 I am thinking of taking my fisherman bush camping in the caravan to Jingellic a pretty little town situated on the New South Wales side of the Murray River. Jingellic has a well-used and well-kept camping ground in front of the pub or common on the banks of the River, just below the Bridge Hotel. The hotel has amenities to use as well as a restaurant. Jingellic is the perfect place to catch a legendary Murray Cod and the water this close to its source is so pristine. Aside from the grey-nomad traveler and angler, this is the country of the stock horse, brumby and mountain cattle men and women. They build them rugged up in the foothills of the high country and you would be excused for thinking thier size and stamina was human growth hormone side effects. The area is perfect for the artist, with the most beautiful Upper Murray vistas to be found in the Jingellic district. The road running east along the river boasts incredible river and mountain views, snow-capped in season. Smallest Post Office in Australia. 10/31/2010
 There are several towns that lay claim to having the smallest post office in Australia and it seems the variables come down to what is being included in the measurements, 'it is that close'. This cute, little, Post Office, south of Ballina, NSW. Photo was sent to me by one of my facebook friends. I wonder how many post offices there are, this small in the world. I Goggled and saw one in a couple that looked like they had been on Lipofuze. I am happy to receive photos reduced to a small web ready file and stories with permission to publish from friends/ I have a fan's photos page in my Kathy Shell facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/KathrynShell where you can send your photos and leave information about them. I invite you and your friends to http://www.facebook.com/KathrynShell Author Blog http://www.KathrynShell.com/ Artist Blog http://www.Kathy-Shell.net/  This photo of the view from Fred Piper Memorial Lookout, on Brown Mountain, NSW, Australia. Shows pastures of Bega shire, with trees, in foreground that looks out over the Bega Valley. This photograph was submitted to my ‘fan’s photo’, in my Kathy Shell page by . Meryll Jeff Palethorpe , thank you Meryll. This view is on the Snowy Mountains Highway in New South Wales, Australia. The highway runs across the highland region in the southern part of the State. It starts at its junction with the Hume Highway near Gundagai. From there, the highway runs generally south-east, through the town of Tumut, and up onto the southern highland plateau past Yarrangobilly Caves and the historic Kiandra Goldfields, then down through Adaminaby to Cooma. From Cooma the highway continues in a south easterly direction through Nimmitabel then descends down Brown Mountain to Bemboka then continues on to Bega and Tathra on the south coast of New South Wales. In winter, much of the highway is subject to heavy snowfalls and the highway is the access route to Selwyn Snowfields ski resort. Meryll Jeff Palethorpe thank you for this picture.  Recycled Garden. 04/29/2010
 Our car is back from its 45thousand mini service and I can begin to make plans for the Queensland leg of our tour, I spent today wandering around Ballina, filling in time while the work was being done. We crossed the Richmond River in the ferry at $4. A one-way crossing, this saved a long round trip and it was an interesting crossing. The river is tidal, the boat ramps were mostly pontoons and these were bobbing up and down in the waves making a noise. I found a small shopping complex in West Ballina, there was a very cheap butcher shop chickens for $5. Each a better price that the $25. each I paid further south and the avocados here are 10 for $7, I had been paying up the $4. each for these. Great to finally, be able to shop at good prices again. Reg and I wandered into what we thought was a nursery and discovered it was more like the tip shop, garden recycle store only there were no sales people and no prices on anything??? Just plants in all conditions, from huge clumps to small pots, and oddments of garden ornaments and signs that they had recently been watered by someone. Certainly different, I have not seen a garden recycling place like this before. The sign said to come in, wander around, look and sit and relax, though there was no where to sit. :-), maybe the seats had found new homes :-). Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell Artist – Kathryn Shell Author Kathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel. Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links. The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell by selecting from those offered in the sidebars of her web blogs then Contact Kathy with your selection and these will be listed as a buy it now bundle in this EBay Store. You are most welcome to link to this blog post.Thank you. - Kathy Shell.          Reg and I arrived at Ballina Beach Holiday Park. The first thing that struck us was how friendly the management was. This was consistent with the earlier friendly email communication we had had with them. We have set up our caravan in the wilderness area, where there is a large area of green lawn. I spent the afternoon in the shade of a hut working at my computer. Reg set up the awning and shade cover on the Eco-Tourer caravan, I took lots of photos of Reg at work, lol, pretended that that was work, lol :-) and enjoying seeing Reg happy and fit enough to be doing a great job of the set up.  After relaxing and enjoying lunch, then afternoon tea outside the van, we went for a walk though the grounds of the park. The twin swimming pools impressed meJ. Then we went to the beach, a short walk from the reception kiosk. I had my jog along the spotless clean sand. Reg stood watching the anglers, surf fishing and he was impressed at the obvious success they were having.  There is entertainment and meals here from Friday night and over the weekend, it sounds great. A band one night and fire show another evening. I think we will have so much to do and see here. Tomorrow we will look at the dogs off the leash beach near here and there are dogs off the leash trails to investigate. I plan to go into Ballina to shop tomorrow and return on the ferry. I love everything I have seen. A perfect start to the week we will be spending here at south Ballina Beach, staying at Ballina Beach Holiday Park. J       Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell Artist – Kathryn Shell Author Kathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel. Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links. The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell by selecting from those offered in the sidebars of her web blogs then Contact Kathy with your selection and these will be listed as a buy it now bundle in this EBay Store. You are most welcome to link to this blog post.Thank you. - Kathy Shell.     Reg and I are currently staying in a beautiful caravan park the Tathra Beach Tourist Park at Tathra on the Sapphire coast of NSW. We have a wonderful site. Our caravan site is alongside the beach on one side and opposite two swimming pools on the other. The photos are of the pool, me swimming in the pool practicing my 800 meters swim leg for a triathlon. I've added some beach views below. The shopping center is an easy walk or short drive away and there are interesting shops containing gifts and gourmet food opposite. I am raving about the organic local chicken I bought there and roasted, it was the best chicken I have eaten in years. The beach here has a wide expanse of clean sand. We go for a long beach walk every evening with Indigo our dog. Yes we love it here and the Tathra Beach Tourist Park is another pet friendly park we give the thumbs up to. Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell Artist – Kathryn Shell Author Kathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel. Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links. The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell by selecting from those offered in the sidebars of her web blogs then Contact Kathy with your selection and these will be listed as a buy it now bundle in this EBay Store. You are most welcome to link to this blog post.Thank you. - Kathy Shell.   Boydtown, NSW. 04/12/2010
  Today Reg and I revisited Boydetown on the southern coast of NSW. It was the second visit to this area in my lifetime, I first saw it when the Seahorse Inn was a whaling museum when I was 16, some 48 years ago. Reg and I revisited the area, on one of our many tours, probably in our twenties and at that time, we thought it was a thriving tourist destination and a whaling museum. Today we thought it looked like a ghost town. As a keen gardener myself,, I could see the mixture of beautifully chosen, expensive garden plantings and design indicating money spent on the place a few years back but palm trees desperately in need of pruning and indications of vandalism to outside lighting,, giving the place a somewhat run down and in need of some maintenance before the, well healed clients, arrive. I know if I had the money to stay in a boutique hotel, I would expect the grounds to be, maintained to a higher standard. Maybe the gardener was just off on a holiday and the seahorse in is thriving, but I felt it looked sad and lonely today. The beach was pristine, the area has incredible potential. There is talk of a marina and real estate development in the area. Boydtown has had fluctuating fortunes and it will no doubt still be around when my grand children are the gray nomads and have an even more interesting history to tell. This is the history of Boydtown, as I know it, up until now.       History of Boydtown and the Seahorse Inn Boydtown owes its existence to the early Australian whaling industry, which was already flourishing in Twofold Bay in the early 1830’s. In 1843 a flamboyant entrepreneur named Benjamin Boyd decided to establish a base in Boydtown for his whaling and pastoral operations. Boyd was one of the most colourful and important characters in the Nation’s early history and Twofold Bay became the centre of his operations. Boyd had a great deal of financial backing, which was evident in the grand style in which Boydtown was built. The best evidence of this grandeur is the historic Seahorse Inn, built in 1843 using convict labour. Boyd also built brick houses, a store, a woolshed and a jetty where Boyd’s vessels could be berthed. Nearby Boyd constructed a lookout, known as Boyd's Tower, which was built for the whalers to spot their potential catch. A church was also begun, but never completed. The tower and church ruins can still be seen today. The Depression of the 1840's hit Benjamin Boyd hard and brought an end to many of his operations. From a prosperous commercial centre with 200 inhabitants, Boydtown soon became a deserted ruin, with buildings abandoned and deteriorating, and part of the population moving to Eden. Boyd left Australia for the Californian Gold Fields, but disappeared while hunting at Guadalcanal. The Seahorse Inn remained deserted, reduced to a mere shell due to vandalism and natural deterioration. In 1936 it was puchased by the Whiter brothers, who renovated, restored and added a second storey. In 1973 the Seahorse Inn was purchased by the Lyon Group with a vision to restoring it to its former glory. The Seahorse Inn has now been completely renovated to provide first class accommodation and conference facilities for the local and international tourist market. Renovations were completed in 2006.  Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell Artist – Kathryn Shell Author Kathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel. Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links. The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell by selecting from those offered in the sidebars of her web blogs then Contact Kathy with your selection and these will be listed as a buy it now bundle in this EBay Store. You are most welcome to link to this blog post.Thank you. - Kathy Shell.  Over 200 attend the opening of the new Pretty Plain hut on 16 March 2010 After three years of planning 8 months of construction by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) officers and over 50 volunteers, the new Pretty Plain Hut is now finished and was officially opened at a celebration over the weekend involving more than 200 people. The opening of Pretty Plain Hut on Saturday was a big event. They came from Brisbane, Tasmania and across NSW. Many families came who had an attachment to the hut from early grazing era to more recent bushwalkers and skiers. "This is what it's all about" said Megan Bowden Senior Ranger with NPWS. "The huts are being rebuilt as a way of retaining people's connections and Saturday's attendance was fantastic," she said. "The weather was perfect providing great views down to Victoria and across to the Main Range. Most people were able to walk the hour down to the hut. Those who couldn't make the walk were loaded into 4WD bikes and driven to the hut. "This hut opening has been the most logistically challenging, getting 200 people in and out. "They were welcomed by NPWS Snowy Mountains Regional Manager, Dave Darlington, Ranger Craig Smith and Harry Chisholm (son of Bruce Chisholm) who gave a brief history of the hut. KHA spokesman, Bob Moon, thanked all the NPWS staff and KHA volunteers who helped with the project. Graham Scully (KHA) provided some more history of all the families involved with the area. Bronwyn Winter read a poem about Pretty Plain by her dad Ted Winter who introduced many kids to walking and skiing in the mountains. Neen Pendergast thanked all those involved and Peter Scobie talked about how the rebuilding was done. The hut was then opened by Bruce Chisholm (nephew of Captain Colin Chisholm), NPWS builders Peter Scobie, Uwe Petersohn, Garry McDougal and contractor Stuart Garner. Pretty Plain Hut was one of the most popular huts in the park and its demise in the fires was the cause of considerable distress among many of the hut enthusiasts. The large log cabin was built for Captain Colin Chisholm in 1953 at the head of the Bulls Head Creek in the centre of the park about 14km north east of Khancoban. This is the seventh hut the NPWS and the Kosciuszko Huts Association have rebuilt, with 2 reconstructed soon after the 2003 fires. The rebuild program is ahead of schedule with the reconstruction of the Opera House hut and Dr Forbes now underway. People interested in helping with the rebuilding of these huts or the conservation of the 70 other huts in Kosciuszko National Park can contact Megan Bowden on 69477016 or email megan.bowden@environment.nsw.gov.au . For photos of the opening Contact: Stuart Cohen Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell Artist – Kathryn Shell Author Kathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel. Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links. The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell by selecting from those offered in the sidebars of her web blogs then Contact Kathy with your selection and these will be listed as a buy it now bundle in this EBay Store. You are most welcome to link to this blog post.Thank you. - Kathy Shell. |  Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author Kathy Shell are created on location while touring in an Eco-Tourer Caravan. `````````````````````````
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