Author Archives: John Rose
Mirror Image
Lake Hayes is a body of water that is bounded between Slope Hill to the West and State Highway 6 to the East and pretty much marks the border between Queenstown and the Gibbston Valley and Wine Country. It is called ‘the most photographed lake in New Zealand” so we just had to pay it […]
Gold Rush
One random weekend we popped over to Auckland. Explored the city, ate really great food, even did a wine tour. We had a great weekend and it was a good first taste of New Zealand. But that is all it was – a taste, a morsel. We were left hungry for more. The months went […]
Harbourside Hamiltons
Not only did we get to spend time in Byron Bay with the Hamiltons, but we also got to show off our neighbourhood, the Lower North Shore and the greater Harbour district to them as well. Purple Rain Spring in the Southern Hemisphere begins in September lasting through to the end of November and the […]
The Way It Should Be
After spending an afternoon snorkeling at Julian Rocks we had earned a drink. Of all the gin joints in all the world we would be walking into one shed in particular. Nestled in a corner of an industrial estate just off one of the main roads out of Byron Bay is the place where a […]
Hamiltons Down Under
2006: After spending a number of weeks on the well trodden backpacker trail south from Cairns, Karen and her pals – Sarah and Lori, made the decision to fly from Brisbane to Sydney. The bold move would cut out a good chunk of the New South Wales coastline but it would allow them to make […]
Sculptures By the Sea 4: Citizens on Patrol
October 2017 Welcome to our 4th annual report from the Eastern Suburbs. It’s October in Sydney and that means one thing. Sculptures by the Sea. We would once again be joined by our fellow Art Critic (and occasional Art purchaser) Adam. As always we would be taking the South to North route starting at Tamarama […]
Brisbane Part Deux: Koalas, Kofte and Art
Sunday morning brought both sunshine and a change of scenery as we departed the urban jungle of the Brisbane CBD for the leafy suburbs. Fig Tree Pocket is the riverfront home to some of Queensland’s most expensive houses but it has another feature we would spend most of that day exploring. We took the boat […]
Brisbane Family Gathering
It took us three years to realise that we had not paid Australia’s ‘third city’ a visit. Karen had passed through Brisbane back in ’06 during her gap year and I guess we just put it on the long finger. So 3 years had just past since we arrived on these Southern shores and with […]
Elton Gong
“Wow. Elton John is playing in New South Wales! Fancy going?” Looking up from his laptop, a silent acceptance formed on John’s face before he could utter the affirmative response. “Aye. Whereabouts is he playing?” Wollongong. Wollongong. Road Trip 82 Kilometres south of Sydney and sandwiched between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean is […]
Weekly Photo Challenge: Liquid
“Every pulse of your heartbeat is one liquid moment that flows through the veins of your being. Like a river of life flowing on since creation, approaching the sea with each new generation” – Don McLean –
The Stopover Who Loved Me
Some last minute logistics meant that Karen would fly home a different route from John back to Sydney. Karen’s Journey went smoothly. No delays, connections made, back before she knew what hit her. John’s Journey? Well that’s a little tale all in itself. EI-175 is one of Aer Lingus’s busier routes. It connect Dublin International […]
Into the West
It was one of those glorious Irish Summer days, the entire southwest of the country basked in glorious overcast weather. The scales between catching pneumonia and sunstroke were in perfect balance. Perfect weather for a day trip. After wolfing down some breakfast we moved as a family unit to the car outside. Before we knew […]
Fright of the Earls: Kinsale and Charles Fort
It was many years before That the Spaniards quartered there But the English beat O’Neill And our Irish hopes lay bare At the mouth of the river Bandon is a small town. What began as a viking trading post over time became a small settlement and finally the walled town of Cionn tSaile – […]
East Side Story
Jet lag: a physiological condition that dramatically affects your sleep pattern and wrecks the first few days of any trip from Australia to Europe as you speed across 10 time zones. Remedies for this malady range from Tamazepam to “a bit of plain toast and de-fizzed 7-up”. Luckily we arrived in Scotland first this time […]
Inside Out: Art of Glasgow
Glasgow has always been a second home for Karen. A lot of her family are living there. She grew up riding the train to Glasgow for shopping trips and then to attend University. It was the city she moved to for her first job, becoming a Town Mouse for a number of years before moving […]
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