Blue Mountains weekend away (Ruined Castle hike)

We had a wonderful weekend with plenty of hiking and chilling.  On Saturday, we did The Ruined Castle hike which had some lovely scenery.  On Sunday, we did a shorter hike close to our cottage in Blackheath.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Trying to find the key to the cottage in the pitch dark when we arrived.  Thank goodness the i-phone can be used at a torch!
• The lovely, romantic cottage where we stayed.
• It was really freezing on the first night, thank goodness for body warmth.
• Chinese dinner on Friday night and delicious veal at a lovely Italian restaurant on Saturday night.
• The amazing views from the top of Ruined Castle.
• A lovely walk exploring the shops of Leura on Sunday (my first time there) and sneaking back to buy Dani a necklace that she had stopped to admire.
• Visiting the candy store in Leura and getting lots of sweet delights.
• A delicious lunch in Leura and an iced chocolate beverage.

Lowlight

• Forgetting my camera at the restaurant in Leura and having to drive back to get it the next day!   At least it was still there.

And the rewards of all that hiking...

Insights (2012)

• Mindfulness - watching, letting it be.
• My Divine Being.
• Consciousness behind presence. Purpose to allow to flow into world.
• Non resistance to pain - watching it.
• Adversity and suffering has its gifts - growth, learning and spiritual awakening.
• Learn from failure and mistakes.
• Personal productivity and time management
• Minimalism, declutter
• What would love and peace do now?
• Let go my the story of me - it's just a stream of thoughts.

A new member of the family - little Jason.

So cute!  Thanks for the photos, Jo!

Ice skating at UTS

Dani's work (UTS) set up an ice rink outside her main building and we spent a lovely hour skating around.

Mike and his grandkids

Thanks for the photo, Mike.

Manly Boxer

Aw shucks, ain't he cute?

Whale watching

Thanks to Dani for a wonderful whale watching cruise out of the heads past Manly.  We saw a mother and her calf as well as dozens of dolphins frolicking around the boat.  Great memories, but difficult to do justice with photos.

Albatross outside North Head, Sydney

Taken on a whale watching trip with Dani.

Sydney Olympic Stadium

These were taken on a Camera Club outing.

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Amazing photo

Orlando Duque of Colombia dives 29 metres from a rock monolith during the first round of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series at Islet Vila Franca do Campo  (source: Guardian Weekly)