Friday, November 17, 2006

Daleys Point

(Daleys Point walkies #1)

Got bored with trekking up to Gosford. Bloody weather up and down like a fucking yoyo on speed isn't helping. Though I like the cool bits. Bloody cool Wednesday and yesterday. More on that later.

Fishermans Bay & Hardys Bay from The Rip Bridge

Morning sun sparkling off the water at Fishermans Bay. Taken from The Rip Bridge (below). Hardys Bay in the background.

Lovely day for walkies today. Twenty degrees (64F), blue blue sky, warm sun and a cool breeze to keep me cool. I walked from home, down Blackwall Road, over The Rip Bridge to Daleys Point and down to the water. A nice slow walk but plenty of uphill work on Daley Avenue. (Map)

Plenty of balconied houses to be seen. Up on the crest of the point overlooking the bridge there's houses that look both ways, down into the water to the north-west, between Blackwall and St Huberts Island and probably across to Koolewong and Tascott and down into Fishermans Bay and Booker Bay (below) on the other side. Perhaps even across Killcare peninsula to the sea.

The Rip Bridge from Daley Avenue Daleys Point

The Rip Bridge. Looking back to the Woy Woy Peninsula. Booker Bay is on the left and Orange Grove on the right.

The Rip Bridge went up in 1974 and provided easy road access to Daleys Point and St Huberts Island. More.

Pelican fishing off Daleys Point

Stood there for a bit looking out over the water. This pelican was cruising about close to shore looking for his breakfast. He poked his beak into the seaweed every now and then but didn't seem to have much luck. Eventually he floated off to the other side of the water.

Taken from Daley Avenue Daleys Point, under The Rip Bridge.

Booker Bay from Daley Avenue Daleys Point

Booker Bay with the hills of Pretty Beach and Wagstaffe in the background.

Booker Bay is the money suburb of the woy Woy Peninsula. There's money wherever there's a view but apparently there's more of it in Booker Bay. The boats certainly back that up.

But, as with everywhere I've been on the Central Coast, in between the swanky houses there's still plenty of little workmans' cottages someone's grandma still lives in.

Have a gander at The Rip Bridge from Guyra Street Booker Bay.

St Huberts Island from Tulani Avenue Daleys Point

St Huberts Island ramp from Tulani Avenue Daleys Point. The house where that boat was tied up had a car in the driveway. What the hell were they doing indoors on such a fine boating day?

Snow in Queensland

On the telly on Wednesday night we watched the fieries battling bushfires in the Blue Mountains (outskirts of Sydney). Then they showed the snow falling in Bathurst. A kid was building a snowman. It hasn't snowed there in November (late Spring) for fuck knows how long.

Yesterday it was delightfully cold in Woy Woy. Wore a jumper and a jacket and my beanie pulled down over my ears and nearly got caught in the hail. and it snowed in Queensland. Which never happens. Today I went walkies in shirt sleeves.

12 comments:

Callisto said...

Hot water bottle for me last night!

Nice pics today - you really do live in an "ugly" part of the world Spike, must be hard to take ;)

Spike said...

LOL. It's very hard to take :)

I cuddled up under me softest quilt and loved it. Bring on winter!

Anonymous said...

wowy
wonderful pictures again
the water in the pelican one
looks so clear......and nearly koolewong.......wow hello daughter im within spitting distance.babes.
lol....blue sky well what is that
we had cold wind,hail and rain bucketing down here in the south of england.....well it is winter.!!
lol......thanks spike snuggle up under that duvet matey....xxx

Suzanne44 said...

The bridge photo is what really rocked me - great angle.

Hamish said...

Wow -- it's a little odd hearing Booker Bay described as the money suburb. Back in the old days it was as decrepit and low-rent as the rest of the Peninsula, and the only boats were at Machan's Marina, and even these were typically small fishing or working boats.

And then the 70's happened, and all those huge houses got built on the old lots along the waterfront... Humph.

Anonymous said...

It was certainly cold on Thursday I was sitting here in a Jacket, Jumper, Tracksuit pants and socks in ther middle of bloody November!!!
I dont remember any hail here on Thursday When did it hail? I remember the hail on monday

Anonymous said...

I went for a drive up to The Entrance, Norah Head and Soliders Beach this morning (Saturday) Norah Head is a lovely spot you shouldve seen all the tankers that were sitting just off the coast there must've been about 20 of them I shouldve taken my camera along - bugger!!!!

Spike said...

Pattie - Thanks yer. The clear bits look good enough to drink. Until you remember they're salt :)

Grab the next rowboat you see and row round to your daughter's place. We'll wave as you move through the photos.

Coupla night's ago I was snuggling under the duvet, last night I was kicking it off again. Oy.

Suzanne. Thank yer muchly. It was good to stumble upon a clear spot for a photo and the sky was spot on for contrast.

Hamish - I can see what you mean re Booker Bay. But luckily along Booker Bay Road and the delightfully named Bogan Road the old village is still quite easy to see. Particularly with those three old shops still there.

What street was/is Machan's Marina on? Haven't heard that name before.

Michael - Could well've been Monday it hailed. I can't remember back that far :)

The best shots are the ones when you forgot the camera, sod them. But I reckon there'll be more tankers queued up if we get that big wind this week.

Hamish said...

Machan's is / was on Bilba Street, which is that tiny little thing off Booker Bay Road down and around the corner from the shops in your flicka page. Used to be Baird's Boatyard in the 60's, I think -- both the Machans and the Bairds were friends of my father's (and I think Kim Machan (who I knew as a kid) went on to become some sort of artist, but don't take my word for it...).

The pix of the shops really brings it all back -- I'm surprised they're still there. Must wander past 'em the next time I'm in the hood (which won't be for a long time, unfortunately).

Spike said...

I know that marina. Where Sam Murray's 1910 house is or was (I suspect is but can't see it properly).

This Kim Machan?

King's & the General Store are still in good nick and might be Heritage listed. The other old shop, opposite them, is in a sad state of repair. Mortar's dropping out and so on.

Hamish said...

Yes, that Kim Machan, quite unmistakably (even though I haven't seen her in thirty years...).

The shop opposite Kings used to be the main corner shop in the area; the other two were, if I remember correctly, typically real estate agents or bait shops or something like that. Shame the original corner shop is in such a state -- I used to ride my pushbike down there to get ice cream when I were a wee lad.

Spike said...

Oh yeah...

Icecream never tastes as good as when you're leaning on the deadly treadly on a hot day and licking it off yer elbow.