Mosman & Balmoral Beach

Here's Sylvia on the rocks at Rocky Point Island. This is from a Sunday outing at the end of February that I had written up a post for, and then forgot to "publish" it!

To get there, you have to cross that little stone bridge at the left of this picture from Balmoral Beach. Immediately across the bridge you face:

all the possible dangers you risk and all thing actions you are not supposed to do.

Clearly, Sylvia had not been daunted by the potential dangers (although the ends of an old shark net did get our imaginations going. Shark nets are exactly what they sound like - a net strung across a bay to keep sharks out).

The view!

The yellow boat in the center is a taxi.

You're looking at the North Head or the landmass to the north of the harbor's mouth. The coastal geography is very complicated and can be confusing.

The ferry does not go to Balmoral beach, so we took a ferry to Mosman, a neighboring suburb, and then walked along a trail and then through town. Here's Rick and Sylvia with Mosman Bay in the background.

Here's the trunk of a palm tree we saw in a garden along the shore. Isn't it stunning? Each of those ovals was left when a palm frond fell off.













Even the vegetation along the city roads was completely different from anything we see in New England. We walked through a couple of patches scented by jasmine. On this particular outing, we dashed off without a map and a general sense, it turned out, of things being closer than they were. After a few wild Sundays, we got much better at bringing maps and consulting public transit timetables.

A number of trees have flowers that remind me of bottle scrubbing brushes -- although gorgeous ones. 

The scrub brush shape seemed to be very attractive to hungry birds here. These particular blossoms smelled like vanilla.

And remember those cheeky birds I've mentioned in other posts?

Well, this bobble-headed owl keeps them away from the fruit at the market.

Notice the fruit selection: grapes, persimmons, figs, passion fruit, and pineapple.

Berries are extravagantly expensive here.