Andy's Work Retreat

Meroo Head Campground was the destination for Andy's work retreat which normally is held around Oct/Nov. Located north of Bawley Point, the campground boasts secluded walk in campsites. We occupied about a third of the available campsites with a central one designated as the communal area for cooking and generally hanging around.

Leaving Canberra on Saturday morning with our jammed packed car (Ella had invited Ryan to join us) we stopped for coffee and snacks at Braidwood. Katy was somewhat put out at being on her own as all the other children there were much younger!

We rolled into the campground just after midday. It was hot humid work setting up camp and we were glad to be heading to the beach by the end of it. Spoilt by choice of two beaches on either side of the headland, we thought given the wind, Shelley Beach on the southern side, would be best for surfing.

Emerging from the bush track we ambled our way over a large section of exposed rock towards the sandy beach. With surfboards under arms, Andy and the girls were particularly hopeful to find some good waves!

Although the sun was shinning and the water was warm, the waves were choppy and not great for surfing. A slow trickle of Andy's work colleagues and families joined us to enjoy an afternoon at the beach.

Didthul (Pigeon House) Mountain

Today's adventure was a trek up Pigeon House Mountain. An hours drive from our campground along some fairly rough gravel tracks, we converged at the carpark and picnic area ready to tackle the trail!

Our group of 22 included 3 small people who had arrived and started early to get a head start. The trail was reported to be a grade 4, 5km return trip taking between 2.5 - 3.5hrs. 

The track began with a series of switchbacks before a section of stairs. The group naturally splintered with the faster walkers leading the way. We caught the little ones about 1/3 of the way up. Near the top of this first steep section was a large rock ledge - a great spot to regroup, rest and snack. 

Once we got going again, the group again spread out. The track flattened out which allowed the first glimpses of the top of Pigeon House to be seen though the trees. Andy was ahead with Katy while I was at the back with Ella, Ryan, Morgan, Kyle and 6 year old daughter Wallace. 

My Garmin indicated we were well over halfway in distance to the top, however as we discovered later this was not the case! Lots of encouragement and support was needed by Wallace and we were determined for her to make it to the summit. Kyle would rotate between carrying Wallace on his shoulders and us holding her hands as she negotiated the uneven rocky steps of the trail.

It all became much easier as we reached the base of the ladder section. Soon after we arrived at the top to the cheers of the rest of the group. The panoramic views over the Budawangs was fantastic. A group photo at the top was required before we could enjoy a break and some food.

Usually the descent part of a walk is quicker however Wally was really struggling despite our best efforts on encouragement and distraction! Kyle did a superhuman effort with the shoulder rides and his quads must have been killing! Our water levels were dwindling fast as the day warmed up significantly. We were so happy to reach the switchbacks knowing we were almost there but they kept on going!!

Just over 4 hours after beginning and covering a total of 7.2km we arrived back at the cars again to the cheers of our fellow walkers. 

Ice cream and cold drinks at the service station on the way back to the camp ground were well deserved and much appreciated! Back at the campground, our focus was getting to the beach as soon as possible to cool off!

For dinner, our family was keen to have fish'n'chips and drove to the closet town, Bawley Point. Sadly the only takeaway sonly old pizza and the owners were not at all nice so we opted to get cooking supplies from the IGA next-door. Then it was back to the campground to cook meatballs and pasta!

Snuggling

Indi LOVES her new bed....and so she should cause it was expensive. Since when have dog's beds been so costly?? Her coat, thanks to 2 last minute cancelled haircuts by the groomer, means that it's nearly as long as the bed fluff! Hoping to rectify that soon.

Enlighten

We took Ella and Ryan to view the illuminations of Enlighten. Of course they didn't want to hang around with us old folks and split as soon as we arrived. Andy and I decided on gelato followed by a loop of the lights beginning with Old Parliament House, NGA, Portrait Gallery, Questacon and finally National Library.

The illumination clip on the NGA was interesting depicting the work of Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira. We were taken with his work and decided to detour into the Gallery to view his current exhibition there.

Back out in the darkness we walked by the Portrait Gallery with the native animals then across the grass to Questcon pausing to watch the (always) entertaining clip on this building. Final stop was the National Library where we waited for Ella and Ryan to rejoin us before heading home.

Little Athletics - done and dusted!

It was Ella's final day of competition at the Belconnen Little Athletics Club. She has been a regular at the Cook track since she began in Under 6's in 2012...

Interesting Ella turned her attention to the throwing events a few years ago! And this season Ella coached the Under 6's in the on track program for the first half of the season. When she wasn't competing in the events she didn't like (distance or walks) you would find her coaching the younger age groups at the discus or javelin sites.

The president made a fuss of the oldies -  Ella, Chloe and Laura - that it was their last athletics competition at BLAC and organised this tunnel run for them!!

Another Talk

Building on my in-house talk on ultrasound assessment of endometriosis, I was asked by one of our Dr's to give another talk to a more general audience (GPs, obstetricians, sonographers and midwives). I agreed before I realised it was in Orange!!

Anyway Indi helped me grab some more images at work one morning so I adapted the previous talk to be shorter and more generalised.

A few weeks later accompanied by a several work colleagues we went to Orange for the weekend! It turned out to be a welcomed mini break away! The conference day held at Orange Base Hospital was titled Obs and Gynae Update and my talk was towards the end of the day...a long nervous wait! There were some really interesting talks in the morning especially one given by a Professor of Genetics about NIPT and Genetic Carrier Screening. Post conference we enjoyed a lovely dinner with a small group.

We broke the trip up on our way home as we detoured in Cowra for a wander around the Japanese Gardens. A wonderful spot!

Goodbye to the Summer Crops

Goodbye to the summer vegetables! The tomatoes slowed in their ripening and the possums started to take advantage. As a result, I picked them as they began to blush before finally giving up and stripped the bushes bare. The green tomatoes slowly ripened up on the kitchen bench.

Fennel, beans, basil, parsley, rocket and eggplant replaced the tomatoes. The zucchinis were still chugging along as was the basil, silverbeet and rainbow chard.

Being in the garden is hard work for some and an afternoon kip is needed!!