Life's a beach!

It has been pretty cloudy the last three days and cool compared to what we left behind in Brisbane. In fact it was almost chilly at times and I was forced to wear long sleeves. (Apologies for this whinge to all those suffering Winter in Up Over.) This morning dawned with blue sky and so we headed to the beach at the Angourie Surfing Reserve when we had breakfasted and woken up properly ."Angourie, on the NSW north coast near Yamba, was the first gazetted National Surfing Reserve in NSW. Angourie is legendary amongst the surfing community for its superb breaks and natural beauty. A very special and very soulful location worthy of deep respect." (Surfingreserves .org)I guess the beach was quite busy compared to other beaches I have been on here but it was nowhere near as crowded as UK or Spanish beaches can be on hot, sunny days. I was not patrolled by life savers.We had a lovely dip. The water was clear and warm although there was a bit of a rip tide and sometimes it was all you could do to stand up again after a wave crashed over you.To finish off the day off with the sea theme we are having prawns ( though not Will as he is allergic to them) and a fish curry for tea.

Tales from the Riverbank 2.

Yesterday we went out on the Clarence River. Trace and Jen have a pedal kayak. Jen took each of us out on our own and showed us how to fit the pedals, stow them when we reached shallow water and how to raise, lower and use the rudder before we were allowed out on our own. Getting out of the kayak after my practise one leg sank into the river mud right up to my thigh and Will had to come and pull me out.We set off up river towards an area known as the Broadwater. It is a large shallow lake at a bend in the Clarence River not far from the house. There was a colony of pelicans or a pod, to be exact, but the water got too shallow to be able to get too close. One old chap in a 'tinnie' cruised a bit closer wondering how we were moving along without paddles until he realised we were pedalling and laughed.There have been dolphins in the river and bull sharks but unfortunately we did not see the former and thankfully did not see the latter. We pedalled back to the jetty by the house and Will got out and then Jen and I went down river towards Maclean and past the bat colony (Flying Foxes) before heading back home. I was pretty worn out after all that pedalling but it was a lovely day.

Breaking News!

I have received the email saying they are ready to grant my visa.I now have to arrange to leave the country for 3 days. I have until August to do it but really need to get it sorted as soon as possible so that I can start looking for a job.

Tales from the Riverbank.

Life is good here on the banks of the Clarence.

Crossing the Clarence.

River Country.

Today we drove down to Ashby in New South Wales to stay with our lovely friends Trace and Jen who live beside the Clarence River near Maclean. The journey took about 3 hours and we arrived safely about 4.00pm.  We have just had a wonderfully relaxing day in great company.