Friends and Rele's Visit Dangar Island 3rd October

We had been planning a catch up with friends John and Judy and cousin Maureen and her husband John since we had heard they were visiting Sydney for the school holidays. Peter and I decided that Dangar Island would be the best place to meet up, being approximately half way between Sydney and us in Lake Macquarie. Travelling there involved a scenic train journey of about an hour each. Judy and John arrived on the platform at Hawkesbury River at the same time we did from the opposite direction. Our detailed planning was paying off! As the next train was an hour away so we decided to adjourn to the Brooklyn Marina Café for morning coffee and chat while we waited for Maureen and John.

We watched the next train - no M & J, then we had a message to say they would be late. The four of us decided to take the ferry to Dangar and gave M & J directions to the ferry and they would catch us up later. The ferry ride was pleasant and took the scenic route via Little Wobby where the houses line the shore under the very high sandstone cliffs. This is not my idea of a safe place to live as the cliffs have some very unstable looking boulders on the steep rock faces. At Dangar we walked up the track, passed the bowling club and to the beach. We'd noticed that the weather was taking a turn for the worse and as we looked to the south we realised that dark clouds were gathering and it wouldn't be long before rain arrived. We hurried back to the Dangar Café just in time, before the squall hit.

It turned out to be quite a storm, thunder and lightening, hail and heavy rain. In the midst of this Maureen and John arrived on the ferry and dodged the hailstones to join us for lunch. The food was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with every one's news while the thunder crashed and lightening flashed and rain and hail hammered down. It was a pity we could not walk around the island as it is a lovely walk, but the rain was welcome as it has been a very dry winter in this area.