Urban Bay Walk (Lavender Bay-Berrys Bay-Balls Head Bay)

I did a great hike with my first meet up group.  A wonderful day with a lovely bunch of people, walking along a relaxed but scenic route in the sunshine.  It was a familiar route but I discovered some hidden gems I didn't know about like the North Sydney Art Gallery and the exquisite Secret Garden.

Secret Garden

 

Ball's Head

i-Phone snaps

Matthew at his special character day at school

Thanks for the photos, Jo!  What a classic costume!!

Matthew playing hockey

Thanks for the photos, Jo.

Sam, the cat walk model

Sam did a fashion show at school and wowed everyone with here beautiful home-made red skirt.  Doesn't she look great?  Thanks for the photos, Jo.

Australia

I love a sunburnt country,  a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains. I love her jewel-sea, her beauty and her terror - the wide brown land for me!  Dorothea Mackellar

Australia has been my home since 2006 and I have been gifted with the opportunity to experience and celebrate much of its beauty through travels, hikes and photography outings.  It is a country of exquisite beauty and wondrous things and I will never grow tired of exploring it.

Sydney

Landmarks

• Anzac Bridge  
• Chinese Garden
• Chinatown
• Circular Quay
• Cockatoo Island
• Darling Harbour
• Glebe Tram Sheds
• Harbour Bridge
• Luna Park
• Nan Tien Temple
• Opera House
• Sea Life Aquarium
• St Mary's Cathedral
• Sydney Botanic Gardens
• Sydney Fish Market
• Sydney Olympic Park
• Taronga Zoo
• The Metro
• The University of Sydney
• Wendy's Secret Garden
• Sydney city

Museums and Art Galleries

• Australian Museum
• Maritime Museum
• Museum of Sydney
• Contemporary Art Museum
• The Powerhouse Museum
• Art Gallery of NSW
• Graffiti

Historical buildings

• Government House
• Elizabeth House
• NSW State Library
• The Hyde Park Barracks
• Darlinghurst Gaol
• Sydney Observatory
• Vaucluse House
• Queen Victoria Building

Reserves

• Ball's Head
• Barton Park wetland
• Berry Island
• Kuring Gai National Park
• Malabar Headland
• Muogamarra Nature Reserve
• West Head
• Lane Cove National Park
• Royal National Park

Parks

• Bicentennial Park
• Brennan Park
• Centennial Park
• Milson's Park
• Northbridge Park
• St Leonards Park
• Sydney Park

Cemeteries

• Rookwood cemetery
• Waverley Cemetery

Events

• Fireworks
• Mardis Gras
• Sculptures by the Sea
• Sydney Vivid Festival

Beaches and coast

• Avalon Beach
• Balmoral
• Bondi
• Botany Bay
• Bronte
• Clontarf
• Collaroy
• Cronulla
• Flint and Steel Beach
• La Perouse
• Long Reef
• Manly
• Maroubra
• Monavale
• Narrabeen
• Northern Beaches
• Palm Beach
• Rose Bay
• Turimetta
• Watsons Bay

Suburbs

• Auburn
• Bankstown
• Burwood
• Campsie
• Chatswood
• Cremorne Point
• Darlinghurst
• Drummoyne
• Edgecliff
• Glebe
• Green Square 
• Greenwich
• Hurstville
• Kings Cross
• Kogarah
• Liverpool
• Martin Place
• Newtown
• North Sydney
• Parramatta
• Surry Hills
• Tempe
• Walsch Bay
• Waverton
• Woollahra

Visits

• Jo visits
• Mum's visits 

AUSTRALIA

NSW

• Barrington Tops 
• Blue Mountains
• Bowral
• Capertee Valley
• Carcoar
• Dubbo Zoo
• Dunn Swamp
• Eden
• Kangaroo Valley
• Kiama
• Forresters Beach
• Hawkesbury
• Hunter Valley
• Jamberoo Water Park
• Jervis Bay
• Mudgee
• Mermaids Pool and Tahmoor Canyon
• Mount Kosciuszko
• Mullumbimby
• Newcastle
• Newnes
• NSW Central Coast
• Port Stephens
• Southern Highlands
• Sydney
• Terrigal
• Warrumbungles
• Waterfall Way
• Windsor
• Wollombi National Park

Queensland

• Brisbane
• Cape Tribulation

Victoria

• Great Ocean Road
• Melbourne
• Snowy Mountains

Tasmania

• Tasmania

NT

• Kakadu
• Litchfield National Park
• Uluru

Western Australia

• Perth
• Western Australia

Dinner with Sue and Guy

I cooked up a stir fry storm for Guy and Sue last night.  Great fun for the Three Amigos to be together again.  Unfortunately Sue took the pics and we neglected to get any shots of her. 

Merewether Baths (Newcastle)

George and I went to Merewether Baths to do some photography on Sunday morning.  A lovely spot but too chilly for a dip.

Blackbutts Reserve (Newcastle)

George and I were ecstatic when this little baby koala emerged from it's mum's pouch.  It was very unexpected!  And set up some gorgeous photos.

Insights (2013)

• God is in the stillness. I love God more than thought.
• My purpose is to be a calm, loving space for consciousness to flow into the world.
• Who I am cannot be harmed, threatened or diminished.
• I need nothing external to be complete. I am complete. I am love.
• Guilt is caviar of the ego and low on the consciousness ladder. Remorse, resolve and move on.
• I have the perfect ego and mind and pain body to learn what I'm here to learn.
• The purpose of life is to learn, grow, evolve and enjoy.
• The mind is inherited and thoughts are not real.
• Don't make sex into a mind construct - take mind out of it.
• The power of letting be, letting out, letting go, letting flow.
• Turning "not enough" into "so much." (abundance and gratitude)
• Be a space through loving what is.
• Trust life's unfolding and welcoming what is - no need for fear. All for my higher good.
• The power of processing emotions without identifying or creating a story.
• Grieving Dani is ok and understandable - there's no time limit.
• The need to impress is an archiles heal. External approval is just my projection.
• Listen without advice.  Who am I to know what's best for another.
• Let go of judgement. Let her be. Let me be. We all have different egos and pain bodies.
• We do the best we can at the consciousness we're at. Let go of guilt.
• Consciousness that flows is forever, energy sucked into the ego drains and dies.
• The story of me is an illusion - subjective, edited, selective perception. Will die.
• Negative states of mind are a delusion caused by inappropriate attention and exaggeration.
• Never try to think myself out of a low mood.
• Divine Essence is not out there.  It's everywhere.  Its in me. It's who I really am.
• I'm not here to annihilate the ego, but heal and lighten it and let it go.
• Thank the mind.  Let the mind be free. It's not an enemy.
• Consciousness is about intention. Why am I doing this? From love. Or to impress, from fear?
• There are no tests or punishments.  Just consequences and opportunities to learn and evolve.
• Life is an experiment to see what works. Try new approaches.  
• Don't get lost in needless ideology.  Just a few leaves, not the forest. Pointers to love & stillness.
• Being and stillness are at the centre of my life, not something to fit in.
• I'm exactly where I'm meant to be and the past is perfect, having brought me here.
• The Map of Consciousness (David Hawkins)

Mum and Mike looking very swish

Thanks for the photos, mum. You're both looking great!