Train to Sydney

To-day we caught the train to Sydney for a visit to Ken's doctor, Dr. Corte at RPA Medical Centre.

On the trip home we caught up with Boden at Central and journeyed up the Mountains together.

Here is Central Station, country departures at quarter to five pm.

Central Coast - Train to Gosford

  
Yesterday we caught the Newcastle Interchange train at Strathfield to travel to Gosford.

There were lots of wattles in bloom with glimpses of water between the trees as we approached the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge.

A view of Woy Woy from the train

We caught the train back to Strathfield from Woy Woy later that day and enjoyed some time looking around this little town where we had spent our anniversary weekend last February.

A Pelican on parade along the waterfront.  Lots of water birds with a platoon of pelicans gathered on top of the restaurant at Fishermen's Wharf.

Here I am standing outside the Village Wear shop at Gnostic Corner in Woy Woy.

I bought this fabulous scarf which I had seen on
one of the displays outside the shop.

Crimson Rosellas

This beautiful pair of Crimson Rosellas landed in our Liquidambar tree this afternoon and started nibbling on the new shoots forming on this tree.  They are so colourful these birds.  I think these two are a pair as I saw them a couple of days' ago drinking from our bird bath.

The Coffee Club

Today we had lunch at The Coffee Club in Westfield Plaza at Penrith.  We shared a bacon and avocado flat grill with salad and a side of fries and two teas. 

Ken had been to High Street Imaging for a bone density x-ray.  While he was at the x-ray place I did some shopping and bought a scarf in W.Lane and a Schrank nightgown in Myers. 

Yesterday we had also been in Westfield Plaza and had lunch in Rogue Valley Roasters, another great place to have lunch. 

There are so many choices in Westfield but we wanted somewhere we could be served and not have to carry any food ourselves to our table and these two cafes provided table service.

A poem for the week

The Pelican by Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879 - 1972)

A wonderful bird is the Pelican,
his beak can hold more than his belican.
He can hold in his beak
enough food for a week
but I'm damned if I see how the helican!

The Entrance

Yesterday we went on a coach trip with Avid Travel to the Country Music Festival in Memorial Park at The Entrance on the Central Coast.  Free entertainment by various bands throughout the day.  Lots of people and great vibe in the town.  The weather was fine and sunny, but the wind was cold.

Lookout tower on the beach.

People were sitting on bales of hay watching the various
bands perform.  Others brought their own fold up chairs.

Girls in the band "Home Grown".  They had travelled all
the way from Chartres Towers in Queensland to perform
at the Country Music Festival.

Here I am behind a pelican at Pelican Feeding time.  They are
lovely birds and seem to enjoy walking around amongst all
the people gathered to watch them being fed.

Conservatorium of Music

On Monday 6 August, 2018 we attended Aimee O'Neill's final concert at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, after completing her Masters in Performance   We also had a chance to make a quick visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens again on a sunny winter afternoon.

The Conservatorium of Music, originally built by Governor Macquarie
as stables for Government House.  The stables were designed as a
castellated fort. The external walls have battlement parapets.  It was
much too ornate a building for horses and was one of the reasons
Governor Macquarie was recalled back to England, as he was
spending far too much money on a convict settlement!

Another view of the battlement parapets with towers.

Just to prove it was indeed a stables, these horseshoes were
found when carrying out renovation and restoration work
on the building.

This lion statue is in the Gardens.  It is one of two white Italian
marble sculpted lions re-installed in the Garden Palace Grounds in
the Gardens in 1994.  They were originally installed in 1882 but
removed during construction of the Cahill Expressway and kept
in storage for decades.  I am glad they are back where they belong.

A beautiful magnolia blooming in the gardens (I posted this
picture on instagram @shirleva471)