Here’s hoping to everyone who follows me and to those I follow that you all have the most wonderful Christmas. I’ll be looking forward to reading and writing more posts in 2025.
This week’s WQ topic is activities and hobbies. Marsha at Always Write hosts this challenge every Wednesday. All you need is a quote relating to the topic and a poem, photos or a general post to go with it. Also by co-incidence Terri at Second Wind Leisure’s challenge is “Something to Do”.
I’m not sure what category travel falls under hobby or activity! My dear husband thinks it’s my hobby but I prefer to think of it as more of an activity.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving”
Lao Tzu
The above quote does not quite ring true for me as I like nothing more than arriving at my destination, especially if it’s been a long flight.
In the last few years I’ve acquired some new hobbies and activities.
My favourite hobby after travelling is Bridge. I took a course a few years ago and have attempted to climb the ladder and join more advanced classes. My mind is totally focused during the four hours of play and time goes so fast. I’ve met a completely different set of people and twice a week we greet each other like old friends.
“No matter where I go, I can always make new friends at the bridge table”
Martina Navratilova
The above quote is so true, there is no need to worry about what to talk about, someone will always have a story to tell about a past game they have played. Absolutely boring for anyone who doesn’t play Bridge.
Blogging is also a recent hobby of mine. This fully took over my time at the start, trying to set up the website and master the way WordPress worked. I’m sure many of you agree how frustrating WP can be at times. I feel extremely pleased with myself when I’ve mastered something so simple as the menu and widgets.
I started blogging because I took so many photos and wanted to do something with them and also I was writing many reviews on Trip Adviser. Blogging has changed my life and it means I now have something to do all the time and again made many new friends.
“The first step in blogging is not writing them but reading them.”
Jeff Jarvis from BuzzMachine
I believe the above quote is very true, I often take inspiration from the bloggers I follow.
My exercise abilities are sadly limited! Although I do go to Zumba and Aqua Aerobics. Also I’ve started line dancing again. I have met a wonderful group of ladies who are welcoming and so friendly. We often meet outside Zumba for outings like the cinema or theatre. I feel so blessed to be part of such a fantastic group.
In December our lovely Zumba teacher hosts a Christmas party for around 60 people and it’s always such fun. I’ll finish with a small video I took of all the ladies having the best time.
I believe having a hobby or an activity you enjoy is essential to your well-being. It stops the blues and those down days everyone has on occasion. It’s important to enjoy it though and not feel as though it’s a duty or a chore – what’s the point in that!
A question to my fellow bloggers. My media gallery is now 92% and the next step is upgrading. If you don’t have a paid website how do you manage with all your photos? I always forget to downsize my photos which would go a long way to resolving the issue.
I look forward to reading your responses.
This last week has been another busy one for me, beginning with entertaining guests from the UK. I have been chatting a while now with Little Miss Traveller (aka Marion from Love Travelling Blog) and when she emailed and said she would be visiting Perth with her son Mark I immediately invited her to stay. They had a few days in the City before joining us for their last few days. We hit it off immediately and Anthony and I showed them around different parts of Perth.
Perth was in the grip of a heatwave and the temperatures were late thirties, but we still ventured to Kings Park the next day. We enjoyed a good walk around the park but I had to concede in the end and sit in a cafe while Marion and Mark carried on for a while.
We then drove into Claremont my local town to have lunch and a look around before heading back for a rest (for me anyway!). That night we had dinner in Fremantle at a beachside restaurant.
On Sunday we drove to the Perth Hills to one of our favourite wineries, Plume. We always receive a lovely welcome here and the service is outstanding as are the views.
I had told the lovely owner that I would be bringing guests and she arranged a wonderful table for us overlooking the valley and vineyards. We enjoyed a delicious charcuterie board and a dish called Flammekueche a German style pizza.
We stopped off on the way home to take some of the views of the Perth Hills and the Perth Skyline in the distance.
Over the next two days Marion and Mark took themselves off and explored other parts of Perth, which I’m sure Marion will be posting soon.
On Marion and Mark’s last night we had an early dinner overlooking City Beach to watch the sunset. It was one of my favourite restaurant/pubs Clancy’s Fish Pub. Unfortunately for Anthony in my haste to take a photo of the sunset I knocked over a whole pint of beer into his lap and over his dinner! Luckily the manager replaced these free of charge, but poor Anthony had to sit through dinner very wet indeed. He was extremely gracious about it.
It was a pleasure to meet Marion and her son Mark and we did compare other bloggers who we follow and found we had quite a few in common. So many of you will recognise Marion. Meeting someone in person, especially when you have been communicating a while can be daunting, but we certainly had no worries on that score and got on like a house on fire.
Essex is my home county and where I spent the first 30 years of my life, apart from the first 2 which were in London. We will be based here for the next couple of months and I will be writing about some of the small towns and villages that make up this county.
This little villages straddles the River Crouch and is home to several antique centres. Over 80 dealers are located here. We visited one sunny day a couple of weeks ago and stopped at The Barge Inn for a quick drink. There’s nothing like a countryside pub in England for cosiness!
I was lucky enough to catch the setting sun over the river and this oast house.
Southend is a fairly large town in Essex and boasts the longest pier in the World! It extends 2.16 kilometres into the Thames Estuary. Even though I lived in Essex for 30 years I have only ever been to then end once. So on a bitterly cold day two weeks ago we ventured out to Southend with the purpose of walking to the end. My friend had mentioned that she had seen a school of seals frolicking earlier that week so I wanted to see these as well. We almost changed our mind when we arrived because of the cold but saw it was fairly busy with a number of walkers promenading along, so not to be fainthearted, we paid our £1 each and off we went.
Not even half way along I looked enviously at the train as it trundled by with all the people well wrapped up inside. We had to stop at a shelter so I could arrange my scarf and hat to get the most from their warmth. We had the intention of walking back as well but my energy levels were completely depleted so we paid the extra to take the train. I definitely made my 10,000 steps that day!
The sun was finally making an appearance but clearly not sending any warmth!
Day Three
What a fun day today was going to be, a mystery tour had been planned for a coachful of women! Reminiscent of a school outing with our names being ticked off by Vicki as we boarded. It was non-stop chatter from the moment we sat down and Laura our lovely instructor had to whistle very loudly to get our attention. We boarded at 10.30 am and would be back at 4pm, no-one had a clue about where we would be going.
Our first stop was a winery for a quick tour and of course the requisite wine tasting. The winery was Aravina Winery, a 180 acre property with a surfing museum attached in Yallingup. The owners were very accommodating and explained each wine as it was tasted.
After sampling many wines we were back on the bus and onto our next mystery destination. This time also stopping for lunch. With much guessing going on we finally arrived at Black Brewing Company. Two large tables had been reserved for us and the staff did an excellent job of serving so many ladies! I was one of the lucky ones who was served very quickly, some were not so fortunate and waited for a while.
A few of the ladies that were still sitting by the time I got around to taking a photo
This place had the most amazing grounds, so after lunch I had a walk around to snap a few more shots. There was intermittent rain so it was a case of dodging it while walking.
A small island sat on the opposite side of the bridge with a stunning gazebo.
Each of the glass windows had a story of winemaking written on them with wonderful artwork. The photos didn’t quite come out the way I wanted.
Back on the bus and our next two stops were more about shopping. The first one was Vasse Virgin Olive Oil. All products were natural, made with olive oil, plant extracts and essential oils. We had a great time here sampling all the products and getting hand scrubs.
What finishes off a day nicely, a trip to a chocolate factory goes down very well with anyone, and that’s where our last stop was, The Margaret River Chocolate Factory.
I bought a few gifts to take home and all the ladies were given a bar by the lovely Laura.
So this was a no dancing day as everyone was pretty tired after a hard day’s touring. A very quiet pizza party was planned for the evening with cupcake decorating for dessert.
Day Four
More eating today with morning tea at Cape Lavender Teahouse. Devonshire Cream teas with lavender scones, cream and jam, just the best start to the day.
I was so happy that they did gluten free also, enjoyed every bite. There was also a gift shop, so did the obligatory shop and came away with even more gifts.
Yallingup Maze was next and then lunch at another brewery. Lisa and I opted instead for more shopping and a walk along the beach before a zumba class at 4.15.
Our last night’s party had a Bollywood theme with everyone invited to dress up and bring a curry. The outfits were amazing and everyone made such a great effort and the food was gourmet standard.
And so ends a fantastic five nights of dancing, eating, drinking, making new friends and catching up with old ones. A magnificent achievement by our zumba instructors – maybe next year back to Bali!
Time for another challenge! There are so many to choose from, thanks to all those bloggers who are happy to host. This one is hosted by Cee Neuner, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.
I’ve managed to find something for all three 😁
I really enjoyed all three of these books and can highly recommend. Invisible Girl is my book for February Book Club, a psychological thriller set in London. Magpie Lane also a psychological thriller this time set in Oxford around the university and lastly The Other Bennet Sister a spin off from Pride and Prejudice – did you ever wonder what happened to Miss Mary Bennet?
The featured image is the old salt mine in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands
This week’s challenge from CFFC are photos of old buildings, barns, sheds and houses. Here’s mine! I really look forward to Cee’s different challenges. Taking photos of old buildings is something I really enjoy and now I get a chance to show them off.
On one of our trips across the Nullabor from West to East. The old Nullabor Roadhouse.
Somebody’s “sanctuary” in Denmark, Western Australia
Turfed roof farmhouse in Iceland
An old Spanish granary raised on wooden stilts in Ribadesella, Spain
Beautiful green tiled house on the esplanade in Ribadesella, Spain. Built by a returning Spanish merchant from Cuba after he had made his fortune.
I love this quote I found on Pinterest!
My Challenges for today!
Two in one again! Square Perspectives from The Life of B by Becky and FOTD by Cee.
Two photos from my garden around a week apart.
This Aloe Vera grows more profusely every year. It needs hardly any care and sits in an almost overturned tub! It is amazing to see it blossom.
An evergreen perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but grows wild in tropical, semi-tropical, and arid climates around the world. It is cultivated for agricultural and medicinal uses. Source: Wikipedia
I’m not sure why it grows so well here in Perth, WA in our very dry hot climate.
🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼
After reading about this online and also at the hotel, that it was like Bollywood and Universal Studios I thought it would be a fun thing to do. We set off once again with a driver and it was around 45 minutes drive away. On arrival our driver purchased tickets for us and we proceeded to the entrance gate. Men and women are separated and go through different security screening. We had a slight hiccup with Maddy’s Polaroid camera, as amazingly it seemed no-one had ever seen one. So after being examined for several minutes by around ten different security guards they let us through!
Once through we were all herded onto buses to take us to the actual Film City which was around 10 – 15 minutes away. I realised once again we were the only Western tourists there and thus had lots of attention on the bus. So many questions, we were all talking to someone at once! Driving there seemed to be great fun for the drivers who tried to be the first there by speeding up once it turned into a one way highway!
Overlooking Ramoji Film City which is set over 1,600 acres
When we alighted this bus we then all boarded several open air small trains to take us to the individual lots. No lingering was allowed and I realised at this point that it was going to be a very regimented day. No walking between different film lots was allowed, a bus or small train would take you onto the next place.
Everywhere we stopped we had photos taken with everyone, especially Maddy! There were young guys lining up, we did have to say no a few times as we would not have got anywhere!
Some film lots were definitely better than others, but I wouldn’t described it as a Universal or Bollywood!
Wishing for a train to anywhere!
So eerily lifelike!
We stopped for lunch at the beautiful Sitara Hotel, located in the middle of the City.
The very fancy Sitara Hotel
With lunch over, Anthony had had enough of this theme park! Obviously we didn’t see half of what was on offer and unfortunately there was no filming going on that day.
I would love to hear from anyone who has been to Ramoji Film City, I haven’t met anyone yet!
On a sunny day a few weeks ago I took my parents and nephew who are over from the UK for a stroll around the harbour. All restaurants, cafes and pubs were only open for takeaways during this time. Many people were out and about enjoying the last of the Autumn sun, trying to stick to the social distancing! It is an easy 30 minute drive from Perth down the freeway and also just 30 minutes from where I live.
Fremantle is mostly known for its maritime history but is also a very popular tourist spot and is home to the famous Cappuccino Strip.
Weekdays are definitely less busy than the weekends and we found a parking spot in no time right on the harbour front.
On top is the famous Joe’s Fish Shack a great restaurant with harbour views
Bottom pic: The Fremantle Tourist Wheel
We stopped and bought drinks from the e-bike cafe and while we were waiting for our order, I noticed the most beautiful painting on the wall at the back of the cafe. It was painted by a lady called Maria Bowers who has now sadly passed away.
A fantastic backdrop for these e-bikes.
E-bikes are a fun way to get around Fremantle. Not that we took this opportunity with my parents both in their 80’s! I believe you can hire or buy these bikes.
Some of the quirky sculptures and artwork around Fremantle
The Fremantle Roundhouse is the oldest public building in the state of Western Australia. Opened in January 1831, it was built to hold any person convicted of a crime in the settlement until 1886. Since then it’s been a Police Lock up, accommodation for the Water Police, and a storage facility for the Fremantle Ports. (Source: helloperth.com.au)
The view from the top of the Round House
The fishing boats that are still in use in the harbour
Little Creatures Brewery popular with both locals and tourists. Apparently a former crocodile farm, but now a brewery. It’s a great place to have a casual drink, lunch or dinner. You can also take a tour of the brewery.
That’s all we had time for during this trip, but there’s so much more to do in Fremantle.
Some links below of other things to see and do in this town. (Please check during Covid opening times to these places)
Fremantle Prison
WA Maritime Museum
Fremantle Markets
E Shed Markets
Just a few things to keep you busy in Fremantle!
