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Sri Lanka March 2025
Book reading for the trip. I read all of the following. Most are about some aspect of the civil war, which would have affected the thinking, decisions and mindset of every person on the island and all of the diaspora who had escaped. No one alive thought those 30 years…
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Coates 15 Day Gibson Desert Trip Alice to Perth June 2023
Wednesday 14 June. Day 1. Our pick up was 7:15 and we had left Alice by 8. Drive north along the bitumen Tanami Road till the dirt of Papunya Road – very badly corrugated. Very disorienting and very hard to hear anything inside the car. Lunch at Papunya. Continued driving…
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Trip to Centre Between Coates Trips June 2023
Monday 5 June. Breakfast at Stumps. A day in Alice buying supplies for the next few days. Bought Hirudoid for that painful brushing from faceplant yesterday. A visit to the Red Kangaroo Bookshop – purchases mailed. Todd Mall looks empty. Synced all photos to iCloud so now photos are backed…
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Coates 12 Day Centre Trip Alice to Alice May-June 2023
Prep. We began our planning for these trips immediately after our Karlamilyi Trip last year. As soon as they became available this year, we booked, planned and booked flights, accommodation and car. We planned to fly to Alice via Melbourne the day before the first tour, stay in and around…
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Kossi Trip Xmas 2022
We’ve now returned from our 10 days in the Snowies. We were camped at Sawpit Creek which turned out to be an excellent campsite for us. Very quiet until the hordes arrived on Boxing Day. We got back Tuesday. The weather for us was of good extremes. It had snowed…
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Coates 15 day Tour to Karlamlyi
I’ve put the simplified Tectonic Geological Map at the top because Geology determines landforms, soil types and vegetation. Our trip took us north from Perth in the SW roughly in a diagonal line to the Rudall Province just a bit north of the centre of the map. We therefore crossed…
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WA Trip Sept 2022 Karlamilyi
This trip was to North East Western Australia to the large Karlamilyi National Park which is just east of Marble Bar. So it is just east of the Pilbara. The Canning Stock Route runs just the the west of the park. We are travelling with Coates Wildlife Tours in small…
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Road Trip Queensland 2022 four
Day 39. Sunday 12 June 2022. A day that almost worked to clockwork. Up at 7am, packed and out of our room at Coral Tree Inn by 9:30am. At 10am our pick up was right on time and we arrived at our van storage place a few minutes later. (Pioneer…
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Queensland Road Tip 2022 – Cape York Tour
Day 24. Tour 1. Saturday 28 May 2022. Alarm at 5:40am. Pick up from Coral Tree Inn by limo bus service at 6:40am. Driven to our departure point in a light industrial area near where we left the van yesterday. Tour departed about 8am. Drive up along coast towards Port…
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Road Trip Queensland 2022 – Two
Day 11. Sunday 15 May 2022. Beautiful sunny day. Drove 333km from Ayr to Kurrimine Beach where we will be for 5 nights. All the flood drama is behind us. At Kurrimine we are on a site that is next to the beach – which is many kilometres long. Our…
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Road Trip Queensland 2022
Preparation. This trip has been in preparation for three years. Each attempt was tackled by COVID and we dropped it. Our plan hinges around a Tour to Cape York with Cape York Tours. We depart from and return to Cairns. We will have a couple of weeks just south of…
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Zone Diet. It Works.
In mid January 22, my medico told me to lose weight. I was 101 kg at that time. In early May 22 I am now 87kg. I have lost 14 kg in 14 weeks. I has come off my gut which has decreased by 12cm. What did I do? I…
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December Cycling Trip to Jindabyne
We’ve come over to Jindabyne for a few days in late 2021. We will be in the A-van as the Cubby at Discovery Park no longer exists. We arrived on Saturday 18 December and will be here through to 29 December. The NRMA Park is quite good – very clean…
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Double-sided Cushion Covers – Riverina design
We have a craft fair at the Grange (where I live in Wagga) in a few weeks. Helen commissioned me to weave 3 double side cushion covers with my Riverina design. Each side of each cushion is to be 40 cm by 41 cm. As double sided, each piece is…
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Weaving loom
I’ve got my weaving loom out again. In 2017, I bought an 8 shaft table loom from Ashfords and for a couple of years got stuck into learning to weave and weaving. I worked out how to make my own patterns and made a few very nice things. So far,…
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COVID NSW lockdown
In reverse date order You can always find the latest Control Chart graphs here. (Vaccination numbers don’t come through until after 5pm.) For the graphs in the link above, the series exponential in the first few graph is scary and is getting the most attention. Also the number in hospital…
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A few notes on a website
I’ve spent the last month or so working on my site bellsite.id.au It has a long history and really consists of 3 sites (maybe four) that now live together. I thought it may be worth stepping through the webmaster involvement through all this and how things have changed and the…
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Queensland Road Trip 2021 part 2
Thursday 13 May 2021. Day 27. Drove to Cape Hillsborough just north of Mackay. We are now on our way back. At Hillsborough, we are in a fairly shady spot and much shade is available. Quite a few birds, a brilliant beach and kangaroos lolling around in the campground. Much…
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Queensland Road Trip 2021 – part 1
Saturday 17 April 2021. Day 1. We left Wagga today for a 7 week road trip into Queensland. We have not had the van out for a couple of years what with COVIDs and operations etc. To get ready and to prove we can still do it and like it,…
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Radiotherapy
My prostatectomy was only a partial success. I’ve been having radiotherapy to clean up any escaped cancers. A short recap. Late last year, I had my prostate out. It looked as though the surgery was a success as the prostate cancer had managed to get just 1mm out of the…
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Neeka Obituary
Neeka (2004?-2020) Obituary Of all the cats we’ve had Neeka had the greatest need to fit in, to do the right thing. She was a truly lovely and loving cat. We got her from the pound in 2008 when she was either 2 or 4 depending on which form we…
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Snow 2020 during COVID
Sunday. 23 Aug 2020. We have decided that the snow is tooo good and we have to give it a try. Our only risk is the amenities block at the Campground we stay at. We will have to use it for showers and shitting and it will be a risk….
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COVID at end of April 2020
Looking at the COVID-19 data at the beginning of this week I can see a few things. Overall the data for the world is flattening (again) from its exponential climb. This is due to all countries at the top of the table (western countries: USA, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, UK,…
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COVID update 20 Apr 2020
Spanish Flu I’ve been reading ‘Pale Rider’ by Laura Spinney, a book about the Spanish Flu of 1918-19. What was learned from the Spanish Flu that we can use now? Very simple really. Historically, with an epidemic that is killing people there are three actions that work. The intention is…
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COVID-19 Next steps
It looks as though Australia may have succeeded in escaping a worse outcome. We have declining numbers of new cases, new deaths, active cases, people classified as severe. It appears that we know where most new cases come from. The question everyone is asking is “How long should we stay…
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COVID-19 state of play – ‘I’ve been to cities that never close down’?
The image above shows results for countries at the top of the cases table on 2 April 2020. The world cases passed 1 million and deaths 53,000. Red and yellow columns are ‘new figures for the day’. The terrible day shown by France (1,355 new deaths was an aberration because…
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COVID-19 Risks as at 31 March 2020
I’ve been asked if I could workout a ‘tipping point’ between doing nothing and locking down. At this stage, because we have been slow to react in all countries (except China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore) such an analysis is beyond me. I can undertake a ‘risk analysis’. I’ll be…
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What we can expect over the next couple of weeks with COVID-19
I understand that many people doubt that COVID-19 is as serious as the media is making out. That it is a beat up. I thought it is worth going through a few facts. Predictions I wrote in my My last post are coming true. At my time of writing now…
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What do we know about COVID-19?
Current Data For Countries with Most Cases of COVID-19 Data from 18 Mar 2020 “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” W. Edwards DemingWhat do we know about COVID-19? This is a new coronavirus. It is very infectious. Globally, we have no immunity. Epidemiologists around the world estimate that…
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Cancerous Prostate update
14 Dec 2019. Very good news today. I got the pathology results from the surgery three weeks ago – all clear and a very good prognosis. The pathology shows that my prostate contained several cancers with the one in the top being the most aggressive and although that one had…
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Cancerous Prostate
On Friday 22 Nov 2019, I had my prostate removed (Radical robot-assisted prostatectomy) at the Sydney Adventist Hospital (the San). A recent biopsy showed a Gleason score of 8 (out of a possible 12). A very aggressive cancer. Scans show that it had not spread to lymph or bones –…
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Western Australia 2019 trip – week 5
Thursday 26 Sep 2019 Day 30. Today, we drove about 250km to our new place for three nights – Lions Dryandra Woodland Village. The drive through the kilometre after kilometre of badly treated wheatland was boring. We had lunch in Narrogin – which looked run down. We are again in…
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Western Australia 2019 trip – week 4
Tuesday 17 Sep 2019 Day 21. We drove 100 km to Albany – mainly through farm land (was dairy now beef). Along the way we stopped to look at Ocean Beach (near Denmark) which is an excellent surfing beach. As looks to be normal for these WA rivers, they don’t…
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Western Australia 2019 trip – week 3
Wednesday 11 Sep 2019 Day 15. This was a day off in Perth. We did little except sleep and find a good Malaysian restaurant nearby. Thursday 12 Sep 2019 Day 16. A day of driving. We caught a Red Cat (bus) to Avis in Hay St Perth to pick up…
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Western Australia 2019 trip – week 2
Wednesday 4 Sep 2019 Day 8. A day of coastal adventures. First, we drove up to the lighthouse for a view of yet more whales (and Bill’s boat – Bill is our chef for this trip – in real life he is chef on a oil extraction ship just off…
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Western Australia 2019 trip – Week 1
Intro. We are on a 5 week trip through WA. The first 2 weeks we will be with Kimberley Safari Tours travelling from Broome to Perth (through the Pilbara and down the coast). The last 3 weeks we will be driving ourselves around SW WA looking at wildlife, vegetation, landforms…
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Simpson Desert Trip June 2019 – week 2
Wednesday 26 June 2016 – Day 8 We retraced our steps from two days ago. A bit of a late start caused by a power outage across all of Birdsville when a pole in the caravan park caught fire and tripped out a transformer. Why would that hold us up…
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Simpson Desert Trip June 2019 – Birdsville
Tuesday 25 June 2019 – Day 7 Arid Air were very helpful in organising a scenic flight in 4-seater Cessna 172 VH-CBV from Birdsville at 10:30 over Goyder Lagoon and Coongie Lakes and back to Birdsville. $1,190 for the two of us. Well worth the money – a real highlight….
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Simpson Desert Trip June 2019 – week 1
Wednesday 19 June 2019 – Day 1 The adventure begins. 6:30 am breakfast call at the Mercure for an 8 am departure. Bags slotted into the ‘luggage’ vehicle. We are 15 and 5 drivers in 5 vehicles. We have a ‘kitchen’ vehicle (driven by tour leader and chef – Dean),…
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Simpson Desert Trip June 2019 – prep
Saturday 15 June 2019 The adventure begins. We are off to the Simpson Desert for a 14 day trip glamping trip with Outback Spirit. We’ve done quite a lot of prep (as you might imagine). Mainly reading to get a good background. More on this later. Today, we had a…
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Total Knee Replacement – Left Knee – Week 1
7 Feb 2019 Day Zero. 6:45am admission at Calvary Hospital, Wagga. In room 207 in the right-side bed so that I will be able to get out of bed on the left side with a stiff and unmanageable knee for the next few days. Had a shit and then a shower…
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Jindabyne – Dec 18 and Jan 19
We’ve come down to Jindabyne for a few weeks over the Xmas and New Year. A very pleasant time. The main activity is riding our new bikes uphill. Yes, we have finally bought new bikes. We had the Giant Rincons for about 10 years. Let’s see if we can get…
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Total Knee Replacement weeks 3 to 5
Total Knee Replacement – 3rd to 5th week after operation Saturday 25 August 2018. Day 16. First day without any crutches – just around the house. The skateboard is certainly helping to achieve more of a bend. Sitting with the leg just dangling is also very helpful. I have already…
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Total Knee Replacement – Right Knee – week 2 – home one
Total Knee Replacement – 2nd week after operation Wednesday 15 August 2018. Day 6. A bit of difficulty getting to sleep last night. I still need the sleeping pills. Today, I’m trying a plan of sitting in a recliner with my feet up and ice pack on and going for…
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Total Knee Replacement – Right Knee – week 1 – preparation and hospital
Decision time. I’ve decided to have a Total Knee Replacement of my Right Knee. Why. Over the last 9 months or so, I noticed a rapid decline in my right knee. It was probably aggravated by several factors. 1) Following my left knee restructure 55 years ago, I have over used…
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Thoughts on Brexit
Thoughts on Brexit. A local told us that he had voted for Brexit ‘because the world would welcome Britain’s products – especially the Commonwealth’. I was a bit shocked for three reasons: In the early 1970s, Britain was so excited to join the then ‘European Common Market’ that it slammed…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 7 England again
Grave hunter Monday 18 June 2018. Day 49. A short drive today. We are back in England. Two cemeteries. Geoff has ancestors from Haltwhistle just south of Hadrians Wall – these Bells were Reivers. We drove first to Hadrians Wall but could not deal with the tour buses spewing out…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 7 more Scotland
Alva – a hillfoots village Believe it or not this is a 2-way street Monday 11 June 2018. Day 42. We are at Alva a small village to the north east of Stirling. We will be here for 5 nights. This is accommodation 14 of 22 and the last of…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 6 Scotland
This week we will drive 1,300km in a ‘big circle’ from Derbyshire in eastern England, over to the west, up to far northern Scotland, back to the east and down to near Edinburgh. Gretna Green marriage place Saturday 2 June 2018. Day 33. A day of mainly Motorway driving (sometimes…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 5 Crich Derbyshire
Essentially Danish to NE English to SW Monday 28 May 2018. Day 28. Drive from Frodsham (in Cheshire and old England) to Crich (in Derbyshire and therefore in Danelaw). We have left old England and entered old Danelaw. For about 300 years, this eastern side of Britain was owned by Denmark…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 4 Cheshire Liverpool
The hydraulic system is hidden in the middle Most of the structure was added for the electrical adaptation Thursday 24 May 2018. Day 24. Quite a day – we overdid it a bit. We drove (1 1/2 hours) from Ironbridge to Frodsham – our next accomodation (5 of 22) Homeaway…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 3 Banbury Ironbridge
Thursday 17 May 2018. Day 17. Today begins the real road trip. We have begun with the car. We took a 360 bus to Vauxhall and then a South West Train to Virginia Water (that bit took 2 hours) to pick up our car from Penny Car Hire which I…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 2 London
Entrance to EuroTunnel Your get the idea Thursday 11 May 2018. Day 11. This was a huge day. Eurostar From Paris to London and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre production of Twelfth Night at 7:30. It all ran exactly to plan and from that point of view was extremely boring. 7am start…
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Europe Trip 2018 – week 1 – Paris
Riding up Champs-Elysees We are embarking on an eight week road trip beginning in Paris, London and then by road throughout much of the big island of Britain. Preparation. This will be our most complicated road trip yet. I think that we have 22 places of accommodation booked. Just getting…
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Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 6/7
Powder in trees Sun Peaks Saturday 24 Feb 2018. Another day off for me. Helen has gone out for a morning of Resort Telemark. Absolutely glorious conditions, sunshine, new snow and flurries. I was intending to go out, but realistically, I need more time to recover from my stuff up…
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Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 5
Thursday 15 Feb 2018. Sunny and cold -13ºC in the village and -17ºC at Morrisey top. We skate skied the same track as Tues 13 Feb – Down Holy Cow, along Moose, down part of MacGillivray, down Black Bear up and along Vista back to Morrisey base. Despite beautiful looking…
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Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 4
Tuesday 6 Feb 2018. A change today. Our first day of cross-country skiing. We took the skating skis out for a try. Hmm. We only managed to ski out and back on the Cotton Tail – the easiest run which goes up gently from the base of Morrisey. Gradually remembering…
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Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 3
Distant snowy peaks Wednesday 31 Jan 2018. A delightful sunny day. We were on the sixth chair for runs down Homesteader and Granny Greenes. Then over the Cahilty 5 Mile for two runs (we were first down the first of those and it was extremely good). Then we met up…
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Korea by Michael Pembroke
This is a very good read and should be a compulsory read in order to understand our times. Michael Pembroke has produced a page turner of the history of Korea and America’s involvement. The main events on which everything hinges were an invasion of North Korea by the US Army…
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Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 2
Top of Sunburst Lift Wednesday 24 Jan 2018. Skied 6 runs, 2:30 hours, 2,800 descent, max speed 42.2kph, recovery 30 hours. Very cloudy on Tod Mountain so not too many skiers went on Sunburst lift. We were at the lift line in time to see first people on the lift…
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Home Fire – Kamila Shamsie
This is an excellent book. Extremely well written. Kamila Shamsie tackles a difficult subject with a very light touch. We are in modern times, mainly in the UK. The subject matter is how young muslims are lured/tricked into travelling to join Islamic State in Iraq. The story is told (in…
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Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 1
Sun Peaks Sunburst chair with Broadway to right Exhibition & Cruiser left Wednesday 17 Jan 2018. Thus begins another trip to Sun Peaks. This year, we will be staying for 7 weeks and will add downhill, resort telemarking back into our repertoire. It has been about 10 years since we…
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The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: by Arundhati Roy
This is an extremely good book. Arundhati Roy is furious about two main topics that she has woven together into a ‘shattered’ hodge-podge of stories and anecdotes – some of which could be autobiographical. It is certainly not an easy read or a feel good read; so if you want…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 11
We are on our way back. Marsupial Lion with broken leg having fallen down a sink hole in the limestone Thursday 6 July 2017. Day 71. Drove 600km to Mount Isa. A huge day. Up early and away just before sunrise. Avery long drive across the Barkly Tableland – which…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 10
We are now on our way back. The journey will take about 4 weeks. For the first week, we will be retracing our steps back through Kununurra, Katherine down to almost Tennant Creek where we turn off to Mt Isa. All of it is a bloody long way. You are…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 9 – Gibb Trip 2
This blog is of the second half of our 16 day Broome to Broome Gibb River Road trip with Kimberley Safari Tours. This blog covers the Gibb River Road itself. Pentecost River Crossing Tuesday 20 June 2017. Day 55. Gibb Day 8. El Questro to Ellenbrae Station. First a dip…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 8 – Gibb Trip 1
This post and the next describe the 16 day, 3,800km Gibb River Road trip with Kimberley Safari Tours. We had a very good time. For the first week (this post), we were mainly on bitumen as we made our way from Broome to Kununurra and Lake Argyle. The second week…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 7
Middle Lagoon road, Cape Leveque Thursday 8 June 2017. Day 43. A day of doing not much. Had another good talk with John and Kathleen and visiting Uncle Andrew. Very solid intelligent people. Friday 9 June 2017. Day 44. Left our delightful eco-tent and hosts John & Kathleen and drove…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 6 – Cape Leveque
Thursday 1 June 2017. Day 36. Drove 220km to Kooljaman at Cape Leveque. First, into Broome for supplies and fuel then the left hand turn Cape Leveque. An early 90 plus km of the road is dirt – first half not too bad but later very rough. You would have…
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Kimberley Trip 2017 – week 5
Thursday 25 May 2017. Day 29. Drove about 200 km from Parrys Lagoon to Warmun (Turkey Creek) 17º1’S 128º13’E. We called in briefly at The Grotto and checked the vegetation and birds around the top. Called in for fuel at Doon Doon and came onto Warmun which has an aboriginal…
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Kimberley Trip – 2017 – week 4 – Kununurra & Parrys Lagoon
Geology of The Kimberley region Thursday 18 May 2017. Day 22. Drove just over 300km to Kununurra in Western Australia. We have made it to The Kimberley. The first 250km or so saw us gradually rise out of the Victoria River, past Timber Creek (famous for Durracks and looking like…
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Kimberley trip – 2017 – Week 3
Thursday 11 May 2017. Day 15. Drove 160 km to Mataranka. The vegetation along the way gradually increased in size until we eventually we had a few trees with good trunks. We are at Mataranka Homestead with its delightful hot springs surrounded by palms. Quite a large van park which…
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Kimberley trip – 2017 – Week2
Thursday 4 May 2017. Day 8. We had a day tour to the Painted Desert with Wayne Borrett of Arid Areas Tours and Janine and Sue. An excellent day. After a longish drive towards Oodnadatta along a good fast dirt road across the Moon Plain, we turned right to Arkaringa…
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Kimberley trip – 2017 – Week1
Thursday. 27 April 2017 Day 1. Drive from Wagga to Balranald. We are off. This Kimberley trip has been many years in the planning with many false and failed starts. We are finally off – we hope. Freya is looking after our house and our beloved cat, Neeka. We decided…
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Sun Peaks skiing 2017 – week 5
Wednesday 15 Feb 2017. Day 29. Skate skied from the top of Morrisey chair down Holy Cow, along Moose, down Lake McGillivray track, down Black Bear, along Vista and back to the stables. We fell in love with skate-skiing again. Skating down Holy Cow is extremely good. The weeks of…
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Sun Peaks skiing 2017 – week 4
Wednesday 8 Feb 2017. Day 22. -24ºC outside (feels like -29ºC). If the last two days were too cold to do anything, then so was today. Another day off. I played around with the factor analysis all day (added GDP per capita to the original data from the Economist) but…
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Sun Peaks skiing 2017 – week 3
Wednesday 1 Feb 2017. Day 15. An unscheduled day off. The temp in the village was -18ºC with wind and we chickened out. I think I like skiing better when there is just a single digit after that minus sign. Probably better for the day off. We were getting a…
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Sun Peaks skiing 2017 – week 2
Wednesday 25 Jan 2017. Day 8. Day off. The squirrel was back and got nuts this time. Happy squirrel. Thursday 26 Jan 2017. Day 9. Skate skied up the Lake McGillivray trail to about 200m above the junction with Black Bear. We had not been on skates for many years…
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Sun Peaks skiing 2017 – Week 1
Mon 16 Jan 2017: Day-1. We are off to Canada skiing again. Quite a lot of preparation to get fit enough, which began in early December and included a few days riding bikes up Mt Kosciuszko and, at the end, daily trips to the gym for 1.5 hour sessions. Actually…
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An Adventure – Day in the Life of a Chorister
Saturday 3 September turned out to be a day to remember. A day that Laurel and Hardy would have been proud of. It began innocently enough with a ‘getting the band back together’ email that arrived in mid June for expressions of interest for a one-off Messiah on 3 September…
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Love In a Cold Climate
Love In a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford This is a funny book. Laugh out Loud at times. Set about 1930 something, Fanny tells of the lives of her cousins (Jassie and Victoria), Uncle Matthew, Aunt Sadie; and her neighbours Polly (beautiful beyond description and extremely self-centred), her mother Lady…
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The Midnight Watch
The Midnight Watch by David Dyer An OK read. A fictional work that tells the story of the California, the ship that stood by and watched as the Titanic sank, ignoring eight distress flares. The story is told through the eyes of a fictional American journalist who searches for the…
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The Test of Courage: Michel Thomas by Christopher Robbins
I have been a fan of Michel Thomas since I found his exceptionally good language courses. I’ve learnt my French from him. He made it extremely easy to learn to quite an advanced level in a few weeks. I thought that I would read his approved biography. It is certainly…
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All The Light We Cannot See
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. A very good book. Set in Paris, Saint Malo, Germany and Russia, it follows the lives of a few main characters just before, during and after WW2. The main story culminates with the fire-bombing of St Malo in August 1945. The…
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France Road Trip – week 9 – Paris again
Saturday 4 June. Day 58. Last day with the car. Drove today 4 1/2 hours from Dinan to CDG Paris to hand back the car. We had driven 5,174 km in the brand new car. The Citroen C4 diesel is a great little car. Ideal for our trip. For that…
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France Road Trip – week 8 – Dinan
Saturday 28 May. Day 51. Drove to Dinan. Another delightful apartment in yet another delightful old city/town. Autoroute driving almost all the way – mostly at 130km/hr which made the 110 km/hr patches feel very slow. Two visits to the excellent bakery next door to us at Amboise this morning…
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France Road Trip – week 7 – Amboise
Saturday 21 May 2016. Day 44. Drove from Saintes to Cognac to meet our friends Mavis & Neil Clifford for a few hours to catch up. Then, onwards, on the motorway to Amboise. A bit of a confusion when the GPS had us exit the motorway suddenly at the junction of…
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France Road Trip – week 6 – St-Jean-Pied-de-Port
Saturday 14 May 2016. Day 37. Drove 200km from Arreau to our new apartment at St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. St Jean PdP is a major staging post for the Camino de Santiago (or Santiago de Compostela) a large network of ancient pilgrim routes that extend across Europe to Santiago. The most popular route…
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France Road Trip – week 5 – Arreau
Saturday 7 May. Day 30. Two hour drive (mainly on Autoroutes) to Arreau which is in a deep valley about mid-way across the Pyrenees – still in France (just – Spain is just a few kms south). We are just south of Lourdes and Tarbes. This will be our smallest…
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Place of Greater Safety
‘A Place of Greater Safety’ by Hilary Mantel (who we know for Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies). This is an extraordinary book, probably of importance. Mantell follows the truncated lives of the three most important revolutionaries of the French Revolution (1789+). Danton – a bull of a man,…
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France Road Trip – week 4 – Albi
Saturday 30 April 2016. Day 23. Now in Albi. A longish drive over from L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue to a different planet. The first part of the drive was towards and then through!!! Avignon. (Over the bridge and all. Why does the SatNav do that? Rather than bypass.) Then, by autoroute to Montpellier…
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France Road Trip – week 3 – Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
Saturday 23 April. Day 16. A biggish day. Picked up the car and drove 250km south on the Autoroute. Our landlady wanted to see us off, so we waited until 9am before setting off on the concertina bus C3 to Gare Part-Dieu (where we had arrived on the TVG fast…
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France Road Trip – week 2 – Lyon
Saturday 16 April 2016 – Day 9. Fast train to Lyon departed Paris Gare Du Lyon at 9:55am. Bit of an effort getting the two big suitcases down the 76 stairs at 67 Rue St Jacques. We took the 63 Bus which was very convenient. The SNF very fast train…
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France Road Trip – week 1 Paris
Well we got here. A very long travel time 38 hours is probably our longest yet. Probably we misjudged the flight from Wagga to Sydney and gave ourselves too long a wait in Sydney airport. (Wow is not Sydeny airport a pile of junk these days with old beaten up…
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France road trip 2016
Once again we are spending a few weeks in France: first, a couple of weeks in Paris and then seven weeks in towns across the south. Slightly bigger ‘towns’ this time. We decided that although we prefer smallish town/villages, they need to be big enough to support a bakery. We…
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I am d’Artagnan
I am the real character that Dumas made famous.I was born in south-western France. I went to Paris in the 1630s, and found a way to enter into the Musketeers in 1632, perhaps thanks to the influence of his family’s friend, Monsieur de Tréville. While in the Musketeers, d’Artagnan sought…
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Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
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The Essentials of Blogging: Tips and Strategies for Success
Introduction Welcome to the world of blogging! Whether you’re a beginner looking to start your journey or an experienced blogger aiming to enhance your skills, this post is designed to provide valuable insights and strategies for successful blogging. Blogging is not just about writing; it’s an art that involves engaging…
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Maximizing Your Blog’s Reach: SEO Tips for Bloggers
Introduction In the digital world, understanding and implementing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for bloggers. SEO is the process of optimizing your website to gain higher search engine rankings and attract more visitors. This post will guide you through essential SEO tips to enhance your blog’s visibility and success….
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Crafting the Perfect Blog Structure: A Guide for Effective Blogging
Introduction Every great blog post starts with a solid structure. A well-structured blog not only enhances readability but also keeps your readers engaged. This post will explore the key elements of an effective blog structure. 1. Captivating Headline Your headline is the first thing readers see. Make it catchy, clear,…
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Never Run Out of Ideas: Top Tips for Generating Fresh Blog Topics
Introduction One of the biggest challenges for bloggers is consistently coming up with new and interesting topics. This post will share practical tips to help you find inspiration and keep your blog fresh and engaging. 1. Stay Informed in Your Niche Regularly read other blogs, news sites, and publications in…
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Building a Loyal Blog Audience: Strategies for Engagement and Growth
Introduction Growing a dedicated and engaged audience is a critical aspect of successful blogging. This post explores effective strategies to build and maintain a loyal readership for your blog. 1. Know Your Audience Understanding who your readers are is fundamental. Tailor your content to their interests, needs, and preferences. Use…
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Effective Blog Promotion: Strategies to Increase Your Reach
Introduction A key aspect of successful blogging is not just creating great content, but also effectively promoting it. This post will explore various strategies to increase the visibility and reach of your blog. 1. Leverage Social Media Platforms Utilize different social media platforms to promote your blog posts. Tailor your…
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New Zealand 2015 Routeburn Track
Our 4 night heavy-pack walk into Routeburn Falls and out. A side trip up to Harris Saddle and Conical Hill. Nights at Routeburn Falls and Routeburn Flats,
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New Zealand 2015 Stewart Island Rakiura Track
Sunday 1 Mar 2015. Day 12. Bus and Ferry to Stewart Island. Early start 5:50am with a bus pickup at 6:50am. First bus to Mossburn, then a bus to Invercargill, then a bus to Bluff & then the ferry. Ferry is a big cat passenger ferry that left at 11am…
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New Zealand 2015 – Kepler Track
Preparation. We began prep for these three walk in December 2014 and January 2015 with walks from Charlottes Pass up to Seamans Hut and Blue Lake. There we walked with about 18 kgs in the day packs. Back in Cherrybrook we undertook 5 hours a week at the gym. 2…
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Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Learnings
We have been here for just on 9 weeks, skiing about 4 times a week on distances of about 7 to 12 km on each outing. Our time here has been well worthwhile and we have learned quite a lot. I thought I should record the main learnings (so we…
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Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Week Five
Sunday 10 Aug 2014. A sunny day in Jindy and snowing on the hill. Light wind, blowing snow and poor visibility. We classic skied the 7.5km. (850kCal) Fairly ordinary underfoot and difficult conditions. This was our shortest time around. Our skills have really improved. Also, we are not stopping as…
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Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Week Four
Friday 1 Aug 2014. Snow on the ground around the cabin this morning. A bit cool inside the cabin. The road to Perisher was covered with snow and the trip up very slow. Four cars had slid off the road (a Discovery, an awd Volvo and 2 Subarus) – all…
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Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Week Three
Saturday and Sunday off. On Sunday we walked 3km into town to do our grocery shopping and walked the 3km back with groceries in our daypacks. Also spent some time trying to reorganise our grey water drainage from the van. The set up we chose last year is not allowed…
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Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Week Two
Thursday 10 July 2014. Excellent snow overnight. We classic skied the 5km track plus a part of the 2.5km. (1,212Cal) We began with a clear sky and light winds. The wind gradually increased and eventually we were in cloud and very unpleasant conditions. Two falls for me today – both…
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Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Week One
We have come down to Jindabyne for an extended stay (we hope). For those joining us a bit later on this journey, we have a van/cabin at a Jindabyne Van park that we have had since 2000. An excellent spot by the lake. Very well contained and easy to live…
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Zazu Obituary
Zazu (31 Jul 1995 – 29 May 2014) A few memories. Sleeping in the purple vest – while I had it on. She liked winter best because of that vest and really missed it each year when I stopped wearing it. Watching every shovel of dirt I shovelled in the…
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Queensland Road Trip 2014 – second
We have decided, because of cats, that we will not venture inland via Quilpie and Windorah. We will come down via Mackay, Yeppoon, Monto, Goondiwindi, Gayndah, Cessnock. Well, that is the plan as we leave. Cat dependant. The little fridge in the van does not work with electricity but it…
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Queensland Road trip 2014 – first
This road trip is partly to celebrate Helen’s mother’s 101st birthday, partly a desire to see more of far western Queensland and partly a desire for a road trip. We have the two cats (Zazu who is 19 and Neeka who is round). We are towing our Avan with our…
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New Zealand 2014 weeks 3 and 4 – Heaphy Track – Part 2
Monday 24 Mar 2014. A sparking sunny day. Almost 7 hour walk – 12 km. We really dawdled the first 3km looking at 2,000 types of moss. The track is virtually flat for the first 5km. After Weka Creek, the downs proper begin, crossing Big River (fordable – so I…
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New Zealand 2014 weeks 3 and 4 – Heaphy Track – Part 1
Sunday 16 March 2014. The 6:15 am alarm had us up so we would be ready for our 7:30am pickup from the front of Almond House by the Trek Express bus. Ex-tropical cyclone Lusi had blown a bit during the night but had dropped very little rain. A very uneventful…
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New Zealand 2014 week 2
Monday 10 March 2014. A relaxing day in the hot pools of Hanmer Springs spa. Excellent. We purchased a ‘senior day return’ which gave us two entries for the day. $18 each. Two hours there this morning and one hour this afternoon. Well worthwhile. Recommended. BBQ lunch with half a…
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New Zealand 2014 week one
Monday 3 Mar 2014 Christchurch. Today we begin a 4 week trip to NZ – to do three walks – Banks Peninsula, Nydia and Heaphy (again). We have done a great deal of preparation. I can’t think of a walking trip where we have done more prep. I hope it…
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Weight Loss in 5 easy steps
Over the last 3 months I’ve lost 7 kilos. These are the five things I’ve done. 5:2 or Fast Diet. Eat, Fast and Live Longer – Horizon.Last year, my doctor recommended a diet which was first broadcast by Michael Mosley on Horizon and later on SBS. The 5:2 diet (2…
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Policing Policy essay
I thought that I should write a few words about Policing Policy and what it means. I know something about this as I had charge of a Police Policy Unit in NSW for 9 years in the 1990s. Most police work is reactive – ie, something happens and police respond….
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Rent to buy – owner, don’t do it
Owner, do not enter into a ‘rent-to-buy’ agreement. You can be badly burnt and have no rights at law. Especially if your tenant makes any improvement – with or without your knowledge or approval – that they then claim as ‘equity’ in the property. These are my experience with a…
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France 2013 – last days
27 Apr 2013. Saturday. Day 85. Cool overcast 9C. I had quite a search to find a baguette this morning. I had to walk almost back to the town hall to find one. We loaded the car – carrying the bags down 4 flights of stairs – and drove via…
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France 2013 – week 12 – Somme
19 Apr 2013. Friday. Day 77. Showers and a bit cool at 10C. A biggish day. We were up early for our departure at 8am. We drove, mainly along tollway autoroutes (€14.60) to Paris. We came in from the south with the traffic becoming gradually heavier until we crossed the…
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France 2013 – week 11 – Flavigny in Burgandy
13 Apr 2013. Saturday. Day 71. Change over day again. A beautiful sunny day. 19C. This was the day of our ‘big drive’ half-way across France. We said goodbye to our very, very nice landlords Christina and Robert at 8am. (They checked to see we had not left anything and…
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France 2013 – week 10 – Luchon
6 Apr 2013. Saturday. Day 64. Why does it always snow on change over day? (Does twice count as always?) Today – rain, sleet and snow (heavy at times). A bit of a bad start today with some stuffed-up Frenchman demanding that we move our car when I was trying…
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France 2013 – week 9 – Tillac
30 Mar 2013. Saturday. Day 57. We left Limoux in heavy rain. In Tillac it is sunny between the roaming rain clouds. The drive from Carcassone to Toulouse was on a toll way that we have been on a few times and will travel again. From Toulouse, we travelled west…
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France 2013 – week 8 – Limoux
23 Mar 2013. Saturday. Day 50. Drizzly day 16C. Change over day again. We drove to our new house at Limoux (just south of Carcassonne). A day of driving on motorways with a stop at Narbonne. Narbonne was a very important port – first for the Romans and then during…
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France 2013 – week 7 – Montagnac 34530
16 Mar 2013. Saturday. Day 43. Change over day again. -5C overnight. Clear and sunny through to mid-afternoon – then snow! We packed up and cleared the house without problem. The house beside this one always has 2 cats asleep in a basket in the window in the sun. I’ve…
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I am a castle, chateau, church, village in southern France
Most of us have the same or similar history. Initially built between 800 and 1100. Caught up in the ethnic cleansing of the Albigensian Crusade – if on the wrong side, burnt and leveled. Built again. Caught up in the fighting of the Hundred Years War – changed hands, probably…
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France 2013 – week 6 – Cajarc
9 Mar 2013. Saturday. Day 36. Warm, sunny day after an early light shower 20C. The big market is on Saturday in Sarlat and our landlord has let us stay until noon so we can have a good look around the market. The car is parked about 350m away. So…
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France 2013 – week 5 – Sarlat
2 Mar 2013. Saturday. Day 29. A day of motorway driving. Frustrating some of the time. We certainly could not get the toll booths worked out. We had to push the help button on the first several booths. We drove about 550km mostly on motorways. All up, that cost us…
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France 2013 – week 4 – Collias
23 Feb 2013. Saturday. Day 22. Change over day. -5C and a good layer of ice on the car – took 5 mins to melt it off. Getting the two suitcases down the narrow spiral stairs made me thankful for all the gym exercises. I appalled the young lady in…
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I am Castelnaud Castle
No one knows when I was first built. In the early 13th century, my lord, Bernard de Casnac, became a fervent supporter of the Cathars and so I ended up on the losing side in the ethnic cleansing of the Albigensian Crusade. In 1214, I was seized by Simone de…
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I am Les Baux
Les Baux-de-Provence has a spectacular position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its names refers to its site — in Provençal, a baou is a rocky spur. The village gives its name to the aluminium ore…
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I am Pont du Gard
I am Pont du Gard – a Roman aqueduct bridge (Bridge of the Gard River) I am part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50 km-long structure built by the Romans to carry water from a spring at Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes). Because the terrain between the…
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I am a Roman bridge across the Rhone
I am a Roman bridge across the Rhone In its lower reaches the Rhone is a big wide river. The Roman bridge across the Rhone was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats, with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by…
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I am Barbegal – a Roman watermill
I am Barbegal – Roman watermill The Barbegal aqueduct and mill is a Roman watermill complex a few kilometres north of Arles. The complex has been referred to as “the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world”. The concept was simple, but the application is impressive. Barbegal…
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France 2013 – week 3 – Sorgue
16 Feb 2013 Saturday. Day 15. Moving day. Up early at 6 in order to leave the apartment before 7 and catch the TGV from Gare du Lyon at 8:19. We had packed last night. It all worked very well. We left the apartment at 6:45, caught the Metro 8…
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I am the battle of Arausio
I am the Battle of Arausio – a battle that changed the course of history The Battle of Arausio took place on October 6, 105 BC, at a site between the town of Arausio (modern day Orange) and the Rhône River. Ranged against the migratory tribes of the Cimbri (Danes)…
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I am a Luberon hill-village
I am a Luberon hill-village Villages in Provence were often built nestled into the hillsides or on top of hills. Houses were built around the château, and crops and vineyards were planted alongside or in the plains. Time-worn stone, shady squares, fountains flowing with clear water, and seemingly eternal sunshine…
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I am Provence
I am Provence – the Roman Provence Narbonensis So called because the Romans made the region into the first Roman province beyond the Alps, their Provincia Romana, the origin of its present name – the Roman Provence. In the 2nd century BC the people of Massalia (present day Marseille) appealed…
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I am a waterwheel on Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
For a very long time, the waters of the River Sorgue (east of Avignon) provided many factories with driving force. At first, the waterwheels were used to grind flour. Paper, textile, silk and woolen mills later found their power from this river. In the 13th century, woolen cloth called ‘blanquets’…
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I am Mont Ventoux
I am a mountain in the Provence region of southern France. As the name might suggest (venteux means windy in French), it can get windy at the summit, especially with the mistral; wind speeds as high as 320 km/h (200 mph) have been recorded. The wind blows at 90+ km/h (56+ mph)…
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I am a French buy-back leased car
I am a French buy-back leased car In the 1970s France introduced a scheme for long term tourists to lease buy-back cars. If you not a resident of an EU country and will be touring France/Europe for between 17 days (21 in the case of Peugeot and Renault) and six…
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I am a TGV – a very fast train
I am TGV – a very fast train The TGV (French: Train à Grande Vitesse, meaning high-speed train) is France’s high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. TGV was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom (now Alstom) and SNCF. …
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France 2013 – week 2 – Paris
9 Feb 2013 Saturday. Day 8. Change-over day. Snowing and sleeting early. Difficult to find a bread shop open. There is certainly a different set of shops open on weekends. I carried the two heavy cases to the bottom of the 77 stairs. The agent for the apartment met us…
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I am the Eiffel Tower – a Paris icon
I am the Eiffel Tower – a Paris icon I am a puddled iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, and named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, who company designed and built me in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair to celebrate…
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I am Angelina
I am Angelina, a wonderful tea/chocolate room at 26 rue de Rivoli in Paris. Much more than a simple patisserie or tearoom, I am a luxury brand with a prestigious image that symbolises the “French Way of Life”. The Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmayer established Angelina and named me named after…
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I am Canal St-Martin
I am Canal Saint-Martin a 4.5 km long canal in Paris. I connect the Canal de l’Ourcq to the river Seine and run underground between Bastille and République. My construction was ordered by Napoleon in 1802, in order to create an artificial waterway for supplying Paris with fresh water to support…
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I am La Madeleine
I am l’eglise de la Madeleine, a church in Paris. I was designed in my present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon’s army. To my south lies the Rue Royal and Place de la Concorde, to the east is the Place Vendôme, and to the sout-east the…
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I am Baron Haussmann
I am Baron Haussmann – I gave you the Paris you see today. Before I began, the centre of Paris had the same structure as it did in the Middle Ages; narrow, filthy interweaving streets, cramped buildings that impeded traffic flow and resulting in unhealthy, crowded conditions. Napoleon III commissioned…
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France 2013 – week 1
This trip to France could be called “Twelve Cottages in France”. We are in France for 12 weeks and are staying each week in a ‘cottage’ in a different ‘village’. Most villages have fewer than 1,000 people. (You will see a few exceptions to that rule.) We spent most of…
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I am the Pantheon in Paris
I am a large Neoclassical building just east of the Luxembourg Gardens. I am a monument celebrating France’s history and people. I also house Foucault’s long pendulum. In 1744, Louis XV was miraculously cured of a desperate illness and he built a magnificent church to honour Sainte Genevieve. Architect Soufflot…
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I am the cafe Deux Magots
Since I opened in 1885, Les Deux Magots Cafe took over from Le Procope as the cafe of ideas and the place to meet. Worldwide movements have been born in my simple atmosphere. I long had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual élite of the city…
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I am Sainte-Chapelle
I am a cathedral of glass like no other. Ethereal and magical, Sainte-Chapelle has been hailed as one of the greatest architectural masterpieces of the Western world. I was speedily built in six years between 1242 and 1248 for King Louis IX (the only French king who is now a…
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I am the Museum of the Orangerie
I am a purpose built museum to hold Claude Monet’s crowning work, his waterlily series which fill two oval rooms on my ground floor. The series of eight huge canvases were painted in his garden at Giverny. Like Beethoven going deaf, an almost blind Claude Monet drew his final works…
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I am the Palace of Versailles
I began life as a small hunting lodge and became one of the most stunningly beautiful and visited palaces in the world. The young Dauphin (soon to be Louis XIV) spent his happiest boyhood years here. Once king, Louis XIV (the Sun King) expanded the lodge by attaching wings to…
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I am Le Procope
I am the world’s first coffee house where Europe could sample the Muslim stimulant ‘coffee’ and one of the world’s oldest continuously operating restaurants. I was founded 1686 by Sicilian Francesco Procopio. I quickly became fashionable with Paris’ political and literary elite. In the 1700s, I caffeinated the revolution. My…
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I am Notre Dame Cathedral
I am an historic Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris. I am widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and am among the most well-known churches ever built. I am the cathedral of…
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Twelve cottages in France
Twelve cottages in France I am a bass in the Sydney Male Choir. My choir was invited to sing at the ANZAC Day ceremony at Villers-Bretonneux in France on 25 April 2013. We decided to take 12 weeks to explore France – each week in a different place. We wanted…
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Messiah concert Sydney Town Hall December 2012
This year’s Messiah at Sydney Town Hall was the best I have performed in. The choir was spectacular. I’ve been singing with Combined Churches Community Chest choir’s annual performance of Messiah for quite a few years. This was the best yet. The audience thought so too and gave us a…
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Singing in a choir
I am one of 13 Basses with the Sydney Male Choir. The choir has about 65 members. About equal numbers of Tenor 1, Tenor 2 and Basses and a few more of Baritones (which is of course the normal male voice range). In most pieces of music, each of the…
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99 not out concert
The Sydney Male Choir does an annual September concert, usually in the Sydney Town Hall or Sydney Angel Place Recital Hall . This year, our concert was on 23 September. It was excellent. It is hard work for us to put on a concert in such a large public venue….
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Jindabyne September 2012
Day 9 Friday 31 August. A definite day off. We drove up the hill in a heavy snow fall just for a look. A very good fall of snow. Had a wander around the Perisher Terminal (which we had not seen for a year plus) and then back to Jindabyne…
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ABC recording
As publicity for our up coming concert on 23 September, we had arranged a radio spot on ABC 702 BL radio. The show went out at about 9:30pm. We had to record our session with the presenter at 2:45pm. 22 of us turned up and crowded into a very tiny…
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Jindabyne August 2012
We have come to Jindabyne for a few weeks with the cats. Everything has been a bit fraught because of Helen’s mum and Helen’s concern. We were intending to come down in early August but have come down for a much later trip. Day 1 Thursday 23 August. Up early…
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Recording at AIM
The Sydney Male Choir makes some of its annual income from sale of CDs. Because of our changing repertoire, we need to put out a new CD each year. This year, we had four recording sessions over three days on 4th, 5th and 12th August 2012 at the Australian Institute…
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Christmas in July
As with most years, Sydney Male Choir lined up again to sing a Christmas in July concert at Ryde/Eastwood Club. We had about 40 choristers on stage. We sang 21 Christmas songs and joined the audience in singing 3 popular carols. I always think that the Christmas songs sound very…
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Wookie Obituary
Wookie – 4 January 1997 – 5 July 2011 Pedigree Cinnamon Abyssinian/Somali (Westalaam Cattery – Pedigree name: Aces Skat) ‘Little friend of all the world’ (except birds, dogs, monsters). Wookie was an excellent friend to us. He passed away on 5 July 2011 and I miss him. We called him…
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Routeburn Track New Zealand March 2011
This will cover our Routeburn walk in March 2011. We have walked this NZ Great Walk before (2004). We are doing the same track again. It basically looks like this. Let off at the road end at Routeburn Shelter (458m) on a well-graded ‘walking track’ 6.5 km (1.5-2.5hrs) to Routeburn…
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Catlins and Southland NZ 2011
Mar 18 Friday. A day off at Queenstown. We did little except do the washing (Helen), eat and I visited a physio to see about my quad (ok, it will recover). I should report on Aspen Lodge where we are staying. An excellent review. It is on Gorge Road (just…
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New Zealand 2011 Rees Dart Track
This and the next two posts describes our trip to NZ in March 2011. We walked two tracks. The Rees-Dart and the Routeburn. The Rees-Dart is a difficult, hard, demanding route. The Routeburn is a Great Walk. Both are excellent and my favourites. Mar 8, 2011 Tues. We are at…
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T’ain Obituary – Cat in a billion
T’ain male Tabby c Oct 1991 – 5 Oct 2007 T’ain was the cat who taught us about cats. Initially, we called him ‘Oscar’. But then ‘rat cat’ which became ‘rattain’ Then ‘T’ain’. Mind reading. T’ain could read our minds – of this I am certain. He…
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Europe 2007 Paris
26/7 We dropped off the car and are now in a Paris Hotel. We used the Girl to navigate to the Hotel which is one street away from the Louvre on a very narrow one-way lane (with no parking). We parked in the middle of the lane and carried the…
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Alsace, Ballons, Verdun, Champange
16/7 A day off and preparation for leaving France – we have only 14 sleeps to go. We went through the material collected and threw big chunks out. We have to get back down to 20kg each plus hand luggage and what we wear. The car, tent, chairs, table, cooking…
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Europe 2007 – Burgundy, Tour de France, Alesia
9/7 The last email finished off with torrential rain. It persisted through the morning and we headed off to try to dry out. We booked a cabin 4 hours drive (27 euros in tolls) to the NW at a place called Arnay-le-Duc in the southern part of Cote d’Or (in…
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Briancon, Chamonix
4/7 We were moving on today so dropped into town before hitting the road for a loaf of bread and what ever I could find. It seemed even quieter than normal until I walked out to the square. It was market day in Castellane. – food produce only – fish,…
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Provence, Castellane
29/6 We drove 300 km today, a day of ducts. We drove over the Viaduct du Millau (described above and ultra modern), then drove down the motorway to Montpellier and up the motorway to past Nimes to see the Pont du Gard. This is a roman built aqueduct (built 35…
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Albi, Millau
25/6 The weather got us. Thunderstorms overnight. Woke to drizzly mist, not actually raining, but dropping a lot of precipitation. We were intending to drive the stage ?? of the Tour. However, first we had to get there. This meant a drive up and down the Col du Tourmalet –…
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Pyrenees
19/6 After a long and difficult day driving south heading for the Pyrenees (big chunks of tollways 20 euro), we have found ourselves in a 2 star hotel in Lourdes. There are more hotels here per metre than any other place we have seen. It is a very sad town,…
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Dordogne
16/6 Welcome to Perigord noir – a region that specialises in truffles, walnuts, strawberries, mushrooms and fois grass – the real stuff – there are huge flocks of geese and ducks in the farm yards. It is part of the Dordogne. (For Dordogne slide show, click here.) The area is…
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Auvergne
11/6 A day off (ish). We are in the Auvergne. We went for a drive to the Col de Guery – one of the most photographed places in France (after the Eiffel Tower) – for lunch. The view is made up of two volcanic plugs (one on each side of…
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Champagne, Loire
4/6 Bonjour. Ca va? Welcome to Champagne. We are set up in a quiet camp ground in the little village of Meix de Epoing just outside Sezanne which is in southern Champagne. The area is a rolling farm land dotted with villages. On the flat areas crops- wheat, barley, potatoes,…
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Denmark 4
28/5 Woke to a misty morning that deposited just enough wet to make it uncomfortable. By mid-day the caravans that had filled the camp-ground were moving out. By night we were left with the few dozen or so regulars who have come here ‘for the season’. Yes, that is right….
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Denmark 3
We would like to point out that these are a joint production. Geoff does mainly the structure and Helen does most of the detail so should be signed Geoff and Helen. 21/5 Geoff at work. Helen at cabin. Washing and shopping. Helen is working her way along the shelves in…
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Denmark 2
14/5 Geoff had his usual run in at the supermarket near the office today. (This was where he had his gloves kicked around the store when he tried to use his Visa card last Feb.) Lined up in a line of 5 people. The person at the head of the…
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Denmark 1
We now have a significant change in our trip. Geoff is working. Helen is not. 9/5 Geoff took the car to work today putting his trust in “the girl” (gps) to get him there and back. Helen did some much needed washing – A$16 for a wash and a dry…
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Bayeux, Caen, Albert
1/5 Got off the ferry at 11:30 at Cherbourg – no passport check in site. All French shops shut. It is May day here. Drove down to the Normandy invasion beaches. First went to Point du hoc – a cliff lined position that held a commanding position over the d-day…
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Wicklow, Dublin, Newgrange
24/4 drove from Carlow over Wicklow Gap to Glendalough – very famous Irish site founded by a hermit monk St Kevin in 5xx. It became a major religious centre for until 16th century. Now a set of ruins surrounded by tour buses and covered in screaming school children. The monastery…
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Kerry, Killarney, Doolin, Burren, Borrisokane, Carlow
This is the second week and covers county Kerry in south west Ireland, countys Clare, Tipperary and Carlow. For maps, follow the links. Today (18/4) was Ring-of-Kerry day. The Ring-of-Kerry is a 179 km circuit from Killarney that goes anti-clockwise around the Kerry peninsula. Just past Killorgan, called in at…
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New Ross, Kilkenny, Waterford, Blarney
These entries describe our trip to Europe in 07. We travelled in Ireland, Denmark and France for a total of 4 months. We leased a car in Paris, took that car to Ireland by Ferry, then back to France, up to Denmark then down to France. In Ireland, we stayed…
Shield Shrimp
When it rains across Australia’s vast inland region, temporary pools crop up all over the arid ground, giving life to a strange desert crustacean known as the shield shrimp (Triops australiensis).
Named after the formidable carapace that shields its head and upper body, T. australiensis can grow up to 7.6 cm long, and it uses its long, segmented tail and mass of 60 or so legs to propel itself through shallow water.
It also breathes through these legs – its sub-class Branchiopoda means ‘gill-legged’ – and in the females these legs bear ovisacs for carrying their tiny eggs.
Several pix in the Photo Gallery and a movie.
