241004 from nowhere to port kembla

I was thinking of major azhar in canberra about weeks ago. We met in ikhwan cafe Sydney 2 years ago. Time flies. I texted him but delete the text because I am not sure about my day off during the tennis holiday camp. Suddenly last week he texted me saying he is leaving for malaysia for good. 4 years contract was up. 

Nowhere to go then. First thing in my mind today is lemak kak ita. Last one I had was about 3 weeks ago. So far, her cooking is still top of list in Sydney.  Name it, nasi lemak rendang, sotong and paru are my favourite. Also paprika and her nasi ayam. Got mandrem already 😆 😂. 

While having my breakfast in Kopi-kopi Malaysia, I surfed looking for places where I can go today. 

This is the first stop of the day. People call it  The Beach aka 'planespotting' in Mascot. Not bad for killing the time.

One of the video plane is taking off. The video and pictures should be if I am using better handphone or camera.

If you are crazy about photography you have 2 choice of places. 1 is near the wavebreaker and the 2nd is from the side of the beach. 

I spent around 30 minutes here before decided to keep going going. Everything looks very close on the map. My instinct says keep going hahahha 😂 😆 

Going further south towards GPD, riding thru the national park. Winding route, cool, quite, the best moment of riding.

GPD is famous with its scenic view along the coastal line. The sea cliff bridge in Stanwell is so beautiful. 

This is Baid Hill lookout. This monument is for Laurence Hargraves.  He is an aeronautical engineer who did a lot research trial in this lookout.

Behind me you can see the famous sea cliff bridge. Very nice view from up here.

Today is Friday. I search the nearest masjid near me. It shows the nearest is Wollongong which about 30 minutes from Stanwell.  I decided to go. The 1st masjid is UOWmasjid. People just finished jumaat when I arrived. One the jemaah said  Omar moasjid is about to have jumaat in 15 minutes.  I rushed to the other masjid.

This is current masjid.  It bad but the new one is under construction 🏗. 

The new masjid will accommodate more jumaah. Not sure about this masjid is Sunni or Shiite since the doom is green and the name is Omar. Anyway, don't think that much since I already prayed here haha 😅 😆 

I saw the road sign saying port kembla a out 20 minutes from the masjid. What the heck, already here, why not. I saw a few posts in Facebook a out port kembla as a fishing 🎣  spot. 

As I park my scooter,I heard someone said whale. He pointed to the sea. So lucky to see the whale today. He said hardly find whale during this time of the year. 

After port kembla I headed back to Sydney since the weather is getting cold. I wish I can ride further down to Batesman Bay. Maybe next time. I am so close to Canberra though. I arrived at MG at 630pm. Manage to have nasi paprika for dinner. Always enjoy riding... dulu, kini Dan selamanya....

240101 northern beaches new south wales

its a new year 2024. no plan with friends or wow gang today. they are tired i guess. been eating out almost everyday. lol. decided to cruising with my scooter to northern beaches thru mount ku ring gai national park.

first stop is bobbin head picnic area. when i first google the route to here, google keep giving me the route thru north wahroonga but i insist to go thru asquith because much more closer to my house. finally, i know that we have to pay to get in to the park. aud12 per vehicle....

most of the places like this has marina for the boats. almost everywhere i go. but here don't have houses due to national park i guess.

busier than normal. a lot of people picnic, fishing, kayaking, jet skiing etc

there is a small little cafe bobbin head inn. probably with rooms as well. a bit pricy on the drinks and food because that the only cafe here. very nice place to spend time with family if you like a quite place and close to the nature.

then i moved toward church point thru mc carrs creek reserve. very nice view along the way. church point is awesome. big houses facing the river with boats all over the water. i was told the houses here can reach up to aud10-20 millions.

from church point i rode to north bilgola lookout before going to dee why beach to meet with shariff and yanti. the weather is a bit wet today. drizzling all the way from the beginning from hornsby.

last stop is dee why beach. been here about 10 years ago with rudy one of my supplier from brookvale. wet weather, not many people at the beach according to yanti. she said yesterday was full with tents at the park.

                                            

shariff is waiting for me near his house when i arrived. i know this family thru wow gang. very nice couple with one kid taylor. we went for lunch by the beach. shariff love this place because so close to the beach. he is into surfing. 3-4 times a week. i ask me to joint him but thank you. not good enough for swimming. lol. thanks to yanti and shariff for the hospitality. we will visit you again with the wow gang.

i left dee why around 3pm. landed in hornsby around 4pm. not bad for a short day ride. see you soon in next post. good night internet...

231225 wisemans ferry... stunning views.. allahuakbar

 

 

hornsby- ettalong

traveling with motorcycle is never enough for me. always enjoy the feeling on the bike. the smell of the smoke, dust, air, rain and views always makes me feel good. 

second time x-mas in australia.. original plan was going to ladang berkat dato ibu in wyong with wan and the gang. but it was cancelled due to rain these few days.

my plan was riding to new castle before was asked by wan to join him to wyong. since his plan was cancelled so i decided to proceed with mine even not to new castle but at least on the bike. 

honda dio is too small to ride on motoway. i have to find alternative route to ettalong. it takes longer than usual because of the narrow roads compare to motorway. from hornsby to mount white and brooklyn using scenic route. went thru the brigges and hilly roads. the traffic a bit busy from hornsby to ettalong. i text ikhwan staff first before left hornsby asking what time they will open the reatsurant because i have eat yet. my aim is kari kambing and stay kambing.

 

ettalong-wyong

i arrived at 11am. gotta wait around 1 hour since they are open at 12pm. ikhwan cafe quite well known in ettalong. while waiting got people came by asking what time it will open. actually this is the second time i am here. was here last month with dato zul and his family. they really love the food here. pretty busy when we came last month.

from here i went to islamic center of central coast in wyong for zuhur. about 45 minute from ettalong. it was a coastal road ride. i love coastal road. just like from teluk ramunia to penyabong in johor. i was lucky the center is still open when i arrived. met a guy from kemaman. what a small world. he stopped by for prayer as well. he is staying in liverpool.i made a move after chatting for a while with this guy.

 

 

wyong-ladang berkat

took another hour to reach ladang berkat. the route like thousand corners. i think more corners than that. the views are breath taking and stunning.. har to explain. along the road are farms, rivers, mountains, small towns. try to stopped for a coffee but all of them are closed for christmas. i wonder how theses farmers maintain their farm. the grass are so green. the cattle are so fat. 

when i arrived in ladang berkat, i was greeted by tobiah. he knew i was coming may be. his colleague at the restaurant told him i guess. i took small tour to the farm. tobiah explainhow the farm works. they have cattle to support their butchery shop in sydney. the farm also available for camping. they provide camp site and a farm stay. among the activites here are horse riding, camping, and gathering. i spent about 15 minutes with tobiah. i had to move before it was dark. the rest of the route are hilly road. the phone coverage is not really good. hardly find cars on the road. very quite.

 

ladang berkat-wisemans

another one and half hour for me to reach wisemans. with narrow and cornering roads by the river makes the day for me. alternately with farms view. fresh air. i stopped by a few places by the river. most of the hotels are fully booked. people came for rest and doing water sports like jet skiing and boating. approaching wisemans i can see green views on the other side of the river but not sure what is it. look like golf course. very beautiful view.

wisemans-hornsby

the ferry operated 24 hours. took about 5 minutes to cross the river. stopped for a coffee at the shell station in town. very quite. you can lay down in the middle of the road. holiday time i guess. after a short break i continue to hornsby. thru galston gorge. the very narrow, sharp corners, sometimes we have to stop to gave a way to in coming vehicles. now i know why heavy vehicles cannot go thru galston gorge. reach home around 6pm. not very tired ride but worth riding. 

 

 

 

riding is never enough for me. thinking of having a short trip again during the new year. tunggguuuu...