Brisbane photos

On our way back to Melbourne we stopped in Brisbane to visit my Dad. I'd not been to Brisbane before and I have to say it's a brilliant place. The weather was fantastic, the people friendly, the city was relaxed but with heaps going on and the beaches were gorgeous! I'd definitely consider moving if the right opportunity came up.

View of the skyline.

London has it's pigeons, Brisbane has these things!

The pond in the botanical gardens

What we found in the pond at the botanical gardens!!

Wagtail

Turtle

Our first cockatoo's in 6 years!

View from a hill

When lunch came with a flag I just had to get out the camera!

expats return

Things have been hectic for such a long time that I scarcely know what to do with myself now that we've arrived back in Australia. We have been back for around two weeks now and have been struck by a bad case of motivation loss. This makes it hard to get anything done...including blog posts.

The lack of posts...while making for slow reading does make for a backlog of news and photos and so for the next week or so I shall try to catch everyone up on what we've been doing on our protracted journey home to Oz...and of course what we've been doing since we arrived!

The time we spent in Canada was, as usual, not enough but we had a great time over there catching up with everyone and of course....shopping! If I didn't already have more countries to live in than I know what to do with I'd say that Canada might be the place for us! The people are great and always friendly, the country is beautiful and has loads to see and there are loads of yarn stores!

Eventually we had to leave and a sad day it was too. Although by that stage we were looking forward to finally getting to Australia we knew we wouldn't be back in Canada for some years and the mammoth flight in front of us was not something we were looking forward to. Between
the only bus with available seats going to the Toronto airport being 3 hours earlier than we needed to be there, various flight delays and finally fog in Brisbane leading to us landing in Sydney first it was a very long 33 odd hours later that we actually arrived in Brisbane. And so it was tired, confused and zombie like that we got our first blurry glimpse of Australia after 6 years.

I can't tell you what it was like as I really don't remember. My brain wasn't operating at the time. I do remember feeling happy I was off the plane but that was about it!!
Anyway the next few days we spent wandering around Brisbane...which is a lovely city and somewhere I intend to go back and explore properly.
We spent a lot of the time pointing out familiar shop names or wildlife we recognized. Even Noisy Minors are exciting when you haven't seen them in years.

After a few days it was time to leave for Melbourne. Somehow we managed to get everything into our suitcases one last time and after that...the rest was easy. The most exciting thing was seeing packets of Twisties in the vending machines at the airport!!!

So....we've been back two weeks today. It still feels strange. With everything being new and familiar and different all at the same time we're never quite sure what to think or how to feel. It's not a holiday but it doesn't really feel like home yet. Hopefully with some time, a car and a job we'll start to settle in.

Phew!!

I am blogging from Canada now as we arrived Sunday night. I had planned to make a last post from the UK but like many plans they just didn’t pan out the way it was supposed to and there were many things that I hoped to get done that I just had to let go. We were so busy that our heads are still spinning and we had to prioritize quite severely. However most tasks were completed in time and although we’re extremely sad at leaving I can’t say that we’re not happy that the actual leaving part is now over.

So once again all our worldly goods are packed in boxes and due to be shipped back in a few months time, our suitcases were allowed on the plane despite them bursting at the seams (who knew that hand luggage could be heavier than normal sized suitcases??? Our flight was uneventful...which is how you want a flight to be and we arrived in Canada ½ hour early and whizzed through customs in about 10 mins! Very unlike last time when we stood in a queue for 2 hours!! The best news was that they didn’t even question my new ‘airplane’ safe knitting needles and so I spent most of the flight happily knitting away and impressing the stewardesses!!

Anyway the big move has commenced and in a month we’ll be back in the land of OZ, sweltering in the Autumn heat and fighting off the spiders (not that I’m scared or anything!) For now however we’re taking a well earned break! My Internet access is limited here so posts will be intermittent although I will try to post some more photos when I get the opportunity. For now you will have to make do with the photos below as taken from the plane.

This one is taken whilst over England. I love the patterns the clouds were making.

The one above and the ones below are all of Canada as we were flying over. The amount of snow and ice that was still on the ground was amazing and the patterns created...stunning!

But there was more...

Egypt wasn’t all tombs, temples and pyramids tho. There were heaps of other things going on. The Nile was an amazing river, full of life and activity. The countryside was beautiful, the towns were full of life, the food was gorgeous (we ate so much!), the culture was exciting and the people so, so friendly.

We spent a day just wandering around the Khan al-Khalili market in Cairo. It’s massive and has different sections to it. We bought spices (hibiscus tea…yum) and some touristy trinkets, scarves and the obligatory shot glasses for the collection.
Mostly it was just great to walk around. People calling out, colorful scarves and clothing fluttering about and everywhere you looked something new to stare at.
The Mosques were extremely beautiful both inside and out. The call to prayers which we heard at various times immediately evoked a feeling that you were somewhere different. Somewhere exotic and gave the cities an amazing atmosphere. The Felucca ride along the Nile was one of the most relaxing things we’ve ever done. Drifting along with the wind and the sound of the waves lapping up against the boat…lovely!
Gorgeous scenery of contrasting environments. A ribbon of green farmland hugging the Nile and surrounded by the red and tan sands of the desert. Hmm that was nicely poetic!!And of course the donkeys. They were everywhere…even in the middle of Cairo! Carrying massive loads on their backs or pulling carts piled incredibly high. Gotta love the donkeys!

What lies beneath

The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens were two of the most impressive places we visited. To get in the complex’s themselves you had to run the usual gauntlet of stalls selling touristy junk and within the complex’s the crowds made getting around hard. But to see…to actually go down into these tombs and to see the vivid colors still on the walls, to contrast the unfinished caverns with the mirror smooth corridors and to comprehend the amount of work that went into covering every available space with carvings, both stories of life and assistance for the afterlife, was truly awe inspiring.

The valley is all rocks and stone and cliff edges. It’s remote, dry and very dusty. It’s overlooked by the pyramid-like mountain peak of Al-Qurn.

The entrance to the tomb of Ramses 4th (KV2). All the entrances were equally unassuming. Just holes in the ground with no hint of what lies beneath.

The entrance to the tomb of Ramses 9th (KV6). The entrances and corridors were much bigger than I thought they would be. Not like the Pyramids at all. All the corridors and chambers were covered in carvings and paintings, much of which looked as vivid as if they were new.

Digging out the entrance to another tomb. To see the amount of effort it takes just to excavate a tomb puts things into perspective when you try to imagine the scale of work involved in carving a tomb out of the mountain side. I doubt there's any one person today who could inspire so many people to work so hard.

By comparison the Valley of the Queens (above) was dead (excuse the pun!) We were pretty much the only people there, which although nice, made us fair game for the tomb guides who followed us into the tombs explaining the hieroglyphs and holding out their hands for baksheesh!!

Gateways to the Afterlife

The pyramids have to be one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Egypt. Who wouldn’t want to look at the only remaining survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World! They were definitely one of the highlights of the trip and I feel really privileged to have been able to see them. Still have to keep pinching myself!
We also went to the sound and light show that goes on at night. It was very touristy but it did gave us time to sit and take it all in...ponder the meaning of live and think about the enormity of these monuments!
Saqqara is the massive cemetery complex of Memphis which was the capital of Egypt for much of the Pharaonic period. It was actively used by Pharaohs and other important people for more than 3500 years. The Step Pyramid (photo above) is the earliest stone monument in the world, built in 2650 BC. Before this tombs were underground rooms covered in a mudbrick slab or 'mastaba'.
This pyramid belongs to Zoser and was designed and build by his chief architect, Imhotep, who developed the mastaba style tombs upwards and built them out of stone to deter grave robbers.
So this is basically the forerunner to the pyramids. Perhaps that’s a bit too much info for a blog but I thought it was worth sharing.

Although there are many other pyramids in Egypt the ones at Giza are the most well known and live up to the hype that surrounds them. They are Massive and awe inspiring and amazing and unbelievable and very surreal. Although there is a bit of space around them the city is quite close and that does add a touch of the strange to it all.

The oldest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (above) which used to stand 146m high (now shorter by 9m) and it’s reckoned that it was built with 2.3million limestone blocks…weighing on average 2.5 tonnes each.

The Great Pyramid in front with the Pyramid of Khafre behind. Near the right corner you can see a person which gives some perspective on the size of the blocks used.

The Pyramid of Khafre stands at 136m high and is still capped with the limestone casing that all the pyramids would have been covered in. It gives you an idea of what they would have actually looked like when first completed.
We actually went into this one and it was not really a fun thing. Very hot inside and loads of people in a very small space. The tunnel in is very steep and even I had to bend double so as not to hit my head. The sarcophagus is still there but there is little decoration on the walls. I would not recommend going inside to those who even think that maybe one day they might be claustrophobic.

And this is a camel that was camera shy. I waited for ages but it wouldn’t turn around!!

No Hassle Free

Well we are home and things are returning to normal now. Although the trip to Egypt was short I can honestly say that its effect and memory will be lasting. The place, the culture, the people….they get right under your skin.

As I said in my last post we started in Cairo and spent our first day pinching ourselves as we stood in front of the pyramids. I still can’t quite grasp that I’ve seen them. I wish we had of had time to go back again because it all seems so surreal now. They are massive beyond anything I expected and that’s on a physical, mental and spiritual level.

We also visited the Cairo Museum which is stuffed full of amazing things, not least of which are the items from the tomb of Tutankhamun. We wandered around old Cairo, visited synagogue and church and mosque, did a little shopping, ate some fantastic food and generally walked around with our mouths and our eyes wide open in amazement!

We took an overnight train to Aswan. I shall only say this about the train…if you can organize it…fly instead. Aswan was a different world. Admittedly we were a little dazed after our train ride and very little sleep however after Cairo, Aswan was quiet, peaceful, brighter, cleaner and the Nile was blue. Here we visited the Philae temple complex, Abu Simbel, spent an afternoon on a Felucca, haggled our way through the market and wished we could reorganize the trip so we could stay longer!

But we had to keep moving and so we made our way to Luxor by way of the Kom Ombo and Edfu temples…both were amazing with vivid carvings covering every inch of their massive structures.Luxor was much more like Cairo than Aswan with more traffic and plenty of hassling. Whenever we passed by a shop people would appear out of nowhere calling, "Come look in my beautiful shop" and "Come look at my rubbish!" Horse and carriage drivers would walk slowly beside you on the street and taxi drivers would call out "Hey lucky man....you want to rent my taxi?” Luxor didn’t let up on the amazing though. With the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and both Luxor and the Temples of Karnak we were kept in a constant state of “gob-smacked-ness”!!

It is possible for someone to get ‘templed-out’ and I’ve been there before but not this trip. In fact the more temples we saw the more information started to sink in and we were able to recognize hieroglyphs and what they meant or understand why things were built the way they were and get a taste of the culture back then. It's hard to equate the civilization that was with ruins that are left behind, but every now and then we'd turn a corner or come across a painting or carving that for a second would give you a glimpse of the sheer scale of what used to be. It just took your breath away.

After Luxor we, somewhat reluctantly, caught another overnight train to Cairo. This one was better than the first but it’s still a rough trip. Our last day was spent wandering around the Khan al-Khalili market…a great place to wander around. So many sights and sounds and colors, so much to buy, so many people trying to talk to you and get your attention. By now we were at ease with the aggressive nature of selling and this was one of the highlights of the trip. I love markets!

Egypt is a fascinating place so full of contrasts that it makes your head spin. The people are friendly, the sights are amazing and neither of us wanted to leave when our time was up. We only had a whirlwind tour of 8 days or so and it was nowhere near enough to see and do everything we wanted but what a brilliant ‘taster’. We’ve already decided that we are going back…tomorrow would be good for me!!

Over the next few days I’ll post some photos of the places we saw. As per usual we took quite a few photos and I’m still in the process of sorting them out….

hello...where you from?

Coming to you direct from exploring the market streets of Aswan....I've managed to locate an internet cafe with internet! (not as common as you would expect)
Egypt is an amazing place...very hard to describe its so full of contrasts. I'll perhaps try to explain it a bit better when I've got more time, however we are loving it. People are incredibly friendly and once you get used to tipping every one....sometimes just for being there....you find that people will do just about anything for you.
We spent two days in Cairo, visiting the pyramids, museums, churches, temples and the old Cairo area before catching the overnight train to Aswan. It was not a good trip. In the end the train was 4 hours late and we spent the last couple of hours dodging mice. I'm not even going to mention the toilets!!!
Aswan is a completey different feel to Cairo. More relaxed, calmer and less hectic. The Nile is the centre of everything and although we've seen some amazing temples here I think our highlight so far was the felucca trip we took out around the islands today. So relaxing just to see the world float by.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to post as yet. We've already taken an embarrasingly large number and I'll get some online as soon as we get home.

Off again...

Tomorrow we're off to Egypt. We'll only be gone for a week but the blog will be quiet unless I find some Internet access out there.

We're rather excited at this point to be finally going to see a country that we've read so much about. Of course there's the pyramids which will be amazing but there's the vibrant culture and ancient history as well. It's a 9 day trip and we'll be visiting Cairo, Aswan and Luxor. Not quite long enough to get off the beaten track but we figure we can always go back!!

Of course we'll be taking a hideous amount of photos that I will endeavour to share with you upon our return...goes without saying really!

Ok...now I really must go and pack!

Thump of Reality

Oh what a shock to the system! We are back home and after a failed alarm call and a mad dash through peak hour public transport I’m back at work…and wondering why! (Oh yeah…the money!!)

Canada was really great. One of the most disorganised trips we’ve ever done (this refers to ME not to anyone at the Canada end) but it turned out to be one of the best holidays we’ve had in years. (this IS due to everyone at the Canada end!)
First and foremost the wedding was stunning. All the bridal party looked fantastic, the reception was fun and elegant with loads of dancing, fabulous food and fairy lights and of course the bride and groom looked beautiful and happy and very much in love.

After recovering from the wedding we managed to sneak away for a few days up the Bruce Peninsular, several hours drive north of Toronto. We went for the walking and the marine park but only managed a few hikes before the weather turned on us with the storm of the century (well almost!!)
With no boats running and not even a jumper between us we decided to cut the trip short and returned to London (Ont.) We were more than a little disapointed but with no rain gear there was little we could do so we decided that next time we’ll make some time to go up there again.

Also squeezed in a bit of shopping (since the exchange rate makes things so cheap) but didn’t make it into Toronto to the various yarn stores there and so came home yarn-less. To make matters worse I’ve just learnt there was one of the biggest (in Canada) knitting shows not more than an hour from where we were and I never knew about it. Sigh. Still I shall console myself with the fact that
a) the dollar has gone down again against the euro and so I can buy even more yarn over the internet!
b) I couldn’t have got anything else into my suitcase with the army of jeans I brought back with me!!!!!

Overall the holiday was more about spending time with folks than seeing the sights and most of the time we were sitting around somewhere just catching up on the last two years and generally having great time. In fact we had such a great time we nearly didn’t come home and 24 hours after arriving back we’re already talking about our next trip out there!!!

Can’t wait.

Here I am!

Sorry for the delay in posting. I meant to put something up here before we left for Canada but ran out of time.
So.....we're now in Canada! London Ont. to be exact. We've been hanging out with family for the past week or so and we are planing to take off up the Bruce Peninsula somewhere this week for a few days and do some sight seeing.

The wedding went really well. Very beautiful and loads of fun and we have hundreds of photos.
Here's one of the happy couple!
And one of the other happy couple!!!

The wedding was amazing with loads of great food, dancing and catching up with folks we hadn't seen in two years! We're only sad as this will be the last wedding for a while and there goes our excuse to come over here!!!

Ok that's all I have time for now but will post more details and photos when we get back from Canada in a week or so!

Here I am...finally!

Apologies for the delay in posting. We are back in the land of normality…at least for a few weeks anyway but we came home to house guests and life has been way too busy for true comfort or blogging.

Ireland was great….a truly beautiful country and I’m so glad we finally made it there.
It wasn’t the easiest holiday we’ve ever done but that was mostly us rather than the destination. Things were very hectic before we left and it took us a long time to relax and begin to enjoy ourselves properly. There’s a lot to share but I’ll do it over the next few weeks rather than in one 952 page blog post! First Ireland I think and the last week or so of our trip.

From Dunfanghy we moved south through the gorgeous scenery of Glencolumbcille and from there on to the charming tows of Sligo, one of our favourite places of the trip. We checked out Knocknarea Cairn where Queen Maeve is said to be buried standing upright with her sword in her hand. We wandered around the Connemara national Park for a bit before heading for Galway where we sat ourselves down in a pub and spent the night listening to music, chatting and drinking…well…when in rome!
The Burren was great with loads to see. We went into the Aillwee caves, visited all the forts and ruins we could find and still found time to comb the beaches.
Dingle was one of our favourite peninsulas with so much to see and all surrounded by stunning scenery. And despite the other travellers around we never once felt crowded or ‘touristy’.
Cork was a city we’d like to go back to (and are thinking about a long weekend very seriously). Great atmosphere, great shopping, great music and overall just a really good vibe to the place.
Ventured down to Kilmore Quay where we had the best food of the trip…lovely monkfish at “the wooden house”. And then up to Glendalough where we spent our last day wandering around the monastic city and national park before making our way back to Dublin.

We found some of the best spots by doing a little research beforehand and doing a little exploring on the day. I have to say I found most of the ‘big’ touristy sights to be a disappointment but then I do like to get off the beaten track and I’m not at all saying they weren’t worth seeing…just that they weren’t as special or as impressive as I’d thought they might be. Still…that’s just my personal opinion and I think it depends on what you’re looking for too.
Overall it was a great holiday and I’d definitely encourage everyone who can to go over there. The people are friendly, the food great and the scenery and sights amazing…more about some of the highlights in a day or so.

Hit the Road Jack...

Well after welcoming all the good folks I know to the blog on Wednesday it seems kinda timely to share some news. It’s nothing we haven’t done before but that doesn’t make it any less nerve wracking as we up sticks and hit the road once again.

YUP it’s travel time!! (who else just started singing that MC hammer song?)

We’ve handed in our resignations, finished our contracts, cleaned out our lockers and handed in our ID passes. We've packed our bags, watered the plants and turned out the lights!

It’s been a decision this time, made bigger and harder than it would normally have been by work issues and stuff. But mostly, I think by the fact that we’re a little older now and love our comfort zone dearly!! (see earlier posts)
There's a time issue as well as we don't want to be away forever and the most difficult thing has been balancing what we want to see with how much time we want to be away.
However in the end we decided to just do it and to hell with everything else. After all what’s life if you don’t get out there and live it occasionally?

So…we finish work on the 13th July and take off for three weeks in Ireland on the following Monday (16th). Full itinerary to follow soon but it’s going to be great and after all the stress of deciding to go, we’re starting to really look forward to it and relax with the idea. Provided I can find internet connections along the way you guys will hear about it as it happens. I’m not sure about photos yet but fingers crossed I can post a few from the road.

There’s definitely and absolutely more travel planned after that but I do like to leave an audience wanting more…

Ghosts of the Forest

Tuesday was a horrifically early start of 2am in order to get up to Heathrow in time. However the trip up was relatively painless as was the flight to Helsinki. We then had a 7 hour or so wait as the flight in the middle of the day to Kajaani had been cancelled several weeks prior. We wandered around the airport……played the “spot the other photographers” game and generally sat around staring into space. Eventually we boarded our connecting flight and spotted the other photographers. At this point we started to feel rather inadequate with regards to our kit due to the size of everyone else’s backpacks….but nothing we could do about that.
We arrived in Kajaani and piled into a mini bus for the 2 hour drive to the lodge. By this stage it was almost 10pm and still as light as midday. Saw a few moose on the drive. Strange looking creatures they are…all legs and antlers.

The Lodge was very impressive and not just because we arrived around midnight. Comfy beds, the best showers ever and best of all….no mosquitos inside!! Yup cause it’s mosquito season in Finland and going outside was like walking into a swarm of the little blighters. We had bought some all natural repellent before leaving and then panicked at the airport and bought some cans of 100% Deet as well….just in case. However the natural stuff worked a treat (as I knew it would all along!) and I only got bitten once. Of course I swallowed a dozen of the horrid little things but you can’t get a spray for that.

The next day was pretty relaxed to start of with. We went for a walk in the woods with the resident reindeer. Billy is fairly tame and likes his walks. There was no way he was being left behind which was nice since he clearly knew the way better than we did!!
Here’s an interesting point. Did you know that reindeer antlers are warm to touch?? I didn’t.

Right then…on to the important part. We had an early dinner (side note…the food was great) before setting of to the hides at 4pm. This entailed a brief mini bus journey followed by a 2.5km trek through the bear & mosquito infested woods!! Brown bears are timid creatures though and you’ll never see them in the wild unless they want you to or they don’t know your there.

Weather wise it wasn’t the best…cloudy and raining. Good for the bears as they don’t like the heat but it created very low light conditions for photography.
The hides (there were two) were quite comfy with car seats (cause they recline) set up near the viewing positions. Once we were all settled in our places we were locked in for the night. We had a guide stay with us to provide information and cups of tea, there were bunk beds for those who couldn’t stay up all night and a chemical loo!!

The bears failed to show at 6pm which was the expected time however they turned up by 7pm and the sound of hard working cameras filled the air. I’m surprised the bears didn’t turn tail and run and I’m sure they heard the camera but they must have got used to it over time as they really didn’t seem to care. Possibly the mounds of salmon was distracting them!

It rained on and off over the night but that only seemed to encourage the bears. They came and went at will right up until about 3 or 4am when the action tapered off. Although the sun never actually set below the horizon it did get a little too dark between 11pm and 2am for my camera/lens set up and so I managed a few hours sleep in my reclining car seat.

The second night was the same deal…early dinner and then the drive and walk to the hides. It had been raining on and off all day BUT started to fine up as we were walking through the woods and we ended up with sun and blue sky. A few clouds remained but they only served to highlight the colours of the sunset and sunrise. The trees did a pretty good job of that also turning a fiery red for much of the evening.
This time the bears were in much better form and almost from the moment we arrived they were there. I was so busy taking pictures of a lesser spotted woodpecker that I never even noticed the bears to start off with!
They call them the Ghosts of the Forest because you never hear them coming for all their size and weight. And they are right. There were about 16 bears in the area and we never knew where they would appear next. They just floated in and out of the clearing at will.

Four of the bears were large males and none of them with a decisive advantage over the others. So we didn’t see any of this year’s cubs as the mothers would have been very wary of all the males. The oldest bear we saw was late 30’s and the youngest a yearling.
There were a couple of fights and squabbles, some power plays and some bonding, a number of half hearted attempts at mating, loads of back rubbing and scratching, quite a few chases (bears move very, very quick and sound like thunder when they run) and a huge amount of chewing with mouths open (bears have no table manners).

The first night we were woken to the sounds of threatening growls and grunts. Looking outside we saw one very aggressive male chasing off all the others. The second night we woke up to the sounds of frantic scrabbling and saw a yearling shooting up a tree at the speed of light. It went up and down several times before deciding to make a break for it and tearing off into the undergrowth. The bears it considered threatening barely looked up from their salmon!

I was amazed at how soft and fluffy they looked and really wanted to go out and just sink my hands into their coats. I didn’t…..but I wanted to! Their social interplay was fascinating to watch as bears are usually much more solitary and don’t gather in groups such as this. You could clearly see that some bears didn’t like other bears and some were friends or old buddies. You could see those at the top of the hierarchy and how the other reacted.
Seeing that first bear was an amazing moment. It was hard to believe we were really seeing bears in the wild! I feel incredibly privileged to have seen them and I can’t help but think if more folk saw animals like this in their natural environment, just doing their thing….then we wouldn’t have to worry about animals becoming endangered.
One of the shortest trips we’ve done…..but one of the best.

I learnt quite a lot on this trip despite how short it was. I learnt heaps about low light photography but I also learnt that I’m too old to be staying up all night and that changing your sleeping patterns for just two nights is enough to make it a real struggle to change them back again! Also I confirmed that BA is the worst airline I’ve ever travelled on but that’s another topic altogether! (nuff said about the flight home huh!!)

I’ll try to put more photos up as I find time but it is a lengthy process and we have upwards of 500-600 to work through so please be patient. I’m so, so glad we managed to do this trip (although disappointed it’s already over!) It was so worth the lack of sleep and long travel hours to be able to spend time with these gorgeous animals. We had an amazing time and I hope that, despite our lack of ‘kit’ the photos reflect that.
Since I'm having some trouble with photos and layout here you can see the photos if you click HERE!

packing my suitcase

Welllll, matt spoke to his aunty in canada…finally and it’s full steam ahead. We’ve been told officially that there are beds for us to sleep in and that our invites have been posted. I’m rather excited now. I love Canada and besides that the Yarn Harlot frequents the Toronto area and yes I know the odds are against me bumping into her on the street…but I live in a world of dreams!

Roll on September!!! Now I'm too excited to work or even look like I'm working! In canada there are people we love and long to see again...not to mention the fabulous yarn shops to visit!! Can't wait, can't wait!

Plus on the weekend I was walking past some shops and I saw a dress in the window that would be perfect…for someone else perhaps. It wont suit me as it’s strapless and wearing dresses with the bodice hanging down around my waist is not a style suitable for weddings...at least not for me.
But I did see some other possibilities further in the store so the dress hunt has commenced. A very important hunt indeedy as it is for two weddings and possibly a day at the races!!

So all I need to do now is book the tickets (this week), hire a car and plan what we want to see while we’re there! I think we’ll be sticking to Ontario while we’re there this time. I’d love to get out into some of that wilderness again but I doubt we’ll have time.
Of course in my tiny little mind that sounded like a challege!! Oh dear.

The bad news is that once again we are going at the wrong time to see polar bears. Sigh…

Knitting is going slowly. Last night I ripped what I’d done of the front as it was looking pretty bad. There are so many ways of increasing and decreasing stitches that it’s gotten rather confusing. I do this to myself at times. I believe it’s caused by thinking too much and thus complicating matters. Anyway I had a play around and I think I’m a little better but it might be time to visit the knitting mentor…...which for some reason I can never say without hearing a fanfare in my head.

My head is a strange and mysterious place. Enter at your own risk!

Eureka, I see the light

You know that feeling when finally you open your eyes and realise that your brain has been trying to tell you something and is on the verge of packing a small suitcase, shoving the pot plants in a plastic bag and walking out the door in exasperation because you wont listen!!

Hmm….well I do.

I’ve been trying to organise some travel plans of late…ok...truth? I’ve been thinking about trying to organise some travel plans of late…and that is the problem.

I am normally a very organised person. Some would say too organised, some would say bordering on obsessive; some would stand in the middle of the street pointing a quavering finger and screaming “freak, there’s the freak”. I say their just they’re jealous of my list making and box ticking capabilities.
But lately all that has disappeared and I’ve been unable to plan or organise or settle and make a decision. I’ve been suffering from organizers block and at least travel wise I’ve been unable to do a thing. Very frustrating and somewhat stressful as time flies by me at the speed of sound.

However it has happened before in various areas of my life and usually there’s a good reason behind it. And after much inner thought and deep pondering I think I know what that is.

I don’t want to travel.

I’m a simple sort of girl and if this moving to a new country and doing exciting stuff phase of my life has taught me anything it’s that I’m not a natural traveller.
Don’t get me wrong I love the discovery of new places, the excessive photo taking, the sights, sounds and smells (sometimes) of new cultures. But I never relax when I travel. I always initially feel sick and there’s a high level of stress that seems to follow me around.
It’s enjoyable and exciting but not comfortable and when it comes down to it….I loves me comfort! Perhaps I’ve grown past the stage where I can be ok with living out of a bag, constantly moving around and not being able to speak the language or perhaps I was never that person to begin with. I’d like to think I was, perhaps it’s just my priorities that have changed, who knows. In any case faced with the thought of several months of travel I subconsciously sabotaged myself by doing nothing.

Part of the problem is that there is this idea in my head that if we travel we need to go for a long time and see everything cause lord knows when we might get to see it again. We seem to get stuck into the work rut very easily these days.
It’s taken me a while but I think I’ve figured it out. I have to let it go. What I see, I see and what I don’t see won’t mean the end of the world. And it won’t mean that we're not taking advantage of what we have around us because although it feels like it sometimes, travel is not why we came over here.

So….there are a few places that we’ve wanted to see for ages and instead of careering madly around a huge number of countries and seeing very little we will focus on getting to those places we have a hankering to see.
Ireland is one of them and just thinking about it I can feel the excitement and eagerness to go flowing back into me. We’re thinking three weeks or so and we can drive around at our leisure and see whatever we want. The little towns as well as the larger cities.
Phew….glad I sorted that one out! I think I’ll go do some organising now.