Autumn Favourite, Bowral in New South Wales

I came from a tropical country and always live in one for the whole of my life. I know nothing about spring-summer-autumn-winter cycle, I have never experienced dry and hot summer, I can't sleep at night without fan or air conditioner. 

Until last year.

I came to Australia in late spring, got to experience the breeze and the colours for a while before the sun started to show its wicked side. It was so unbearable in summer, especially in late January to February when every single sunshine just stung the skin. Autumn then cooled down the air and brought us so much rain in March. The leaves started to brown and fall in late April, it felt like magic. And here I am, in mid June, when the winter blows the harsh wind sometimes.

If I am to settle in tropical country for the rest of my life, at least I have my one year of four seasons.

My favourite so far is autumn for sure.

And my favourite autumn date is the day I spent in Bowral. Located approximately 120km from Sydney, Bowral is largest town in the Southern Highland of New South Wales. Bowral is believed to get its name from "bowrel" which means high in Aborigin. 

During the colonial era, Bowral served as summer retreat town for elite in Sydney. That's why there are many estates and manor houses here. However, we did not have time to visit any of the estates that day.

Our first stop was Bowral Lookout. Located at Oxley Drive, it provides scenic bird-eye view of Bowral, the Wingecarribee River Valley and Moss Vale. It was icy cold up top there but it's all worth the view.

Believe me, it's hundredfolds more beautiful when you view it directly

The explanation of each of the things that you may see

The platform

We just drove towards Bowral town afterwards, but it was not lunch time yet. So we decided to just drive with our instinct, and taa daa, we saw this beautiful compound. Without thinking, we just parked and walked in.

St Jude Anglican Church is located in 38 Bendooley Street, Bowral and this is an extremely pretty place to visit. We just kept taking pictures endlessly in every possible spot.

What a perfect combination of colours

The autumn feel

Another angle

 

My favourite photo of the day

Maple leaves!

At the back of the church

Bed of fallen leaves

Only the hungry tummy that could bring us out of the church. Our next destination was the town of Bowral, which is as pretty. The centre of the town is along Bong Bong Street. There are many eateries, shops, cinema, banks, and grocery store.

Corbett Square

Bong Bong Street

A chic alley, at the back there is Grand Bistro where we had our lunch

 

Fall-for-autumn happy face

Great food

Next stop, Gumnut Patisserie, which apparently keeps winning many awards from year to year

That's the best salted caramel cake I have ever had!

If autumn is a delicate piece of gown, Bowral wears it perfectly. Autumn looks so autumn in every part of Bowral. I should thank Thu a lot for mentioning this pretty place to a noob like me.

Who doesn't want a road trip like this?

If it's not people's backyard, I would have gone in and pose already

It looks so crispy!

Still in awe with this road

Thanks Bowral for giving me an unforgettable memory of autumn.

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

La Perouse, Back to 1788

It was almost the last day of summer when Sydney started to get day and night full of rain. I did not want to get myself locked up in my apartment thus decided to make a move to a place called La Perouse Beach.

La Perouse is a suburb located 14 km southeast of Sydney CBD in the area of Botany Bay National Park. Bus 394 runs directly from the city to La Perouse. It was an enjoyable 30-minute ride with a great destination.

The area was named after a French explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de Laperouse. He landed on the northern shore of Botany Bay on 26 January 1788. He was only fifteen when he joined the Navy and got his first naval assignment in Canada after four months of training. He became the first European to explore many great things in this world. 

France - Madeira (Portuguese) - Tenerife - Trinity - Brazil - Chile - Easter Island - Hawaii - Alaska - British Columbia - Monterey - Macao - China - Japan - Korea - Manila - Tartary Coast (Russia) - Samoa - Botany Bay.

His last assignment in 1785 to the Pacific landed him in Botany Bay in 1788 and that, sadly, was the last landing place of Laperouse. After a rough time in Samoa (many of the crews were brutally killed and hurt), Laperouse and his crews took two months recovery time in Botany Bay, encountering the first fleet too. In March 1788, he was seen off to Caledonia and never seen ever again.

In 1828, the shipwreck was found in the reefs of Vanikoro in Solomon Island. The second wreck was found in 1962 with continued search effort afterwards. 

As a remembrance of Laperouse, the monument and the museum was built overlooking the beach. The museum is open every Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There is no admission fee but gold coin donation is appreciated for the maintenance and operation of the museum.

Monument of Laperouse and the Laperouse Museum

Museum Open

The "old stuffs" of La Perouse

The museum displays the timeline of La Perouse journey in relation to Botany Bay

The photo of Laperouse

His wife, whom he married in 1783 and never saw again after his expedition

The anchor of the ship

L'Astrobe

The map outlining the expeditions taken by Laperouse around the world

I love history and I love how this museum lets us flow into the time. It is so organised and informative. Although it is small, La Perouse museum holds a dear place in my heart.

From La Perouse Museum and monument, the visitors can choose either the Frenchmen Beach or the Bare Island. Of course, I wanted both.

The Frenchmen Beach is overlooking Frenchmen Bay at the west facing the industrial area at the other end of the bay. It is a strip of white sand beach with a clear water and many fish, I presume. I saw some fishermen during my short walk here. When I visited the beach, the area was quiet. Nobody's swimming or laying by the beach. Is this beach always so quiet?

The Frenchmen Beach

The white sand overlooking the industrial area at the other end

That's La Perouse Museum there

After an enjoyable walk, I headed to the Bare Island which is the main attraction of this area. Bare Island got its name from Captain Cook who described it as "a small bare island" in 1770. A fort was then built on the island in 1877 as Botany Bay was so-called the back door to Sydney. However, the project was never completed. It started to collapse before completion due to the use of substandard concrete.

It became a retirement house for war veterans since 1912 and is currently one of the famous recreation areas of Sydney.

La Perouse Point

Bare Island, viewed from La Perouse Point

Glorious sandstone

Magnificent view

Bare Island is connected to the area with a foot bridge. As the most highlighted scuba diving spot in Sydney, this area is also a favourite for fishing activities. However, not only divers and fishers can enjoy Bare Island, everybody can!

There is a Bare Island tour inside the fort every Sunday and tickets can be purchased in the museum.

People can also walk alongside the Bare Island and simply enjoy the scenery, the wave, the thrill. Yes, the thrill. Apparently, some steps are quite steep and slippery. With the wind, the risk of falling is there. So, be extra careful.

Foot bridge leading to Bare Island

Under the bridge, there's a path to somehow walk by the side of the island

I am amazed by how the nature works

Abrasion

More abrasion

Some steps are too high for me to climb

Spending time in La Perouse and Bare Island can easily take half a day. There is a walking track towards Henry Head Lighthouse passing Congwong Beach, Little Congwong Beach and Brown Rocks. The walking track was quiet and there were too many spiders. I made my U-turn on the third spider.

I am not made for bushwalking for sure.

Love for La Perouse

Love is in the air,
Little Feet

Four Months Down, Eight Months to Go

13th March 2017 will mark my fourth month of being here in Sydney. I have passed one-third mark of my journey here and I am sincerely grateful.

I am far away from everything I am familiar with. Breaking through that custom and familiarity is sure hard. I cried out of fear before my flight, afraid of not being able to stand 12 months of all the new things and all the unthinkable experience.

As time goes by, I know my fear is unjustifiable. I still cry when I miss my dear ones but the universe has been treating me so well here.

I enjoy being down under and it's saddening for me to have this journey come to an end in eight months.

Some of the highlights in these four months:

1. Christmas and Christmas Break

There is no White Christmas or Freaking Cold Christmas here. Christmas that I experienced here is smoking hot one with UV index reaching 12 but I enjoyed it. The atmosphere of the season was just so cheerful and when my dearest company flew 8 hours from Singapore to be with me during the break, that's my best Christmas present.

2.  Australia Day

Australia Day is celebrated yearly on 26th January as the official national day of Australia. It marks the anniversary of the landing of first fleet in Port Jackson and the raising of British flag in Sydney Cove in 1788. Until now, there is so much controversy about this date. Some people strongly object this date as the official date for national day due to the irony, this is the day when British started conquering the Aborigines.

Apart from the protests being held at different parts of the country, people had fun during the Australia Day.

I spent my day by going to Barangaroo Reserve early in the morning to watch Wugul-Ora or Smoking Ceremony. Wugul-Ora is a sacred tradition of the Aborigines that involves burning native plants continuously to produce cleansing smoke. The smoke is believed to be able to heal sickness, ward of bad spirits, acknowledge the ancestors and pay respect to the country.

The fire was lit up the night before in Goat Island and transported to Barangaroo Reserve the next day. The ceremony was then performed by Koomuri Aboriginal Dance Troupe before transported to other places in Sydney.

The fire was coming from Goat Island

The dance troupe brought the fire around while chanting

The sacred dance

Uncle Max's speech on peace and racial harmony

The dance troupe, some are not purely Aboriginal

I spent the rest of the day wandering around The Rocks to watch many things happening there: markets, wheelchair race, jamming session, etc.

Free London bus ride for the day

Some people dressed up

Activities for kids

3. Chinese New Year
This year, Chinese New Year falls on 28th January 2017 on a Saturday. There is no Chinese New Year feeling that I used to feel this year. I spent it as a normal Saturday. I went for yoga, I watched some TV series, I had my meal as per usual.

I decided to go to Pyrmont Bay Park for Lunar New Year Markets in the afternoon. I expected something more but I did not find anything with 'the mood' there. It's just a normal market with red lanterns decoration.

Pyrmont Bay Park on Chinese New Year

Decoration

In the end I decided to treat myself

The next day someone was distributing fortune cookie in the office building. Mine says "No one ever injured his eyesights by looking on the bright side of things"

And Thu brought Vietnamese's Chinese New Year cake to the office. It is so delicious. Thơm ngon!

4. Summer Gatherings

One thing I realise here, summer is the time to gather. Despite the sun, people enjoy the time and the togetherness.

I was invited a few times. I met new people, I enjoyed the summer.

And of course, I burnt myself.

Never. Ever. Underestimate. Sun. Down. Under.

Team Yum Cha at Sky Phoenix, 14th December 2017

For Christmas, for summer, for working hard throughout the year (I did not get the work but the food)

An informal office gathering in Southern Highland on 21st January 2017

BBQ Chef of the day

Play time for the kids

Proofing the engineering side of the team: fixing the fountain session

Gathering with new group of people on 12th February 2017

Wattamoolla Beach, Royal National Park

Our lunch for the day

Gathering with the view is always fun!

Swimming time!

Dinner gathering with YPE mates on 12th February 2017, thanks David for cooking the special meal!

5. More Works

And the most important of all, the works. I was sent here to work, right? With many other bonuses, for sure.

I feel like I have passed my adaptation phase within these four months. I am not sure when that point was but I have started to run the works comfortably, whether applying engineering judgement or liaising with other people within the project.

I am thankful that my manager thinks about my experience here. He tasked me to handle a small project, so to enable me to get the big picture of the project and to give me the chance to be involved in many aspects of it.

I want to learn as much as possible during my stay here and I am maximising every single moment that I have.

Captain Cook landed here in Kurnell in 1770 and my job landed me here too

Four months have passed. Summer have passed. I am welcoming autumn and embracing the remaining eight months with all my hearts.

Love is in the air,
Little Feet