culture unlimited....

Touring London on foot & by tube has been pretty wearying on the joints but we've covered a lot of the City, on a Walk London walk all around the alleyways of St Pauls; along the river and using bus and train to Piccadilly, St Johns Wood.  We explored Church Street just off the Edgeware Road and Whitechapel to find evidence of Tony's family - a sign still stands above the old Mann Crossman and Paulin brewery gate (now a health centre!).

We had a day trip out to Orpington in Kent to visit family. It is certainly cooler than the May weather we remember, with occasional bursts of bright sunshine to liven things up.

The Tate Modern on the Southbank housed in the old Battersea Power Station has some amazing modern art in such huge spaces and we were lucky to also get on the roof with a Tate member. We walked over the Millenium Bridge which gives a fabulous photo opportunity looking back with St Pauls in the background.  London planners apparently have a mind to create spaces where new buildings do not inhibit or disappear the old.

At the British Museum, we spent 5 hours amongst crowds of schoolchildren and other tourists looking at Britain's accumulated possessions from every corner of the globe, rooms so full of every type of "treasure". One wonders how some of the antiquities were "collected"...  The Museum is a wonderful blend of old and new with many cafes placed just where you need a quick sit down and a cup of tea to re-energise you for the next few rooms full of history.  Off to Greenwich today, Chelsea Flower Show tomorrow and then the French connection starts.

And then we enjoyed a Sunny Afternoon with the Kinks last night!

 

London calling....

This is the first of 26 weeks on our European adventure.  First impressions driving from Heathrow to Golders Green  were rows upon rows of houses built to the same style, some more cared for than others, pubs that had closed and have been given new life as McDonalds and lots of greenery everywhere. The Horsechestnut trees are in full bloom with big white flower spikes covering the trees well on the journey to become spiky 'conkers' to be opened and played with.  Golders Green is a suburb of synagogues and houses converted to flats, nearly every roof has a new skylight and roof conversion into another living space and the white 'tradies' vans are everywhere.  We are enjoying staying with family reminiscing about the past and sketching out the future over three course dinners courtesy of Waitrose and M&S.

Re-visiting the city remembered after Sally lived here so long ago; the routine of taking the tube and walking endless corridors; the joy of beautiful buildings and quirky sights. Central London is a mecca for tourists and so much cleaner now that the congestion tax has dissuaded all but buses, taxis and delivery trucks.

 At Marble Arch

Revisiting the old office!

The Flask, Hamsptead

The National Gallery is a feast of Monet, Reynolds, Turner et al with an endless stream of multi-languaged voices and school groups.  Afternoon tea was taken in the Gallery Cafe, people watching and logging into the free wifi!

The London Eye provides a wonderful eerie to see the sights, even a sneak surprise preview of the Trooping of the Colour practice in Horseguards Parade.   A complete contrast with our afternoon spent in The Flask Hotel at Hampstead, which retains a special community feel with narrow streets and leafy townhouses.  So much more to see.....

On being in the city and not in the forest!

Everytime we come to Perth I realise there are so many things that I have learned and somewhat adjusted to while living in the forest: like the value of clean water and its abundance in the city and not in the forest - being transfixed by the clear sparkling stuff that flushes the loo in the city, not the light brown tannin tinged liquid that we have at Donnelly!  The idea that I can have a slightly longer shower and not worry when I do about how much water is left in the dam and the tanks and is the pump working OK? 

The morning chorus of kookaburras and other tweeters is replaced by the hum of cars whizzing down South Street for the early morning shifts.  Readjusting to driving in the city with other cars around, watching out for an unpredictable driver instead of an equally unpredictable emu or kangaroo racing across the road in front of you out of the bush.

The excitement of catching up with people for coffee without driving 25 kms to the nearest town, home delivered pizza, seeing the sea as you get to the top of the hill at Hilton, being able to go to the movies just down the road, catching buses, and yes superfast internet compared to the NBN Satellite....

Realising that tradesmen don't always come today or even next week and especially not at the drop of a hat!  That it is possible to learn to get used to having snailmail only once a week and not being connected to the mobile except, apparently, when the wind blows in a certain direction and you might get a beep beep of a message you can't answer because you can't find that certain spot again!

Smelling smoke and hearing a small plane flying around and its OK!  Living in the forest means when you smell smoke you look around, where is it coming from, check the DFES website for burns near you and then, ring the fire controller to check all is OK.  Loving thunderstorms instead of  waiting fingers crossed and hoping for the rain to come as well...

Understanding just how quickly nature works and that new trees quickly sprout up to replace the dead ones.... the happy surprise when you discover the roses you and the kangaroos had forgotten about have bloomed all pretty and pink beside the drive way.

The joy of seeing the sunrise through the karri trees at the back of the house, the sound of kids enjoying themselves outside - though not at 6 o'clock in the morning! The ease of getting to work by just crossing the road.

Just my reflections on returning to live in the bush....

Last week, days ......of our travels in india and sri lanka

We're now into our 6th week away from home and although we have not been travelling all that time, living out of a suitcase has become a drag and giving the souvenir sellers a hard time has worn off. Deciding to stay in one place for our 3 days in the historical triangle of Anuradhapura, Sigiriya & Polonnaruwa, we are encamped in a hotel just outside Dambulla where the power supply goes from steady to slow to steady every minute! Plays havoc with the aircon as you can imagine.
Sri Lankan spirits rose on Sunday night when their cricket team triumphed over India in the 20/20 World Cup final; beating big brother set off wild celebrations & nationalistic fervour. We were in Kandy, the old capital, at a much cooler 600 metres above sea level & watched the game with the staff & some English boys cricket team managerS at our hotel. In Kandy we were privileged to be able to view Buddha's Sacred Tooth Relic, an icon visited by millions of Buddhists throughout Asia every year& which is only open for 15 minutes.
Earlier on Sunday Tony had been to World's End, on a tramp across Horton Plains National Park at about 2200 metres above sea level, a sub-alpine wonderland with great views, wild rhodedendrums, monkeys & leopards.
The night before we had stayed in Nuwara Eliya, the highest town in Sri Lanka & a much visited location where we had some great entertainment when Sally went looking for a thick jacket at the markets. All the stall holders tried to get her to try on various variations of such brand names as North Face & Colorado despite protestations that she didn't want that one & they were the wrong size.
So its a steady diet of history & Buddhism for the next few days before we head into Colombo for a couple of nights. Unless you come to this lovely wee island it is difficult to appreciate the amazing culture they have built up and fought for over the past 3000 years.   

Anyone for tea, tea and more tea.

We have driven up to the hill country after an early morning 'safari' yesterday at Yala National Park.  Picked up by a converted jeep with 'luxury' seats set high up above the road, we raached along the roads to the dry dirt roads of the national park.  our driver apologised for the speed but he wanted to get into the queue for tickets and permits early! Permits were issued and this was the sign for everyone to gun their engines and take off at break neck speed again along the parks dirt and corrugated roads, often overtaking on corners in an effort to be the first to spot a leopard or an elephant keeping in touch with other drivers by mobile, so everyone got the chance to see. Reminded me of the tow truck drivers in Perth who always appear so quickly when there is a prang!

We did see a leopard very briefly through the trees on the side of the road, and we saw several elephants, a couple of crocodiles, some mongeese ....or is it mongooses... And a couple of monitor lizards and some spotted deer ... So not a bad collection for a couple of hours hurtling round the roads.

The road to Ella was windy and slow with much to see along the way. Sri Lanka needs rain badly but near the  highlands it is still very green.  We stayed the night at the  EllaGap Guest house which had amazing views of the valleys below before the mist came in and we watched the 20/20 cricket last night with the drivers and tour guides on the TV in the lounge.  Sri Lankans love cricket so if you can drop a few names, you get instant interest.

This morning we drove through the tea plantations to Lipton's seat, greeted at the end of a gentle uphill climb by a cup of tea and some Local snacks hot off the wok.  They tell you they aren't spicy and you believe them until it is too late...when the chilli hits the back of your throat!





The tea plantations hug the hillsides in an ordered form of plants and pathways, with rainforest alliance posters along the way and quotes in English every few hundred yards posted on the side of the road, about sustainability and our relationship with the land.  interesting they are all in English and most of the workers are Tamils whose grasp of English is not great.




We had a tour around the tea processing factory and now we know where a lot of your daily teabags come from if you purchase Mr Lipton's bags.  The plant was built in 1880 and hasn't changed much apart from mechanising the machinery.  The staff work barefoot and the tea is spread on the floor to ferment.  They make teabag tea and it takes many kilos of leaves to make one kilo of tea leaves ready for us to use.  the women pickers pick about two sacks full a day weighing 20kg....they are paid according to how much they pick and it is a year round process only stopping for festivals and occasional holidays.  it is pouring with rain now and the hill is shrouded in mist so in a couple of days there will be new leaves to pick.  We also have a power cut, hopefully it will be back in time for the cricket to start on tv tonight!

The Muezzin has started up for evening prayers ..a little eery through the gloom and the thunder and lightning...

Tomorrow we are catching the mountain train from Ella to Nuwara Eliya and then the next day to Kandy or thereabouts.

Will be back again soon.

Whale watching nr Mirissa, southern coast Sri Lanka

What a pleasure it is to be in Sri lanka, the people are lovely and friendly and it is certainly not as challenging as India can be.  We are staying just outside the old fort town of Galle which was flattened in the 2004 tsunami, in a guesthouse owned by an Australian friend of a friend from Perth. Eka cafe and rooms is highly recommended, directly on the beach east of Galle; Tony has been waking up each day with an early morning swim in the booming surf.  We are also backed onto the main road along the coast and are amazed at the speed and stupidity of bus drivers here, similar to India.

Yesterday, Tony persuaded Sally that going whale watching would be fun and fairly safe. He was right on both accounts - we had a ball, saw a couple of blue whales and a fair number of dolphins and enjoyed the company of a Danish cyclist amongst others on a very well-organised and professional tourist boat. We seemed to be in the midst of large ships all day, 200 pass by the coast here daily evidently, on the way to the Arab states or SE India.

Invariably asked where we are from, as soon as Australia is uttered, the subject of cricket is brought up & Shane Warne & the 20/20 World Cup are discussed. People here are quite relaxed but also determined to get things done, the job is completed properly, unlike India.

Tomorrow we're off with Kelum, our Sinhalese private tour owner/driver on 10 days around the central highlands and the ancient historical sites. First stop is Yala National Park in SE Sri Lanka where we hope to see elephants, leopards & crocs. Last stop will be Colombo on the 11th April before we return to Freo via Singapore.

GOA - the Bali of India is how I'd describe it. Development has altered the place a lot since our previous visit in the early 80's; there has been a big influx of people from elsewhere in India for work not to mention the bus-loads of Russian tourists.
Steamy, sticky & green with jungle encroaching; there is now only a fading memory of the Portuguese who ruled Goa for 450 years until they were kicked out in 1961. We've played at being tourists for a couple of days, using a driver to visit the sites over narrow roads clogged with scooters & horn-tooting.  Old Goa, the original Portuguese capital now only has UNESCO-listed R.Catholic churches & huge cathedrals; unfortunately poorly maintained although their past grandeur is evident. We had fun on a sunset ferry trip around Panaji harbour; the Indians on board weren't interested in the view only on dancing to the disco music. A flea market crowded with Poms & Ruskies, a potent combination; & the merchandise was very "Baliesque"! Lunch & a tour of a spice plantation proved educational - cardamon, peppers, nutmeg, cashews, cinnamon, vanilla plants all being harvested. 
Tomorrow to Sri Lanka, just as news reaches us of a UN Human Rights committee & it's finding the SL govt. are guilty of war crimes - hope it doesn't cramp our style at all. We've endured Indian bureaucratic pettiness at it's best at the GPO when wanting to send a parcel to Shikshangram -"no From address in India": so we returned later & no problem:) Still we've also had great coffee & internet access at Lavazza cafe & Sally has had a trim for wait for it  - 100 rupees, A$1.85!! And the fascination Indians have with any westerners continues to amaze us, they will stare for ages & ask the most inane questions with a seriousness that means can can't laugh.