Day out at Le Perouse

I had such a wonderful day out in Le Perouse with Meet Up.  The day stated on a cultural note and then we did a spectacular hike along the coast.

Custom's Tower

I never seem to grow tired of photographing this tower in Le Perouse. It was built in 1822 with views of the entry to Botany Bay. Troops were stationed in the watchtower to keep watch for smugglers. From 1833 until 1903, the watchtower took on the role of a customs house. The tower is the oldest structure in Botany Bay and the oldest customs house in New South Wales.

 

Bare Island
Our first stop was the military fort on Bare Island, built in 1885.  This island fortress can be gained access from the mainland by a hundred year old wooden foot bridge.  Bare Island was part of the traditional land of the Gweagal and Kameygal Aboriginal tribes. In 1770, it was described as ‘a small bare island’ by early explorer, Lieutenant James Cook, hence its current name.

Congwong Beach
Next stop was this beautiful beach with some lovely sculptured rocks.  I was tempted for a swim but got sidetracked with my photography and then lost the group. I ran to catch up, took a wrong turn and ended on a nudist beach!!  Needless to say, I didn't take any photos there.

A beautiful hike along the coast

Thankfully I caught up with the group eventually and I'm so very glad I did.  The coastal scenery on the 12 km walk we did was absolutely breathtaking.  I can't believe I haven't done this walk before!  It's destined to become one of my favourite coastal walks in Sydney.

As usual, I marvelled at all the beautiful flowers along the way.

We came across these fortifications that were used as defence during World War 2.  I always love exploring old buildings like this, and some of them had the best sea views in Sydney.

Of course, no hike is complete without a leap and I managed to recruit someone to share in the fun!

We came across this cemetery, used primarily as a quarantine cemetery from the 1880’s.  It is home to over 2000 graves.




On return to Le Perouse, we stopped to watch the reptile show which takes place every Sunday. We were shown lots of scary snakes to watch out for on our hikes!

A small group of us went for a bite to eat and them ambled back to Bare Island to enjoy the amazing rock formations, and in my case, do a final leap!

Joyce, Maria, Emily, Siva

The ice cream van at Le Perouse is an institution (at least for me!) and I wasn't leaving without a double with nuts and flake!!  I left happy.  What a great day out with lovely people.

Ebenezar Church

This was part of a photography trip to Hawkesbury including Windsor Junk Yard, Ebenezer Church, Richmond and autumn leaves.

Rookwood Cemetary

My holiday is coming to an end and I felt like I needed a bit of perspective before going back into the battlefield of work.  So what better place to look for it than in an old, peaceful graveyard.  A bit morbid I know but it kind of helped.

But then Rookwood Cemetery is not just any graveyard.  It is the largest multicultural cemetery in the Southern Hemisphere. It is estimated that approximately one million people have been buried here.  The cemetery covers an area of over 300 hectares (the size of 600 football fields!!).  Absolutely enormous, so much so that the cemetery is considered a separate suburb of Sydney.

Some older sections of Rookwood are overgrown with a riot of plants, some now large trees or groves, as well as an interesting array of remnant indigenous flora. It's peaceful and green and the graveyard stones often make for interesting reading (sometimes inspiring, sometimes sad).

Some of the gravestones in the older Victorian section of the cemetery have been completely "rubbed off" with age so it's impossible to know who's even buried there.  Long forgotten.  Makes you think.  No doubt, we'll be remembered through our children and grandchildren but within a few generations, most of us will likely be completely forgotten.  Our achievements, our dreams, our quirks, our woes.  All lost through the passage of time.  Kind of makes our daily troubles seem a little less significant and daunting.  But then, that's said by someone who's been on holiday for two weeks.  Ask me again on Monday...