Trial Bay Gaol.

After another walk this morning on the beach at Smoky Cape we headed to Trial Bay Gaol near South West Rocks.I thought it have been for the early convicts sent to Australia but it was more recent than that...well, early 1900's. It was built to house prisoners brought to the area to build a breakwater but the sea proved too powerful and the job was eventually abandoned. Between 1915 and 1918 it was used to house German detainees during the war and later still was stripped of most of it's metal work and abandoned. Local Aboriginal people moved into the ruins for some time after that.

We have now driven north to Ashby and are having a couple of nights by the River Clarence.

Smoky Cape.

So...we have travelled up the East Coast on the Pacific Highway and are now camped at Smoky Cape, near South West Rocks. I have camped here twice before with Will and it is one of my favourite places.We went into South West Rocks ( the town) for an evening stroll and fish and chip supper before returning to our tent at Smoky Cape Campground.We have just been out for a night wander on the beach to see the light from the lighthouse on the headland. It is quite magical but sadly it's magic cannot be conveyed in photographs.

A Bondi Birthday!

So... today Lewis was 26.It was also Anzac Day.We went to Bondi for a dip and then back to the city for harbour walks. This evening we walked over the harbour bridge and went for a fabulous Japanese birthday meal. I hope it was a birthday to remember.

Hello again, Sydney!

So...we have arrived in Sydney along with, it seems, the rest of Australia who are here for the holiday weekend. It is Anzac Day here tomorrow, a national holiday and day of remembrance for those that fought and died at Gallipoli.After checking into our hotel we headed down to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly. It seems everyone else here had the same idea. My plan was to catch a ferry back just as the sun was setting behind the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge but we just missed a ferry as we arrived and when we finally got to Manly couldn't get back on the same one! We finally were heading back to Sydney 30 minutes after sunset but it worked out quite well for photographs despite the jostling hoards.

Capital City.

What a wonderful day in the Capital!We started at Parliament House where we met Maria who works in the Senate and she took us through the basement for a quick behind the scenes tour of areas the public do not get to see. Then we went to the War Memorial, drove up Mt Ainslie to see the city from high up and then wandered past Old Parliament House, the 'Aboriginal Embassy' to the dome by the National Gallery of Australia to see the sky change colours at sunset through the hole in the top of the dome. It was truly wonderful.