

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Over the Christmas holiday, we were fortunate to have the use of a vehicle for a couple weeks.  One of Andrea’s mates from the acupuncture clinic was off to Bali and graciously allowed us the use of her 1994 Holden Commodore wagon.  Freedom of the road!  I’ll admit, the first hour or so of driving on the opposite side of the tracks was a little unnerving, but eventually my brain adjusted, and it was smooth sailing from there on.

Our first jaunt was to the Mount Annan Botanic Garden, out on the western fringe of the Sydney region.  It is associated with the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, and is the largest botanic garden in Oz.  It is interwoven with bike paths, so we loaded up our wheels for a ride.  One thing that struck us about the place was how much it reminded us of western Maryland around the Frederick area.  Sure, the trees were completely different, but the feeling was the same.  Amazingly, the area is actually called the Cumberland Plain… both sharing British Royalty as their namesakes.

Bonus: Andrea spotted her first wild wallaby/wallaroo/hopping marsupial.

Photos taken 28 Dec 2011

If there is one thing Sydney loves to do, it’s shooting tons of colourful explosives into the night sky.  Any occasion will do, really… and hardly a summer weekend passes without a flash and bang over the harbor.  Of course, these are all just practice runs for the main event, the premiere pyrotechnic extravaganza of the year, New Year’s Eve!  Arguably the first major city to great the new year (sorry kiwis), the fine citizens of Sydney have seen it fit to do things on a grand scale!

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Fortunately, we had VIP seats to the main event thanks to my boss, Dave.  He and his wife, Karen, have a place along the water Cremorne Point, one of the bests spots from which to watch the show.  Even better, their windows face directly out onto the harbor, which meant we didn’t have to arrive in the wee hours to reserve a spot on the lawn like the crowds above.  And as a bonus, we were able to crash on their couches, because post-NYE traffic is a total nightmare, especially if you need to get to the other side of the harbor like us.

The events began with a 9PM family fireworks display.  If this was the “preview”, then we couldn’t imagine what was in store for the main event.  There were multiple barges situated throughout the expanse of Sydney Harbor so that no matter where you were, you were getting the same sets of explosions.  And they were all perfectly timed.  They event had streamers shooting off the rooftops of the buildings in the CBD!  The family funtime lasted about 10 min.. quite a feat for the kiddie show.

In between the outbursts I took long exposures of the city lights cast over the harbor (surely you’ve noticed the new masthead).  Hundreds of boats were out on the water… party boats of all sizes and styles, each decked out with lights.  It really was quite a sight.

As the clock approached midnight, warning sentinels were shot into the sky to build anticipation… and at the stroke of twelve, BOOM!  The bridge basically exploded in a technicolor freakshow.  Bombs were bursting in air left and right, cascades of fire poured from the bridge, bedlam abounds!  Near on 15 minutes of pyrotechnic brilliance.  Then it was done, smoke filled the sky, and the lumbering crowds began their long, slow, journeys home.  We, however, laid on the couch and drifted off to sleep.

Welcome 2012:  A New Year in a New World!

The past couple months have been quite busy.  As usual, I’ve been quite occupied in the lab, and finally managed to submit a manuscript that has been years in the making.  Of course, it has since been returned for revisions (so these things go), so it’s back to the salt mines.  In January, Dee completed a two-week intensive Permaculture Design Certificate course that has left her pleased as punch.  So pleased, in fact, that she immediately took off to go get her hands in the dirt and work on the farm way out in the bush for a couple of weeks.  I’m sure she’ll have much to say about it after she returns this weekend.

I’ve finally had the chance to catch up with our photo editing, and I will be updating this blog over the next few days with footage of our recent adventures.  While most of this summer has been mired in the deluge of La Niña, we have managed to get out once in awhile (and even drive) to some regional sights.  Since it was promised ages ago, I’ll start with photos of the NYE spectacular.  More shortly…

For the geeks out there: I integrated the Highslide JS gallery viewer into WordPress following some advice.  I further tweaked the code to improve the functionality to my liking (such as the comments link overlay), and automated the implementation into new posts.  Drop a line if you want to know the details.

NYE pictures will be coming soon!  The new photo in the masthead above was from our vantage point that night, prior to the pyrotechnic carnage…

The Now Now is a Sydney based organization with a similar ethos to that of the beloved High Zero Foundation, the B’more collective that I was part of for many years.