The calm after the storm

A couple of photos taken after a late afternoon storm passed through a few days ago and the setting sun lit up the clouds.
The first is a panoramic and both enlarge when clicked.

Yamba from the air - and stormy weather.

Here's an aerial view of Yamba.............

That's Whiting Beach in the right foreground, Turner's Beach at the left.
Behind Whiting is the Yamba harbour and the village proper.

You can make out the lighthouse on the grassy headland, the reservoir and, in the background, Main Beach, Convent Beach and Pippi Beach, which runs down to Angourie.

A lovely photo, taken by I know not whom.

Last week we had a very stormy day, with strong winds and high seas.
Here are a few shots taken from the lighthouse looking down at the breakwater.

This was the same day that a yacht off the coast near Evans Head (up the coast a little way from Yamba) sent out a mayday after hitting a submerged object and foundering. They were rescued by a freighter and everyone was okay.

Hemiaspis Signata

In other words, the "Marsh Snake".

I came across this little bloke this morning, on the footpath which runs through the glade of trees in the resort.

He/she was about 20 cm long and didn't even move when I gently picked it up.....with a thin stick!
I popped it back down on the path, took a couple of photos and then when I was back home I used them to identify the snake.

First snake I've seen in the "wild" for decades; the last one was an "Eastern Brown" snake in Canberra about 30 years ago - I nearly stepped on it!

The New Glasses

The new glasses

I had two pairs of glasses up until last Monday; one pair for driving, which were fitted with clip-on Polaroid lenses, and another pair for reading and computer work.
The latter pair had accumulated so many scratches over the six years since I had them prescribed that it was like trying to read a book through raindrops so I made an appointment to have an eye test and get new glasses.

Test results were good: macular excellent, no sign of cataracts, very good field of vision and just a leaning towards the first signs of glaucoma.

The optometrist suggested that I go for new multi-focal, or "progressive" glasses, which would cover far to near without the need for two pairs.
I followed his suggestion and four days ago picked up these new glasses - which cost the equivalent of the national debt of a small African nation. Thank heavens for small mercies in that my health fund covered part of the cost - less than half but at least it's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick. Pun intended.

If I said that I was finding the process of becoming used to wearing them slow and frustrating that would be an understatement. I sometimes feel that my neck muscles are getting more work than they have ever had before as I am constantly moving my head up, down and from side-to-side.

I'll persevere but boy, it's a trial, that's for sure.

Poincianas in bloom

Grafton, less than 50 kms from Yamba, is famous Australia-wide for it Jacaranda trees and the associated Jacaranda Festival they hold at the beginning of each November.

Whilst there are certainly Jacarandas here in Yamba - and they present a wonderful display - for me they are not as brilliant as the Poinciana.

Right now there are many such trees in various phases of their spring blossom, whether they be just starting,  at the height, or fading off to the summer umbrella of ferny leaves.

Two specimens caught my eye recently so I took my camera with me this morning and captured both of them.
Each image enlarges when clicked.
Note also that the hyperlinks take you to Google Streetviews of the trees in their non-blossom state.

The first  - on the main road into Yamba - is almost at the peak of its flowering cycle - I reckon that within a week it will be fully crimson.

The second - opposite the Presbyterian church - is on the upward curve and probably has a few weeks to go before it reaches full flowering.

Nature is beautiful at times.

A spectacular light show.

An approaching storm, on Sunday night 26th. October, provided a really spectacular lightning display, with a strike every six seconds at one point.

The video is condensed from about 10 minutes of recording time.

Restoring a 48-year old car

Back in the 1960s - say, between 1964 and 1967 - I was into slot-cars and would spend what I could on the hobby from my lowly wage as an apprentice electrician.

In those days it was not unusual for we enthusiasts to yearn for what was considered the ultimate slot-car kit - that made by the L.M.Cox Manufacturing Company, of Santa Ana, California.
Their kits were beautifully engineered and went like the clappers straight out of the box - nicely balanced and handling sweetly.
But what made Cox kits unique was their cast magnesium ("mag") chassis and wheels and it was these components, and the general overall quality of the kits, which went a long way towards making Cox slot-cars the most expensive of all.
I can't remember the exact price that we paid for these in Australia back then but it certainly took several month's pay for me to save up what little disposable income I had in order to buy a Cox kit.

Over the past four decades Cox kits and slot-car components have reached amazing values, with collectors (probably old slot-car enthusiasts!) paying ridiculous sums.
Only very recently an unassembled, complete NOS (new, old stock) kit sold for an astounding $3,000+ on Ebay. This is for something which, back in 1966, most likely retailed at around $25.

A couple of years ago I had a desire to buy and restore one of the slot-car models (a Monogram 1/24 Lotus 38) which I bought and ran back around 1966/67 and I picked it up on Ebay for about $150. Following rebuilding, re-painting and adding new decals, that model has more than likely doubled in value. NOS kits, unassembled, are going for many times that amount.

More recently I decided to bid on a Cox 1/24 Chaparral kit, issued in 1966.

It was not an NOS kit, but came with all it's bit 'n' pieces, had never been assembled and included the original documentation and box.
So I was pleased to see that I was the successful bidder and the parcel arrived from the USA a fortnight ago.

Since receiving it I have undertaken a cleanup of the magnesium components.
When originally made these castings were coated with a protective lacquer as soon as they came out of the mould but over time the lacquer deteriorates and slight corrosion and discolouration of the magnesium takes place; in many cases the magnesium takes on a very crusty and almost black appearance.

Some restorers have the mag bits powder-blasted and then immediately re-lacquer them.
That's probably the most effective method of regaining the original appearance but others look at the end result and consider that it is an over-restoration, as the patina added by time is completely removed.
Others, like myself, resort to other methods (usually cheaper!) and in my case I experimented, finally opting for a soup of vinegar and lemon juice (i.e., acetic & citric acid), finishing off with a sound scrubbing using an electric toothbrush and a paste of Gumption.
Bearing in mind that these bits were pretty blackened and somewhat crusty when I received them, here is the end result of the cleanup:-

The next phase is the assembly and painting of the body.

As it is unmolested and original I should have a straight-forward job.
Stay tuned!

Beware of the wildlife!

(All photos enlarge when clicked).

On a very recent (like, today!) trip up to Southport we made a pit-stop at the roadside rest-stop at Sleepy Hollow.

Near the conveniences were two identical signs warning of the local wildlife, and Shirley and I had a bit of a laugh when talking about how the unwary tourist might think that the last place they should have visited was Australia!

We didn't see any snakes but I did catch sight of a Water Dragon....about two feet long.

Beautiful colour.

But the most striking of all the local fauna were definitely the two colourful roosters and a single black hen which were roaming around the area.

I managed to capture one of the roosters in full crow!!

Just another day in paradise. :)

At last - the final furnishings are in!

Two weeks ago the new dining suite was delivered.
This features solid-timber construction of Australian hardwoods and the dining table is extendable to provide a six-place setting. We bought the full complement of six chairs.
It is very nice to now be able to dine at a proper table instead of an outdoor utility table with plastic chairs!

Then last Monday the final pieces of furniture arrived.
The lounge had been orderd on June 1st. but because we chose a leather colour that was not in stock we had to wait for delivery from the factory.

Suffice to say that it is very comfortable, with two recliners and the three-seat settee, which means I can snooze on it in the afternoons!

We kept one of the temporary bean-bags - Rosie the cat loves it.

The Palm Lakes Ponds and the Vespa comes home.

(Note that all photos enlarge when clicked)

A fortnight ago we had some really good rainfall, which fell steadily over a couple of days.
The result here at Palm Lakes (Oyster Cove) was the saturation of the low-lying area in the "forest", to the extent that a series of ponds were evident for several days.

The water table in this location is very close to the surface and it doesn't take long for the ponds to develop.

Here's a photo of the same location when it is normally dry........

Today I picked up the Vespa (GT200) from being serviced/carby repairs at Crossroads Motorcycles in Grafton.
It was a superb day - clear sunny sky, gentle breeze and just a perfect spring day all round.
I rode home via the Grafton-Lawrence Road and then through Maclean - a marvellous run of some 63 kilometres past canefields and dairy paddocks, with the Clarence River off to the right until Lawrence, where we crossed the river by vehicular ferry and continued to Maclean and then Yamba with the river on our left.

So the scooter has now rejoined the Red Fleet and will be used often now that it is running properly.

We stopped in Maclean for coffee and a sandwich and I clicked the following shots:-

First up is the historic post office building with original Post Master's residence and, next to it, the police station. Both buildings still continue in their roles today.

In the middle of a round-about just to the right of the above photo sits an original derrick once used to load/unload the barges that plied the river.

A shot of the Honda Jazz and the Vespa, parked neatly as we strolled off for a cuppa.
My wife was driving the Jazz, in which we travelled from Yamba to pick up the Vespa.
As I was removing my helmet and gloves, a local lady asked if she could take the scooter home because she thought it was "cute"! Any thoughts I may have harboured of striking a macho pose went out the window!

This evening we fired up the b-b-q and dined casually.

It's a hard life but we put up with it!

At work!

It's not "work", just a very enjoyable pastime.

I present a radio program twice a week - two hours on Monday afternoon from 4 - 6 PM and then four hours on Wednesday from noon until 4:00 PM - on our local community radio, TLC 100.3 FM.

So here's a photo of yours truly at the console yesterday, as hits from the 1960s were pouring out into the ether (and streaming on the internet).

By-the-way,  our station premises..........

A little bit of Lismore

We paid a visit to Lismore yesterday - a trip of about 90 km (80 minutes) from Yamba and a very pleasant drive.

One thing we noticed in the part of the town we visited - one of the older parts - was the number of original homes that had been restored or otherwise very well maintained.

(All photos enlarge when clicked)

It wasn't until we noticed the houses across the road from the address we were visiting that our eyes opened up and we saw that they were everywhere, with the great majority in very nice condition and beautifully presented.

Great examples of how to keep an old town (established around 1855) looking really lovely with the original dwellings.

Panasonic Lumix TZ40 - Panorama function

I hadn't used this clever function until a week or so back so yesterday, when at the little lighthouse in which 2TLC FM 100.3 is located, I switched it on and took the following pic.....

If you click it then it should come up in a larger size.

The object at the left of picture is the water reservoir for Yamba, the operating lighthouse is in the left-background, just beyond the pilot station building. The ochre-coloured house is a holiday residence, once part of the original lighthouse complex and the white building is the replica lighthouse, home to the community radio station.

Palm Lakes - Oyster Cove - Coffs Harbour airport

A few photographs which take in the Palm Lakes/Oyster Cove location, the front of our new home and a run down to Coffs Harbour airport yesterday.
All photos enlarge to full size when clicked.

The view across the water of Oyster Cove (a backwater of the Clarence River, off Shallow Channel and Oyster Channel) towards the homes that were built about 17 years ago as part of Stage 1 of the original development.

A pathway through the "forest" which forms part of the resort and links to a pedestrian-access gate (just behind me in this photo). and then to Orion Drive.

Photo taken at about 8:30 AM, with the sun rising into a clear blue winter's sky.
Some of the original homes of Stage 1 seen on the right.

The front aspect of our new home (the structure is eight years old and we bought from the original owners) with the attached garage and the bum of the Honda Jazz showing.

Another view of the front, taken from outside the garage.
Front door and sliding door to living area beyond, both off the covered verandah.
The hedge is a combination of camellia and azalea....apparently very pretty when in flower.

The contents of the 1.5-car garage.
1990 MX5 on the left and Jazz on the right.
The Vespa GT200 (also red!) was in Grafton being serviced.
Beyond the  end wall of the garage is a covered alcove surrounded by lattice which provides a shaded outdoor living area in summer but which can really be used at any time of the year due to the mild winters.

An old brick church under the shade of a gigantic spreading Morton Bay Fig tree, on the Pacific Highway near Ulmarra.

Here's a short (45 seconds) video-clip as we passed through Ulmarra, just a kilometre on from the location in the photograph above:-

An Embraer ("Whitehaven Beach") of Virgin Australia ready to depart Coffs Harbour for Sydney yesterday afternoon.
I was at the airport awaiting the arrival of my sister on a QantasLink Dash 8 from Sydney.
Coffs is a pretty little airport and is serviced by Qantas, Virgin and Tiger.