Category Archives: travel

Lacock Abbey

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Lacock Abbey, in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, was founded in 1232 and served as a nunnery until it was converted into a country house in 1540.

1.Lacock Abbey2.Lacock Abbey

A lot of work had gone into the window above the entrance door.

3.Lacock Abbey

The Gothic Arch

4.Gothic Arch

led to the Stable courtyard

5.The Stable Courtyard with brewery & bakehouse

with its quirky Tudor clockhouse,

6.Clockhouse

bakehouse and brewery.

We spent some time wandering through the fascinating rooms. They may look familiar if you have seen the Harry Potter films, particularly the medieval cloisters.

14.cloisters

The internal cloister courtyard had a certain tranquility.

15.internal courtyard of the cloisters16.Lacock Abbey

The Warming Room was the only room in the original Abbey where any warmth was provided and the 500 year old cauldron remains.

17.500 year old cauldron in the warming room

The Chaplain’s Room had a 14th century doorway and remnants of a medieval wall painting.

18.Chaplain's room

The valuables of the Abbey would have been housed in the Sacristy.

19.sacristy

The Chapter House windows were stunning.

20.Chapter House windows

We strolled around the grounds, admiring the Abbey from all angles.

9.Lacock Abbey10.Lacock Abbey11.from the south12.Lacock Abbey21.Lacock Abbey22.Lacock Abbey23.Lacock Abbey

It would have been nice to have seen more of Lacock village – maybe next time.

Devils Marbles

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In the middle of nowhere, 1084km south of Darwin and 393km north of Alice Springs, the Devils Marbles are spectacularly scattered across the desert.

1.Devils marbles3.Devils marbles

Located in the traditional country of the Warumungu, Kaytetye and Alyawarre people, they call the Devils Marbles Karlu Karlu, which literally translates as ‘round boulders’.

4.Devils marbles

The stones are made of granite and have been formed by erosion over millions of years.

5.Devils marbles

They vary in size, from 50 centimetres up to six metres across.

6.Devils marbles

Many of the giant stones are precariously balanced on top of one another, appearing to defy gravity.

8.Devils marbles

They continue to crack and erode today, creating an ever-changing landscape.

10.Devils marbles

The Devils Marbles have great significance for the Aboriginal people and there are many ancient creation legends surrounding Karlu Karlu. Many of these stories are secret and only a few can be shared with visitors. One of the main Dreaming stories for the area relates to how the Devils Marbles were made. An ancient ancestor, ‘Arrange’, was walking through the area making a hair-string belt. As he was twirling the hair to make strings, he dropped clusters of hair on the ground which turned into the big red boulders.

11.Devils marbles

Montefegatesi

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Our last day in Ponte a Serraglio was grey and drizzly but we had planned a drive to Montefegatesi and nothing was going to stop us. On the way we passed San Gemignano and took the opportunity to pull over and admire the scenery.

1.San Gemignano2.San Gemignano3.view

Montefegatesi is the highest village in Bagni di Lucca at 842m above sea level and was used by Lucca to guard the boundary with Modena.

4.Montefegatesi

We wandered through the village along impossibly narrow streets

11.walk7

14.walk10

with random cars parked at impossible angles.

15.car1

The old wooden doorways had so much character

and the houses were wedged into every available space.

25.house2

26.house328.house5

At the top of the village is a monument to Dante Alighieri built by the villagers in 1908.

29.Dante530.Dante6

His stern countenance belies the breathtaking vista from his vantage point or maybe he just doesn’t like the rain.

31.Dante432.Dante333.Dante734.Dante8

Returning to the village we were rewarded with more gorgeous views.

35.view136.view237.view3

We enjoyed a prosciutto & formaggio panini at the Pizzeria (ham & cheese roll sounds much more enticing in Italian)

38.pizzeria

before the hair-raising drive back down the mountain for our last night in Ponte a Serraglio.

Bradford-on-Avon

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Returning from our day out in Bath we discovered the lovely town of Bradford-on-Avon. With Roman origins, it grew in the 17th century with a thriving woollen textile industry. We parked the car and walked to the river.

2.Bradford on Avon1.Bradford on Avon3.Bradford on Avon

The Town Bridge was built in Norman times. The small building in the middle of the bridge was originally a chapel but later used as a town lockup. The unusual weather vane has a fish on top.

4.The Town Bridge5.Lock up

Many of the old textile factories have been converted into modern flats and apartments.

6.Bradford on Avon

Holy Trinity Church is the original parish church and is Norman in origin. The tower and spire was replaced around 1480.

7.Bradford on Avon8.Holy Trinity Church

We wandered through the town with its quaint shops and buildings.

9.Bradford on Avon10.Bradford on Avon11.Bradford on Avon12.Bradford on Avon13.Bradford on Avon

The Swan Hotel is one of the few buildings that are still used as they were originally intended. There has been a public house on the same site since the 1500s, though the current building is 17th century.

14.Swan Hotel

We would like to have had more time to sample the local ale but more adventures awaited.

down the track

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We left Katherine early with a long day’s drive ahead of us. Our first break was Mataranka Homestead. Built in 1916 to serve the original sheep station, the homestead borders Elsey National Park and is situated between two rivers, the Waterhouse river and the Little Roper river.

1.Mataranka Homestead circa 19162.peacock

The early morning sun bathed us as we walked to the thermal pool.

4.walk3.walk

The thermal pool is spring fed, bubbling at a constant 34ºC. The dappled light on the surface of the water adds to the relaxing atmosphere.

5.thermal pool6.thermal pool

The river was so peaceful and still

9.river

and the return walk was hugged by majestic palm trees.

11.return walk

In the early 1980s, a movie based on Jeannie Gunn’s “We of the Never Never” was shot around Mataranka. A replica of the old Elsey Homestead was erected for the film and still stands at Mataranka Homestead.

12.We of the Never Never

200km along the track we stopped at Daly Waters. The name was given to a series of natural springs by John McDouall Stuart, after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly.

There was some interesting signage in the town.

The famous pub is decorated with memorabilia left by visitors from all over the globe. Rumour has it that it started in the 1980s with a drinking bet between a coach driver and his female passengers.

27.bras

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The beer garden was delightfully rustic

31.beer garden

and the signage theme continued.

We lunched a bit further on at the roadhouse at Dunmarra, a small settlement on the historic Overland Telegraph Line. We were joined by a group of apostlebirds, named after the apostles because they travel in groups of 12.

I like to know how places get their names and this one is quite convoluted. Dan O’Mara, an Overland Telegraph linesman, disappeared in the region in the early 1900s. Drover Noel Healy established a cattle station in the 1930s and discovered O’Mara’s skeleton in the bush. The local Aboriginal people couldn’t pronounce O’Mara and their attempts sounded more like Dunmarra and so, the station was named.