Beginning our Tasmanian Adventure

For the first time in two and a half years we're having a holiday in the greatest country in the world - Australia. We love visiting home and catching up with everyone but we just wish it didn't involve such a long flight. We've flown with Emirates the last few times as the experience is always as good as it can be when you're flying economy

Picture of us in Heathrow waiting for our flight minus makeup so a little bit scary.

The airport was decorated for Christmas and I really liked the Christmas trees that were dotted throughout.

After nearly 7 hours on the plane we had a two and a half hour stop in Dubai - the airport is lovely and we like this fountain that sits behind the elevators.

After two more long flights split by half an hour in Singapore and my legs nearly seizing up, we arrived in Melbourne. My beloved has never spent any time in the city but I'll have to correct that one day - I'd love to take Ken to an Aussie Rules game and of course it would have to feature Carlton, the greatest team ever (no comments from the cheap seats about our recent performances).

We had a few hours to mooch around Tullamarine airport and it was really nice to see Tasmanian wine for sale.

The airport was decorated for Christmas and we loved the decorations that were painted on the walls.

Below is Ken being a spotter and checking out the planes - or he may have been doing an impression of Tattoo from Fantasy Island (sorry, you have to be of a certain age to get that reference).

After the huge planes we'd flown to Australia in, the toy plane we get across the straight to Tassie always comes as a bit of a shock to the system.  Thankfully it was a lovely calm day with not very much wind - I have done this flight in the past when even the flight attendants didn't undo their seatbelts.

If you look really closely, in the picture below you can see a distant shot of the nut, and the one below that is a shot of table cape as we flew into Wynyard.

I'm sure if you've read any of our blogs you'll know that we're big fans of silliness - we like to have a laugh, so we've obtained a mascot for our holiday and he will be sharing our adventures with us. We'd like to introduce you to Crumble the Devil (crumble after one of my favourite chocolate bars, violet crumble) and a devil as they're uniquely Tasmanian.

Wynyard may be small but it isn't short of our favourite type of shop, cafes. You know we love coffee and cake. My favourite is Rumours - it has fabulous food and a great decor.

Crumble made the acquaintance of one of Rumours rare green rabbits.

But then he totally embarrassed himself by deciding to see what rabbit tasted like - I can see we're going to have to keep an eye on him.

Today we went for a walk along the river track as it was a glorious sunny 21 degrees.  The track is alongside the Inglis river which runs for 62.1km before it flows into the sea at Wynyard and used to be part of our cross country route when I was at school.

Sorry, but I had to sneak in a graveyard - this is the old Wynyard graveyard which is at the end of the track.

We then walked down through Gutteridge gardens  which were developed by Richard Gutteridge after the first world war and after his death in 1940 the council took them over. Along the path someone has written some very positive graffiti on the path - this was just one of many.

Now in the past I have been known to make my beloved put on silly hats so that I can take pictures of him - today I think Ken was getting his own back when he made me model these glasses - at least they matched what I was wearing.

One of the things I really love about this little town is the colonial style homes - here's just two that we like.

So our holiday has started well despite the jet lag, Ken is suffering more than me and is fading by mid afternoon - the sunglasses are hiding our tired eyes.

Until next time, be happy, stay safe, and do something nice for someone who can never thank you.

Pamela and Ken
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Crossbones Graveyard, everyday heroes, and a cathedral cat

On a beautiful sunny Autumn day about a month ago we went into London to explore some hidden gems. Ever since we did our recent street art tour of Camden we've taken more notice of the art we see - the below BT box was painted by Morganic (click the name to go to their website).

The first place we visited was Crossbones graveyard which is not far from London Bridge station. Crossbones was a graveyard as far back as medieval times for prostitutes and what were considered the dregs of society

On the 23rd of each month a vigil is held to remember the people who died. People leave tokens of remembrance on the gates.  The area behind the gates is being turned into a beautiful memorial garden.

We then wandered back down towards the Thames, coming across an art installation that was part of the Merge festival going on around the area. The Chamber of Wishes was a wishing well that involved writing a wish on a card, and then visiting the wishing well which used bio-luminescent sea water. There were hanging glass baubles with sea water in them that when tapped glowed for a few seconds - it was very magical. We then hung our wishes up with everyone else's.

The sign for the wishes was made out of marbles

Many wishes - let's hope the majority come true

I thought the picture below shows the two sides of London quite well - the old and a war memorial shadowed by the ever present shard.

We then went through Borough Market on the way to visit Southwark Cathedral.

Beautiful flower stall

Spooky gingerbread men for Halloween

Spooky cakes

Boy playing a saw - yes we had stepped back in time

As the sign above states, Christians have worshipped on this site since AD 606 and Southwark Cathedral is the oldest gothic church in London.  It's a really beautiful building, but as it is in the middle of a really built up area and surrounded by the market and train lines, it's impossible to get a picture of the building to show it's true splendour.  Instead, enjoy shots taken inside the church.

The above is a prayer map for Zimbabwe

Squirrel trying to get away from the Cathedral cat

Above is the cathedral cat who has a very impressive name - Doorkins Magnificat!!  He turned up at the cathedral in 2008 and has become a regular fixture since - often to be found in the cathedral or enjoying the sun in the garden.  Or, as he was the day we were there, keeping the local squirrels in line.  I love that the cathedral has adopted him, and there are even things to buy in the gift shop that represent him.

The below carved boulder is to commemorate Sachem Mahomet Weyonomon a member of the Mohegan tribe in North America who died in London in the 1700's when he had come to meet with the King about the tribal lands being stolen from his people.

After we left the cathedral we found a lovely old pub called the Mudlark which was based near the Thames - if you read my last post you will know what a mudlark is, and that is why we chose to eat there.

Ken chose our table and without realising, he'd sat beneath the great Australian flag.  They had the flags up as it was during the Rugby World Cup.

One of the features of this pub is that they sell real ales from local brewery's.  To commemorate the world cup they had several with a rugby theme, like the one below.  Rather fitting as that is how the final ended up, just not quite the result I would have liked.

Another great piece of street art - where not sure what the artist is trying to say with it, but it's very striking.

Wherever you go in London you always come across buskers - these two gentlemen were from the more high class type of street performer.

View of the north side of the Thames with St Paul's dominating the skyline.  Then a selfie taken on the millennium bridge with St Paul's behind us.

As we walked towards St Paul's we passed the below building - perhaps this is where Michael and Kitt are spending their retirement (fans of 80's TV will know what I'm talking about).

The sculpture below is The Nail, by Gavin Turk and is 12 metres high.  It was unveiled in 2011.

An old police phone box - they aren't in use anymore but I'm glad they've been left as a feature in London.

Our next stop was Postman's Park which has a rather unique memorial within.  It is the Watts Memorial to Historic Self Sacrifice - beautiful ceramic tiles detailing acts of bravery by ordinary people that unfortunately resulted in their deaths.  I've included pictures of a couple of the plaques, along with some lovely headstones resting against a wall.

A different view of the Nail which shows St Paul's behind it - apparently the sculpture is meant to represent the difference between the old and the new of London and the hundreds of years between them.

Our final stop on our wander was Selfridge's, which is a very posh department store in London on Oxford Street.  I love the displays they have inside.

Skull shaped Tequila bottles

Very expensive alcohol - the biggest bottle is £59,000!!!  We could nearly buy a house for that - some people obviously have more money than sense.

Docking station and speakers, shaped like a French Bulldog, for a smart phone.

The goat was actually moving - it was to demonstrate the head camera that he's wearing - something for the thrill seekers.

Lovely Jelly Beans

Even lovelier Macaroons.

The one thing that you can always rely on Selfridge's for is their window displays - every window had huge flowers in them and they were advertising the Apple Watch which is the very small black dot in front of the middle flower.

So that was another day out in London discovering more of the quirky things that this city has to offer - you can never get bored.

Until next time, keep smiling, stay safe, and have a fantabulous week.

Pamela & Ken

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