Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Aussie Pride :: Watts // BigUp // No flash
You know you’re out in the burbs when you see a flag draping a front porch. I’m celebrating Australia Day at a barbecue with friends. There’ll be snags and chicken shish kebabs, salad and champagne. Just don’t forget to put on a hat and some sunscreen or risk looking like a tourist on our national day! Have fun!
Auld Lang Syne
Farewell 2011! It was a year of good memories, beautiful moments, successes achieved and ambitions realised. There were many good times with friends and family, new jobs, new hairstyles and new shoes. I was chuffed to have an illustration chosen for a nationally distributed postcard, and a childhood dream was fulfilled: I crossed the Straits of Gibraltar. I travelled to Europe and sailed to Africa, saw wonderful things and met fascinating people (and a very kind and helpful Aussie who rescued me when I was stranded at midnight in Chefchaouen with a dollar or two in my purse).
Every year I become a little wiser. I’ve learned savour those moments that will never come again, and to appreciate the commonplace (clouds in a blue sky) – and the not so (phallic pastries wrapped in cellophane and red ribbons). Live in the present, hope for the future. Hello 2012!
Toilet Humour
Christmas TP :: Libatique // Big Up // No flashSo you’ve done your house up in lights. There’s a Santa in a sleigh with his entire complement of reindeers taking off your roof. There are icicles dangling off every perpendicular surface. You’ve decked the halls with boughs of holly, overhung the doorways with mistletoe, and wrapped tinsel around the tree.
But have you thought about the Little Room?
Just in case you’ve been shockingly remiss, I have the ‘so-loo-tion’ for you.
Vintage Tat
The Elephant, The Pony and The Rabbit :: Hornbecker // Cano Cafenol // No flashI went vintage shopping a few weeks ago with Kitty who was after an 80s dress in the taffeta, ruched, puffy bridesmaid style typical of the era. Our trawl through all the vintage boutiques and secondhand shops on Chapel St in Windsor brought us eventually to Round Helen’s. (Formerly ‘Fat Helen’s’, the ‘Fat’ has been crossed out and replaced with the more friendly adjective.)
While Kitty was inside the rusty tin space rocket (the changing room) trying on a number of frocks, I was busily photographing all the bric-a-brac and tat on the glass shelves all around me. The somewhat addled young shop assistant nervously tittered about Princess Diana, and what an influential icon she had been (in a tone that suggested that though she was far removed from such reverence, she was quite adept at making cultural observations).
Shy Di :: Hornbecker // Cano Cafenol // No flashAs her eyes darted about from one thing to another, I edged surreptitiously away from her until Kitty emerged somewhat dishevelled from the cramped quarters of the space vessel. There were some promising candidates, but we made good our escape. And fortunately Kitty was to find her destiny in one of the other junk shops further down the street.
China Ladies :: Hornbecker // Cano Cafenol // No flash
Cinderella’s Coach :: Hornbecker // Cano Cafenol // No flash
Portraits of Portugal
The Rendezvous, Porto :: Tejas // Blanko Noir // No flash
On Friday the 3rd of June, after four and a half days in Barcelona, I flew southwest from that wonderful city to Lisbon, Portugal. My plan to immediately board a train to Porto, in the north of Portugal was foiled by a train strike, and I was forced to stay in Lisbon for a night. For a moment I baulked, but then I realised this was actually a good thing, because who wants things to go smoothly all the time? That would be boring! And leaves no room for adventures besides.
…who wants things to go smoothly all the time? That would be boring!
So I found a little hostel in the Alfama district with (almost) a view of the water and spent a pleasant day wandering around the city, endlessly clicking my camera shutter, indulging in nata (Portuguese custard tarts), browsing in quirky shops etc. I had to be up extremely early for my train to Porto the next morning, so the street festival outside my pensione was only mildly distracting.
What indulgence, wandering round foreign cities with no itinerary, and no idea what day it is. Can’t wait to do it again. Meanwhile, my travel photos instantly transport me back and I can feel the European sunshine on my face and arms again.