Fraser's Gully & Tunnel Beach!

Sunday morning, Todd got up and made Nicaraguan tortillas!  No, he is not Nicaraguan.  Yes, Laura and I both are.  Yes, Todd is better at making them than both of us.  Point?

After a lazy morning eating tortillas and sunbathing on the deck, Todd, Vanessa and I met Vanessa's friend Susan and Susan's dog, Lucky, and we all went for a walk at Fraser's Gully.  It was a lovely, only slighting uphill, walk next to a very loud and pretty stream, but covered from the sun with lots of trees and ferns!!  I had a lot of fun taking pictures of all the Korus. 

"The koru, which is often used in Māori art as a symbol of creation, is based on the shape of an unfurling fern frond. Its circular shape conveys the idea of perpetual movement, and its inward coil suggests a return to the point of origin. The koru therefore symbolises the way in which life both changes and stays the same."  Where I got this info on Korus

I took several pictures.  The big brown ones are rather scary and furry looking.  Vanessa says you can eat certain kinds...but we weren't sure which ones, so we avoided death and just took pictures, not tastes.

Some scale, courtesy of Todd

The much less ugly/scary Korus

Vanessa pointed out the Fuchsia tree whose bark can, and was, used to write letters on and whose flowers are tiny and lovely.

We reached the top of the gully, stopped for a rest and made Lucky fetch her stick while we rested, and then moseyed on home.  My favorite picture from the gully:

Back at home, there was more sun bathing and my first taste of Vegemite on toast.  Don't hate it, don't love it.  But I'll learn to eat it if it keeps mosquitoes away!!

The main event of the day was our trek to Tunnel Beach.  The 4 of us were joined by Michael, Rose and Francis (more friends of Vanessa) and we drove out to walk down the large hill to this gorgeous beach with awesome rock formations.  The story goes, if I remember correctly, that there was a princess who lived in the castle at the top of the hill (now ruins) and she liked to swim a lot.  So they built her a tunnel down to her own private beach so she could swim as she pleased.  I think that's the whole story?  Ask Francis :)

Just pictures from here on down - soooo beautiful! 

The view from the top

My sister, the sneaky photo ninja

The tunnel down to the beach

Comatose seal - good thing they sleep a lot cuz apparently they're fast and mean.  And smelly.

The view back up to where we were

 

Rockin' Band Photo, eh?

We decided to go to the neighboring beach

Laura went through the kelp and a wave knocked her into a rock

So on the way back, she had a buddy :)

Our shoes stayed safe and dry on our beach hopping adventure

The trek back to the top

Going Kiwi - did I mention that Kiwis walk EVERYWHERE barefoot if they want?  Mom, sorry, but I may never leave!

And to finish our fun and sun filled day, we ordered fish and chips.  They wrap the fish pieces in brown butcher paper with the fries, so when you get home you have to dig for the fish, free-for-all style.  So good.