First there was us…….
Then there was them….
I wonder if their Red Bench was as uncomfortable for them to sit on as it was for us
And I wonder if their train was as late as ours was as we continued our journey south to see the other side of the family. First trip back ‘home’ after 13 yrs away
Also wondering if all UK railway stations still have those red metal benches
Does anyone have the answers 😊
Even though daily life activities here in Victoria are being expanded day by day, restrictions eased, doors opened that have been shut for months, we are still not able to travel long distances so I’m still reliving trips away to places far far from home. I’m thinking armchair travel is going to be a way of life for a little while yet.
I once saw the climate in Melbourne described as Temperate but quite variable…known for its changeable weather patterns …lol four seasons in one day isn’t far from the mark. It can be hot and dry, it can definitely be cold and wet but what it isn’t is tropical…..except on some really hot humid days we might get in the summertime 😎
So one of the things I look forward to seeing when we are out and about in Queensland ….because I’ve never seen them growing in Melbourne and they just seem to shout out Tropical ….are the beautiful Bougainvillea which seem to grow like weeds, they are everywhere. Bright bursts of colour climbing over and around anything and everything reminding me of the big climbing Banksia roses that do well down south.
This week I’ve been reminding myself of some seen on a trip in 2009
I hope you enjoy them as well
We saw this lovely pink and white bush in a car park of all the places at Winton.
all on its own and looking a little out of place amongst the natives.
Maybe self sown
But what I did like was the way some businesses used it decoratively.
This was a lovely white strain growing up an archwayin front of a cafe in Longreach
It had a really nice cool look to it and there didn’t seem to be any thorns on this one.
which is possibly why it was placed so very strategically in front of the cafe
Now this to me was the most appealing of all
Mountains of colour at several spots along the main street of Bowen
One side of Herbert Street is higher than the other
and there were several of these fabulous covered crossings along the street.
(sadly removed during a ‘street renovation’)
Thank you Kay (at Musings) for the inspiration……for this post.
To enlarge click or use the two finger slide
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainvillea.
https://floridata.com/plant/553
https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/plant-finder/bougainvillea/9441670
Sunday Selections is hosted by Elephants Child. Find Nature Notes at Rambling Woods.
Denyse Whelan Blogs is the home of Life this Week
Linking also to – Travel Tuesday – My Corner of the World – Our World Tuesday.
Often when toilet blocks get renovated they sometimes get fancy murals painted on the outside in lieu of just a quick coat of paint. We came across these on a drive through the Pioneer Valley in a place called Marian about 25kms from MacKay. Fun to look at sadly no name to say who painted them.
The Ladies section was empty ….or so I thought….and being the city girl that I am gave a little squeal of surprise (to put it mildly) when I saw these in the bowl.
During cooler and drier months, the green tree frog can often be found hiding in toilet bowls across Australia, source
Checked the other stalls – same again – and as there was no way I could have lasted until the next place up the road learnt that where there’s a will there’s certainly a way. I now know I can pee almost standing up…..with trepidation and difficulty 🙂
Do you know you can find a toilet block online? I was trying to place where these were in relation to Dame Nelly Melba’s house…..there in Marian not here in Coldstream…and discovered a site called ‘The National Public Toilet Map ‘- A project of the national continence program – and each block has a number. So if you’re travelling in Australia and ‘need to go’ that’s where you can find the nearest one to where you are.
But look what else I also found on the site. The mural is no more – it’s reverted to plain paint . Don’t laugh but I felt a little disappointed…and sad that it had gone.
I’m beginning to think that as I get older I’m becoming more intolerant of change. At one time I’d have just shrugged my shoulders and not thought anymore about it. The weather up there decides a lot of things and it was probably due for a repaint anyway.
I’m not slow to accept change if it’s needed but it’s what seems to be the change for change sake or to benefit others I’m starting to get crook at…..those doing the change will probably ague their case (oh no it’s not money/profit related) but it’s things like rearranging supermarket layouts….knocking houses down to build units….resizing products. This week three of our utility plans have been scrapped – ‘new plans suited for us’ will give us more…..but if you actually read the fine print will cost a little extra in some way or another.
So that’s what I’m thinking about and trying to get my head around this Monday morning – are there ways to accept that which you have no control over….apart from taking a deep breath and sighing each time you think about it (or moving to new providers). Am I mourning a loss, is this just the result of months of ‘you know what’, the slow change of our season…..proper constantly warm spring seems to be a long time coming …..or am I just becoming a miserable moaning old woman!
On the bright side, there’s one thing I do know about the new look at the supermarket…..I’ll be able to add a few more steps to my daily total walking the aisles trying to find where they moved things to 😊
How about you? Is it just me or does anyone else feel like this?
MondayMurals is hosted by Sami at Colourful World.
MondayMusings is hosted by Corinne at Everyday Gyaan
What with one thing or another I’ve been feeling moody all week
It’s been continually raining and we still can’t go far….5km ruling
to do or even look at anything different
So what better thing Is there to do when you’re moody and can’t go anywhere.
What else but look at …..
Clouds
A collection of tiny drops of water or ice crystals so light they can float in the air!
These clouds were seen in Far North Queensland – in Glacier Bay Alaska –
and close to home in Victoria
Fascinating to look at – hard to capture – do you look at the land or the sky?
~ ~ ~ ~
Clouds reflected on the wet low tide sands of Queens Beach Bowen 2011
This was what we saw two years earlier (2009) on a trip further north to
Charters Towers Qld
The whole of the town spread out below us….under a cloudy sky
2010 saw us cruising Glacier Bay Alaska under a heavy grey sky.
Very quiet & eerie!
Close to home later the same year (2010) I was driving past and saw this big build up of fluffy clouds over the The Dandenongs
If you are interested there are several basic sites online
with easy understandable information
http://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/cloud3.html.
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-clouds.htm
As well as :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud.
http://www.australiasevereweather.com/techniques/moreadv/class.htm
The sky and the sun are always there. It’s the clouds that come and go.
Rachel Joyce
~ ~ ~ ~
Photos will enlarge with a click
Linking to My Corner of the World
Linking to Skywatch Friday – where the sky’s the limit!
Secret Men’s Business or Mens Secret Business
Business Deals or Fishy Business
There for all the world to see
Piraeus Greece October 2014
Linking to:- My Corner of the World –~ – bethere2day ~ – Wordless Wednesday – ~ #Wordless Wednesday
if you’re ever up Queensland way be prepared to see some fun things.
These are from trips in 2009 – 2012 – 2015
Rockhampton – sometimes called the beef capital of Australia – slap bang on the Tropic of Capricorn. A fair way from anywhere.
Tully – 920 kms further north up the Bruce Highway. In the Wet Tropics so it gets wet a lot 🙂
Cooktown – a further 450 kms north up on the Cape York Peninsular is a place of it’s own. And there too you will see some very unexpected things. 
But where ever you go and what ever you do just make sure you have enough fuel in your tank because when you’re out and about (like at the caves in Chillagoe 2015) it’s not a good feeling when you come across a sign like this 🙂
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wednesdays are the days when photos do the talking.
Sometimes wordlessly other times not – do pop over and see what others have found to show you this Wednesday .
Granite Gorge Nr Mareeba Far North Queensland
2 September 2008
Rock Wallabies and me – plus a bag of food pellets provided by park owners
A little tentative to begin with……them not me 😊
Bolder
Brazen
Meanwhile, across the way – Please sir, I’d like some more!
Closed borders means I can’t travel
So I’ll be travelling virtually (and possiblywordlessly) for a little while
~ ~ ~ ~
Wordless Wednesday occurs all over the internet each Wednesday, when bloggers let photos speak for themselves. Click on the links below and see what others have to say ‘Wordlessly’ (or almost) 😊
