Bye bye Apollo.

G'Day,
Yesterday was a strange day. I went to a car yard to have yet another look at the cars and compare prices etc because I have been saying for quite a while now that my dear old Apollo is getting old and she won't last much longer , I need to replace her. I had a look around and took a car for a test drive. It was a cute little thing and just what I was looking for. I was scared to sign my name on the bit of paper, but.....I did it. I did it. Scared and excited at the same time. Scared because it involved having a loan that would need to be paid back over 5 years. Not a lot of money as far as cars go but a lot of money for me. I have a cooling off period of 3 days but I know I won't change my mind.
Today and even yesterday afternoon I have been sad because I love my old Apollo. She has taken me safely through 8 years of driving adventures. Up hill and down dale. Right up north as far as Brisbane and way down south into Victoria. She has been with me through lots of happy times and sad times too and somehow this little inanimate object has a part of my heart. I have given her more status than a bit of metal, she has a life. The car sales man has given me just $1000 for her, well I guess that is not too bad. I well and truly got my moneys worth out of her. Last few times I took her to the garage the mechanic told me the total of the repairs needed to keep her young and beautiful, but they were more than what she was worth in value. You see she is 16 years old now. The salesman said they might not resell her but she might get crushed and recycled. Oh.... my dear little Apollo.
Apollo is that Greek bloke who had wings on his heels, well my Apollo has been true to him, she has given me that. Wings on my heels. That first picture is her. Taken today, during our last weekend adventure. We drove east to Bungendore then around the back roads to Captains Flat, and back home through Queanbeyan. A very pretty drive. When we got home we unloaded all my female bits and bods from inside her. The brushes and hair bits, the note pads and numerous pens, the map books and little memory things like shells and stones, watch, panadol, gaviscon, air freshener, mats and seat covers. And...from the boot, my clay and pottery tools and undergalze paints and brushes and picnic basket and towels and sunhat and , and, and. I am going to miss her. She was my shopping trolley, my workhorse, my entertainment, my chariot.
My new car is 4 years old, a little silver Honda Jazz. Should be good, I will have to train her to take me on adventures like Apollo did. Her name will be Jazz.
My first car had a name too, she was April, because I bought her on April Fool's Day, she was a Cortina Consul, an imported pommy. My uncle found her for me on a farm with chooks roosting in her and cleaned her up for me. I got her when I was 17 and she was 16, I sold her when my first son was born, because we needed something better. Hahaha. I could tell you some funny stories of my adventures with her.
O.K. the rest of the pics in this post have been taken over the past 3 weeks.The one above is behind my sister Thelma's place at Morriset which is between Gosford and Newcastle. Pretty isn't it. I spent the June long weekend there with her.
This (photo above)was taken today on my last drive with my Apollo. Between Captain's flat and Queanbeyan.
Pelican feeding at The Entrance. I had to hold the camera up above people's heads because that was the only way I could see around them all. Enlarge and look at the awe on the little boys face with the Bini on his head.
This is the same place. This pretty fellow was a bit braver than the others and decided to work the crowd to see if they had any tidbits for him. He got some tiny fish from the helpers for his trouble.
He is a spectacled pelican. Aussie penguins are the biggest ones in the world and have a huge wingspan, the elastic pouch under his beak can hold 13 litres of water.
I went on a tour of the lighthouse at Norah head while my sister was volunteering downstairs. This is on the roof of the first part of the lighthouse.
Looking down the staircase inside the lighthouse. There were 3 or 4 landings on the way up. The red tint is from a colored window. Lighthouses have a red light and a green light on the other side as well as the big one on the top. This one is fully automated, there are only a couple of the 400 and something lighthouses around the coast of Australia who still have a light house keeper running them. There were 60 something ship wrecks on the rocks below this lighthouse before the lighthouse was built in the early part of last century. I think the numbers above the door said it was built in 1903. Yeah, I am not good with numbers or memory or.....something.
Looking up at the lighthouse from the rock platform on the beach. Sorry about the shadow, it was very windy, that is my sleeve.
Pretty rolled pebbles and shells on the beach at Norah head.
Thelma and Rex. He was cold and much happier to travel in her handbag and stay warm than brave all those feet. He is a very little doggie. He loved the beach. As far as we knew it was his first time on the beach and he ran and ran, kicking up the sand loving it. He was worn out.
This is a wonderful set of related sculptures in the centre of a rose garden in The Hunter Valley Gardens, at Pokolbin, which is close to the town of Cessnock. Very very worth the visit if you are in the area. There is a plaque a bit further on in explanation. More children are added to the group as they are born. I love this. The first time I went there there were only a few children sculptures now there are quite a lot.
Expressions Of Love. The grandparents are the owners of the gardens.

Painting Grandpa.


Garden art. Hunter Valley Gardens.
The walled garden. Same place.
Man made waterfall. Hunter Valley Gardens again.
Landscaped stream up the top of the waterfall. Just the sort of place I couldn't have resisted taking my shoes off and getting into when I was a child. I would have absolutely had to do that, .....how many years ago?
Roses in big iron float bowl. See even the most lovely of gardens have aphids.
Rose float bowl at the pavilion on top of the waterfall showing reflections. This is a popular spot for weddings.
Iron Lion.
Moi. Old duck behind the bushes. I won 6 wine tasting coupons from facebook, freebies are always good. I only managed to use 2 of them though, I am not much of a drinker. Hahaha. Cheers!
Love Linda.