International – Jim's travels

Vietnam 24 ~ Week 2

Apr 24, 2024Apr 26, 2024 by theholmesteader, posted in International, Travel, Vietnam

Saturday 13th April

Following a wonderful first week in Vietnam with a great group of people, staying and visiting some special places, we set off on the next stage of our journey south.

We travelled by bus, with various stops along the way for photo opportunities, and for a good Bánh mì lunch in Da Nang, with its Golden Dragon Bridge, if you look at the photograph below you may spot the guy in the river searching for snails!

We then continued on to Hoi An arriving around 13:00 and transferred from the bus to local taxis which took us onto the island where our accommodation is situated. Riverside Impressions Villa, was a lovely looking place, situated beside the Thu Bon River, with well-equipped rooms, and a pool with a little bar, my room on the ground floor, with its balcony overlooking the river really was delightful.

Hoi An, an ancient port city, has preserved much of its 15th to 19th-century architecture and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port.

Tuan took us all for a walk into town in the afternoon, to visit the many historical buildings in the old town, you certainly could see the Japanese and Chinese influences as we strolled through the narrow streets, it was interesting to visit the Chinese Medicine Museum, and the various temples. I especially liked Tan Phu Giao, a shop full of model ships from all eras. One of the main features of the Old Town is the absence of motorcycles and cars as they are banned at certain times of the day.

Another attraction of the town is the high-quality bespoke tailors and leather goods manufacturers that are in the old town, Erica, in our group, had been here previously and told us of the high quality of the items produced in such a short time, so many of the ladies in the group spent the afternoon in Yaly’s, a store, selecting materials to be turned into high fashion items and collected by them before we left.

I decided that I wanted to see more of the town, so I went for a wander taking in the sights, occasionally stopping off for a beer, which in Vietnam is very, very cheap. In the evening we all met as arranged at The Hoianian, one of the riverside restaurants for a lovely meal, before finishing off the night by strolling through the night market and then heading back to the hotel.

Sunday 14th April

One of the great experiences of this trip was the basketboat ride through Hoi An. Known locally as “Thúng chài”, these coracles are made from bamboo and palm leaves and coated with a mixture of resin and tar, which waterproofs the boat.

We drove to the Bay Mau coconut forest, in Cam Thanh village, in one of the extended golf buggies they allow in town, and had great fun, two to a boat. initially, the boatmen and boatwomen took delight in spinning us around, then getting us dancing in the boats to Gangnam Style, before taking us on a trip through the coconut palms, we had a fishing net throwing demonstration and Siobahn did us all proud by repeating it perfectly, we were then all given little fishing rods to let us catch crabs along the shoreline. Another brilliant experience in Vietnam.

The beach at An Bang was our next stop, reputed to be one of the world’s top 100 beaches, this 4km stretch of golden sand was just what we needed to relax following the busy days we have all had. All too soon it was time to leave and return to the hotel. I took a nice long shower before heading back into town to do some shopping.

In the evening, the six of us who had booked to go on a cookery course met Tuan who introduced us to Mr Hung Nguyen, the chef who was going to run our course, we then headed into the market where he described the various ingredients we would be using in the recipes on the course. Leaving the market, we walked to The Tropics Hoi An, his school, donned our hats and aprons and got started on the four courses we were to cook. It was great fun and the results were very good, whether I will be able to reproduce them at home is another matter, but I will give it a try. A slow stroll back to the hotel, with some of us spending even more in the night market on the way, finished off yet another full and brilliant day in Vietnam.

Monday 15th April

A long day driving today as we continued south towards Quy Nhon, stopping off on the way in Tam Thanh village, a quiet coastal fishing village, completely transformed by artists, who have worked their magic on the sides of around 100 homes.

The murals capture the life and soul of the village, from young children playing, to fishermen in the ocean, I liked the one showing a man at his sewing machine and when I spotted it, he was happy to replicate the image in real life.

Our next stop on the road was at the historical relics in the Tuy Phuoc district, we visited the Cham towers and their associated ruins, I enjoyed seeing the Phu Loc tower, which is built on a hilltop with a height of 76 meters, it reminded me of similar architecture I saw n Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

We finished the day’s journey at the Seagull Hotel in Quy Nhon, a large seaside hotel, my room was very nice and spacious with an excellent sea view, however, perhaps it was because it was out of season things were a bit lacking. We all decided to dine in the hotel and discovered that the service was dire, some had finished their meals while others were still waiting for theirs. To finish off the evening, a group of us went to the nearby 69 Pub for some beers before retiring for the night.

Tuesday 16th April

After breakfast, I decided to forego a visit to a Kung Fu school to just relax in the sun and recharge my batteries in preparation for tonight’s overnight train journey, which Tuan told us of some difficulties due to a landslide in one of the tunnels on the line. Exciting times ahead.

I had a very relaxing afternoon by the pool after lunch, with occasional dips to cool off. A little shopping for snacks for the train journey, before using one of the shared hotel day rooms to freshen up, and then it was off to the station to catch the S1 Reunification Train to Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese trains like their British counterparts can be unreliable, which meant that we left about an hour late, at around 7:30 we then travelled for around 1 hour, only to stop in a siding for 45 minutes to allow a northbound train to go past, once on the move again, at around 11:30, we were stopped and got off the train to be taken by bus due to the tunnel landslip. The bus we boarded was an interesting one, it had 3 rows of double-height bed-styled reclining seats, which being built for Vietnamese people, were just a bit too short for me. At 01:30 we got back on a train to complete the rest of our journey.

Wednesday 17th April

Our journey was not as grim as expected, I don’t know if it was a relief to finally get underway to our destination or not, but we all settled into our respective cabins and settled down to sleep almost right away. The train itself was much like the other one, the toilets still a bit iffy and the food service non-existent, however, we did decide to miss out on the complimentary breakfast of a bowl of congee, runny rice soup as Christine politely described it.

We checked into our rooms in the Central Park Saigon Hotel and took the chance to shower and refresh ourselves after the journey before heading out to Pho 2000 for lunch, this restaurant was made famous following Bill Clinton’s visit to the city, and the Beef Pho he ate when he was there, was very good. After lunch, we paid a short visit to the nearby Ben Thanh market before paying a visit to the huge GPO building, where we also saw the Pittman apartment building where the last helicopter to leave in the escape from Saigon took place, the War Remnants Museum was our final stop before returning to the hotel for a short siesta.

In the evening I went with some of the group on another street food tour, our guide Chao, took us on an interesting walking tour of a small part of this huge city, enthusiasticly describing the food we were served. We sampled another beef Pho from a little kitchen in an alleyway, which was very good indeed, following this we bought some roast duck from a street stall, which we took to a nearby coffee house to eat. Our next stop was at a small place where we built, under Chao’s guidance, our own spring rolls, before moving on to yet another place for tasty dessert.

Ho Chi Minh’s version of Beer Street was our next stop to sample a local beer, this street, like the other similar ones, was full of bars pumping out loud music, all serving the same drinks. We decided to return to the quiet of the hotel for a nightcap,, but on discovering a Belgian Beer Bar nearby, we stopped there instead for one before retiring after another full and interesting day.

Thursday 18th April

The Mekong Delta was our destination today, so it was yet another early start for us, after breakfast, we boarded the bus leaving Ho Chi Minh City behind and headed south. After arriving in Viet Han, we boarded a river boat to take us to Unicorn Island with our local guide Phung, a delightful lady with a great sense of humour. Once on the island, we were taken, by Tuk-Tuk, to a small village where the locals laid on fresh tropical fruits, they also provided us with some traditional music and songs which was very entertaining.

Back on the boat, we returned to the mainland to take a canoe trip through the coconut groves to another village, where we visited a honey bee farm, a coconut candy factory, where Tuan delighted in showing us a jar of rice wine with a Cobra marinating in it. our next stop was a chocolatier and a coffee roaster, all of which were very interesting, before stopping for a wonderful 7-course lunch, starting with a spectacular Elephant Ear fish dish, and coconut flour pancakes amongst others.

An hour in a hammock afterwards rejuvenated me ready for the trip to our homestay for the night, this spot on the banks of the river was quite idyllic.

We weren’t in a long room this time, all separated by marital status and sex, meaning that Howard and I shared a long room of our own.

This homestay was a little different from our previous one by being on the riverside and had slightly better facilities, however, they were both quite rustic. We all spent what was left of the afternoon lazing on a patio by the river playing UNO before walking around the area.

Dinner, served by the family, was of a very high standard indeed and was followed by our host offering us a shot of the local rice wine which was very potent, he then told us, in very good English, of his life as a young Vietnamese man fleeing Vietnam and of his subsequent return and rebuilding his life and how he eventually build the homestay we were staying in. This was another very full and interesting day.

Friday 19th April

Awakened by the sound of the river traffic at around 6:00am, I had an early morning shower, a strong coffee and a chance to repack before breakfast. The hosts at the homestay made us welcome during our stay and the location on the river was ideal, I especially liked the big coconut wood recliner on the patio, in which I spent some time.

Time to leave, we boarded the bus to return to Ho Chi Minh City. All of us in the group wished to visit the Cu Chi Tunnel complex, so negotiations were carried out with Tuan and our driver to make an unscheduled stop, this was certainly worthwhile. The complex of 3 layers of tunnels in the jungle, with everything the Viet Cong needed to evade the American GIs, was on display, unfortunately, I was too big to fit into many of the tunnel entrances. The way the various rooms were laid out was very ingenious with a ventilation system hidden in fake termite hills. The hidden traps we were shown were so particularly lethal looking it was no surprise that the GIs hated being in the jungle.

Eventually, we returned to the Central Park Hotel Saigon and I checked into my previous room, then went for a walk to Starbucks to buy a mug for Dan before meeting Howard for a beer before dinner.

Later in the evening, Tuan took us all to Da Long, a nice traditional restaurant for our farewell dinner which was very good indeed. As the night was young, we all went to the Ben Nghe Street Food Market for some farewell drinks. Most of the group was returning home, however, some had a few more days in Saigon and Howard, Chris and Hilary were joining another group and continuing on to Cambodia to finish their holiday. I was sad to say our goodbyes to those leaving us.

Saturday 20th April

Case packed, backpack filled I went for breakfast, then Howard and I walked to the Reunification Palace to visit a most impressive building that played a huge part in Vietnam’s history. Howard said his goodbyes there and I then revisited the market for some last-minute shopping before stopping for lunch in the Ben Nghe Street Food Market.

Back at the hotel, I met Abby and both of us walked to the Bitexco Financial Tower, taking the elevator to the 49th floor, to visit the Skydeck there, this provided some great panoramic views of the city, it really lets you see the scale of the place.

On our return to the hotel, I took advantage of Erica & Cristine’s offer to use their room to freshen up and get changed for my flight home.

As Siobahn and I were on the same flight to Dubai, we sat and chatted over a couple of beers while we waited for our transfer. Once through the long queues at check-in, passport control and security, there was nothing to do but sit and wait until called.

The flight went as smoothly as expected, as ever, I couldn’t get to sleep and couldn’t settle to watch a movie, so my book came in handy again. I had a 4-hour stop over in Dubai, but it went quickly, I had a little nap, chatted with Siobahn and read my book. My flight boarded and left on time and was fairly comfortable and we arrived in Glasgow on schedule.

Overall, I had a great trip, it was good to spend time with Graeme and Briony in their new home, catch up with Betty and her family in Perth, and then topped it all off with an interesting tour of Vietnam with a great bunch of people.

Vietnam 24 ~ Week 1

Apr 13, 2024Apr 13, 2024 by theholmesteader, posted in International, Travel, Vietnam

Thursday 4th April

I had a quiet day at home in Perth, getting my laundry sorted and packing my case, I settled down to recharge my batteries to prepare for a longish overnight flight where I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. After dinner and a chat with all the family, Cameron and Georgia drove me to the airport, where the automatic check-in process and bag drop failed, I waited in the queue to get sorted, however, the security system was excellent an I soon found myself waiting at the gate for my flight.

The 8 hour flight was uneventful, and despite being very tired I just couldn’t get to sleep. Flying with Emirates does tend to spoil you for long flights, on this Malaysian Airways one, the legroom was a bit tight for me, and I didn’t rate the in flight entertainment and tge meal was adequate, but hey ho, I arrived here in plenty of time to make the transfer across the airport to board my next flight.

The next Malaysian flight to Hanoi was late departing, but it was a fairly comfortable one, again legroom etc was a little tight, but for a 3 hour flight it was OK

Friday 5th April

I arrived in Hanoi around 13:00 and quickly got through immigration and was able to collect my luggage before being met outside the airport by my pre-booked transfer driver for the 40 minute journey into the city through the chaotic traffic, there are millions of scooters and motorcycle all driving as if there were no rules of the road.

On arrival, I checked into my room in the Hong Ngoc Cochinchine Hotel in Nguyen Truong To, which was a nice room and perfectly adequate for my short 2 night stay. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, assisting me in obtaining a SIM card for my phone and finding an ATM to get some cash. I withdrew around £60-£70 and was pleased to quickly become a multi-millionaire as I received 2,000,000.00 Dong (vnd),

After looking around the local area to get my bearings, I set out for a bit of a wander to find a street mentioned on my map as a street art location, I very soon discovered that being on foot is every bit as crazy as driving, you certainly need your wits about you at all times to avoid being hit by a motorcycle. Having failed in my mission, I returned to the hotel, stopping off at Pasteur Street, a craft beer brew shop for a refreshing pint of very good beer, although I discovered later that they are over 3 times the price of the local brew, Hanoi Bia.

I returned to the hotel with just enough time to change my sweaty tee shirt (it is very hot and humid here) before being met by Anna my guide for a Street Food Tour I had booked on my arrival. I was told that I was the only person booked on the tour and was asked if I would like to do it by walking or as a pillion passenger on her motorcycle, anyone who knows me will know what I decided, we quickly got underway to our first stop for some Banh Cuon, a delicious steamed rice pancake rolled with shrimp, back on the bike we then went to sample Banh Goi, a really nice mushroom pillow cake, our next stop was for Bun Cha, rice noodles with grilled pork, which I really enjoyed, among the other dishes we sampled on the way was Pho Ga, rice noodles with chicken, and a lovely desert of fresh mango with coconut ice cream. This sample of the flavours of Vietnam was finished off by a Cafe trung, a delicious egg coffee, which I admit that as I don’t normally like white or sweet coffee, I found absolutely delicious. All of the places we visited were places you would normally walk past of miss completely, just like the hawker markets in Singapore, they specialise in one dish, which they cook to perfection, in the Banh Chao shop, the lady making the rice pancakes has been doing that same job for 32 years, no wonder they were so good.

The city was very busy being a Friday night, there were many tourists out doing the same as me on food tours, we passed a busy night market and had a glimpse of the area they call beer street, but we decided to give it a miss and returned to the hotel, considering the distances we travelled, I was glad the I chose to go on the bike, it was great fun, thought I wouldn’t have liked driving it myself. A quick beer in the hotel bar finished off an exciting but tiring day.

Saturday 6th April

After a nice breakfast in the hotel, where I met Howard, another Intrepid tourist, I ventured out to find the famous Hanoi Train Street, this a street where regular trains run just a metre or so from the shops and houses. As I had some time until the train came, I enjoyed a refreshment in one of the many cafes to while away the time, watching the world go by. It was great fun watching a team of guys renovating a building opposite, there certainly wasn’t any H&S considerations to be seen there.

The train coming through certainly was worth the effort of waiting, it passed within a matter of inches from me, you really had to keep yourself tucked in as it hurtled past.

Next on my list of places to visit was an area full of murals, this street of railway arches had a series of murals depicting life in Hanoi, painted in 2017, they were all very good and interesting.

Back to the hotel to recharge my phone, stopping off at the Pasteur Street Taproom finished off a really interesting morning, where i found that I had quickly learnt how to navigate the streets and traffic of Hanoi.

With time to kill before the Intrepid meeting, I went back out and went towards the Tran Quoc Pagoda on the lake, this was a peaceful place to visit, it was strange to see people bringing goldfish and turtles and placing them in front of the Pagoda as an offering, as I was leaving I looked out onto the lake and spotted a man up to his neck in the water fishing with a rod, I’m not sure if he caught anything, other than a cold.

At 18:00 we met with Tuan, ourguide for the trip and met the 11 other travellers who would be with us for the next 15 days it was a good mix, two couples, and the rest of us were singles, no doubt I will get to know them better as the trip progresses. After the meeting in the hotel, we all went to a local restaurant for a nice dinner which helped break the ice a little.

A few of us Intrepid travellers decide that the night was still young, so we ventinto town, via the night market to ‘Beer Street’, this was just like your typical party street in South East Asia, plenty of beer, loud music and hawkers pedling their wares,after a couple of beer we headed back to the hotel for an early night to prepare for tomorrow’s start of tour.

Another great day in Hanoi.

Sunday 7th April

Our first day of or tour meant leaving our hotel behind, including our luggage, and boarding the bus to visit the Temple of Literature, as it was Sunday large groups of childen from the surrounding areas were there for graduation ceremonies making it extremely busy, it even looked like there was a photo opertunity for a beauty contest, they certainly all added colour to a damp and dreary morning. I even got a chance to wear my Cambodian Temple pants.

Following our visit we then started our drive 120km north westwards into the mountain region. Forty minutes out of Hanoi, we stopped off in a a cafe for a comfort break and a traditional Vietnamese filter coffee served with condensed milk which certainly took some of the bitterness away.

The further into the mountains we got the raods became narrower and the villages more rural. We eventually reached the Sung Village, our homestay for the night, we were all allocated a cot styled bed in the long house and shown where the toilet facilities were before being served a nice lunch on the terrace, the food was delicious.

After a short rest after lunch, we all headed in to the hills to visit the cave of the Mountain God, this 3km trek was at times quite treacherous, with steep slopes and slippery surfaces. One of the village residents met us there, preceeding us to ask the god for permission to enter the cave, it was all worth the effort though and the cave was well worth visiting.

On our return to the homestay, tired and a touch sweaty, a shower and change of clothes was in order. After another nice dinner we were visited by a group of locals in traditional outfits, entertained us with singing and dancing routines, eventually asking us to join in.

Videos will be added on my return home

Monday 8th April

After breakfast we said our farewells to our hosts an set out on a 15km trek to Da Bia a village on the shores of Hồ Hòa Bình. The trek was a bit difficult for me, Tuan told us that it would be easy going on level ground with a few ups and downs, what he omitted to tell us was the steepness of the climb into the mountains and the eventful descent, my poor knees really suffered, especially on the way down. However, the scenery was spectacular through the mists, thankfully it wasn’t a blazing hot day.

Lunch and a beer by the lakside revived me ready for our boat trip to Thung Nai, where we picked up our bus again to make the 2 hour trip back to Hanoi. A quick shower to freshen up before dropping off my laundry in a local shop before a nice meal at the Met restaurant and a couple of beers with Howard finished a nice but very tiring day.

Tuesday 9th April

Another day that started with us checking out of the hotel, again, and boarding the bus for a trip East to Ha Long Bay.

On the way out of the city, we stopped off to visit The Blue Dragon children’s Foundation, which works with disadvantaged children throughout Vietnam, protecting them from the effects of human trafficking, disability and the poverty which forces them on to the city’s streets, the group who met us made us very welcome and told us of their work over tea and coffee. This was an interesting visit.

Back on the bus we travelled to the Cat Ba ferry terminl, on our arrival at the terminal we boarded the ferry, which was a pretty basic and not even up to CalMac’s standards, for the short trip to Cat Ba where we travelled to the other side of the island to board out cruise ship. After cruising round many of the limestone islands in the bay, whilst having a wonderful lunch we stopped at a floaing pontoon to allow those who wished to go kayaking and swimming, I chose not to take part in these activities but still rnjoyed myself nonetheless chatting to Kristina who also stayed behind. The weather wasn’t brilliant, it was a bit overcast, but apparently that’s normal for the bay, but it was brilliantly nonetheless.

Back on the main island following another sightseeing voyage, we took the bus to a nearby Eco Lodge, our accommodation for the night, which was an interesting place set in woodland with rustic chalets around a central area. We had our pre-booked dinner withhappy hour cocktails served from the bar. After dinner a few of us played pool, with difficulty, then finished the night off chatting to other guests round the campfire. Yet another great day in Vietnam.

Wednesday 10th April

After a good nights sleep and an interesting breakfast, we drove to the ferry terminal to catch the 8:30 ferry back to the mainland, stopping off on the way to Hanoi at a roadhouse for a comfort break and to buy some snacks.

On arrival in Hanoi, and after lunch in the Downtown Restaurant, we visited the Ho Chi Min complex, starting at the mausoleum then moving through the various buildings he used and lived in, including the famous stilt house he preferred rather than the palataial former presidential palace.

Our next stop was at a charity which supports handicapped people, including those who suffer from the long term effects of agent orange from the American War. This group provides employment, and we visited their embroidery workshop to see the beautiful silk tapestries they produce.

To finish off our time in Hanoi, we went to catch a performance of the Water Lotus Puppet Theatre, this was great fun, the puppets all performed in a pool of water with the puppeteers hidden behind screens. The performance contained tales of Vietnamese life on a fun and interesting way.

We returned to the Hong Ngoc Cochinchine hotel for the final time, and after collecting my laundry, made use of the room they provided for us, to freshen up, sort out my luggage and prepare for our night train journey south.

Leaving the hotel behind we took the bus to the train station and quickly boarded the night train, which departed bang on schedule. We were allocated a 4 berth cabin, which I shared with Howard Chris, and Heiki. Using Google Translate, Heiki, who is Esstonian and speaks no english, created a memorable experience for us by having conversations using technology which sometimes gave interesting results.

The journey was much better than expected and I was able to sleep for much of it, the toilets were a bit iffy, but apart from that, the facilities were fine for me, breakfast was a bit of a hoptch potch of the stuff I bought before leaving Hanoi, but it did the trick.

Thursday 11th April

On arrival in Hue at 10:00, we discovered the difference travelling south made to the weather as it was very hot and humid, we boarded the bus to the Alba Hotel where, as it was too early to check in, we all had a coffee before going to a family home for a delightful home cooked meal with a wonderful variety of local dishes and their version of rice wine.

After lunch we then travelled to the The Imperial City of Hue inside the Citadel, a walled fortress and palace belonged to the ancient city of Hue which was a capital city of the Nguyen Dynasty for 140 years until 1945.

The spectacular architecture was built in 1803 by the emperor who founded the Nguyen Dynasty. The Imperial City was finally completed in 1832 and it was the biggest structure built in the history of modern Vietnam. The city was made an UNESCO Site in 1993 with the remained buildings being actively restored and preserved after the destruction by the Americans during the Vietnam War.

We returned to the hotel for a seista and to cool down a bit before a few of us headed into town with Tuan, for a meal in a rooftop bar called the DMZ Bar, the food was very good. We returned to the hotel to catch up on some well deserved sleep.

Friday 12th April

An exciting day to day, after yet another good Southeast Asian breakfast, we were met outside the hotel by a team of motorcyclists in blue uniforms and helmets who were to be our drivers for the day.

After a short H&S briefing, we set on a convoy around the beautiful city of Hue, stopping off at various pounts to see the sights. We visited the Tu Duc Emperor’s tomb, the Thien Mu pagoda and a location where they make the famous Hue poem hat, a conical hat that displays a poem when held up to the light, they also showed us how they make incense, giving us a chance to try. We stopped at local markets, visited temples and stopped off for a fabulous vegetarian lunch on the way.

Our time with the motorcyclists was brilliant, they were extremely patient with us and at no time did any of us feel unsafe as we whizzed around the city and surrounding countryside, my rider Huan was a great guy who put me at my ease at all times during the day.

The afternoon was spent across the Perfume River to visit the Dong Ba market where a few of us made some purchases, I loved the little Vietnamese filter coffee system so much I bought one of the sets to make at home.

Rather than travelling back to the hotel, we all stayed out in town at the Why Not Bar where we had a few refreshments and a meal, before having a few happy hour drinks in Brown Eyes bar where I won a B52 cocktail and Chris won a tee shirt in their lottery, before returning to the hotel and retiring for the night following yet another brilliant day in Vietnam. Roll on next week as we head further south.

Budapest

Dec 5, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in International, Travel

Following our recent trip to Morocco, my mate Jim and I still had itchy feet, so out came our trusty Lonely Planet “Happy Weekend” book. On opening up we landed on Budapest, a city I had long wished to visit, so a decision was made to scope out the best way to get there and when. After a bit of research, we found that the city’s Christmas Market was opening on the 17th November so we wanted to go after that. Down we went to visit Michelle at Kenneth MacLeod Travel and set her the challenge of sorting us out, and although we set her a budget this time, we were booked to go a few short days later.

Our first flight was the Red-Eye to Frankfurt from Glasgow, which meant leaving the house at 04:00am to get through parking and security for the flight at 06:00. This flight went well and we arrived in Frankfurt early, which meant we had plenty of time to relax and catch a bit of breakfast before our flight to Budapest, which was a wee bit delayed. On arrival we caught the excellent 100E direct shuttle bus into the city centre, where we wanted to get a local bus to the hotel, unfortunately, the local buses don’t take cash and we had no working Wi-Fi to allow us to buy tickets so took a chance and got on one anyway and arrived easily at our hotel, the Danubius Hungaria, around 15:00.

Once checked into a nice room and connected to their Wi-Fi we discovered how to use the public transport and picked up a city map then went for a walk to find one of the rest area restaurants recommended in our Guidebook we quickly found Rakoczi, a restaurant that was highly rated in our guide book for serving traditional Hungarian food. After a wonderful meal, we then visited Rizmajer a local brewhouse for a couple of beers before returning to the hotel at the end of a very nice but busy day.

Our first full day in Budapest started with an excellent breakfast in the hotel, where we made our plans on how to make the most of our visit, we discovered that all the various Hop-on-Hop-off (Ho-Ho) bus companies had merged and that they provided good value tours of the city and included a Danube boat cruise, so off we set to catch one. The ticket office was just across the road from St Stephen’s Basilica where the Christmas Market was situated. Still, we left that treat until later and boarded the bus for an orientation tour of the city’s highlights, thankfully the weather was nice to us and we were able to sit on the upper deck for a better view of this beautiful city. During our journey, we stopped off in the Kupak Bar & Bistro to sample some traditional Goulash soup and a beer for lunch, before going round the corner to visit the stunning Dohány Street Synagogue. This building, built between 1854 and 1859 reminded us somewhat of our time in Morocco with its decoration based mainly on Islamic models. We enjoyed our tour especially when we reached the garden with its Tree of Life Memorial, designed by Imre Varga in 1991 and paid for by the late American actor Tony Curtis. On leaving the Synagogue we thought we would sample another of Budapest’s delicacies, a Chimney Cake, we both chose to have an apple strudel version, topped with freshly whipped cream, they were most delicious.

We returned to the hotel to freshen up and have a siesta, before a 30-minute wander down to the Basilica to visit the Christmas Market, where we enjoyed seeing all the stalls selling trinkets and Christmas items, there was a spectacular light display on the front of the Basilica which we watched while eating Langos, another Hungarian delicacy, which is basically a deep fried flatbread with different toppings, Jim had his usual chicken while I had one with sausage and onion, both of them were really tasty and very filling. The perfect way to finish off the day was a visit to Szimpla Kert, one of Budapest’s iconic ruin bars, this place is inside a dilapidated pre-war building in the Jewish Quarter, furnished with junk furniture in its nine bars all built out of old doors and windows, it was a real cool place to visit.

The next morning, after another great breakfast we caught the first Ho-Ho bus of the day and took it up to Heroes’ Square where we made our way into the City Park to visit the Széchenyi Baths, one of the largest thermal bath complexes in Central Europe, these baths are one of Budapest’s most famous. With an exceptional backdrop of classical columns and canary-yellow walls, it was a great way to spend a morning lounging in some of its indoor and outdoor pools, although it was a chilly 10 degrees outside, the thermal waters at 30 degrees in all the pools was a fabby treat and great fun, we could have easily spent the whole day there. Whilst visiting the Christmas Market the previous evening, we managed to meet part one of ‘Dan’s Challenge’ in finding a Starbucks to buy a mug, to complete the challenge we returned to town to find a Lego Store and eventually found one in one of the large shopping malls.

A quick bus trip took us down to the river to catch an evening cruise on the Danube as part of our Ho-Ho ticket, this was most enjoyable, the view of the city in the evening light with the buildings illuminated gave us yet another view of the city.

On our way back to the hotel, we were on the lookout for somewhere to go for dinner, we stumbled upon the Amigo Rockabilly Bar just around the corner from the hotel, it turned out to be just what we were looking for, a true dive bar, its 1950’s Elvis and Rock and Roll theme was interesting, but the staff, service and food could not be bettered, and the beer was very good too.

As we had only bought a 2-day Ho-Ho ticket, after breakfast we went to the railway station and purchased a 24-hour public transport ticket then headed over to the Buda side to spend the morning touring the castle and palace. The castle was spectacular, just like a real-life fairy tale. The palace and its grounds came a close second, we were even treated to a changing of the guard in all its precision. Back down on the riverbank, we made our way to the Central market hall for a wander around the stalls, and some lunch in Fakanál Étterem one of its many eateries, the food was good and we were entertained by a couple of in-house musicians.

The opulent Parliament House was our next stop, however, being closed to the public, all we could do was see the outside and the gardens. After walking across the Chain Bridge for our morning coffee and wandering around quite a bit despite our travel passes, we went back to the hotel for a wee siesta and to decide what we fancied for dinner. We thought it would be good to revisit the Ruins Bars and on our way there we came across Frici Papa’s, we had seen this place before on our travels, and as it had received good reviews and gauging by the queues outside, we thought we would try our luck. After a short wait, we got a table and discovered that the food and service lived up to the reviews. We cut our visit to the Ruins Bar short after one pint, as it was so crowded we found it difficult to get a seat and made our way back to the hotel stopping of in Amigo’s again, tonight it was a bit different, there was a karaoke in full flow when we got there, it turned out to be very entertaining listening to amateur Hungarian singers sing Hungarian Songs with the occasional song in English, it was such great fun we stayed until the end of the night.

Friday was our last day so after yet another great breakfast we went back to the riverside to see the Shoes on the Danube Bank, a touching memorial erected in 2005, to honour the Jews who were massacred by fascist Hungarian militia during the Second World War. They were ordered to take off their shoes (shoes were valuable and could be stolen and resold by the militia after the massacre) and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

A return to the nearby Central Market Hall for lunch, in a different eatery without the music, and a look at the loaded produce stalls finished off the early afternoon. We took a stroll along Vaci Utca one of Budapest’s popular shopping district finishing off in the Pointer Bar, Budapest’s version of a Weatherspoon’s for a refreshing pint before catching the bus back to the hotel to collect our luggage.

A local bus back into the city centre and the 100E back to the airport saw us start our journey home, despite a slight delay in Budapest we arrived in Frankfurt in plenty of time to catch our flight to Glasgow, our only problem being the lack of open food outlets at Frankfurt at night. We arrived back in a chilly Glasgow and quickly made our way home tired but happy after yet another great trip away.

Morocco – 2023

Oct 4, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in International, Travel

Following my recent Intrepid Tour in Morocco with my mate Jim Lewars, I have created a blog post detailing the trip, read all about this exciting and interesting journey here:

Tour Blog:

June Highlights

Jul 5, 2023Jul 7, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in Australia, Glasgow, International, Street Art, Travel

I have been quite busy over the past few weeks, my son Graeme and his wife Briony arrived from Australia for a short break, so I spent some time with them, including a trip to the Banksy ‘Cut and Run’ exhibition in Glasgow’s GOMA, something I enjoyed and would highly recommend.

Due to the school holidays, my mate Jim asked me to help him with some childcare duties, so Jim, Jack, Dylan, and I headed off to Lanark to see the stunning murals depicting William Wallace painted by Rogue One, followed by a wander around the town to find the twenty huge dinosaur sculptures are in place in the town centre and the nearby Castlebank Park, despite the rainy weather we all had a great day.

We stopped off on the way home to visit some more murals, this time at the Glasgow Distillery on Moffat Street, it was good to see the work of Rogue One alongside Molly Hankinson, Michael Corr, and Ellie Mills on a set of tanks.

On Saturday, we visited Phillies in Shawlands for a farewell party for my son and daughter-in-law where I ‘discovered’ ‘Cecile the Lion’ painted by DZIA in 2015 when he was invited by the Heverlee brewery when they were setting up a pop-up Belgian beer bar. On the way home via Giffnock I then came across a fine mural on the wall of El Jefes restaurant painted by one of my favourite Glasgow guys, Frodrik.

Once I had created this post, I discovered that I had neglected the site for a while, so with a bit of time on my hands, I set about adding the stuff I had missed lately. The pages I have added to, or appended are as follows:

Yardworks 2023 – Melbourne Suburbs – Frankston

Silo Art Trail – Rone Time – The Artists (various)

Melbourne 2023 – Part 5

Mar 6, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in Australia, International, Travel

I know that I have returned home and back to feeling cold again, but I thought it would cheer me up, and make sense to finish off the blog for this trip, so here is the last instalment.

Wednesday 22nd February

Today was Briony’s birthday and as we were meeting the family for a meal in the evening, I decided to stay quite local. I took the train a couple of stations up the line for a bit of exploring, again mainly to see some murals, I certainly have visited many places in the Melbourne area this trip. On my return to Mordialloc, I happened to bump into Graeme and Briony, who had popped out for lunch at Main Street, so we all had lunch together. I then went for some shopping and a coffee before returning home.

In the evening, we went to Beaumaris, where we went to Oshima, a local Japanese restaurant, where we were joined by Sean, Moni, and the boys for a lovely buffet meal, when we got back to Pat & Kay’s we all had fun looking at photographs of the many cakes Kay had made for her children over the years using instructions from a Good Housekeeping book of children’s cakes. Graeme surprised us when we returned home by producing his production of another cake from the book for Briony, spectacular and tasty it was too.

Thursday 23rd February

Today I went into the city to do some shopping and to get my phone contract sorted out, I visited Queen Victoria Market, which was a busy vibrant place displaying none of the shortages I had been reading about in the UK papers, lunch at the market was a really good Turkish lamb sandwich and a coffee sitting outside watching the world go by. I then went to an Optus phone shop and sorted out my phone setup before wandering down to visit the Stella Maris, the Seafarers Centre on Little Collins Street, there I had a nice chat with Lee-Anne, the manager who kindly gave me a tour of the centre, which is very impressive. Lee-Anne expressed a keenness to open links with our Glasgow branch of the Merchant Navy Association, saying that she would be happy to keep in touch with us and pass on our details to some of the regular visitors to the centre.

Shopping and phone sorted, it was time to head for home, stopping off in Mates in Mordialloc, to wait for Graeme before we both hit the trail back home.

Friday 24th February

It was a scorcher today, much too warm to do much, it was even too warm to be outdoors, so it was a chance to sit with my book in the lounge with the AC turned on. However, boredom got the better of me and I got the lawn mower out and cut the grass and tidied away some weeds, then it was back indoors to cool off. I eventually went into the shed and designed and made a coaster for Briony’s brother Andrew, he is a bit of a petrolhead with a liking for Holden Commodores, which was his first car, both Graeme and I are sure he will like the finished result. The high temperatures continued into the evening so we all gathered around the AC with some cold beers to keep us happy.

Saturday 25th February

Today we went into Melbourne’s CBD to go on a Chocoholics tour, we met up with P&K at St Paul’s Cathedral, where we met with Tonya, our tour guide, and the rest of the group. Off we went initially to Degraves street to visit Clementine’s to sample the first of the day’s chocolates from Chocamama, from there we went to the fabulous Block Arcade to sample the wares from Coal River Farm, a Tasmanian Chocolate and cheese producer.

The Royal arcade was our next stop and we dropped into the original Koko Black shop to choose our sample selection, we were all spoiled for choice here. (Check out the video tour when you scroll down on the linked page) After a stroll through the city, we arrived at Guildford Lane and the Scoopy Milk bar, where were treated to a serving of Bingsu, a bowl full of snowy shaved chocolate ice, condensed milk, raspberry boba, and fresh salted fruit to tempt our taste buds. This was a great way to spend a couple of hours, getting a chance to visit some different spots of the city.

As Briony had to return home Graeme and I stayed in the city for a beer in the Duke, (a favourite of Jim & mine while in Melbourne last year), before we got a train back to Mordialloc, where we walked to the Braeside Brewery for a couple of pints and a nice pizza, I had a rather spectacular Chicken Parma one which topped of yet another great day.

Sunday 26th February

Today we drove down to Mount Eliza to visit Andrew and Sheree and the children Isla and Leo, after a stop at their home, we all went to the Ranelagh Club, their local tennis club for lunch, it was a good place to sit in the sunshine, enjoying the food and the company.

On our return home, we all had an afternoon siesta before watching that night’s episode of Australian Survivor, which has become a little bit addictive, I will need to find a way to keep updated when I get home.

Monday 27th February

Today, for part of my birthday, Graeme and Briony got me, Pat & Kay tickets to see an exhibition called Time, by the artist Rone, in a long-neglected part of Flinders Street Station. Rone, an international street artist from Geelong, whose works can be seen in and around Melbourne has created a unique space that takes you back to a part of the world where time has stood still for 70 years or so. Each of the 11 rooms tells its own story of a world that used to be – from deserted switchboards to the ghostly library, lined with hundreds of fictitious novels marked with the exhibition and its artist on their spines, the room with the sewing machines almost looked like the staff had just walked out after a day’s work and the room left neglected for 70 years.

Watching over every room is a portrait of Rone’s long-time muse, Teresa Oman, and the scene is made more memorable with the clever use of lighting and an original score by local songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, Nick Batterham. A YouTube video tour of the exhibition can be seen here:

We all thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, especially P&K, who were enthralled by the 1950’s newspapers covering the windows, they certainly brought back memories to them.

After the exhibition, we walked to the National Gallery of Victoria where we went to the member’s room for a coffee before making our way home. I met Graeme in Mordialloc and we got home to find Sean, Moni, and the boys had called round to say goodbye and we all enjoyed the Afghan meal that Moni brought over, it was so nice of them, as they all made me feel so welcomed and a part of the whole family.

Melbourne 2023 – Part 4

Feb 22, 2023Feb 22, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in Australia, International, Street Art, Travel

Tuesday 14th February

Today Pat and I paid another visit to the Beaumaris Men’s Shed where Bob, one of the members gave an interesting and informative presentation on a drawing package called Sketchup, although designed mainly for creating drawings of buildings, as Bob demonstrated, it is ideal for producing drawings of pieces to be made in the Shed. We then returned to P&K’s where I helped Pat with a word processor for the production of his latest book on recycling.

We then all returned to Aspendale to celebrate Graeme’s birthday, we were joined in the garden by Sean, Moni, and the boys for a BBQ in the evening sunshine. The celebrations were topped off with another of Briony’s cake creations, this time the theme was an Aussie Rules football pitch. We agreed that it was a great day and I felt it was so good to be here to celebrate it with him.

Wednesday 15th February

As today was predicted to be rather warm, I decided to stay home and sort out some of my photographs and blog posts, plus I thought that if I had any spare time that I would help tidy up the garden a bit. As usual, time drifted away from me and I never got near the garden, however, I did manage to get my blog updated and it was good to just relax a bit in the sunshine.

Thursday 16th February

Today I decided to get my walking shoes on again and head out, firstly to the suburb of Richmond to see if the 50-metre Dimmeys mural, by Hayden Dewar, was still there and what condition it was in, I was very pleased to see that it was indeed still there and, apart from a couple of little tags, in good condition, (Click on this link to read about it and see the images from when I visited in 2018). As the day was starting to heat up, (it eventually got to be over 35 degrees), I picked up lunch from the supermarket in the Dimmeys building and had an enjoyable lunch just watching the world go by. After lunch, I thought that I would visit some of the murals shown on my app, this took me initially to the Clifton Hill area to find that a very good-looking mural had been painted over, which was a bit disappointing, rather than continuing through Clifton Hill, I went back to the Fitzroy and Collingwood area to photograph some more from the app, it was a mixed bag sort of afternoon, I found some good murals, some not so good and plenty that had been spoiled by loads of tagging.

It turned out to be really sunny and hot, which took me into a nice little Collinwood bar called the Gem, where I had a nice pot of ale and a blether with some regulars, this is one of the things I like about Melbourne, the people are so friendly and just like Glasgow, like nothing better than chatting.

As the afternoon wore on and I was beginning to weary in the heat, I took a tram to South Yarra to meet Graeme for a pint in the Arcadia Hotel near his work before catching the train to Mordialloc where we stopped for a meal in one of the local hostelries. On our return home, we were greeted by Briony and her friend Simon, who was the best man at their Australian wedding, it was good to catch up with him.

Friday 17th February

It was a scorcher today with temperatures reaching the high 30’s so it was a stay-at-home day, although we walked to Aspendeli, a nice new deli/cafe just around the corner from the house, we had to leave Joffrey at home though as the pavements were too hot for his paws. By the late afternoon I was getting a bit bored so decided to chance the weather, covered myself in sunscreen and with my wide-brimmed hat on I ventured out to find a mural by Hayden Dewar which I had read was nearby, after a long walk into an industrial estate, I gave up as it was just too exhausting in the heat to go too far. I think I turned back at the right time as the weather suddenly changed, the wind got up and it started to rain, I managed to get some shelter in a petrol station forecourt until the rain stopped, and the sun came back out. I then headed home, stopping only to sit for a while to watch a local cricket match ( really it was an excuse to just sit for a while). The only consolation for this trip was a schooner of ale in the nearby Braeside Brewery on my travels.

Saturday 18th February

This morning whilst Briony took Joffrey to his Rally exercise class, Graeme and I caught up with the papers, on Bri & Joffrey’s return we went to a community market in the special needs school around the corner, it was a nice place to see how the school integrates with the community, and we all had a nice lunch into the bargain.

In the afternoon Graand I had a lazering masterclass, before going out to the garage to make some things for the family, Graeme is a quick learner so I don’t think I will get too many calls for help in the future.

Sunday 19th February

Today we all had a quiet morning, reading papers, catching up with emails and puzzles etc., before heading over to Urban Ground for Briony’s birthday bash, this bar/food court, which is only a 10-minute walk away was an ideal place to hold it, they had arranged a private area for our group which was next to the bar and adjacent food stalls. All of the Cullin clan and plenty of Briony’s friends turned up, it was so good to see them all there with their expanding families, Briony’s popularity meant that some of her friends had travelled quite some distance to be there, one guy even altered his journey from New York to be there. The party went on into the evening and I can honestly say the walk back across the park seemed much longer, perhaps the open bar they had laid on made the difference.

Monday 20th February

Today I went out mural hunting again, I started off in the suburb of Brunswick to see a mural on a silo near the railway station showing the outgoing New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Arden, showing her embracing a Muslim woman, this was painted by Melbourne artist Loretta Lizzie, after the devastating Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.

Brunswick was I felt a nice place so I hung around, wandering its streets and lanes and taking photographs of murals before catching a tram to Collingwood to visit Easey’s for lunch, this place, in a converted Melbourne train, on the rooftop, still with its retro seats and decor, heavily graffitied though, is a nod the origins of hip hip and graffiti, it really was pretty cool to eat your lunch on a 1970’s train on top of a building looking out over the city. I stayed in the Collingwood area snapping away until it was time to catch the bus down to South Yarra to meet Graeme for our journey home.

Tuesday 21st February

Tuesday being Tuesday it was men’s shed day as they were having an induction day for new members at Pat’s shed in Beaumaris, he took me first to the local one in Mordialloc, this shed is limited for workshop space suits its members very well as they consider it to be more of a social space where the meet mainly to chat and play games etc.

Following that we travelled to a shed Pat had wanted to visit for some time, the Dingley Village Men’s Shed, situated in the nearby Braeside Park, we were both very impressed with the shed, they had a large well equipped workshop, covering woodwork, metalwork, welding and car servicing, with a large well-used cycle repair and refurbishment section. In addition to the workshops, there are well-equipped art, photographic, and computing sections, they even have a large flight simulator setup with some licensed pilots who are willing to assist. They, like all of the sheds I have visited, do great work for the local community, however, the Dingley one is the only one I have seen with a small injection moulding setup where they recycle plastic milk bottles, turning them into picnic tables and benches, very innovative. I must admit that all this talk of men’s sheds may seem boring to some but I have really enjoyed visiting them and hearing about how it benefits men’s health.

We then returned to Aspendale to meet up with Briony and Kay for a nice lunch in the Aspendeli, Pat and I then travelled to Beaumaris to see a very good mural by Julian Clavijo on a beach hut near the Sailing club boathouse before going home. As it was sunny I sat reading my book before boredom set in causing me to get out the trimmer (they call them whipper snippers here) and do a bit of tidying up in the garden.

Due to all the exciting things we have planned for the remainder of my stay, I think this will be the last blog post from Australia, I will however finish off the blog when I get home, (jet lag permitting). There will also be some pages full of the wide and varied range of street and silo art I found during my time here, so watch this space.

Melbourne 2023 – Part 3

Feb 15, 2023Feb 15, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in Australia, International, Street Art, Travel

Monday 6th February

Following on from the previous weeks I decided to make Monday a day of rest, so I chilled out catching up with the UK paper, doing my regular puzzles and reading my book. By lunchtime I had had enough so decided to dig out Graeme’s mower and set about cutting the grass, this was followed by me attacking the weeds on the paths, boy is the ‘onion grass’ here one tough weed. Job done, I felt that I had earned the right to sit in the sun with a beer with Joffrey beside me.

Tuesday 7th February

Today was the day to visit one of Pat’s favourite haunts, the Bayside Men’s Shed. I got picked up by Pat & Kay, Kay left us there and went off to join her walking group , leaving Pat and me to play with all the big boy toys. It was nice to meet up again with some of Pat’s friends that I had met on a previous visit, and it was interesting to see all of the various projects taking shape. At 11:00 everything stopped and we all gathered to see a presentation by one of the members on model aviation, it was quite interesting with some practical demonstrations using model planes of all sizes and types. The presentation was followed by a BBQ lunch where all the members had a chance to socialise and have a blether. We then were collected by Kay and we returned to their home in Beaumaris for a coffee, Pat then decided to bring out his collection of RC helicopters and drones to try to put into practice what we had been shown. We had a short stroll around Beaumaris before returning for dinner when Graeme and Briony joined us. Another good day.

Wednesday 8th February

Today I decided to hit one of Melbourne’s suburbs to take some photographs of street art as shown on one of my apps. I chose to visit Fitzroy as it was fairly easy to reach, a train to Flinders Street then a tram to Gertrude Street (2nd coolest street in the world according to Time Out magazine) before a long walk up Brunswick Street and its associated lanes and side streets. I was not disappointed with what I found, there were some decent quality murals, especially the Fitzroy Faces on Cecil Street, this 50-metre wall has 7 large portraits by the artists; Rone, Adnate, Sofles, Heesco, Dvate, Cam Scale and Jason Parker. I did find, however, that there was the usual amount of tagging in the area which had wiped out some good work I had seen on previous visits. Back in the city, I had a wee wander before stopping for a late lunch before heading back to Aspendale where after dinner I started to get some order into my street art photographs of Frankston.

Thursday 9th February

Today I decided to try out Graeme’s bicycle, I pumped up the tyres and figured out how to reset the lock before going down the track alongside the creek for a bit, to say that I didn’t enjoy it was an understatement, I found the bike heavy and a bit difficult, I tried to change gear and the chain came off, so after I put it back on I returned home and spent the rest of the morning sitting in the sun reading my book. After lunch I walked to Mordialloc to pick up some shopping and a bottle of cough syrup before meeting Graeme off the train, rather than waiting in the pub, I took a stroll down to the beach and spent some time enjoying watching the local surf club training for beach rescues, much too energetic for me. Before heading home, Graeme and I had a lovely curry in Saffron, the local curry shop.

Friday 10th February

Today I decided to revisit the Richmond suburb to see if the street art scene had changed and to find some new pieces as shown on my Street Art Cities app. I was a little disappointed to find many good pieces painted over and not too many new works. I wandered quite a bit trying to find some from the app to no avail. In fact, the only thing I found of interest was the Ikea store where I stopped for a lunch of some traditional meatballs. I returned to a traditional Aussie BBQ out on the deck, we were joined by P&K and we finalised details for our Silo Art tour.

Saturday 11th February

Today P&K and I set off on our Silo Art tour, it took us around 6 hours, with a break in Ballarat for lunch, to reach our Grampians destination of Halls Gap, where we checked into our rooms in the Gariwerd Motel (Gariwerd is the aboriginal name for the Grampians). Once settled in and unpacked we went for a wander around town, stopping off for a coffee where we planned our next few days. We returned to the Motel for an afternoon siesta, before heading out for dinner in the Halls Gap Tavern, it was interesting watching the local wildlife such as, wallabies, cockatiels and Kookaburras in their natural habitat. As we had an early start in the morning we decided to have an early night and returned to the Motel.

Sunday 12th February

After a nice breakfast, provided by Kay, we were picked up by Justin from Grampians Tours for the start of our trip, our first stop was the Stick Shed at Murtoa this was an interesting place to visit, created during WWII, to store surplus grain, it is built using 560 unmilled Ash trees and corrugated iron, at 270 metres long, it certainly is a sight to see, We then stopped at the Woods’ Farming and Heritage Museum in Rupanyuip for a coffee and chickpea flour brownies, which were very nice, the museum was a fabulous place to visit, jammed full of interesting articles collected by 5 generations of the Woods family.

From the museum we made our way to the Sheep Hill silo painted by Matt Adnate, the bright colourful mural, featuring 4 local Indigenous people, certainly takes your breath away when you first see it.

Our next stop was at a town called Brim to see a silo painted by one of my favourite artists, Guido Van Helten, this mural in his familiar monochromatic style, features 4 local farmers and was actually the first silo to be painted on the mural trail in 2016, over the years the colours have faded until the artwork look as if it was almost a part of the original concrete of the silo.

We returned to Rupanyup to view a silo painted by Russian artist Julia Volchkova in 2017, this artwork, again in a monochromatic style, features 2 of the youngsters of the town wearing their sports attire (netball and Australian Rules football), on a pair of squat steel silos. The evolving rust spots on them add to their appeal in my opinion. Whilst staying in the town Julia forged friendships with many of the locals, and after a fire nearby painted a tribute to the volunteer firefighters of the community.

Unfortunately, this was the final silo on our tour, when we found out that we would only visit 3 on the tour, we were a bit disappointed, however, once we had seen the distances between the silos and the conditions of the rural roads, we could understand why the tour was limited, however, this was more than made up by the additional elements of the tour and the friendliness and generosity of the people we met on the way. On our return to Halls Gap, we oldies had a well earned nap before visiting the Paper Rock Scissors brewery for dinner, and very good it was too.

Monday 13th February

To compensate for missing many of the silos yesterday, we planned to visit a couple within driving distance of the motel and that wouldn’t add too much travel time to our journey home, so after another excellent breakfast, we headed to the town of Horsham to see a silo painted by Smug, this stunning full figure mural is a tribute to Yanggendyinanyuk, an Aboriginal warrior, sitting alongside it is his painting of a Black Cockatoo, which was the characters totem. Whilst at the silo we met a lad flying his drone, it turned out that he was the photographer for the Melbourne artist Jimmy Dvate, who was painting a mural next to Horsham Town Hall, so off we went to see him in action, it was great to see just how he approaches his work and to see the piece develop.

Our next stop was the sleepy little town of Dimboola, a stop on the way to Arkona, see another silo pained by Smug, this was a great place to have a coffee break and a chat with some of the locals in Oma’s Cafe, it transpired that Smug stayed in the town whilst painting the silo and while he was there he also painted a mural on a building next to the local library, this mural, a study of some local birds, was magnificent indeed. After our coffee, we went up the road to Arkona to see another stunning and interesting mural by Smug on the silo. The mural depicts Roley Klinge, an Arkona local who championed tennis for the local community. Being unable to meet Roley, who had passed away in 1991, Smug decided to paint him in an innovative way, showing only his clothing and tennis gear, however, he did manage to fit in a small portrait of him at the base of the silo. This truly is a spectacular mural that finished off our trail to perfection.

As we liked it so much, we returned to Dimboola for lunch before starting our return trip, after chatting to the cafe staff about the town’s up-and-coming Steampunk Festival, we paid a visit to the Dimboola Imaginarium, a quirky gift shop, housed in an old bank building. Run by 2 guys who are currently converting the former managers accommodation into guest bedrooms which are decorated in a unique way, we were invited in to see all the rooms and we even visited the old vault to see a pictorial history of the area, the place and the people certainly were interesting.

We then hit the Western Highway for an uneventful journey home from a fun, interesting and enjoyable trip, which will stay in our memories I’m sure.

Melbourne 2023 – Part 2

Feb 6, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in Australia, International, Travel

Monday 30^th January

After a busy first week, I decided to have a quiet Monday catching up with my blog, sorting out my photographs and just sitting in the sun reading my book, at times I forget that holidays are supposed to be relaxing.

Tuesday 31^st January

This morning I felt like a walk to shake off the cobwebs from lazing around yesterday. Instead of turning left at the end of G&B’s street and going to Mordialloc, I turned right and headed down the Longbeach Trail towards Chelsea, it was a nice sunny day so the walk was very pleasant with some nice things to see on the way, such as the Edithvale Wetlands, a large natural wetland which supports 190 bird species. It was good to stand on the lookout watching many different birds in their natural habitat. Eventually, I reached the Thames Promenade which took me into the centre of Chelsea where I had a wee wander around, before visiting the beach to get some sand between my toes. After a quick lunch I caught a metro train back to Mordialloc, as it was still nice and sunny I decided to stroll along the pier to watch the many fishermen fishing along its length, although I must admit that I didn’t see too many fish being landed. Eventually, it was time to head home, tired but happy with around 20,000 steps under my belt to compensate for the lazy day yesterday.

Wednesday 1^st February

My birthday! Following on from yesterday’s walk, I decided to venture a bit further today, I went to Mordialloc and caught a train down to Frankston, the seaside town where Briony grew up. Jim and I visited last year with Graeme, Briony, Pat & Kay to take part in a street art walking tour, which was excellent, so I thought it would be good to do it again on my own. After visiting the library and the civic information centre, I eventually found the tourist information centre down near the beach, where I picked up a map showing the locations of all of the major pieces. (watch out for a page showing them all later)

Off I went in search of them all and during the course of the day managed to find all 49 of them, only stopping for a bite of lunch in the Cheeky Squire down at the beach. I caught the train back home in time to get changed to go out for a nice birthday celebration meal in the Bridge Hotel in Mordialoc. The day was topped off with a special 3D boat-shaped birthday cake made by Briony. This was another great day.

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Thursday 2^nd February

Thinking about travelling to some other places in Victoria around Melbourne, I took the train into Southern Cross Station to pick up some timetables for Ballarat and Geelong, I plan to visit both of them later. From the station I jumped onto a tram to take me down to the riverfront where I went in search of the Polly Woodside Maritime Museum only to find when I got there that it was only open on the 1st & 3rd Sunday of each month, feeling slightly disappointed, I then visited the nearby Docklands Mission to Seafarers Victoria its lovely heritage listed building, when I entered, I was very surprised to find it full of people, it turned out that the venue was hosting the AGM of PROBUS, a club for retired people, they kindly invited me in to join them, thankfully the meeting had finished and they were busy selling raffle tickets and holding an Antiques Roadshow type event, fun though it was, it still didn’t encourage me to join such a club. The Mission building intrigued me though so I will add it to my list of places to visit for a future time.

On leaving Docklands I took a number 35 tourist tram around the city, getting off in Flinders Street where I popped into the Duke of Wellington for lunch and a beer. After lunch I paid a visit to ACMI (formerly Australian Centre for the Moving Image), in Federation Square, this is a fabby place to visit with tons to see and do, I spent all of the afternoon wandering round watching movies and interacting with the numerous displays. When it came time to go home, I was very surprised to find that it was pouring down outside, as it was a lovely morning when I left home wearing only a tee shirt and shorts, I realised that I was in for a soaking and made a mad dash for the station to get the train home. Once in Mordialloc, I waited in Mates, the local pup, for Graeme returning from work, to share his umbrella, but fortunately, Briony took pity on us both and came to pick up 2 cold, wet and bedraggled souls. Another interesting day in Melbourne where they frequently boast of having 4 seasons in one day.

Friday 3^rd February

It looked like it was going to be a wee bit chilly today, so I decide it was time to set up my laser machine in Graeme’s garage, after finding a suitable spot, downloading and installing the required software, I set about getting the machine operational and tried out some test pieces.

Saturday 4^th February

Following on from yesterdays work in the garage Graeme and I tidied up a bit and re-configured the space to provide a better and safer working surface, complete with the Big Jim directors chair obtained by Pat, once that was completed I ran a training session to teach Graeme the fundamentals of the laser software, he is a quick learner and was able to design some Super Mario themed coasters for his niece and nephews, he liked the finished results so much he created one each for him and Briony. In the evening, as Briony was out for the night, Graeme and I visited a local eatery called Urban Ground for dinner before heading to the local brewhouse, Braeside Brewing for a few beers, it was a real boys day out for us and great fun to spend time with Graeme.

Sunday 5^th February

After a lazy morning catching up on the papers back home we went out to the RSL in Chelsea for lunch, where we met up with the Cullin family to celebrate my birthday, is was so nice to see them all together in what seems to becoming a regular lunch meeting when I visit Melbourne. Briony’s brother Andrew and his family returned home with us and it was good to spend some time with them all. As I have picked up a wee bit of a cold, (the result of Thursdays soaking I think), a quiet night in front of the telly finished of another great week.

Melbourne 2023 – Part 1

Jan 30, 2023Jan 30, 2023 by theholmesteader, posted in Australia, International, Travel

Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd January

After being picked up and dropped off at Glasgow Airport I didn’t have too long to wait until my flight boarded. Everything seemed to be going well until we had to wait for a wee while for them to de-ice the plane, more about this later. The flight was up there with the usual Emirates standards and passed smoothly, I eventually got to see the end of the Elvis movie I had started watching last year.

Due to the delay in leaving Glasgow, we arrived in Dubai around 30 minutes late which only left me with around 20-30 minutes to get to the gate for my flight to Melbourne, as it turned out there were a few of us in the same situation so they held the flight back, so the mad rush through the airport wasn’t really necessary. That flight also went well and after arriving on Sunday night, and going through the usual custom and immigration checks, I was met by Graeme and Briony and returned to their home in Aspendale to be met by a very excited Joffrey.

Monday 23rd January

A bit of a chill-out day to allow me to recover from my flight, as it was a nice and sunny day I sat out on the decked area and read my book and did nothing much else.

Tuesday 24th January

Up with the lark this morning to travel into the city with Graeme, he went off to work while I only had to stroll around getting to know Melbourne again. I had a wander up Swanston Street towards Queen Victoria Market before heading to the Optus phone shop to get my Sim card sorted out, once back online I went for lunch before heading to the Southern Cross Station to make enquires about the journey I was planning to make on Wednesday. My next stop was an Officeworks store to get some materials to allow Graeme to try out the laser engraver I had brought out with me. Back in the city centre I then visited an exhibition in the Town Hall by the French artist Invader, although interesting it was a little small with only one piece by him, the remainder of the exhibition was made up of photographs of similar work in the city, The weather in the city was very good for most of the day, however, just as I boarded the number 35 tourist tram, it started to rain so I was glad that I was undercover, the tram ride was very interesting and fun, something that Jim and I were unable to do during our visit, there always seemed to be problems whilst we were here.

After my day in the city, it was soon time to meet up with Graeme for a beer before catching the train home again. Unfortunately, he had chosen a hotel I was unaware of and my phone ran out of battery on the way which meant that I got slightly lost on the way, but due to the kindness of strangers, I was able to meet up although a bit later than expected. After a couple of well-earned beers, we headed home after a great day out in a city that I am beginning to get to know quite well.

Wednesday 25th January

An early start again as I headed back into the city to begin a journey from Southern Cross station to Rutherglen, a small town 190 miles northeast of Melbourne, near the Murray River border with New South Wales. The journey was very good, the first part by one of the regional trains took me to a town called Wangaratta where I changed to a small bus onwards to Rutherglen.

After leaving the bus, I quickly checked into my accommodation in the Poachers Paradise motel, where my room was very nice and comfortable and suited my needs perfectly. I then went for a look around town, a former gold mining town, today Rutherglen, recognised as one of the premier wine-growing regions in Victoria with around 20 wineries in the area, approximately 1 per 100 of the 2000 or so population. I found the town and its residents very friendly, they were all really interested to learn that I was born and raised in Rutherglen Scotland and many were quick to tell me how it came by its name, apparently in 1860 gold was found in the area and in the newly formed Star Hotel, the publican, Ruglonian John Wallace, was told: “Shout the whole bar and you can call this town whatever you like.” So he bought a beer for everyone in the pub and called the town Rutherglen.

After a walk around town, I ended up in the same Star Hotel for dinner and a beer and enjoyed watching some of the Australian Open tennis on TV before hitting the sack.

Thursday 26^th January

Today being Australia Day meant that it was a little quieter in town and there were no winery tours available so I settled for a long leisurely breakfast in Caffeine N Machine, a bakery café with a vintage bike museum display situated at the roundabout at the entrance to the town, I then discovered that the towns tourist information office across the road was open, and it was there that I was directed to the towns old school museum which became my next stop. The museum was interesting with many exhibits showing life in the old town, it was also good to chat with the 2 volunteers in attendance, they were very keen to find out the differences between the 2 towns and they were quite surprised by the size of Rutherglen in Scotland. After a nice afternoon sitting in the sun reading, I finished off the day with another nice meal in the Star Hotel before retiring for the night.

Friday 27^th January

Today I arranged a tour of some of the wineries with one of the locals, Alister Chisholm, an ex-pat Scot who has lived in Rutherglen for a number of years and runs a B&B in addition to running tours. After brunch again in Caffeine N Machine, I was picked up by Alister and off we went to visit ……. for some tasting sessions. Back in town, it was time to visit the local supermarket for some bits for the return journey before catching the bus back to Wangaratta for my return to Melbourne, by the time I got back to Morialloc to be collected by Graeme I was pretty jiggered to say the least however, I really enjoyed my adventure into a part of Victoria I had never seen before and the town of Rutherglen was a great place to visit.

Saturday 28th January

Today we were all rather busy, Graeme and Briony headed off to one of her friend’s baby shower while I went out with Pat & Kay firstly to visit Shannons, a specialist vehicle auctioneers to see their current display of vehicles, we certainly saw some spectacular cars and bikes of all ages and standards, one that really stood out was the gorgeous red 1935 Swallow (Jaguar) SS1 ‘Airline’ Coupe thought to be the only one of its kind in Australia. Our next stop was the Moorabbin Air Museum where we were able to see, clamber aboard and climb into the cockpit of a vast collection of aircraft of all sorts, it was great fun and certainly a wonderful way to pass an afternoon, from there we then visited an old haunt, the Naked Racer Café for a refreshing brew or two before head back to G&B’s at the end of another great day.

Sunday 29^th January

For today Moni had booked tickets for us all to visit the Royal Exhibition Building Dome Promenade, this guided tour allowed us to experience spectacular views across the city along with an exhibition that explored the building’s significant history and varied uses over time, the Royal Exhibition Building is beautiful inside and out and sitting alongside the Melbourne Museum certainly made it an interesting place to visit. It was really nice to be able to catch up with Sean, Moni, Jensen, and Ollie again.

Once back home we chilled out watching the final of the men’s competition of the Australian Open championships with Novak Djokovic capturing his 10^th title.

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Yardworks 2023 – Melbourne Suburbs – Frankston

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