Day 14 - Fire, Wind and No Rain

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

It was a restless night of disturbed sleep for all of us! The EXTREMELY strong and very warm winds began not long before bedtime and blew heavy all night.

We started our day with, what was advertised by Rob to be, a morning walk with the dogs BEFORE breakfast!! It was much more than a walk or a hike - it was a scramble up and down over rocks, boulders and tree roots in an area called Bomaderry Creek. It is a beautiful forested area surrounded by huge rock formations with lots of caves and hidey-holes for snakes and lizards. Rob led the way while Tina and I did our best to keep up, attempting to refrain from tripping or falling. It was comforting to know that we were safe under the leadership of a young and very fit captain in the Australian army. Heavy warm winds continued to blow all day but down in the gully on the edge of the creek, and sheltered by rock walls, it was cool and calm. We emerged from the gully walk and headed toward the car to the unfamiliar sounds of a cattle auction in progress. Those cattle didn't sound too happy with their lot today!  

Nowra (the neighbouring city to Bomaderry) means 'windy place' in the aboriginal language, so I guess it's only fitting that we should experience these northwesterly winds gusting to 90 km/hr. But it is an extraordinary time right now with bush fires, some out of control, presently burning all over New South Wales. The news is claiming that the state is now facing the most dangerous fire situation it has seen in the last decade! There is a total fire ban right now - that even includes backyard barbecues. 

After ensuring that there were no road closures due to fires on our planned route to a beach, we headed off this afternoon to a beach within the National Park area on Jervis Bay called Green Patch. It is a beautiful beach with powdery white sand but the weather made our visit today much less than idyllic. The strong winds and blowing sand gave our bare skin a good sandblasting and we had to leave our sunglasses on to keep sand out of our eyes. The water was cold today, too, as the picture below testifies.

                                                                 

                                                                       

So, we packed up and headed home to change before going out for a lovely Thai dinner. Then home for a few hands of cards before an early night.