A long journey ahead of us, Cora Lee and I on the plane somewhere over the Pacific ocean having one last toast to Australia!
It is so sad but true...all good things must come to an end at some point...farewell to Australia and all the friends we made along the way...of course until we meet again!
Here is the gang on the roof of the Australian Parliament House in Canberra...one last group photo opportunity!
A sad farewell presentation and last exchange of banners...a few tears were shed as many of our previous host clubs were in attendance as well. It was so super to see everyone once again and thank them for their extreme hospitality.
Some of the culinary team at the TAFE busy preparing for the degustation lunch service!
Here I am with some Shiraz vines at Peterson's Winery, it is a small and family owned vineyard and cellar door, this is called the "back block"of vines and were planted in 1971. The winery is in an area called Mount View....which is higher elavation and overlooks the valley...just beautiful!
I just love this shot taken out front of the coffee shop in Broke where we begun our last day in the Hunter Valley. A simple country coffee shop, gas station and wine bar all in one stop...oh ya and they have beer on tap!
Mixing and Mingling with the Hawkesbury Rotarians after a full day exploring the region.
Well...you never know what kind of creatures you will find at the Toronga Zoo in the heart of Sydney:) Yet another adventure and beautiful day exploring this amazing hillside zoo!!
All I want to be is a professional whistler!!
Oh my!
How crazy cute are these two with the harbour bridge in the very back drop... those two flags flying on top of the arc of the bridge is where we reached at the apex of on our bridge climb!
A quick change of clothes after swimming in the surf and we were off to enjoy the sunset over Bondi Beach while enjoying a great meal at the Icebergs Club!
After a hard day of vocational visits aour hosts for the day took us to Bondi Beach to enjoy the sites and some more wave surfing!
I had another wonderful vocational day today which began with a tour of the Sydney Convention Center...what an amazing facility, and we finished up with a walk around and lunch at the fish market!
What an amazing part of the world Avoca Beach is...it is about a couple hours drive north of Sydney...a true surfing beach...they hit the waves at day break and don't stop until dusk!
Wahoooooooooooooooo....here I am body surfing, holy crappers....sooooo much FUN!!!!
Only a few seconds later...I have arrived...beached on the beach:)
What a day we had exploring the surrounds of Katoomba, a village up in the Blue Mountains. This is my favorite plant I discovered in the bush...it is a fern....and it is a tree....it is best known as a Tree Fern....go figure!
Here is most of the team with Goombla, a performing Aboriginal, who performs and tours with Xavier Rudd, how cool is that! he also read my energy flow...very strange and a story I will have to tell you all over a glass of wine!
Tee Hee.....here i am the fourth sister of the famous three sister rock formations in the blue mountains!
MMMMMMM....check out these JUST picked Sangiovese grapes up in Orange...New South Wales coolest climate! We had an amazing tasting at the Mayfield winery and cellar door...a super yummy Pinot Noir was discovered in the decanter that you see...
Cora-lee and I standing under a huge oak tree overlooking the vineyards of Orange, they were picking some Sauvignon Blanc on the day we visited!
Here is the gang up in the Blue Mountains, it was so nice and relaxing to be out in the country for a few days. We did some hiking, had a wonderful BBQ where we all tried Kangaroo, and spent a relaxing weekend exploring caves....very cool indeed!
The is an amazing waterfall coming off the limestone cliffs and falling to the bush lands below, this waterfall is in a place called Govett''s Leap.
This is the famous Sea Cliff bridge on the South Coast about 45 minutes away from Sydney...it was quite cold (plus 17) and windy on this particular day but absolutely beautiful scenery and the weather certainly didn't stop us from hitting the beach and going for a swim, the water was warmer than the air(plus 19)!
It was love at first sight, it was at Lowe, an organic vineyard, the great dividing range in the background, a bush head pruned Zinfandel vine...and well the rest is history!
Check out this beautiful terra rossa soil of Mudgee...the things only textbooks where made of before for me!
My lovely wonderful hosts, Brian and Kerian, at the B&B having breakfast before setting out to explore the vineyards and cellars of Mudgee!
Playing in the waves at Manly Beach...it was a hot day and the water was just perfect!
A very happy GSE team...enjoying the sun, waves and a day of relaxation!
