Taking in Some Spectacular Blue Mountain Scenery
Today was set aside from travel so that we could explore some of the sights of the Blue Mountains. This area of New South Wales is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length […]
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Travelling on to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains
We left Canberra this morning with happy memories of the 50 Year Vietnam War Commemoration and the mates that I had caught up with over lunch yesterday. Just out of Canberra, the road passed Lake George which for most of my memory had been empty and the land used for grazing sheep and cattle. Right […]
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Its Fifty Years Since Australia’s Involvment in the Vietnam War Concluded
Today is Vietnam Veterans Day and it was a special day. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans assembled in our nation’s capital, Canberra, to commemorate fifty years since our last troops were withdrawn from Vietnam and our war there ended. Similar services took place in cities and towns across Australia today. Our Prime Minister’s message for this […]
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Our Second Day Travelling to Canberra
Driving from Albury to Canberra took us past a number of smaller towns that are now bypassed by the Hume Highway. We made a point oif diverting into some of them for their beauty and history. At Holbrook, we stopped at the local bakery to buy some bread rolls for lunch. Until 2013, Holbrook was […]
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We’re On The Road Again
Today, we started out on another road trip that will take us to Canberra and beyond. Tonight we are in Albury. Google Maps told us that this journey from home would have been just over three hours but it actually took us about seven. This is because we chose a much more scenic route through […]
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I’m Officially a ‘Golden Oldie’
I found out today that I am now a ‘Golden Oldie’. I attended a reunion lunch for past students of Melbourne High School and it seems that everyone who graduated over 55 yrears ago is now classed as a ‘Golden Oldie. The Old Boys Association (Unicorn Club) holds a reunion dinner every five and ten […]
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A Visit to Pentridge Prison’s Hell Hole – H Division
During the week, I spent a morning doing a tour of H Division within the old Pentridge Prison in Coburg. Pentridge Prison was a notorious correctional facility located in Coburg, Melbourne, Australia. It operated from 1851 to 1997. Originally built as a stockade for prisoners during the Victorian gold rush, it later evolved into a […]
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Commemorating Those Lost in Battle
You might think that when an unknown soldier dies on the battlefield, his name will just be recorded on a list of ‘Missing in Action’ or his remains will be interred in a grave with a headstone simply marked as an “Unknown Soldier”. This is not always the case! Today I attended the annual commemoration […]
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My Fifty-Five Year Anniversary
Today, July 17, is quite a momentous anniversary for me. It’s fifty five years since I was required to report for National Service training and become a soldier in the Australian Army. I don’t know where those fifty five years have gone. Perhaps getting married, having children, raising a family, developing a career, working hard […]
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Some More of Lightscape
Here are a few more images from my Lightscape visit. I’m testing whether some different software will make images available to Apple users who currently see just a placeholder in the emails that this website publishes. Unfortunately, Apple (Mac, iPad and iPhone) users need to click on the title in the email to open the […]
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Lightscape at Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens
Last night, I had a wonderful time visiting the 2023 Lightscape event at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. These gardens are beautiful at any time but the Lghtscape installation creates a superb illumination of the gardens at night. I went with daughter Cathy and we had a really good time with a dinner package at the […]
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Home at Last
It was a clear cold night in Swan Hill where we stayed at the Murray Downs Resort on our second last night of this trip. The lack of cloud cover led to very low overnight temperature and the morning temperature was around 2C. However the day brightened up to a pleasant day with a temperature […]
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