Happy April Fools Day! (Day 136)
Happy April Fools Day! We posted on facebook a photo of a Cat having kittens and made out that one of the cats we were looking after surprised us with 5 kits all with pink eye. Many were fooled!
What has been the best April Fool’s you’ve heard so far. The best one I ever did was when Tim and I was first together and we’d had some work done in our maisonette. I yelled out that there was a leak under the radiator. He zoomed out, looking flustered (he was just off to work) and there under the radiator I had placed a leek! Haha.
So back to yesterday – after my coaching session, Tim had found some local maps and saw that Berowra Waters wasn’t far away. It is surrounded by one of Australia's oldest and best-known national parks - Ku-ring-gai Chase and in fact Berowra is an Aboriginal word that means “place of many winds”. We parked the car and wandered down to the Creek which is a tributary of Hawkesbury River. There were lots of very nice boats moored there, signs of wealth and I have since read that Cate Blanchet and family apparently used to live round there. It was late lunch so stopped for some fish and chips and then walked down to the river to catch the Ferry. Here is a toll-free Ferry that works 24/7 apart from 2.5 hours per month on a Tuesday for maintenance. The very friendly ferry master informed us that the top of the ferry is classed as a road and the underneath as a vessel. Makes sense.
Once we were on the other side, we walked along the river for some time and came across a houseboat – It looked just like a rectangular box on a large float. There was something very appealing about it. I’ve always fancied living on a boat, perhaps something we could do on our travels somewhere. At this point, the track turned right, the terrain changed from sand to rock and was very steep, sometimes requiring a scramble rather than just walk. Oh no! I really struggle. I get very hot, my face goes very red and the old heart is pumping away. Tim is trying to encourage me to be more independent on these climbs, but when I am hot and bothered, it doesn’t go down well.
We eventually got to the top and the land flattened out with amazing views over Berowra Creek. We walked along the ridge and over a large rock platform to take some photos, then through a gap between two huge rocks. I don’t feel so at ease walking in Australia as I did in New Zealand. There are too many venomous snakes and spiders here. Back 30 years ago, when I was tramping in Flinders Range, north of Adelaide I very nearly stepped on a brown snake. Luckily my subconscious stopped me taking the next step – otherwise I probably wouldn’t be writing this today.
Time was ticking. We had a call at 6pm for a next potential House Sitting in Melbourne. It was very tight whether we would get back by then. Internet reception was erratic and Tim’s mobile was running out of juice. Fortunately he managed to leave a message that we would be available at 7pm.
After looking at the map, I took the pragmatic decision that we needed to return the way we had come, I would have preferred a different route, however the only one we could see was extremely long and it gets dark quickly and early here. We ventured slowly and carefully down the rocks and at the bottom I said “That was fun” How we laughed…Poor Tim, I don’t know how he puts up with my huffing and puffing!
We’d just turned the corner when Tim stopped, and there in the bay beside us was a 4ft Goanna, Monitor Lizard, just like the ones we saw in Featherdale Wildlife Park, It was a beauty. Photos were caught and then it disappeared in the bush. We then walked a couple of metres further and there was a Kookaburra perched in a tree (not an old gum tree through). It sat there looking at us for ages. We could hear other Kookaburra’s laughing so tried making the same noise to see if we could get it to laugh. Eventually it flew off making the weirdest of sounds, like one of those toys that you turn over and it moos (Country Moo Cow Can they are called).
By the time we got back over the ferry and to the car, Tim’s mobile battery had died, so had the charging pack – tut, tut. I managed to locate our way back using my google maps. We missed our 7pm appointment. Luckily the couple were very understanding, we chatted with them at 8pm and they have chosen us as their House Sitters for Murphy the Dog just outside Melbourne from 18th April to 2nd May. Hurrah!
Times have changed….literally – Just like in the UK, Australia has Daylight Saving. So the time has fallen back an hour (remember it is autumn here). However Daylight saving is not observed in every state – how confusing! In Queensland, they don’t change their time, so for half the year it is 1 hour different to its neighbour NSW. Apparently this is because the change of time confuses the cows and fades the curtains – and that is NOT an April Fool Joke!
