Around the World (with humming to Daft Punk)

What with Pete updating the Blogworld on his and K’s travels around the Land of Oz and my parents giving me a year’s subscription to Wanderlust (a mighty fine magazine for travellers … also being subscribed to this year by Tom’s mum) I’m dreaming of far away places to visit and explore.

Last night I was reading about a Jackaroo School in NSW based just outside a place we stopped for lunch, Tamworth. Not the West Midlands version, but a rather sunnier one that is the Nashville of Oz. The cattle station base was on the road out to Port Macquarie, home of my Great Uncle and Aunt after he left Canberra (ie retired, no-one it seems lives in Canberra unless they work there). We travelled in the area having spent a lovely time with one of my parent’s friends from their days in London who lives in the New England Tablelands They met through church and she is a lay reader at the Cathedral in Armidale (I think) so when her Bishop came over for the Lambeth Conference, he did an escape down the hill to my parents for dinner! That said they’ve also had the Bishop of Papa New Guinea (some friends have now left there and partly living in Oz/ UK) for Sunday lunch (to which my mum & a visiting Guider briefly had a dilemma as to whether he was a veggie, but as cannibalism had only been banned a few years previous they felt not).

Then the next issue arrived yesterday (I’ve not finished the first, which arrived before Christmas, and I forgot to take with me to read over the festive break). I can see this year my list of places I want to visit in the world will increase! Maybe I’ll get Dr T to read the overlanding article they have in the current issue, as it’s something that’s appealed to me for a long time. Mind so has the Inca Trail, and Dad’s 60th trip to Peru has enhanced that! I wasn't planning a visit to Destinations this year, but maybe I might now to maybe investigate some of the possibilities more.

The Jackaroo article had that flights to Oz are down to under £600 …. Hmm tempting, but that’s next year as nearly all my leave this year is used up with blue tinted stuff it seem this year (PH/ Camp/ Girlie Weekend).

Oh and getting back to the Oz trip of many years ago now … we ended up in the Armidale Curry House, with parental friend which was run by a bloke from Birmingham! It was also where I was sent out to the bottle shop mid meal for another bottle of wine (BYO is great in Oz) by my dad and found a great white, never to be seen on these shores from the Rosemount Estate (It was OK for me to go and get more wine at 19, but I had to argue with Dad for him to let me & my sister spend an afternoon in Sydney/ Hong Kong on our own together ?!?!). It was also my sister first dalliance with curry … she started with a plain butter chicken, the rest as they say is history. Mind you one of the best memories of the trip was waking up on the living room put you up (in the holiday flat of parental friend’s ex-boss) and looking down towards my feet at the Sydney Opera House across the harbour on a crisp and bright sunny winter day.

In the meantime, this summer I shall be exploring more of Ottawa and Guleph Provincial Park (home to the International Camp). Thank goodness for cheapie flights to Canada!