Friday, January 15, 2021

 

A (brief) Tale Of Two Bridges

 

They're building a new bridge at Bateman's Bay ("the bay" to us Canberrans). Bateman's Bay is on the Princes Highway, the coastal highway between Sydney and Melbourne. Before the first bridge was built in 1956 the only way for traffic to cross the Clyde river was by ferry. The river is over a kilometer wide at the crossing and the ferry trip took over a quarter of an hour. Peak-time traffic had long waits to cross. The first bridge was built with 5 fixed steel trusses and a lifting span in the middle. The lift span could be raised 75 feet above water level so that coastal shipping could pass up-river. It took about 5 minutes to raise or lower the span, so there were still occasional traffic holdups. Since commercial shipping died away, over the last years the bridge has been raised to let yachts and pleasure craft through. I never saw the bridge raised but Mum has had to wait for ships to pass through several times; she has also been on some cruise boats as they passed through the bridge. The bridge has only 2 lanes for traffic, has strict load limits and requires continuous maintenance, so work on a new bridge started in 2019. The new bridge is built of pre-cast concrete spans. It has 4 traffic lanes and a shared path for cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge structure is 12m above water level so most boats can pass under it. It may be open for traffic in the later months of this year. The Oldies took these pictures in December and they show the differences of the structures pretty well. I can't wait to try the new bridge, but I am sad that the old one will be removed.

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Sunday, December 20, 2020

 

The Trees Are Recovering

A year ago most of the east coast forests and ranges of New South Wales were burning. The roads that we use to travel to our favourite places on the south coast were impassable with fires raging all around them and the towns we most visit. Then COVID hit and travel was forbidden or unwise. So last week we finally had the chance to spend 2 days driving down to Batemans Bay and Mollymook (and back home of course). The forests along the roads are still recovering. Australian trees have evolved to cope with bushfires. Some of them actually need fire to germinate their seeds, so after bushfires you see a burst of these plants, mostly shrubs and wattles. Eucalypts have a different strategy. Under their bark they have loads of what the botanists call epicormic buds. These sprout as soon as growing conditions are right and the burnt tree is covered with what looks like a fuzz of leaves. Eventually normal growth of branches resumes. Most of the trees near the roads we travelled were still in this "fuzzy" stage. Some of the taller trees were almost back to normal. The small, dark plants in the clearer undergrowth are examples of some of the oldest plants on Earth; they are Buddawangs, cycads that date back to dinosaur times. Workmen are still clearing dead trees and repairing damaged roadwork. Let's hope that we now have many summers free of bushfires.
 

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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

 

Bateman's Bay Boats

It is miserable weather in Canberra. Mid-winter. Cold, cloudy, foggy and frosty mornings, icy winds blowing straight from Antarctica. Actually there are a few days every so often that are sunny, but the rest of the time I wish I was somewhere warmer. No chance of a holiday trip to warmer climes for months, until the Oldies recover from their health troubles. So here are a couple of photos from last summer, taken at Bateman's Bay, the closest coastal town to Canberra. Boats and water are some of my favourite things. On a clear, calm day like the one in the images boating is absolute pleasure. Mind you, I rather like a bit of rough sea as well; quite a few of my earlier posts show that. So, a fishing trawler and a river tour boat in the top photo and catamaran yachts moored in the lower one. Next trip to the bay I will talk the Oldies into taking me on the river cruise.

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Wednesday, March 04, 2015

 

Perfect Beach For Small Bears

On the north side of Bateman's Bay there is a perfect beach for small bears and kids. It is at a village called Cullendulla. The sea here is usually calm, no big waves to tumble small people around. It is shallow for a fair way out, so learner swimmers have no troubles. The beach is long, wide and flat. The sand is fine and makes great castles. There are even rocky headlands at the ends of the beach with good snorkeling for Oldies. And no sign of crabs at all while I was there. Now. if only I was allowed to get wet, this would be the perfect beach for me.

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Thursday, February 26, 2015

 

Climbs at the Bay

Put a small bear next to an interesting tall object and the bear will inevitably try to climb it. It is even better when the objects are not ones that have been climbed by the bear before. Here are three of the things that I, along with my cobbers Scruffy and Milkshake, found to climb during our weekend at Bateman's Bay. Just outside our cabin there was a palm tree. It looked tall to me but Dad could reach up to the base of the fronds. This was a fairly easy climb, but it had one potential problem. The ease of the climb was due to the fact that the old fronds had been cut off and that left stubs of stem that were almost like steps. Scruff and I could almost walk up like on stairs, but Milky's short legs made it harder for her. The problem was that the cut ends of the fronds had split into hundreds of sharp splinters. That wasn't a problem for us critters, but Dad got lots of jabs and scratches when he found us and hauled us back inside. In the park by the river was a strange seat. It was a plank that was set into a rock that looked like some strange bird's head. Not a difficult climb for our experienced crew. The other climb, that only I was game to try, was up the side of a highway patrol car. I always wanted to have my photo taken on one of these, and I am sure the policeman wouldn't mind. And the best thing about climbing things at the coast; they put you well out of reach of those pesky crabs.

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Friday, February 13, 2015

 

Beaches Near "The Bay"

Here are three of the beaches we visited during our weekend at Bateman's Bay. They are quite different from each other. The top left photo shows Tomakin Bay in the foreground and the long sweep of Broulee beach and Broulee Island in the background. These beaches are good for kids, the waves are usually fairly calm because the rock reef protects Tomakin beach and the island protects Broulee. For big surfing waves, visit the beach in the top right photo. This is Barling's Beach, just to the north of Tomakin. In fact, the top pictures were taken from the lookout at Melville Point; one to the south, one to the north. The bottom pictures are of Guerilla Bay. This is one of the best places for snorkeling on the south coast. As you can see, it is totally protected by headlands; safe for beginners and even the Oldies can enter and leave the water without much trouble. I thought the signpost at the road junction had a spelling mistake and I was looking for large apes in the forest. Dad explained what a guerilla was and I looked for terrorists but the only fighting I saw was an argument about who got to the last car park spot first.

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

 

Cabin at the Bay

Last weekend we headed off for a break away from Canberra. We went to the closest bit of coast, Bateman's Bay. It is only a 2 hour drive from home. We stayed in a large cabin at the Coach House Marina Resort. It was a good spot to stay because the small critters, i.e. Scruffy, Milkshake and me, had places where we could just sit and watch the boats. Our cabin was right next to the exit from the boat ramp pool, so we could see lots of boats from the veranda rail. For a closer look we could just move to the concrete block fence. I tried to take photos of some interesting boats, but they moved too fast and trees got in the road. No crabs got anywhere near us this time; just as well for them as Scruff and I are now experienced small crab wranglers. Mind you, some fuss was caused by a couple of large Bush Cockroaches that came in one night and barely escaped the Wrath-of-Mum (that means that Dad was too slow to catch and dispatch them). We had brilliant weather and visited many beaches. The south coast beaches are among the best in the world and I will post some photos of some of them tomorrow.

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Sunday, October 09, 2011

 

Mogo "Totem Pole"

There are always weird and wonderful things to see in an artistic village like Mogo. This piece of woodcarving is out the front of one of the shops. It is a fantastic bit of work. It is probably supposed to be a witch, but the "totem Pole" is covered with all sorts of plants, people, animals and strange critters carved into it. To a small bear, there is only one reason for a pole with all sorts of shapes cut into it. It was obviously put there for small critters to climb. I actually made it to the top, but the Oldies got me to come back down to sit on the arm for a photo. They say that I look like I am part of the carving. What do you think? Anyhow, I think that I add a touch of class and distinction to the carving, and I am grateful to the artist who created this superb climbing post.

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Friday, October 07, 2011

 

Crafty Bear

On Wednesday we went for a drive down to Bateman's Bay and Mogo. Mogo is an old gold mining town, but the gold was all found by the late 1800s and it is now a heritage market village. It also has a great zoo. Mum and I have a favourite shop at Mogo. It is called Amanda's and it is the best craft shop we have ever found. It is hard to move in the shop because it is absolutely crammed full of everything that you could ever need if you are into beading, card making, scrap booking, stamping or art. Do call in there if you are driving through the village on your way south of Bateman's Bay on the Princes Highway. It is actually handy to have a small bear with you when you are there. We can climb up to the top shelves and get things that would need a ladder otherwise. I love shops like this one, particularly when the shop lady is as nice and helpful as the one we met on Wednesday.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

 

The Safe Way to See Crabs


Did I mention that I don't like crabs? Actually I totally detest the scuttling, clicking, pinching, scary little pests. But they are kind of interesting. After all, you should know your enemy. So how does a small bear go about studying crabs? That's right, draft Dad as camel and get him to take you out into enemy territory. So here we are out on the mudflats at Bateman's Bay at low tide. All of the little purple dots are crabs. Soldier crabs in fact. These guys stay in their burrows while the tide is high, but as soon as it drops they pour out of their burrows and go scuttling across the mud and sand eating everything they can find. Don't worry about Dad. He is a lot bigger than these crabs and his feet could mulch a dozen at a stomp if the crabs were silly enough to let him. But guess what; the crabs are scared of anything bigger than them and dig into the mud really quick when we get close. It's great fun for me to be scaring them for a change.

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

 

A Most Dangerous Place


This peaceful-looking patch of sand near where we stay at Bateman's Bay is actually one of the most dangerous places for small bears. When the tide is high the sand is covered by water and kids play, swim and paddle boats all over it. But when the tide goes out it turns into a bear-trap. Crabs come out of their burrows in the millions. The sandflats are covered by a moving, clicking carpet of sudden death to toes. The only sensible thing to do is just what Scruffy, Samisch and I are doing. Retreat to your cabin, shut the doors and wait for the little monsters to go back when the tide comes in again.

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Monday, December 18, 2006

 

Failure to Launch


I don't only like big boats like the Captain Cook ones, I like little ones too. This canoe was just lying on the river bank near our cabin on one of our trips to Bateman's Bay. I wanted to use it but Dad said it belonged to somebody. I watched it for hours but nobody came near it. So after everybody had gone to bed I sneaked out and tried to get it into the water. Remember, crabs are no problem when you are floating on the water, they are stuck on the bottom. Why do they make these canoe things so heavy? I had to give up and dodge hundreds of crabs on the way back to the cabin. Talk about failure to launch.

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