Taronga Zoo

 We became tourists in our own city - and could use up our soon-to-expire vouchers - courtesy of Dom and Gladys.

Taronga Zoo is inseparable from its wonderful harbourside location.  When you tire of the animals, there is those lovely views to occupy you - and the views distract you from the animals.  Little wonder that the Impressionists set up camp near here - Curlew Camp.  Melbourne artists, Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton were among those did. They were there long before the Zoo was!

 

But back to the Zoo.

We have seen plenty of koalas so we didn't go into the enclosure.  But this one made it plain what he thought of everything.

I had never heard of Capybarra - but here they are.  They are a rodent, apparently.  Sounds suspiciously like crappy-barras.

 Some history of the chimpanzees.  Always fascinating.

And the sad looking sun-bear. he reminded us of Susan, who was so upset at the accounts of how they are held captive so their bile can be extracted. This fellow was in a better situation.

But my favourite - the meerkats.  There are 9 at the Zoo.

There is always a sentry

But this one had a trainee

 

There is a heat mat under that fake grass, and  their burrowing was to keep warm.  They are not stupid!

Another pic. If I am re-incarnated, I want to come back as a meerkat - the ultimate socialist paradise!

 And a warning near the cafe.

And you wouldn't run out of tomato sauce here.  When there is a third one of soy sauce, we will know the tourists from China are back! 

It was quiet today.  So quiet that round trips on the Sky Safari (the cable car between the Harbour entrance and the Main entrance - to save you walking up the hill from the Harbour) were permitted.  Normally it is just one way.
 

Sunday - and Rick Stein

We had lunch at Rick Stein's restaurant at Mollymook.  Of course, he wasn't there, but his presence was everywhere.  Firstly, his books were for sale in the lounge! A good chance to look at the ones I was interested in and come back to order at 2/3 the price online.

Secondly, we were told there was a staff briefing daily.  And dishes came with Rick's advice on how they should be eaten.

But it was a lovely experience.   We sat on the open terrace, looking over the sea.  The rain had gone, and it clear and cool enough.  

Some pics

 

KM's shellfish soup came with instructions "from Rick" on how to assemble the croutons and sauce and cheese, which then float in the soup until they become soft.  At that sort of restaurant, you would think they would do that for you!  But KM followed Rick's instructions.

I didn't have to do anything with mine.  I only ordered one, I wanted to make sure I could eat dessert.

Main courses. Snapper with very delicate Indian flavours - I am sure there was turmeric and cumin in there somewhere.

And Kin Mun's joy!  Can't see it myself, but both KM and his sister like eating with me - no competition for the prawns and lobster.

And finally - dessert.  Mine required some assembly, but didn't need special instructions from Rick this time!  A variation on affagato.

A baba with caramelised pineapples and pineapple sorbet. We couldn't finish the baba/cake.  There was some aniseed/licorice in there somewhere.

And I haven't a clue what the CO2 level was!

 

Beach view just outside Ulladulla.

 

Lunch.....and gadgetry.

We had lunch at Shellharbour.

And this is the latest gadget in this COVID era.  It measures CO2 levels in the air, a proxy for expired air that potentially contains viruses from other lungs.  Trouble is, according to Kin Mun,  other things, including pizza ovens can also increase CO2.  This was at lunch - very good - and so it should be, we were outside.  It is a lower CO2 level than our house at Cheltenham.  The food was also good!

We had dinner at an italian restaurant.  The poor old meter went ballistic at times, and then settled down.  Maybe they opened the pizza oven door.

COVID has provided endless opportunities for the obsessives!

 

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The Road to Mollymook and Sea Cliff Bridge

 Our first road trip since going to Queensland in 2021.  A Delta and Omicron wave since.

Anyhow, this is before Wollongong.  Lovely shot of the trees beside the highway, most likely burned in 2019.

 

Then we went over the sea Cliff Bridge.  You will have inadvertently seen this in car advertisements.  Pics below.

 

Not strong enough?

The road to Armidale via Tenterfield.

The road to Armidale.

It was in Tenterfield that the puffy jacket came out and we stated to see locals wearing warm clothes. 

 Muswellbrook tonight, home Saturday and ringing on Sunday.

This trip we have caught up with so many relatives.  Have missed seeing two nephews and one niece.  Next time!  

COVID seems to precede us - first in Queensland and now in Sydney.  Just as well our ringing festival was last weekend.  It would be looking dicey if it was this weekend.

The border - Wallangara

 We  crossed the border at Wallangara.  

 

There is a historic dis-used railway station with different rail gauges, and architecture either side.

It is the only place where you can straddle the border.

 

Esk, Toowoomba and Warwick

 The road to Esk.

and Esk

We went to Toowoomba via the new road up the range that Graham told us about. A vast improvement.  Then we went on to Warwick and saw that a well-known (to us) cafe in Warwick is still there - different name and for sale.  This cafe was where I first tasted Hummingbird Cake - many years ago.

Gladstone

We drove up to Gladstone to see my nieces.  

An important part of Gladstone's economy is the port - which sees LNG, coal, minerals and judging by the silos, also grain, pass through.  As the banner says:

According to Wikipedia, Gladstone is Queensland's largest multi-commodity port and Australia's fourth largest.

There is a new cruise terminal, but not much happening just now.

And from our unit, we saw an LNG carrier.

The countryside 

And such a practical move - many toilets are unisex

and require anticipation!