Travelog for: Kalli

Our next stop was the Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong. "Nan Tien" in Chinese, literally means "Paradise of the South". This is the biggest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. It also has the largest terracotta tile roof of any building in the southern hemisphere.



This is the Great Compassion Hall and has thousands of tiny statues of Buddha on the walls. The Buddha inside it is a symbol of great compassion and listens to people’s prayers to relieve suffering. Outside is this sculpture of Skanda who protects the Dharma and the objects of the Dharma. (Being near that sword was a little bit scary!!)



There were also lots and lots of statues of different Buddhas in the beautiful native gardens around the complex. We especially liked looking at this collection of statues. We thought they looked like little children.




Cassiopeia  had her photo taken with a different one to me.


We didn't go into the main shrine, which is the larger of the two shrines, but here I with one of the lions that guards it.


This shrine is at the back and houses the Five Dhyani Buddhas – The Buddhas of Confidence, Longevity, Wisdom,  Inner Beauty and Peace as well as 10 000 smaller Buddhas!



It was getting very hot and we were all getting thirsty and hungry, so we left the temple to go into Wollongong to buy some lunch.

We left the temple and drove into Wollongong. It took a long time to find a parking spot because Wollongong is a very popular place to visit on the weekend, especially when the weather is nice.



We found a spot up near the lighthouse and walked down to the harbour to get fish and chips for lunch (a tradition for Bec's family when they visit Wollongong).



We walked back up to the lighthouse to eat our lunch and watch the yachts sailing on the ocean.



Behind us were some large cannons. I wondered what they were  for. It turns out that in 1879, the government was worried that Australia would be attacked by the Russian fleet, so they put these cannons in Wollongong Harbour to protect the harbour from attack. The cannons were never used (there was never an attack!) and now they are sealed up. This point is also famous for its lighthouse. If you look really carefully at the photos from Sublime Point you might be able to see it!

When it was time to leave Wollongong we home up the old highway which is the much more scenic route than the expressway. The old highway follows the coast and goes through many of the old coal mining towns (the whole region's main industry at one time was coal mining).

Here we are outside one town called Coledale. There is a school right on a cliff overlooking the ocean right near here that Bec thinks would be a calming place to teach with this view!!



We considered trying to make a run for it with the car keys before realising that our legs would be too short to reach the pedals! Oh well, maybe one day they'll make a car suitable for adventurous koalas & turtles!!

As we wound our way closer back to the top of the mountains we could see many funny looking creatures hanging around the cliff face - they were hang gliders!!! Of course, we had to stop and have a look. The point was very crowded with spectators. The view was great, don't you think?





This point is called Bald Hill and is important in the history of flight because in 1894 a man called Lawrence Hargreaves was the first man in the world to fly with the help of four box kites on the beach below here. Now, it is very popular for people to go paragliding and hang gliding up here. They even give lessons! I wonder if I'll ever be brave enough to take one. It looks like a lot of fun and it must be nice to float on the breeze like a bird.

This is a map of where I went today (we went through all these towns!):

The kinder kids went to visit the art gallery today, so Bec let Cassiopeia and I come along. We didn't get to see a lot (because the kinder kids were very busy and excited about being out of school on their first excursion!) but we got to see the scenery out of the bus:



and the statue out the front:

Time to pack to get ready for our trip to Brisbane. I can't wait to go flying for the first time!

Here we are at the motel. We had an excellent flight into Brisbane airport and then just had to wait in a queue for the luggage and to get the hire car. Unfortunately Bec did not enjoy the flight as much as I did so she forgot to take photos of us on the plane



The bed doesn't feel that comfortable to sleep on. Guess I'll have to curl up on someone's pillow.

Across the road from the Motel is a paddock with cows. If it stops raining we might be able to get a photo with them. It is very strange that we aren't that far at all really from Brisbane (Queensland's capital) and it's as if we're in the country!



We came across this strange little bird at Sydney airport. His name is Reggie, and he thinks he might like to be a ToyVoyager too.  Stef (Bec's sister) is going to take care of him.

It was a very cold and dreary morning. Nothing like I'd been led to expect from Queensland weather, but still we went for a drive to check out some of the local sights.

Our first stop was the beach at Redcliffe.



A marker at the beach said that Redcliffe was named by Matthew Flinders (an early Australian explorer)  after the colour of the sand / cliffs. You can understand why!



There was a stage near the beach and I thought I'd pose in one of the windows with the ocean behind me. It was a bit tricky because the wind kept making my ears flap and move me around, but eventually it worked!



It was so windy that a man who was surfing with a kite kept getting lifted very high into the air!

Then it was time to head back to the Motel so that the 'humans' could get ready to go to the wedding they'd flown up here for. We hoped that by dressing up we'd be allowed to go too,



but Bec said it would be rude to go if you hadn't received an invite, so we'd have to stay behind.

So, we had a little party of our own. Made even better when they bought us home the Bonbonniere to share.

We got to the airport bright and early and returned the hire car before getting in the very long line to check in - there were a lot of people travelling out of Brisbane airport to all different places in Australia. When we finally got through the line we went upstairs to have breakfast before sitting and waiting for our plane. We passed the time reading, doing crossword puzzles and watching the people and planes going past.



We were disappointed to not get any window seats for the flight back (we had to sit in the middle of the plane), so, again, no photos!

On our way home we dropped Cassiopeia off at Stef's house for a visit then, headed home for a rest.

Today Cassiopeia and I had a little fun at home.

We played in the garden


Visited Froddo's pond and chatted to the fisherman who lives there


And had some afternoon tea together. I made a very popular Australian snack - Vegemite on SAO Biscuits with lots of butter. As much as I really enjoyed eating mine, I'm not all that sure Cassiopeia really liked it. I guess its an acquired taste (common to most Aussies).

Today we took Cassiopeia on a turtle hunt at the creek in one of our local parks.

When we got to the park it was very, very quiet. There were no children there, which we thought was a bit strange! As we got closer we could see why - the council are building new play equipment and it was all fenced off. It looks like it will be a fun place to go and play at when it is finished! (And there are no more tunnel slides where adults will hit their heads trying to help children not be scared to come down!!)



The swings were still in the open so Cassiopeia and I had a bit of a play.





After a little while of swinging (which I have to say I really enjoyed!) we walked over to the bridge in the hope of spotting the turtle.



Sadly, while we saw lots of ducks and pea hens the turtle (and the huge eel that normally lurks there) were no where in sight!



We walked up to the corner store for some groceries and when we got back a man and his little daughter were feeding the ducks. We hoped that this might entice out the turtle, but all we saw were very greedy ducks and ducklings!

We went to Taronga Zoo today!!

Here we are waiting for our train


We had a 'all-stops' train which was a bit frustrating as both Cassiopeia and myself were so eager to get there!

We had a little wait for the ferry to come in to take us to the zoo, so we took in the view of the harbour and snacked.

I always enjoy travelling on the ferries on Sydney Harbour. There are so many things to see and its such a relaxing way to see them, especially when the weather is nice:

The Harbour Bridge


The Sydney Opera House


The city skyline and the Royal Botanical Gardens


Fort Denison, which once upon a time was an island used for punishment of the convicts and was nicknamed 'Pinchgut'. Then, in the 19th Century the British Government was afraid Australia would be attacked by the Russian fleet, so they built the fort here to protect the harbour.



The tallest building you can see on the right is Centrepoint tower. I'd love to see Sydney from the top of that building. Oh well, a koala can always dream, can't she?