Author Archives: John Rose
There and Back Again – Falkirk and Fife
Chariots of Fire During our Hogmanay Hootananny in Pitcarlie House we found ourselves a short drive from a lovely spot of Scotland. Located between Dundee and Edinburgh is the coastal town of St Andrews and it’s West Sands Beach. This provided the perfect spot for a brisk walk and chance to blow out the cobwebs […]
Yes, but what about Second Christmas Dinner?
The main benefits of being in an ‘International’ relationship is that every trip home involves two locations – two families and particularly at Christmas – two dinners 🙂 This year would be no exception. The Scottish leg of our home trip began with a night in Shawlands staying with Dan and Laura where we had […]
A Very Irish Christmas
December 2018 Normally when we fly into Dublin it is not the end of our journey, but the beginning of the end – a 3 hour car journey awaits us back to Midleton. This time would be different. We had one more stop to make before heading back to the Rebel County. 24km west of […]
Vienna Part 2: Music, Museums and More Markets
Throughout the course of human history, different cities became hubs for various strands of human endeavour. Florence was the crucible in which the Renaissance flourished. Venice and Xian, two cities seperated by distance and cultures became powerhouses thanks to their locations at either end of the Silk Road. Videogames (and their records) have their capital […]
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
December 2018 As we boarded our Qatar Airways flight in Sydney I was caught humming the tune to Driving Home for Christmas. Chris Rea at his best! This would be our first flight / drive for Christmas in Europe since 2015. Our first Christmas in Europe together 🙂 But not quite yet. We take a slightly […]
Tales of the Gold Coast
October 2018 In this edition of the blog I bring you a tale of adventure, exploration and discovery. Between the metropolis of Brisbane and the New South Wales Border to the south is another city, a hidden city. To the casual observer this area looks like any other, coastal region, miles of beaches punctuated by […]
Stuck in the Middle with Uluru
the world was a featureless place until the 10 ancestors (spirit people) of the Anangu came into being and travelled across the land, creating the features like Uluru that we see today. It represents the physical evidence of their time on the earth and is seen as one of their most dramatic and inspiring creations. […]
rAD-elaide Part 2
July 2018 It had been a number of years since we had been to Adelaide and with some Virgin Australia points to burn we booked ourselves flights down for a weekend. The last time we stayed in Tarndanyangga we had stayed in a random part of town away from all the action and we remember […]
I am the Mountain, I am Mudgee
It was three and a half years since we first arrived in Sydney. In that time we had explored the city we had decided to call home for a while, gallivanted up and down the east coast, popped over to Tasmania, hopped up to Darwin and a few more places in between. But as for […]
Japan Part 10: You Can Chūō Your Own Way
We explored Tokyo by bicycle – whizzing past temples and parks. Spent the night time in alley way bars and restaurants – robot and regular. But there is more to this city, places to visit in the daytime, streets to explore. Culture on every corner. If Tokyo is considered the centre of Japan then Chūō […]
Japan Part Nine: Neo Tokyo
There is a romance about all those who are abroad in the black hours. Robert Louis Stevenson As the sun sets on the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo it undergoes a transformation. The concrete and glass facades of city streets become faded under a kaleidoscope of neon lights. The Early Birds morph into Night Owls as […]
Japan Part 8: Tokyo Drift
When we are very organised we arrange for a tour on our first full day in a new city. This helps us get our bearings, sample a selection of top sights on day 1 and get some insider information from the guides – “eat in this district”, “get here before 9am to not queue” etc. […]
Japan Part 7: Castle on a Cloud
Located 117km southwest of Kyoto is coastal city of Himeji. More like a town really with its 500,000 inhabitants compared to the metropolitan region of Osaka/Kyoto/Nara. Why were we leaving the hustle and bustle of downtown Kyoto to visit this smaller place? Himeji Castle… that’s why! Its a 17min walk up the wide boulevard of […]
