After the road trip

We have just returned home from a road trip to Sydney. We were gone for five days and covered a lot of  ground in that time.  Our first big day of driving took us through all the Anzac Day services in small towns along the New England Highway.  There were riders on horseback, vintage vehicles, bagpipe bands and soldiers wearing medals. Great to see such good attendance along the way.   The New England Highway at this time of year is spectacular.  Blue, blue sky days acting as a backdrop to the eye startling golds and reds of trees turning for autumn.  Just glorious.

Our time was spent with friends in the north west of Sydney.  Living so far apart, it is difficult to catch up with each other regularly so time together is a treat.  We were there to celebrate a 40th birthday which involved great company and a delicious Thai banquet.  On Sunday we headed west through the Blue Mountains and continued on to the dear, sweet township of Millthorpe to visit more friends. Loz and Linda own Galvanised, a quirky, gorgeous store in the main street.  Pop over to their website and check it out.  We enjoyed yet another very late night visiting with friends before setting off on a close to 1200km trip to get home the next day.  This time we followed the Newell Highway through western New South Wales and had a brilliant trip.  Very little traffic, good roads and long stretches between towns so we made good time - no speeding - just a good run.  We left at 6.30am and arrived home here in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland at 9pm the same night.

I've purposely kept our trip details short as we have more important things to talk about..... ART.  Of course! Being tired from our trip I fiddled around with a watercolour piece yesterday.

I finished this morning.  Might redo the background though as my poor skills as a watercolourist are quite evident there...

My sister came over today after dropping the kids at school and we had knit and natter.  Well, Susan knitted and I faffed around with some left over paint.  This is what came off the brush today.

 Far from my usual style.  I quite like it though. I was inspired to do this after reading (ahem, skimming through) a book on intuitive painting.  I used a precut mat to view this piece in different ways for framing.  I came up with heaps of variations but will limit myself to sharing only a few with you.

Lots of fun and I'm now doing one in warm colours to reflect our trip through autumn down south.

It was wonderful to see you all and good to be back with those of you who are reading and missed out on a visit!

Stay well and happy!  Sandy xxx

Silkeborg

On my first official day in Denmark, Kern, Kathrine, Kristian and I drove south to the city of Silkeborg. The city developed around an old paper factory which has long since transfigured into an entertainment and arts centre. As we drove into town I noted quite a number of car yards and was informed that Silkeborg was the main place to purchase cars in Jutland. The city seems to weave around deep, dark water as it is split in half by a large lake and is also bordered by the River Guden. Our first stop was in a park area where we enjoyed a picnic of tea and what will now be known as Gitte's tart - a lovely pear tart that is as delicious hot or cold.



Canoe after canoe paddled past as we ate. Next on the agenda was a game of mini golf. I'd not played in years and had a lot of fun.




Kathrine takes a putt while Kristian keeps score.



18 holes under our belts we headed off to a waterside cafe for our evening meal. In efficient and considerate Danish style blankets were provided at each chair for the use of chilly patients.



Sadly it wasn't cold enough to snuggle in under one! The kids feasted on nachos, Kern indulged in a burger and I chowed down on a smoked salmon steak and salad. Delicious. Of course any waterside meal requires a stroll along the waterfront post feast so off we set to see the sights and seek out ice-cream.



Although I didn't have an ice-cream I was introduced to the foamy pink guf. Guf is uniquely Danish and is basically raw meringue mixture with strawberry syrup or topping whipped through it. Egg whites, sugar and the strawberry syrup. It was very sweet and light.



View across the water on our walk. All in all a lovely afternoon and evening.

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Awhile ago.....

..... I put plans into place for this....

Here are my lovely renewed passport and my TICKETS to bring me north, far, far north. My European friends, take note, I'm coming to a place near YOU.  At the end of August I jet out to catch up with lovely friends. First a short stop in Denmark - a first for me and I'm rather looking forward to it. I'll be staying with Kathrine (our scout daughter we hosted last year) and her family, on the mainland of Denmark.  Then I jump back on a plane and flap my way to the UK where I'll spend the larger portion of my trip in Northern Yorkshire with Liz. We may do a zippy trip down south to Oxon to visit Liz's dear Aunt - whatever happens I'll be giddy with excitement, while also feeling a deep sense of peace and homecoming that always washes over me when I step foot in the UK.

Green, green grass. Lush, thickly leaved trees with stout and solid trunks. Dry stone walls. The standing stones. The history. The crisp cool that is always a shock to my subtropical little bones. The softness of the colours (I NEVER understood watercolours until I first saw Cumbria. Aha. I finally get it.) Lorry's instead of trucks. Rain. Manor houses. Gardens full of delicate flowers that would never survive in my wild tangle of tropical jungle. Tea rooms -ooh, I hope we go to Betty's.  Such a treat. Black pudding. Yorkshire puddings.... This will be my fifth trip - I think. I won't say that I can't wait as that means that I'll have a shorter time to savour this whole experience.  My stay is always too short yet each time I absorb a little more into my bones and heart and they pine, far away here in the heat on the other side of the world until, yet again....a red book of tickets and a passport bring me 'home'.  Hmmm made myself weepy.

Vancouver , Stanley Park

Hello! Here we are looking particularly windswept on the trolley bus. The trolley is a tourist hop-on-hop-off service which we rode for 2 days. In typical fashion the drivers point out areas of interest, tell stories, provide history of the area as they drive you around. There are many stops throughout the city and you jump off wherever you want to explore and hop back on when you are ready to head to another venue. We often walked between bus stops and then jumped back on to rest out feet. Another bonus was that it stopped one street over from our unit so it got us close to home at the end of a long day.
We ventured out to Stanley Park both days that we rode the trolley and were very pleased to have done so. The Park is Vancouver's oldest park and covers 1000 acres. It's situated quite close to the city centre yet seems quite separate as it is on a little piece of land that juts out into the harbour. There are many beautiful gardens (I've contained myself to one photo, knowing others are not quite as taken with gardens), as well as areas wooded with hemlock, cedar and fir. There were many walking trails throughout the park that meandered in and out as well as a long walk around the seawall that edged the park. All were quite well used at all hours of the day. On our first visit we were most surprised to see a cricket match taking place. Don't really think about Canada being a cricket playing country. It was lovely to see the boys out in their whites.
Just near the kids aquatic play area we found this little beauty (photo above). It is a drier! You push the button on the right and stand inside and air gets blown all over you to dry you. How cool and funny is that! Obviously you don't dry in 2 seconds flat in the sun like we do here so technology was introduced.

Walking along the sea wall we were very fortunate to see a whale! We saw it twice in three days actually so lady luck was definitely shining on us. It was about 20m off shore so very close. Evidently whales are not frequent visitors to the harbour so this was special.

Vancouver

After a long 30 hour transit (lots of waiting around airports) we finally arrived in the very lovely Vancouver. We had a fantastic location in the city within walking distance of most things and with a variety of bus routes running by our door. The above photo is taken from our unit on the 21st floor. We could see the water and mountains in 2 different directions from our dining room which was a treat.

We spent the greater part of one day visiting Granville Island, seen above. It was within walking distance of our unit and we took this as we walked over the bridge. The markets here were our point for visiting and we were both in raptures. Me over the fresh produce - huge punnets of berries, stalls of gorgeous vegetables and herbs, the brightest coloured salmon you've ever seen, fresh meats and I could go on. All I wanted to do was shop up and go home and cook up a meal worthy of the produce. My sweet, darling husband however nearly went into a state of paralytic indecision when he came upon this counter (which goes on around the corner for much the same distance). His not-to-be-denied sweet tooth almost went into meltdown at all the sugary goodness awaiting it. We are so very different!

We shared a table and a huge punnet of cherries with the sweetest Chilean lady who lives in Sydney with her daughter. She was off on a cruise to Alaska as were nearly all the other Aussies and Kiwis that we met.

Another day we spent wandering down to Gas Town which really emphasised the European feel of Vancouver with wrought iron lamps and fixtures, cobbles, cafes and the like. We took an obligatory look at the steam clock which was a novel experience. It appealed to Jeff's mechanical engineering background, where as I was rather more taken by how it blew steam and tooted like a train to signal the hour. Oh my sophisticated views. Upon reflection it was lucky we took these early in the morning before the crowds set in and swallowed it in a sea of people. We found that shops opened later than at home so we beat the crowds by chance rather than good planning.

I shall post more on Vancouver and our trip tomorrow. Sorry it's taken so long, I didn't have blog access whilst on the road and have hit the ground running since I arrived home.