Xmas at North Head

I spent a wonderful Xmas with Dani and her family on her folk's Macadamia nut farm near North Head.

Here are some of the highlights:

• How welcome the family made me feel.
• The beauty of the farm with its gorgeous garden flowers and Macadamia nut trees and gorgeous views from the porch.
• A delicious Xmas eve dinner of smoked salmon and pork.
• Cooking the Xmas dinner main course with Dani - slow cooked lamb shoulder salad (with oranges and capers and olives).  It was totally delicious and surprisingly easy to make, a great recipe to add to my repertoire.
• The divine French dessert.
• Playing hide and seek with Dani's nephew in the garden.
• Lazing on a romantic swing chair on the porch.
• Exploring the farm, including the beautiful dam and surrounding rain forest.
• A cocktail party at friends on a nearby property with amazing food.
• Kaspar, the family dog, who abounded with Xmas spirits and loved having us all around.
• Eating lots and lots of Macadamia nuts - my favourite nut in the world!
• Getting some lovely presents - a slow cooker from Dani, a recipe book, and a book of national geographic photos.
• Two new bird species - Regents Bowerbird (to my delight) and Pacific Baza.
• The beautiful King Parrots that visited the farm.
• The peace of sitting on the farm balcony in the early morning.
• Seeing cute little swamp wallabies on the farm.
• Dani's dad's enthusiasm for birds and wildlife - a passion shared.
• Dani's dad giving us a tour of the farm shed and all the farm equipment.
• The extraordinarily loud chirping of the cicadas - a sound that always makes me feel peaceful.
• Talking to my wonderful family on Skype on Xmas evening.
• A lovely barbecue with Dani's sister and family at Scotts Head.
• Teaching Dani some camera tricks and doing a photo safari of the farm together.  Great fun.
• Learning that Macadamia nuts are indigenous to Australia - the trees are a natural rainforest species.  Is there no end to Australia's natural treasures?
• Two lovely walks along Valla Beach.
• A swim at Valla Beach and Shelley Beach.  The temperature of the water couldn't have been more perfect.
• Some exhilarating body surfing on big waves in Scotts Head.
• Reading the colourful graffiti on the rocks at North Heads headland.

Xmas dinner

Dani's lovely family

Dani's dad points out Regent Bowerbird in a nearby tree, to my great delight

Delicious French dessert that we brought from Sydney

Eating out on the balcony with beautiful views of the farm

Kaspar, the family dog - full of energy and Xmas spirit

The farmhouse

  

View from the balcony

The farm shed

Macadamia nut trees

Beautiful farm garden 

Rainforest surrounding the farm

Cicada husks

Farm dam

A beautiful mosaic in the nearby town of North Heads

Lagoon at North Heads

Shelley Beach

Graffiti at North Heads headland

Dani's nephew having a surf at Scotts Head

Next stop on our trip
Waterfall Way

.