Wild wet weather at Ulladulla

Up until the last two days we had virtually no rain during our five weeks is Australia. Right before the end of our trip, the heavens opened and the wind blew.

I noticed that I had taken no photos of Ulladulla itself. This is the harbour.

The main street with its one traffic light. This street is also the main Princess Highway running up to Sydney. For such a small town it has an amazing number of shops, including three large supermarkets.

The library is smallish but not tiny. The immediate region only has a few thousand people living there year round. Many of the houses in the area are only used by vacationers.

One of two bowls clubs in the area as well as two golf clubs. Many of the full-time residents are retired.

Our exchange family had arranged that a brother-in-law who lived in Ulladulla would show us around. Bob turned up and took us to a number of beaches and view points that we had not come across. There had been a huge wind and rain the night before and the sea was very rough. It was definitely not a day to be out in the water.

It reminded me of Whitby when we first visited. Cold, wet and windy.

A water treatment plant. I liked the curved roofs.

I had got out of Bob's car to take this video. I almost was blown away by the wind it was so strong.

If you ever go to Australian beaches you will find that the best position usually is occupied by a caravan park with holiday cottages. If I lived by myself I would be tempted to downsize and live in one of these year round. Marianne and I reckon we would need three of them One each for our hobbies and a third so that we could meet at meal times.

The rocks that from the foreshore in the area have curious grooves in them. Bob told us that there are lots of fossils in the rocks.

A Joey pokes its head out of the pouch.

Eventually a bit of blue sky appeared.

There is no way I would have been out there on the rocks with the ferocious wind and waves still on the go.

The houses would have a pretty good view. This was a beach called North Durras, about thirty miles south of Ulladulla.

To get to the beach we had to drive through a small rain forest.

This is normally a very calm inlet.

Several inches of rain had fallen and there was localized flooding.

Yes, there are kangaroos in Australia. Like deer, they eat everything and jump out in front of cars.

We had a great time with Bob. He quickly realized that we shared the same sense of Aussie humour so there was much banter back and forth. Later in the day he took us back to his house where his wife Alison had laid on a magnificent afternoon tea, including freshly baked scones. It was very interesting to hear what it was like to live in Ulladulla.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks living by the ocean. The beaches are absolutely magnificent.

Finally you might notice the pair of spiffy loudspeakers on either side of the big screen TV. I built them for Robin in the garage while we were in Ulladulla. Basically the wooden parts came in a flatpack and I had to glue them all together and then install the drivers. It's a design known as a Frugal Horn and they sound quite good.