Palm Beach

Coupla days of blue sky sandwiched between storms so I shot out with the camera while the light was good. Felt like a ferry ride so I dragged a couple of mates over to Palm Beach.




Crystal Spirit coming in to Palm Beach wharf in Pittwater. Just over that hill is the Pacific Ocean.

Palm Beach is near the top of a narrow peninsula known unofficially as the Insular Peninsula. Money lives there and visiting movie stars often hang out there. It looks onto the Pacific Ocean on its east side and onto Pittwater on its western side. Pittwater is the southern arm of Broken Bay, the Hawkesbury River is the western arm and Brisbane Water (where Woy Woy is) is the northern arm. Map.




Looking south down Pittwater from Barrenjoey Road. In the background across the water is Ku-ring-gai National Park.




Looking north to Lion Island & Woy Woy Peninsula from Waratah Road. The Pacific was a bit rough but Pittwater was lovely and calm. Here we're looking from Pittwater, across the mouth of Broken Bay, to the mouth of Brisbane Water, just beyond Lion Island. That faint bit of beach you can see just to the left of Lion Island is Pearl Beach. If I hadn't deliberately excluded the bastard, you'd be able to see the fungoid blob of the Excrescence at Ettalong.




Looking north from Palm Beach to Barrenjoey Head & the Bouddi Peninsula. The closer hill with the lighthouse on it is Barrenjoey Head. The further land is Gerrin Point or thereabouts.

As we stood there gawking a Hercules or summat cruised silent and low up the beach and turned inland at Barrenjoey Head. We couldn't hear it over the surf and it probably couldn't hear us strike up a chorus of It's raining men in the vain hope it would drop sexy paratroopers.



Pacific Ocean from the corner of Palm Beach Road & Sunrise Place. That's a cargo ship there on the horizon, waiting to come into Sydney Harbour.




Woy Woy to Palm Beach by ferry. Note ferry pilot not plastered by avoiding sandbars.

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A wee bit of seasonal humour

When four of Santa's elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.

At this time, Mrs. Claus thought it appropriate to tell Santa that her Mum was coming to visit, this stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, who knows where. This stressed poor Santa even more.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys.

So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.