Bingo & Cronulla Beach
What a wonderful, yet "chock-a-block" week (a British/Aussie common term meaning "so tightly packed as to prevent movement." It's cute to hear little kids use this term, but adults here use it too!)
Early on, I met with dear friends I met at the Basilica of St. Josaphat. Ann-Marie is Aussie and is visiting family and her husband, Shaun, is American. I met them about a year before moving to Australia and we have become spiritual family. We meet but once a year to renew our friendships. I went to visit them near Cronulla Beach last Tuesday…but let's do Bingo first!
Our Lady of the Rosary Parish started a new fun-draiser (get it?): Bingo! We will be hosting Bingo once a month, every third Friday. While we probably only made $500 in profit for our first night, and there were some hiccups, it was overall quite enjoyable. Here are some photos from the night: Photo 1. Our joint school/parish hall with the emcee, Steve in the back; 2. We had made matching caps and aprons for the team; 3. Our first winner ever! (She won $30 [it costs $20 for the night of 25 games] and I have no idea who she is); 4.Our Youth Group had a table (about 20 of them came); 5. The nut in charge of the insane asylum!
Okay, on to Cronulla Beach. Though Shaun and Ann-Marie had work until evening, I took the whole day off to visit this lovely place, about an hour and 20 minutes away (perhaps a bit more with traffic). The site offers free, four hour parking on the street. As it was a Tuesday, not too many had parked. Look how nice they planted around the entrance, all in bloom with Autumn flowers (6). (Note that here, winter officially begins on 1 June!) A nice metal sign tells us where we are (7).
It was a quiet and restful place that day. Hardly anyone around (8). The sky was blue, the sun was warm, yet you could feel a chill in the air. Perfect for being out with a windbreaker. A wonderful cement walkway skirts the shore and goes for miles (9). Of course, I went for a run, with camera in hand. Here are a couple of the more interesting condos with gorgeous Pacific Ocean views (10-11); I thought my archtiect brother might enjoy them. And this is a panorama of the beach that you see when you first approach it from the street (12). In this shot, you can just barely see the ever present Aussie pool by the ocean, peeking up from under waves in the background (13-14).
Some gulls were taking advantage of the sun and washing themselves, spreading out their glorious wings to God (15). And here's a selfie with the beauty of nature for a backdrop (16). As you walk off the walkway, you can take a stroll closer to the water at low tide. I love the way the trapped water reflects the blue sky in this photo (17). And this sandstone looks like a brain to me (18)! I appreciate the beauty of just plain old rocks carved out by nature's wind and surf. I am told that these little pockets in the rocks are formed by pebbles that get stuck in the holes and swirl round and round making it bigger over time with the tides. Another nice photo of the rocks by the sea (20). And this water fall was dripping down feeding the brilliant green plants growing on the stones (21). And look at the colors in these rocks (22); what a still life!
Coming around the jutting land formation, you come out to another tranquil bay (23). Look at the blues and greens in the water and the sky in this snapshot; how many different hues can you see? (24) A sail boat in the distance (25) and a nice green space to sit and reflect under a stretching tree (26).
Just a reminder that next week (at Vivid Sydney) will be my last blog until I return from vacation in the States. See you next week…"same bat time, same bat channel!"