Trying to get to Mount Banda Banda

I the hills behind Kempsey at the altitude of 1260m is the grand peak of Mount Banda Banda.
It beckons.

But getting to it is another matter altogether.

It is a lovely drive of a couple of hours up through the foothills to a patch of rainforest in the headwaters of the Wilson River.
There is a picnic area and some little walks through the rainforest to a waterfall.

Massive trees abound, some of them have fallen and make a nursery for other plants to grow on.
If you look closely you can see G at the end of this fallen giant -

Had we taken our swimmers this would have been a great spot to cool off.

Anyway, that's about as far as we got as the road towards Mount Banda Banda was blocked off and entailed a loooooong drive to get around.
Another time G went by himself and took his bike to ride to the mountain, but there were too many fallen trees.
Maybe another time we'll go and camp up in a camping area near there, in Werrikimbee National Park I think and do a bit more exploring.

Wooli wanderings

We spent a very interesting day round and about the small township of Wooli, which is encased by Yuragir National Park on the north coast.
G discovered the wonderful photographs of Roger Welch while seeking to identify some wildflowers he had seen on our travels.
Roger pursues elusive flowers in the northern part of NSW and SE Queensland, his main joy being to photograph and identify them. He very generously uploads his stunning photos to a gallery that you can find here.

Roger very kindly invited us to go wildflower searching last weekend so we took ourselves off to Wooli and picked up our friends P and D on the way.
D is as crazy about flowers as G is - P and I went along for the ride.

It was a glorious day.
The river estuary at Wooli was looking gorgeous.

Roger brought along spotter and neighbour Bruce who is an orchid fanatic.
Much consulting of plant books followed.
And lots of getting down on hands and knees to photograph wee blooms.

We foraged by the road sides and scrambled into drains!

G took lots of photos but they are not available yet.

Bruce and Roger even supplied morning tea which we consumed at sweet little Minnie Waters. Then we shared lunch back at Roger's place.
The view from Roger's place is to die for!

We just had time for a dip in the river before this happened.

But we'll be back!

If you would like to check out Roger's very entertaining website look here - Beyond Eye Level.

The story of the house so far.

We are building a house.
That is to say that we are not actually, personally building it - we have some rathere excellent builders doing that.

We had plans drawn up by our friend Pete ages ago and in fact they were approved by council a year ago, but in true Carrad fashion we got distracted and retired (some of us), sold up, packed up etc etc.
And the builders were busy until the end of last year so it all worked in quite well really.

Now they are moving apace as they have some jobs coming up in February and want to get us finished as soon as poss, though we don't really know when that will be.

formwork for the slab

garage slab is done

framework for the house

the roof arrives

garage roof is on

that is it - roof and ceiling in one

weathertex cladding on the garage

window on the west side of the bedroom

serving hatch window in the kitchen

To give you an idea of what it will look like this is a model of it -

An oldie but a goodie - Paddington markets

I'd never been to Paddington markets before! Hard to believe, I know, but as a westie-girl, it just seemed too hard to make the trip into the east.

This is Paddington, Sydney.

These markets have been around since 1973
Over the years many well-known designers got their start at Paddington markets.
It used to be pretty much the only market around and has always supported local artists and designers.

Now that there are soooo many other markets around, it's a testament to its integrity that this market has survived, and is still very much well-worth visiting.
There is still a fair amount of true designer items and a mix of quality non-artisan goods.

Brightest cushions by Bob Window -

Beautiful resin bangles by Kor creations -

One of my favorite photographers who I had met before at Narrabeen markets - Maria Vantsos.

Pretty dresses by Lemisee

There is yummy food and healthy smoothies.

More fabulous photographs by Tony Read -

  Amy found a stylish and practical hat from johnywho.

 Amazing cut-out pop-up cards -

Certainly enough to keep you entertained.
And there is entertainment! These lads were rather excellent.

I was also delighted to see my old friend Dawn Wilson there, of adawn designs. I failed to take a photo, but she creates gorgeous one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces from the unusual and not-so-unusual components.

The markets are a fundraising initiative of the Uniting Church and are held in the beautiful surrounds of the church.
Every saturday 10 til ?
395 Oxford street
Paddingtonmarkets.com.au