Cruising Pittwater - Sydney January 2011

A group of 20 ladies from the Central Coast travelled on an organised tour and cruise of the Pittwater in Sydney. The Tour Operator "Aurora Coach Tours" were fantastic & we had a lovely day. The weather was perfect and the cruise boat was comfortable. Warwick (our driver & tour guide) and Peter our cruise captain did a great job of looking after us with morning tea at St Ives & a lovely lunch on the cruise boat and telling us some of the stories that inspire this tour.

Local author Susan Duncan has written a book called "Salvation Creek" which tells the old story of this area where she has settled. Susan also has another book worth a look "Around the Pittwater" which I understand the Gosford Library has a copy of.

We left Gosford on the Central Coast about 8.30 am, stopping for morning tea (supplied by the tour operator) at a lovely peaceful park at St Ives - at least it was peaceful until we arrived.

We went on to Church Point where we caught the cruise boat about 11.00 am and cruised the Pittwater for an hour before mooring just off of Susan Duncan's home where we had lunch on board the ship (again supplied by the operator). We passed many luxury homes together with their luxury boat sheds and their luxury boats (plural in some cases) moored at their jetties or in the marinas. It is a very peaceful picturesque place and we all really enjoyed the day.

Many of the girls had read the book "Salvation Creek" and could relate with the historical places that we passed along the way.

We were back at Church Point about 1.00pm and had time to enjoy a coffee and a wander before travelling back to the Central Coast.

It was a very good day & I would recommend this tour to anyone interested in the history and beauty of the place - or just a nice day out!

Aurora Coach Tours do many other tours which include Great Ocean Road & Kangaroo Island; Dubbo Zoo Safari; Melbourne; Beechworth & Bright; Gold Coast Hinterland & The Australian Outback; Townsville & Cairns. You may like to check them out at Copacabana.

Golf at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort - October 2010

Two days of golf and an overnight stay at Riverside Oaks Golf Resort is not hard to take especially with good company and good weather.

We were a group of twelve golfers which was a good number to manage.

We needed to celebrate Wendy & Rosie's 60th birthdays so what better way than a couple of days at a golf resort.

Riverside Oaks Golf Resort provides on course luxury accommodation which consisted of three queen bedrooms plus huge ensuites and fully equipped laundry downstairs; upstairs has a separate rest room, lounge room, fully equipped kitchen; dining room and a huge balcony plus gas BBQ. Our group was most impressed with the quality & spacious room and privacy provided for all of the guests. The accommodation deal included provision for BBQ menu which included steak, sausages, bacon, onions, mushrooms and several selections of salads, bread rolls etc which we served ourselves on the BBQ provided. We had breakfast at the clubhouse as part of the deal which also included 9 holes of golf the first day and 18 holes the second day with motorised carts.

The clubhouse was well appointed with a large dining/bar area, rest rooms and a well stocked Pro Shop.

It was only a one and a half hour trip by car from Gosford so it was not difficult to get to.

I would certainly recommend this resort and will return again myself another time as it was good value for quality. The golf course was in great condition, much greener than the last time that I played there (drought has broken). We were a group of twelve people and we rented two villas which took six people per villa and we had a very enjoyable two days there. We did stay mid week which gets a better deal offer.