Author Archives: John Rose
Adelaide
One of the quirks of living in another country is discovering that sometimes they do not have the same Public Holidays that you are used to. In the UK we were used to celebrating Labour Day on May 1st – to coincide with International Worker’s Day, but in Australia we now celebrate it on the […]
When Blogs Collide
If you have been following our journey from the start you may have remembered that we attended a wedding in Mumbai,India. The happy couple (and they are still happy today!) Ollie and Neem have since given up the pressure cooker that is ‘New York City’ and donned a pair of backpacks. Luckily for us our […]
Il Vino Veritas
The wait was over. It had been long enough time to go and visit a familiar region – one that anyone who has visited or lived in Sydney is quite familiar with. We had not really thought too much about visiting this little corner of the world as it has been ‘on our doorstep’ since […]
Bright Christmas
 At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year. Thomas  Tusser Sorry to burst your bubble there Tommy but you have obviously never been to Sydney! Here we also celebrate Christmas in July. Every year in the month named after Julius Caesar, Sydney’s ex-pat community load up their wagons […]
Stuck in the Midleton with You!
From our trip to Ireland in June 2015 Karen would be going to Scotland the day after her parents so spent our last night together in Cork with our Irish pals having dinner and drinks. Like a glitch in the Matrix, John found himself sitting in the same restaurant,at the same table, at the same […]
London Calling
Whilst Midleton and Ayr are considered Home there is one more place that could be labelled as such. Located  at 51.5072° N, 0.1275° W and cut in two by the River Thames. Samuel Johnson  famously said  that if you are tired of it than you are tired of life. Can you guess where it is? Need […]
Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Cork, where we lay our scene,… A pair of star-cross’d lovers start their life 🙂 Karen and John would not be the only surprise visitors to Rosehill East. With a ring on her finger and a wedding on the books it was time for the long overdue Rose-Hamilton Summit – Iain and Bernadette […]
Tell the World I’m coming home…
Well tell everyone except for Cameron, Emmet and Emma Rose who were completely in the dark about the impending arrival of their big brother John. After 18 months away we would be reunited with our friends and families back in Scotland/Ireland for a wee visit. But first we had an incredible journey… Wednesday 27th May […]
Let there be Light!!!
“Perhaps we can scare away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination, gentleman!” Every May the entire city of Sydney gets out the step ladder, goes up into the loft and opens up an old cardboard box marked ‘lights’ and then drapes itself in them. I am of course referring to […]
Fantastic Four
With the girls coming back from Melbourne we had four days left to enjoy Sydney and expose Laura to as much as possible. Here is how we got on… Day 1: Pub Crawl There are many things to do in Sydney on a Friday night but one of the more random acts is to do […]
An Island By Any Other Name…
With a full week in Sydney done we decided to take a few days break and bring Laura up to see one of Karen’s favourite places in all the world – ever since her backpacking trip in 2006. 4 days of chilling and exploring in equal measure up in the Whitsundays! It was an early […]
Weekly Photo Challenge: Colours of the Rainbow
On seeing this week’s Photo Challenge Topic both Karen and I both said at once: “Boudhanath Stupa” While exploring this marvellous building we were enthralled by the multi-coloured Tibetan Flags that adorned it’s four corners.
Sydney Diaries: Babylon Zoo
The day was finally here. We had wanted to go to Taronga Zoo ever since we arrived but when you live in Sydney you need to keep things back for when visitors arrive – otherwise every new visit feels like Groundhog Day (‘Opera House Tour: Again!!) With the reunion of the Hamilton sisters we could […]
Sister Sister
The time had finally arrived – Laura (Karen’s sister) was arriving from Scotland for a wee visit Down Under. In preparation for her visit John was tasked with moving a bed from Cremorne and generally dusting and cleaning whilst Karen went to town on an Australian welcome pack. Armed with flags and posters we eagerly […]
Weekly Photo Challenge:Broken
In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Broken.” For centuries a chain of fortifications kept the inhabitants of Greater China safe from attack from the Mongol Hordes. Today it lies mostly in ruins – scavenged to almost nothing. This was one of the towers at a section of the Great Wall at Jinshangling.
JKRoaming - Travel Blog 