Out and about - camping at Bonnie Vale

This camping expedition had been planned for a while - to celebrate a friend's birthday.
We'd been having some extra-super-hot weather....but last weekend it rained : (

Never mind it didn't dampen our spirits.


We walked, we swam, we ate and we drank and some of us kayaked.

Some of us played volleyball....in the mud....and slipped over and broke a rib.

(That part was not much fun)

There are some old shacks in the camping area.
I'm very fond of old shacks.

I'm unable to find out much information about these shacks.
They are smack bang in the middle of the (very nice) camping area which is part of the Royal National Park.
It used to be NPWS (National Parks and Wildlife) policy to remove all shacks from the national park but it seems they have relented in recent years.
These shacks don't look like they are maintained at all and could very well just fall down one day.

Just some stuff that bought a smile to my face this week

Starting the week off with a little prosecco with my pasta.

Colours I adore, found on Design Seeds.

New favorite cafe, Henri Marc - this is their version of french toast. It was de-lish-us!

Something I love at home.
A painting we bought many years ago and had to scratch around in our purses to buy it.

Aw, the best valentine's day morning.

Sooooo looking forward to camping with friends, but the weather had other ideas.

After an eventful weekend it was good that there was something worth watching on TV.

How was our week?
Hope your face had a : )

Glow worm tunnel and a sunset

We went on a little overnight camping trip at the weekend.

First of all we watched the sun set.
From here -

There were hazard reduction burns taking place which made the horizon a bit hazy but may have made the sky redder.

After a lovely night's camp we set off down the old coach road.
In places the descent would have been very exciting! It's quite steep. And would have been a bit of a pull on the way up.

There are some relics from the past.

Lovely forest.

We walked in an anti-clockwise direction around the loop so that we went up the old railway route, which has a much gentler gradient.

We got glimpses into the Wolgan Valley...and then this -

There's a pocket or rainforest before the tunnel with gorgeous treeferns.

The tunnel was part of the railway line which was built in the early 1900's on  to take shale oil out of the valley.

It's damp and uneven underfoot.

And very dark in the middle.

That's where the glow worms are.

It's pretty good.

You need a torch, but if you stand still and turn your torch off - you'll see the glow worms like little stars in the night sky. 

It's amazing country around there.
There rock formations called pagodas

Part of it is the Gardens of Stone National Park and part is the Wollemi wilderness area.

Highly recommended!