Hi all!
As many of you know I am back in Australia and am now living and working in Canberra (our nation's capital). Being in yet another new place, considering what life is, what it means and what's important (in between the moments of drunk haze of course), has led me to gather together a top/best/favourites list for my travels overseas in the last year or so...

I will be starting another blog on life back in Australia including stuff from my discoveries of Canberra.

I thank all of you so much for being interested in what I've been up to. It's been great to catch up with some of you recently. But for those of you who have commented to me over the last year - even very briefly or only once - I thank you for being a friend/mate/associate. Whatever our relationship is, believe me, I have appreciated it. I hope that our paths cross again in the future.

And now - my list of top/best/favourite memories from my year away.

• Accomplishment: Climbing to the top of the castle in the town of Kotor, Montenegro above the ancient fjord (the most southern in Europe incidently).
  

• Animal spotting: seal in Stornoway harbour.


• Beach: Kaladi on island of Kythera, Greece.


• Beer: Munich, Germany (hands down! Especially coz served in a giant stein!).


• Best looking men Toss-up between Spain and Sweden.


• Cheapest clothes: Markets in Camberwell, London - 3 pieces for 5 pound, who can argue with that?


• Cocktail: Pina Colada - Muscat, Oman.


• Feeling of freedom: being in the wild and windy (& often rainy and cold) conditions of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides.


• Frost (!): Sofia, Bulgaria.


• Jewellry: silver necklace with a star pendant purchased in Stockholm.


• Location to buy a house/shack for future travel: beach in Greece or Turkey.


• London attractions: London Eye and St James' Park.


• London Pub: Founders Arms, on the river near Blackfriars Bridge.


• Memorable silly quotation: 'Dust! Anybody?... Dust! Anybody?' (c/o John Tully for Little Britain).


• Memorable song: Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars.


• Most valuable toiletry: toothpaste, followed very closely by lip balm.


• Mountain views: Dolomites, northern Italy.


• Musical event: charity concert, Dubrovnik, Croatia.


• Omelette: Budva, Montenegro.


• Panic moment: driving in -2 degrees & snow over a mountain range in Yorkshire.


• Picturesque views: Cinque Terre, London skyline, Dolomite mountains (Italy), Cappadocian formations.


• Pizza: Venice, Italy.


• Purchase: Leather jacket in Selcuk, Turkey.


• Quote from a real person: 'Is that attraction political?'


• Rainbow: tie between the rainbow over the Callanish stones (Outer Hebrides, Scotland) and double rainbow in Devon when travelling on road trip with Margaret.


• Realising I really am from a summery part of the southern hemisphere: having to ask at the markets in Split what the green fuzzy stuff was and why they were selling it for Christmas. (Ummm yes, forgetting my biology, the stallholder told me 'moss?! It goes under the tree?!')


• Ruins: Mycenae - approximately settled in 14th C BC, complete with the original underground spring.


• Sandwich: The toasted sausage, egg, cheese, sauce delight in Selcuk, Turkey.


• Scary moment: realising I was lost near Regents Park, London at 12 at night and no one was around except for a few drunks and then two yobs that jumped the fence from the locked park - eek!


• Shoe shopping: Sofia, Bulgaria (hands down!!).


• Sporting moments: reinacting the footraces at Delphi and winning the volleyball competition held by Defra.


• Sunset: Amalfi Coast, Italy.


• Travel mate: Leilani - we shared some great moments from walking in Cinque Terre, discussing the future while en route in the Mondeo, nights out in London. Gonna miss you babe!


• Trinket: Evil Eye - Greece, Turkey.


• Umbrella purchase - asking 'las paraguas?' in numerous shops between bouts of getting hammered by torrential rain in Seville (weather had been perfect up until that point).


• Work: reflecting that when I first started with Defra I really had no idea about mad cow disease, what a prion is and how research is done into Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy diseases... I learned a lot :)

Wow - I'm home!!! Have been now for a week. The journey from the airport to home was definitely a trip-out - so much space in Brisbane, lots of open sky and very few people around.

Anyway, just a quick update on my last few days in London. I moved out to Leilani and Johnno's place on the east side and proceeded to fill their lounge room with all my stuff.

On Sunday I left early in the morning to get up to Stansted Airport where I had arranged a hire car as I was going to pick Margaret up and we were going to meet up with another great aunt of mine, Bette, and her daughter, Lesley (who I had never met). They live out near Bath. After some annoying London transport issues I finally arrived on a replacement bus to the airport (yes I had to pay the full train fare and received a much slower trip on the bus!). Got Margaret all loaded up and we were off!

It was a really fun couple of days seeing one family member that I haven't seen in years and meeting others I've never met! Margaret and I actually stayed at the same b&b that Bette used to own many years ago. Still standing and still keeping it's old-age charm. We then After time in a little village near Bath, I went to Bath and saw the baths :) An absolutely lovely town! Margaret and I then continued on down south towards Devon and ended up in a town called Ilminster with it's own cider-making establishment (apparently there is no brewing so can't call it a brewery).

Lunch near Frome. Me, Margaret, Lesley, Bette.

The Roman Baths in the background of my head.

The Baths and the beautiful cathedral in the background.

The New Inn, Ilminster. Sweet little place.

After a night at the Inn we continued our drive in a westerly direction. Unfortunately we were running out of time and we didn't make the coast. But we did get to Dartmoor National Park where I proceeded to go galavanting up over the countryside while Margaret patiently waited for me in the car. It was windswept plains of moors with a pretty cool view. The clouds went whipping by and brought rain in intermittent bursts. Anyway, I loved the fresh air and openness!

Dartmoor National Park - me sitting on the wall of some Bronze Age house.

A better photo of the stone hut construction.


It was getting late so we had to head back towards Abbots Langley and London. But not before visiting the gorgeous Avebury stones. These things are amazing as they cover a huge area of land and the little town of Avebury just exists within them. The motorway even goes in between fields of them. I never went to Stonehenge but some people say the Aveburys are nicer because they're not so touristed.
What an ambience!

Another view.

One of the white horses cut into the hillside. Apparently there is more than one!

After the adventure off into Devon with Margaret, I eventually got the hire car back to Stansted airport and headed back to Lei and Johnno's place. It was great to spend time with the two of them and they (& the rest of the Walthamstow house gang) really looked after me. We had a great weekend down at Eastbourne where we visited the beach (stones!!! although it was advertised as sand!) and ate fish and chips and hung out in the sun. We went for a walk over an area protected as National Park and Johnno's claims that the cliffs nearby are a suiciders dream location were in fact correct!!

On the Saturday night we went to a Belgian pub and got buckets of mussells - brilliant!!

Eastbourne

Johnno and I and the fated cliffs (& beautiful view)

View over the fated cliffs.

Ahh mussells and Belgian beer!


And following from now just a few more pics of some of the places I got to with Lei and Johnno before I left for Aust.

Lei and I also got to the London Zoo where the highlight was definitely the gorillas! This one seemed to love all the people (I think the everyone's faces show how special it was to be so close to these amazing creatures).

Johnno and the great big thistle at Kew Gardens.

Lei and Johnno showing their appreciation of Aussie gum trees.

So I'm now at home after my last day at work, and last after-work beers with workmates. I am sad to leave Defra. I've been there for 5 months and the time really has flown! I've had such a good time despite some challenges - of course I am always going to have some issues when working with intelligent, head-strong people.

The plans from now:

• Enjoying London touristy things such as Westminster Abbey, Natural History Museum, the London Eye. I'll also be moving out of the Camberwell flat on Friday or Saturday to Lei and Johnno's place. Saturday, going to catch up with Patrina as she's back in London for a day (after being in Florence learning Italian for a month <-- jealous!) before flying back to Bris.
• Then Sunday: off to Bath to visit family (great-aunt and my dad's cousin) with Margaret (my other great-aunt).
• Then maybe I'll get some more travel in around Europe, but flights are crazily expensive right now, being the height of summer season.
• Saturday 11th/Sunday 12th: last chance for catch up with London mates.
• Monday 13th: PACK! and fly to Bangkok Monday night.
• Tuesday/Wednesday: in Bangkok
• Thursday 16th: fly to Brisbane (via Sydney) and arrive in Brisbane on the morning of the 17th.
• THEN: I have a whole month for chilling and catching up with you Brisbanites! And then it's a move to Canberra for a job with Land and Water!! I start there on the 17th of September.

So there you go. Some exciting changes. Gosh, I'm going to miss London and the people I've met. And Johnno and Lei will be here till January and then they travel through Africa - I am going miss them immensely!

About the job, for those of you that haven't heard about it. Basically I saw an ad in NRMjobs with Land and Water in a knowledge management team working on projects with NRM groups. Anyway, it looked like a good job so I applied to see how I'd fare in the Aussie market after my stint OS. I got a phone interview and then was (amazingly) offered the job! They sound like lovely people, with all sorts of backgrounds. So Canberra - another adventure! With a population of around 300,000 people it's a far-cry from London! But Lei tells me if you like sport in Canberra, then it's great fun. And Canberra is about 3 and a half hours from Sydney. So, Ben, you should expect a visit now and then!! And beach volleyball at Manly, here I come!!!

Sunday: From Oslo I needed to get to Stockholm as it was my departure point back to London on Monday night. I was originally going to catch a train but that was going to cost about £35 and take 7 hours! Not the best after already being on a train for so many hours in the last few days. Got online and managed to find an airfare that only cost slightly more.

The weather was once again beautiful and from the airport, I headed straight for town and walked around the old part of town, Gamla Stan. This is a touristy area too, but it was worth negotiating the human traffic to get to the numerous gelati and hot dog shops!!
The bridge into the island, Gamla Stan.


Stockholm lazing is all about the water, particularly as the city is built over 14 islands, with people cruising around on boats and ferries leaving to visit some of the 24,000ish islands in the huge archipelago east of Stockholm. After chilling out by the harbour/lake for a bit, I found my hostel. An ex-cruise ship that is now permanently anchored and plays host to backpackers and hotel-goers. I was allocated a dorm with 12 beds and the only beds left were top bunks. I picked one with a port-hole nearby, but it only had about 2 foot of space above me when lying down - no sitting up in bed in the middle of the night!
Found the bar on the 'roof' of the boat.


Both Oslo and Stockholm have a photo exhibition by Steve Bloom on at the moment (till September), sponsored by WWF. Brilliant, stunning, emotive, fun photos of animals in their native environments, with captions explaining how they are threatened.

After the photo exhibition, I wandered around the Djurgarden island with extensive parks and Tivoli-Grona Lund - the amusement park. There's also a zoo, ritzy hotels, an open-air historical museum and an aquarium.
Some cantankerous geese. Cute but when I was crouching on the ground to get this picture a few of them started stalking me, hissing with their beaks open and tongues out!


And then I came across the highlight of Stockholm entertainment. Some free concert thing in a city square - some crazy Swedish group with a lead singer in lycra!

Ummmm, didn't realise there was space for underpants under those trousers!


I met a guy who lives in Sweden and we shared some beers while watching the bungee-jumping. Jodi was pretty interesting as his parents were from Dubai and Turkey and they moved all around the world, and as such, Jodi could speak Hindi, English, Turkish and Swedish. And a couple of his siblings can speak Arabic - all depending on where they were and for how long... So many interesting people in Stockholm, a big ethnic mix, which I never would have guessed.

Anyway, apparently the entertainment was all part of some free festival where companies put on things for free as promotion. So there were all these people bungee-jumping for free from a crane! Although I acknowledge it was a great chance to try bungee-jumping, I also realised that I'm a sook and I don't think I could actually let go of the railings in the tiny box the brave punters were raised in. A few people chickened out and were lowered back down. After that, it was back to the backpackers boat. Snapped the pic below of the view across to Gamla Stan (this was 12am).


And then I got back to the backpackers boat and a whole bunch of Americans were just heading out to the bars. So I went along :) I think it was about 12:30am when we were walking back into town and it still wasn't completely dark. Then, it got pretty dark for about an hour, and by 3:40am the sky looked like the following photo!

And John was also keen on taking pics of the dawn!

So my last few days of work now - well hasn't 5 months gone by so quickly!! I'm coming to the end of my year away from Aus!! A warning now to you all, there'll be some mighty big reflecting going on :)

But first! My weekend - finally another bit of travel. Just to get as much in as I can... Flew to Oslo, Norway very early on Friday morning (after a 3:30am wakeup alarm) which meant I had a full day to check out the city, enjoy the sunshine and plan a trip to see the famous fjords of South Norway. Some of them are heritage-listed!

I left a rainy Friday morning in London for brilliant, sunny, warm weather in Oslo. A good day apparently, as they've had just as much rain and have been bemoaning one of the worst summers on record, just like in the UK. After a walk around town, seeing lots and lots of people shopping and enjoying the outdoor cafes (it is Norwegian tourist season after all), I found my way to the Royal Palace. I love that I have managed to see a few changing of guards in different European countries. The guards here were a bit nonchalent and I was surprised when they actually talked and waved to people to get them off the brickwork...

After looking at the brilliant view over Oslo, and getting some lady to take a not-so-brilliant photo of me in front of the vista, I found my way to the water's edge. A boat trip on the Oslo fjord, lovely, yes please - I'll take one! The guide was very good and she told stories of missionaries, lovers looking for romance, and Nazi supporters. And on one island people let 2 rabbits go and of course they bred like mad, causing a rabbit plague. So the government had to step in and they let some foxes go. They timed it very badly though apparently because the fjord froze over and all the foxes left - without the rabbits... Anyway, with the sun on my back, the cool breeze and the smell of salt, it all got a bit much and the early-start caught up with me...

View over Oslo from the Palace (behind me)

City Hall, on the harbour, with a cool fountain (& sculpture)

On the boat - coming back into Oslo fjord (straight towards city hall)

Off the boat I was on a big walking mission to the north-side of town. Well that was after a bit of a sit down near a lovely fountain and a snack. After discovering that Oslo really is a very quiet town away from the harbour and the shops, and that the trams seem like fun, I found a little shop to pick up some more supplies. Bought apricots, peanuts & sparkling apple juice, just to tide me over, then I noticed a sign saying 'borek' and then I realised the guy looked very Turkish. 'I am from Turkey' he said and was amazed I was from Australia. After a very bad Turkish version of thank you (teshekyer ederim <--not how it's spelt officially ok?!) and his laugh, I was out the door. My mission?? The Vigeland sculpture park.

Not many of you probably know that I loved making sculptures out of clay when I was younger. Particularly at school - I got an A+ for my body part which happened to be a giant breast. (I think Mr Honeywell got great artistic pleasure from my creation.) Anyway, this sculpture park is the number one tourist attraction in Oslo, it's free, and I was not going to miss it! It's a stunning park with rose gardens and walkways and lots of space.

View up the hill of the sculpture epi-centre.

The story goes that the great sculptor Gustav Vigeland was running out of room in his studio so he struck up a deal with the government of the day that he would donate all his sculptures to the public to be enjoyed in a public park, in exchange for the gov building him some more studios. Well, what a great idea. I had a very relaxing time there, admiring lots of body parts out in the open, smelling the various coloured roses (yes Andrew, the yellow ones are still my favourite!!), and watching the locals spark up there portable/disposable bbqs. The barbequeing went long into the night and was still going when I left at about 9:30pm to catch my night train over the other side of the country to Bergen.

A tower of bodies, with lots of other bodies around, doing lots of different things...

Just chilling (near a great-looking leg)

But then there's all these bronze sculptures on the main walkway in. Now what is going on here... See those children monsters have been around for ages!

Ahhh the smoke from the bbqs at sunset (10pm)

About 42 minutes of sleep later and it was 7am at Bergen. I dragged myself to the Hardangerfjord tour bus (actually a local bus that tourists are organised to get on) and was told by the bus driver I had the wrong tickets. Stupid tourist office had booked me a tour as if I was leaving from Bergen and returning to Bergen - not back to Oslo later that night... But it wasn't a problem (maybe it happens all the time) and the bus driver just took the ticket for the other direction, and so did the boat guy and the next bus guy... etc.

A lady on the bus got chatting to me and she was an interesting character. Born in Germany, she moved to the USA at about 16 to study. She still lives there but regularly travels around the world to take lessons from a Chi Gung expert. She's a feng shui, chi gung, energy expert. Was great to spend some time with her and chat about life and travel and the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

Through the scenic countryside - meaning fields of grass, then trees and then steep-walled waterways, then to the harbour and onto a boat in the Hardanger Fjord.
The boat trip was definitely the highlight!

Did someone say symmetry?

Yes... 10 points to whoever guesses first (via the comment feature below) on who this guy reminded me of. Yes, he is a Greek person.

What can I say, look at the following pictures to get an idea of the scenery. And yes, even though it is 'summer' in the northern hemisphere, that snow was real and the chilly breeze on the boat very really went through my flimsy, light-weight clothes (thank the world for thermals and rain jackets :)

After the boat ride it was onto another bus and up onto the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. We went to the national park office and I got to hug a reindeer. There was lots of information on the nearby Hardangerjøkulen Glacier (where apparently all the winter scenes in Star Wars Part II (The Empire Strikes Back) were shot). I'd love to go on a glacier walk and when I travel in Europe again - I will make sure I do it! The national park office had some great exhibits, including lots of stuffed lemmings! So this is where the silly little things come from. They're quite adapted to living under snow though, so full credit to 'em.

I had noticed travelling around that a lot of houses have grass on their rooves. I imagine that grass could get pretty long - one solution = a pair of goats!!! Very entertaining.
Come here little fella!!!

Spot the goats.

After that, the bus stopped at a waterfall. Great views over the valley.

The bus then dropped me at Voss train station and I waited around for about 3/4 hour for my train back to Oslo. It was a pleasant train ride back, leaving Voss at 7pmish and getting back into Oslo at 10:30pm. Of course, I had to have a few naps along the way! I wished I'd had a book to read.
A snapshot from the train window.

Back into Oslo town at the end of a full-on 24 hours, I was off to find my hostel. After wandering around on Storangata street for about half an hour, I realised where Storgata was - hmm another 15 minutes away. Got there just before reception closed at 12am and got in for a shower. Ahhh and now for a sleep-in right?! before I go to Stockholm. No way! Was woken by three annoying yanks at 6am who were packing their suitcases (from empty!!) with what seemed like thousands of plastic bags. That's hostelling with unlike-minded people for ya! (Next installment will be Stockholm!)

Some more pics from London-town. Gosh it's been great fun, and I've met some great people. Individuals I hope to stay in touch with forever!! (Stalker alert ***) :)
Tahnee, Lei, Kasia, Scott and me - celebrating my birthday!! Thanks guys!!! Was a fun night (with a few too many pints on my behalf) and it was all the more interesting when an abandoned backpack prompted a visit from the police

Out the front of the pub waiting to be let back in. Cops a blur in the background!

Mika, Kasia, Tamsin, Alison and me at a gothic pub one Monday night. Spider-webs, skeletons and the door to the toilets through a wall that was a giant bookcase.

One Saturday (actually it was the Tour de France weekend, 7th July - won't forget that coz I made the ill-fated mistake of taking a bus rather than the tube and got stuck in horrendous traffic!) I went over to Notting Hill for dinner and drinks with Patrina and Rosie. Patrina is friends with my brother James, and Rosie is her cousin. They'd just got back from a 35(!) day Contiki tour...


Anyway, we went to a pretty fab Italian restaurant (although the bill wasn't too fab ;)) and enjoyed some drinks.
Mmm pizza... Look at those lovely tans!! Bloody travellers in areas of Europe that actually have a summer!!!!!


I stayed over and the next day Rosie and I met up with Lei and Johnno to check out the Brick Lane markets. Now these have a reputation as being really good. I don't rate them personally. A whole lot of junk. A couple of good musicians getting about but the nutcase on top of a shipping container preaching about something or other, didn't rate a mention... well except I've mentioned him... Anyway, moving right along - after the markets, we fulfilled Rosie's dreams of walking across the crossing on Abbey Road outside the Beatles' old studio. You know, the one in the famous pic that's on the front cover of one of their albums... or something... Rosie, why aren't you telling this story? anyway... pics below!
The Brick Lane markets. At least it wasn't raining! And Lei found a good deal on a shower hose I believe...

The original:
c-o Wikipedia
Our attempt - not great but I bet the Beatles didn't have to cope with traffic. Just wish we'd had a 2007 model of a beetle in the background of our pic. Oh well...
c-o some Spanish guy who took the photo with Rosie's camera.
The wall outside the studios with adornments of love etc.

Ahhh aren't they cute! Lei and Johnno proving they visited Abbey Road.

And of course, we finished off a lovely Sunday with a Sunday session at one of my favourite pubs, the Old Ship on the Thames at Hammersmith!! Beers and gourmet burgers. And it was so good, JT even got in a nap in the sun!
Johnno, Lei and I and some other randoms...

View of the river.


And just a couple more London pics AT NIGHT!
The Eye, different colours on different nights.

The tower where Big Ben lives

Some stretch 4wd-looking thing