Hobart

Posted on July 16, 2016 by kathy

Hobart is Australia’s second oldest capital city, after Sydney. It is an intriguing mix of old and new and the waterfront precinct is captivating. The Georgian sandstone warehouses lining the dock were built in the 1830s. The IXL Jam Factory is now the Henry Jones Art Hotel and others have been converted into businesses, galleries and restaurants.

1.Waterfront

There are many fabulous restaurants to choose from, with seafood the specialty. The Drunken Admiral is very popular,

2.Drunken Admiral

unfortunately we missed out without a reservation.

Looking across Victoria Dock,

5.Victoria Dock

Mures Lower Deck offers casual dining while the Upper Deck is a unique experience with fresh seafood caught, prepared and served by this local family owned business.

6.Victoria Dock

Strolling along Franklin Wharf, we encountered a series of bronze sculptures, a tribute to the Antarctic Expedition of 1899. Louis Bernacchi was raised in Tasmania and is immortalised in this, “Self Portrait, Louis and Joe”.

7.Bernacchi

Nearby are other sculptures depicting the penguins and seals of Antarctica

as well as some of the supplies and other animals present on the expedition.

Sullivans Cove, on the Derwent River, was the original landing point in 1804 of Hobart’s founder, Lieutenant Governor David Collins and the site of initial European settlement in the area.

13.Sullivan's Cove

Further along the wharf is Constitution Dock, the finishing line for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. We were very excited to be there for the celebrations.

14.Sydney-Hobart

Wild Oats XI had claimed its third consecutive line honours. Even for someone who doesn’t know a thing about yachts, I think she is a magnificent vessel.

17.Wild Oats

The dock was bustling

but this gull had seen it all before.

22.seagull

This heritage travelling steam crane, built in 1899, sits proudly on the wharf since retirement in 1969.

23.steam crane

Elizabeth Street Pier underwent a transformation in 1997

24.Elizabeth St pier

and now comprises an apartment style hotel, conference centre and eateries.

Moored at the pier is a full size replica of the Lady Nelson, one of the vessels arriving in 1804 with the first free settlers. She now spends her days sailing the River Derwent with passengers who wish to enjoy a tall ship sailing experience.

27.Lady Nelson

A short walk across the lawns of Parliament Square is Salamanca Place. Each Saturday there is a very busy market

28.market

offering a great variety of wares, mostly from local artisans.

29.market

Even the world famous can be seen busking in Salamanca.

34.market

Behind the market stalls are rows of sandstone buildings built in the 1830s to house grain, wool, whale oil and imported goods. They have since been converted into restaurants, galleries, craft shops and offices.

35.Salamanca

There are many laneways and squares to discover around Salamanca

and the new is starting to encroach on the old.

38.Salamanca

When a break is needed from the shopping and exploring, Irish Murphy’s is the perfect spot

39.Irish Murphy's

for a light refreshment

40.Irish Murphy's

to give you the strength to carry on.

Villa Grabau

Posted on July 6, 2016 by kathy

Lucca is surrounded by magnificent historical residences of the 16^th century. On a perfect spring day, three of us ventured out to discover a couple of them. Villa Grabau was first built in Renaissance style in the late 16th century,

1.villa 2.villa

then renovated in the 19th century in a neo-classical style.

3.villa

Following a tour of the villa, owned by the Grabau family since 1868, we explored the 9 hectares of beautiful gardens. Starting with the formal Italian garden behind the villa,

4.Italian garden 5.Italian garden

the pond lilies enjoying the sunshine.

6.lily pond 7.lily pond

We meandered along mysterious paths

8.path 10.path

never knowing quite what we would find.

The 17^th century limonaia was fascinating.

12.limonaia

Over 100 lemon trees are moved inside, in their terracotta pots, to shelter in winter.

13.limonaia

There are many rare species in the park,

we didn’t expect to find giant bamboo in an Italian garden.

The ‘Box Hedge Theatre’ was enchanting.

27.box hedge theatre

A stage defined by box tree hedges set in a secluded position,

28.box hedge theatre 29.box hedge theatre

the theatre garden contains two marble lions and a bubbling fountain.

30.box hedge theatre

Having worked up an appetite, we had a delicious al fresco lunch at a small roadside Osteria, Bottega sulla Fraga.

32.osteria

The English translation of the menu was dubious

but the meals were superb.

After lunch, we made our way to Villa Reale but that will be another post.

Trevigue Farm

Posted on June 29, 2016 by kathy

While travelling through Britain, we stayed at many wonderful B&Bs. Trevigue Farm was no exception.

1.Trevigue Farm

We navigated the narrow lanes of Cornwall, getting momentarily lost in Crackington Haven, to find this beautiful 16th century farmhouse.

2.Trevigue Farm 3.Trevigue Farm 4.Trevigue Farm 5.Trevigue Farm

Located high on the Cornish cliffs, this 200 acre farm is set around an ancient cobbled courtyard.

6.courtyard

We were welcomed into the gorgeous entrance hall

7.entrance hall

and shown to the sitting room

8.sitting room 9.sitting room

where we enjoyed a cup of tea and home baked treats.

10.sitting room

There was a snug alcove tucked around the corner.

11.alcove

We were then led up the stairs

12.stairs

to our bedroom.

13.bedroom

The room was magnificent with a huge French style bed, vaulted oak beamed ceiling

14.bedroom 15.bedroom

and a lovely outlook over the courtyard.

16.bedroom view

We strolled around the farm admiring the stunning views

17.view 18.view

and the contented animals.

21.cows

22.cows

The next morning we were treated to a marvellous cooked breakfast in the cosy dining room

23.dining room 24.dining room

before heading off for a day of discovery in Cornwall.

desert delights

Posted on June 25, 2016 by kathy

As we journeyed through the Northern Territory, we were randomly distracted from the vastness of the desert by some very interesting features along the way. Central Mount Stuart is a mountain peak, about 200km north of Alice Springs, named in honour of the Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart who reached the area in April 1860. He determined a point approximately 4km south of the peak to be the centre of Australia.

1.Central Mt Stuart

Stuart originally named the peak Central Mount Sturt after former expedition leader Charles Sturt but the name was changed soon after Stuart’s return to Adelaide.

I was very excited to find a winery in the desert, although there was little evidence of vines.

‘Shatto Mango’ at Ti-Tree, 180km north of Alice Springs had some surprisingly palatable offerings.

We tasted a crisp Mango Magic, fortified Mango Moonshine liqueur and sparkling Mango Mist. We even bought a couple of bottles.

Not too far down the road, we stopped at Aileron roadhouse

to meet ‘Anmatjere Man’. The statue, based on a traditional man from the local Anmatjere tribe, is 17 metres tall and weighs 8 tonne.

10.Aileron

He took twelve months to build and was joined three years later, in 2008, by a wife and child.

11.Aileron

30km north of Alice Springs is the Tropic of Capricorn marker, a stylized globe of the world on top of a 6.5 metre slanted pole.

In 1987, the local Alice Springs radio station ran a competition for design sketches from the public. The winner was a part time announcer for ABC radio. A local artist was commissioned to carve the Capricorn Goats in either side of the cement base.

90km west of Alice Springs, we had a brief stop at Stuarts Well roadhouse.

17.Stuarts Well

The pub/ campground is also the site of a camel farm, set on 9 acres at the foot of the James Ranges.

Continuing westward, we discovered the Cannonball Run Monument.

22.Cannonball Run

The race, run in 1994, was 3200km along the Stuart Highway from Darwin to Alice Springs and return.

23.Cannonball Run

On 24^th May, a Ferrari F40 crashed into a checkpost killing the two Japanese occupants and two track officials. The cause of the accident was found to be excessive speed.

We lunched on the lawn under some magnificent gum trees at Curtin Springs, a cattle station 100km east of Ayers Rock. The station covers just over a million acres – that’s 100km long x 40km wide!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Back on the road, we soon spied Mt Conner, at the border of Curtin Springs station, often mistaken for Uluru by excitable tourists.

29.Mt Conner

There are so many wonderful surprises in the Australian outback, many we would have missed without our fabulous friends to guide us.

Lugliano

Posted on June 18, 2016 by kathy

On a warm, sunny morning, while the boys were busy building guitars, I drove with two of the wives to a nearby village in Bagni di Lucca – Lugliano. Having learned how narrow the village streets can be, we opted to park at the church

1.chiesa di San Jacopo