Families – Travels with Ali

~ Perth to London with Qatar Airlines ~

The day finally arrived when we flew to London to visit my dear mum and enjoy some side trips during our stay in Essex.

We flew Qatar as I believe they are the best airline for long haul flights, and it is indeed a long journey from Perth. I wanted to sit upstairs and Anthony wanted to be on the lower deck, so we comprised and did one leg on each. The way to travel such long distances is to research the best pillow, I took my trusty Turtl again and it worked a treat. We had around two hours in Doha and I was amazed as to what had been constructed since last year.

There is a place now called The Orchard and is a 6,000 square metre indoor tropical garden. There is a huge water feature plus over 300 trees and 25,000 plants. It was a treat to walk around and immerse ourselves in nature while in a busy airport.

Finally arriving in Heathrow after 11 hour and 7 hour flights, we decided to stay one night at an airport hotel to recoup our strength.

After dropping our cases at my nephew’s we went straight to the home, sadly my mum did not recognise me at first but then just couldn’t believe I was really there. We sat and chatted for a while but her memory obviously has got that much worse. We promised to be back the next day.

The next morning brought clear sunny weather to my amazement as I was expecting cold and rain. I had a short walk down the lane and across the fields.

After this walk we drove to the home again and borrowed a wheelchair to take my mum for a stroll up the high street. She was over the moon to be wheeled out into the sunny day and kept asking me if I wanted a turn.

We stopped for lunch in an olde tea shop after buying her new shoes and clothes. There is a lovely old church in the high street so we had a wander around.

I couldn’t find out much about this church except that it dates back to the 15th century. I believe there was a church here during Saxon times and the building has a Norman chancel. I thought it looked very grand in the sunshine and the stone and brick work were beautiful.

My mum said she had a lovely time with us and couldn’t believe how wonderful it was to be out. It does make me sad to hear this but such is life and I’m glad we are able to do such a small service for her.

We have a fairly full itinerary planned for the next four or five weeks and I’ll be sharing all of this very soon.

~ The Changing Seasons – September 2023 ~

Changing Seasons is really the correct phrase to describe Perth at the moment. We had a mini heatweave last week, like a summer’s day but it’s Spring and a few days later wind, rain and cold nights again, but another heatwave at the end of the week.

This challenge is hosted by Ju-Lyn and Brian from Bushboy’s World.

The first ten days of September I was still in the UK, where they also had a late summer heatwave. The trouble there is you can’t sleep at night as there was no breeze at all! Just can’t be happy can we? I spent those days going to visit my mum in the care home and catching up with old friends and family members.

My mum was so sad to see me go, it was heartbreaking for me. She had forgotten that it was time to say goodbye. She has made a new friend though.

I also had a quick visit back to my childhood home to clear out some more “stuff” with my brother. It will be odd not staying here again.

I popped outside to take a few photos of the garden and saw this cheeky fox, which is undoubtedly the fox I have taken many photos of before. Peeping through the fence (which ties in with Sunday Stills – Fences).

Soon after I returned to Perth we had a visit from Laurence and Maddy, which I’ve already posted about. That was a wonderful week. Rosie also turned 3!

It was also half term here in Perth and I was on duty with “Ninny Daycare” for the munchkins for two days. Exhausting but loved every minute. We made cookies, went to some parks and a cafe. They are such lovely playmates and Lachie is so patient with Rosie. I remember when my brother and I were a similar age and all we did was fight, it was always my fault though, I was a mean girl! Luckily we get on so much better now, well most of the time anyway. I’ll never lose that bossy streak.

Rosie telling Lachie not to put so many smarties
on one cookie!

The Perth Royal Show was on in the last week in September, I didn’t go this year, but I could see the fireworks from my bedroom window.

Not great images but not too bad for a free show!

Lastly for Brian’s last on the card is my attempt at snapping the full moon with my S22.

**Just rising above the roof of my house**

First Week in the UK – Catch Ups and Celebrations

I’ve been in the UK for a week now and it’s flown by. I’m staying with my parents in Essex after not seeing them for almost a year, not the best time of year but my mum turns 90 (yesterday actually) and there is a big celebration for her.

So far I’ve had a day in London with Sarah from Travel With Me, a night out with friends from way back and a 90th birthday party.

The day in London with Sarah started at the Barbican where I had suggested we meet. I have no idea why that place came to mind because there wasn’t too much there. Anyhow we made our way to a cafe for coffee and a “get to know you” conversation. We had so much to talk about, it’s great to meet up with a complete stranger and get on straight away. It was my first time to meet a fellow blogger, hopefully not my last. My Dad sent me off with warnings about how did I know this was a real person or even a woman, the worry for a child never goes.

A few of our photos below of our wonderful day together. If you follow Sarah and myself then you will have seen some of these photos already.

After coffee we walked to St. Paul’s and looked for a place for lunch. We found a very cosy pub in a little alleyway called Williamson’s Tavern, former residence of the Lord Mayors of London. A walk across the Millennium Bridge after to walk off lunch and a visit to the Tate Modern to look at some of the fabulous art on display. Back across the Blackfriars Bridge and then we said our goodbyes. It was good to put a face to a name and make another friend too.

“Each new friendship can make you a new person, because it opens up new doors inside of you.”

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The weekend was very busy with a family lunch on Saturday with two cousins, brother and family and my mum and dad. I had not seen my two cousins for over three years so we had lots to talk about.

Sunday was the big day and my mum’s 90th birthday. The party started at 2pm and finished around 6.30pm. My dad had hired a hall and my brother and sister-in-law had organised all the food. It was a wonderful celebration for my mum. She received so many cards, flowers, chocolates and all kinds of gifts.

“Age is simply the number of years the world has been enjoying you!”

I’ll be adding this post to Natalie the Explorer’s blog for weekend coffee share and public art challenge.

🐇 Kung Hei Fat Choi 🐇

Bali Safari and Waterpark Antics

During our week in Bali we spent a day a the Bali Safari and Conservation Park, with time in the waterpark after. I think we were all amazed about what a fantastic place this is. We had a conversation about the ethics of these types of places but upon reading about the park and also walking around we all agreed that wonderful things were happening here.

Upon arrival there is a bus to take you to the actual park. By the time we arrived the Tiger Show was about to start so we hopped off the train and went to find seats. The seating areas were extremely full but we managed to get good seats.

It was all very exciting at first with the tigers running around and climbing trees. Then the poachers came on reflecting what is happening in the real world, the whole audience was quite shocked when the tiger ran off and a fake one (obviously!) was brought back in a trap. Hard to explain to Lachie and Rosie.

Next up was the Elephant show, which again started off fun until, you guessed it, poachers again. These elephants are very well trained and one started limping and then fell down, dead! The whole audience gasped and both kids started crying, with other children also crying. We had to leave in a hurry.

I took mostly videos, so most of the photos are just clips of these. I had some fun with Canva compiling these!

It was an incredibly hot day but almost every 10 metres were Safari staff carrying trays with ice cold beers and water.

After the shows we got on the train again for our safari tour, which takes you through the park to view the many animals that live here.

We all had our favourite animals, for me it was the spotted deer, so many babies.

Our guide and commentator was very funny and informative, explaining about the various animals and constantly cracking jokes.

Lunch was next and we walked around looking for somewhere suitable for all of us. There are many options available but we chose a food hall type of venue with air con blasting away.

Although there were many more animals to see we were all hot and tired and wanted nothing more than to get wet. So off to the waterpark it was.

I’m not sure who had the most fun, the adults I think. There were also two pools for swimming with two large slides as well.

The parrots below sit on perches and can fly around freely. If you’re very brave like Elena and Damian they will climb onto your arms and pose.

Some information I found from the Bali Safari website:

BIG CAT SHOW

The tigers in the Big Cat Show are not deprived of food in order to elicit show behaviours and performance. All our animals receive a daily balanced diet based on modern zoo nutrition recommendations and scaled according to their body weight.

ELEPHANT SHOW

The elephant is not ‘being forced at rifle point to lie down’ rather the elephant and actor together are performing a scene, this scene and the whole show highlights the story of human – elephant conflict in Sumatra and sends a strong message of elephant conservation to our visitors. Source: Bali Safari Park

There is also an established Sumatran Tiger Breeding Centre here which is the first place in the World to artificially inseminate a tiger.

Such a fun day was had by all, we were all glad to get back to the hotel for some relaxation before dinner.