Travel Theme: Stone
Having been back home meant back to the usual grind of life – work, friends, coffees, food, sights, sounds, smells and of course the beach. Ailsa’s Travel Theme last week was Stone. A couple of the beaches I enjoy visiting on the Gold Coast has a good collection of stones, both big and small.
A bird’s view of Burleigh Heads and Surfer’s Paradise
Fishing and boating on the Spit
Don’t forget to visit Where’s My Backpack for more Travel Theme. Have a great week everyone.
Travel Theme: Beaches
I love beaches and I love that Where’s My Backpack chose this for this week’s Travel Theme.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond
One of the things I love to do is go for a walk. I explore places, both old and new, by walking. My favourite place to walk through is a rainforest – it’s just magical! Here are some photos for this week’s photo challenge – Beyond.
Lamington National Park, Gold Coast Australia
Mossy lake water, Great Falls, Virginia, USA
Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Koh Samui, Thailand
From the hallway of Lincoln Memorial looking beyond is the Washington Memorial and the Capitol, Washington, DC
Arlington National Cemetery, VA, USA
To Market, To Market
Being back home affords us to enjoy the routine we used to have. Going to the shops, sitting by the beach, eating favourite meals and enjoying coffee with friends. One thing I like about being back on the Gold Coast is the chance to visit the farmers’ markets. It’s not so much what we can buy or eat whilst we’re there, it’s more the communing with people – the sort of people who also enjoys being with market people. In our modern age of shopping malls and large groceries, we are robbed of the wonderful experiences such as talking to the farmers and other shoppers. At the markets we get the stories behind where the unusual looking products came from, what condition they were grown, the name of cow who produced the milk and how the soaps were formed.
At one of the local markets we visited recently I was saddened to observe and learn that many stalls were gone… many farmers and stall owners simply found it hard to survive. All around the coast several of these small markets have sprung in the last few years, but shoppers were sometimes too busy to be bothered on their weekends to drive up and buy their fruits and veggies at the market, when they can easily go up to the nearest Woolies or Coles!
I, on the other hand, when I can, prefer to visit the markets on the weekend to have my breakfast of Belgian waffles, coffee and healthy fruit smoothies. Last Sunday I had Almond Croissant from french sounding gentlefarmers.
Here some photos of the rest of that day.
I really enjoy farmers markets and for those who have not done so…maybe have a look around your neighbourhood to find where they are. They are great for meeting people, chatting with locals and making new friends.
Famous For Fun! Gold Coast, Australia
So…Famous For Fun! That’s the new slogan for the Gold Coast (Queensland) for this year. We’ve been away for four years and we get back to being famous for fun from being “Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next!” (which I still prefer) and I hope there are no negative connotations to the new slogan. On the most positive side – We are Home! It feels great to be back to the endless, uninterrupted, blue skies, beautiful beaches and beautifully tanned people… Here are some snippets of those beaches, and I promise there are more than these, along with fun images around.
It has been gorgeous everyday since we got back. Some Goldies said that the weather is better this week – it showed off just as we came! It was also wonderful to catch up with friends over dinner and drinks, watch the morning news and gossip or just walking along the beach and getting sand between our toes. Priceless!
Our Weird and Wonderful World 