Jason had brought back good sized fishes each time he followed Nick Heah fishing at Tathra Wharf. We heard that Tathra was a small little town, a good 6 hours drive south from Sydney. So after a few years of hearing about the good fishing, 4 Malaysian wives, namely Irene, Trixie, Serena and me decided to follow our husbands to fish there at Tathra from 11 -13th March 2014.
Irene and me were less enthusiastic about the fishing. We prepared for more amusing alternatives- like shopping or sight seeing or playing scrabbles just in case we got bored with fishing. The men however made extensive preparations for fishing by buying and packing new fishing equipment and bringing big old suitcases specially dedicated to carry the fishes they intend to catch back to Malaysia.
Chris and Peter took turns to drive the 6 hours journey down the Princes Highway through pretty scenic towns like Ulladulla and Bateman's Bay.We saw interesting catchy Aussie slogans "Drinking kills driving skills."
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Ladies best foot forward at Ulladulla.
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When the men went to purchase fishing licence for themselves and the ladies, Irene specifically and strongly reminded Pastor David not to waste money by buying her a three-day licence. She wanted only a one-day licence. However the minimum time period for a fishing licence was a 3-day licence so we all settled for that. On the way, we detoured to Cuttagee Beach which Nick said was a wonderful place for fishing.
Flyaway ladies at Cuttagee Beach.
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| 5 couples at Cuttagee Beach |
Our group of 12 were put in two separate apartments. 4 couples stayed in the cosy Tree House while Pastor David, Irene, Teresa and Agnes were in the Pines. I was totally captivated by the Tree House's natural beauty. The house was prettily garbed in various shades of blue from the bed sheets to the tiles to the crockery.
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Blue Bed in the Loft |
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We are all dressed in blue in the tree house
with all its blue crockery. |
Outside the tree house on the balcony, was a pretty blue tiled table with matching blue tiled chairs. Here we sat often, to have tea accompanied by the sound of sweet clear tinkles of the bell birds. Then we discovered the wild rainbow lorikeets fed from the bird-feed plate. We started filming the wild lorikeets and discovered they came nearer and nearer to us. At one stage, we had about 9 lorikeets and they fed from our hands. Playing with the birds reminded me that about 20 years ago, on our first family trip to Australia, I had read about the rainbow lorikeets and wanted to bring our 3 children to see them. But the children were very young then and the Bird Sanctuary was too far so we skipped it. Now through the wild rainbow lorikeets, God reminded me He fulfilled a long forgotten desire. Such a loving Papa God. He remembers our dreams even when we have forgotten them.
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Savouring tea outside the tree house.
See the pretty blue tiled table and chairs and blue mugs. |
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| Chris films the rainbow lorikeets |
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| Lovebirds |
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| Come nearer to me |
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| Eating out of Trixiie's hand. |
The first night, all of us fished from the wharf even though it rained and there was static in the air. Although we had catches, the men were not too happy with their catches. They ( and Serena and Trixie ) rose early the next morning about 4 am and went fishing at the beach. They brought in salmons and mackerels and ... We had fresh fish for brunch and supper.
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| Irene reels in her fish. |
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| Jason reels in the flathead in laughter. |
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| Peter at the beach with his fish |
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| Serena is the ladies' champion fisherwoman. |
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| Teresa grins widely at the fish she reeled in. |
I would go for walks in the morning and listen to the clear tinkles of the bell birds and other birds. The trees and flowers I saw on my walks were soul therapy. I loved the view of the beach and the waves when I turned the corner at the highest point.
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| The yellow young leaves looked like flowers. |
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| Stunning view of Tathra Beach from the hill top |
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| Wattle flower outside our house |
At one point I saw the initials TTH and asked Irene Heah what TTH stood for? She said " The Tree House." I laughed and said to Irene "God had indeed prepared for me to stay in TTH for my own initials are also TTH ( Tan Tee Hwa) Exodus 23:20 says " Behold, I sent an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." God is truly awesome! He prepares us for the journey and He prepares the journey for us. I also realised Tathra had TTH in it. God calls me by name in a foreign land.
The men fished both in the evening and in the morning. They went to Cuttagee Beach while we ladies under the care of Pastor, fished from the safety of the wharf in the evening. In between fishing, while there was still light we went for walks up the rugged cliffs.
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| Wild Tathra coastline. |
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| The two Irenes. |
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Tathra wharf with people fishing from it.
Can you see people standing on the wharf? |
All too soon, our last night of fishing arrived. It was the best night's fishing of the whole trip! Very early in the evening, we reeled in fishes. My first fish came up curved! It was hooked in two places, one in the mouth and one at the tail. There was no way it could escape even one as skill-less in fishing as I. I have now learnt to bait and I can now cast the line but I am still squeamish about removing the hooks from the fish. Irene Heah laughed and marveled at the way the fish was hooked when she removed the hooks for me! My second fish came in hooked at the mouth with the fishing line neatly all around the gill. So God had sent the angel again to go ahead to hook the fish for me.Yeah!!!
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| Happiness when I reel in the fish all by myself, |
The guys came in early from Cuttagee Beach back to the wharf because they had caught big salmons and other fishes there. That night we reeled in more than 100 fishes. The men did the gutting and the cleaning of the fishes. The ladies fished on. At one point the men begged the ladies.to stop fishing but their pleas went unheeded because the fishes were biting each time we cast our baits. So exciting! We only stopped fishing close to 11 pm at night in the full moonlight.
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| Reeling in more fishes. |
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| Men guts and cleans the fish |
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| Men's hands clean the fish |
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Great catches - over 100 fishes |
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Ladies' joy in the dark with the fishes.
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Fresh Tailor Fish curry.
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| Sashimi - the freshest of the freshest fish! |
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| Outside my beloved tree house. |
We had yummy meals, all pre-cooked and prepacked by Nick and Irene Heah. Muach!!! Then we had fresh fish twice a day cooked Malaysian style courtesy Trixie's culinary skills. On the way back to Sydney, we went to a pear farm and plucked and ate several kinds of pears. Everyone reached Sydney, happier and much heavier.
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Round brown pears.
We plucked several kilos of various pears. |
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| Jason at Robertsons' pear farm, courtesy Irene Heah's niece. |
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At the Opera House : Note the couples were in matching colours
without planning - me and Jason in orange,
Serena and Chris in blue and Peter and Trixie in gray |
There we found great hospitality both in Judith and Russell Gates' homes and in Nick and Irene Heah's homes and their church. We are blessed by people whose hearts are generous and youthful and who know how be gracious hosts. Thank you Judith and Russell, Nick and Irene Heah. Australia family...Muach.
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| Yummy and healthy food again |
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| The men at Kingdom Covenant Church |
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Enjoying Judith and Russell's hospitality.
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Jesus
at SHOW - Sydney's House Of Worship
is the reason behind our unity and happiness. |
By the way, guess how much fish we brought back to Malaysia? 40 kg of fish. Guess, who got hooked? The fishes or the fishermen and the fisher-women?
