Calling whales

Calling whales, Port Stephens, NSW Australia

My friends Minchul and Slyvia (couple) picked me up in the morning and we headed to Port Stephens. I didnt feel good about we both being at the back seat, but Minchul was ok with it. Yeah, we made him our driver for the day.

Nelson Bay Saturday market

Two and half hours drive and we were at Nelson Bay. It is the main town for Port Stephens and has great dining options including cruise dining. We saw couple of cruise departing for whale watch. Saturday market along the beach area was fun to troll. "It's a beautiful day and I cannot help smiling', came from one of the stalls, loud and clear. The highlight of Nelson Bay was the Pelican feeding.

Pelican feeding

Port Stephens is popular for its wonderful beaches. There are 26 golden sandy beaches. Port Stephens Area is known for swimming, kayaking, snorkelling, surfing, sailing and ferry rides and is a perfect weekend gateway. Other things to do include quad-biking and sand-boarding at Stockton Sand Dunes and horse-riding through the bush or surf, from Anna Bay. So, we headed to Anna Bay. I wanted to do a camel ride but it wasn't worth $25 for five minutes of humps and dumps. We were not interested in Sand Dunes either since it was windy and cold.

Horse-riding  

In search of a nice place to sit and have lunch we reached Boat Harbour. Nice place indeed to have a picnic, we had our lunch prepared. We didn't realise this place is one of the best points/headlands for a whale watch. We saw a group of people with crystal bowls, quite big in size and others with binoculars. As we went closer, they were making some sound along with the sound from crystal bowl (like a singing bowl). 

The yellow basket like are the bags for Cystal bowls, the ladies were holding (Calling whale).

I initially thought they were meditating. They were calling whales. I guess the bowls emit an expansive sound that fills whatever space it is in, so it filled the ocean in this case. It was wonderful to watch whales coming closer from far far away to the distance we could see. Our eyes were busy, watching whales come from different directions. It was beautiful, the sun's going down and the whales swimming along. Had I realised, we would see something so spectacular, I would have carried a bigger lens. Also means, I have no photo on whales. Pretty amazed with what we saw, we returned back.

Lady with her Cystal bowl-Calling whales

Too much of a good thing

Too much of a good thing is a good thing, Nepal Visit 2013

These bells came all the way from Bhaktapur.

I didnt have much time but a week more. Yes, I did extend one week. We had a plan to go to eastern end but we decided to put off. News on landslides & floods and homes being carried away by torrents of water put me off. Heavy rain of monsoon left us clean at home. Food and family kept us busy the whole week. Friends? The world has become virtual, so the friends.

 You are old enough to have your own baby but when you are home, you are still a kid. You even get your runny nose cleaned. A bit too much but hats off Rajya fupu (aunty). The most important was the massage, twice a day every day. No wonder I am missing Anju the most. I had a time of my life.

I never understood the tradition of passing down things nor the idea of people getting hyped on receiving them. The moment mom took out her wedding saree and her mom's wedding saree, I knew I had to keep them, life long. There were some obvious wears and tears; I made dresses out of them. I dont know if I will be wearing them but I have to keep them safe. My grandmother's saree must be atleast 75 years old.

Mom's wedding saree

Nepal bandh (strike) and we made the most out of it, visit relatives and family. I dont know how three weeks passed by. It was just a blink of an eye. It wasnt enough. Despite, I had a great time.

It usually is 'First in First out', but I was the Last in, First out. It always is hard to give these farewell hugs. I was very quick on this, just so that I dont get caught up. First 'fupu' (Rajya aunty), she stood still, mom, I could feel her heart weaken, next was aunty and I had to run with a promise I will make it every two years if not every year.