TRAVEL TUESDAY 245 - SINGAPORE

 

“We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

In the tropics, sunsets can be quite spectacular and Singapore is no exception. When you add some palm tree silhouettes to the equation, the message definitely reads: “Holiday and good times”. This photograph, however, was snapped quickly while I was at a conference and I remember during this trip I did not get much of a chance to do any sightseeing nor much photography... Nevertheless, even during a busy business trip, one could enjoy the exotic location and take in the excitement of being in a distant destination far from home.

Now in the thralls of a COVID-19 lockdown with no end of restrictions in sight, this photo from the archives is tinged with more than a small dose of nostalgia. Those good old times when travel was frequent, for both business and pleasure, when the world was a much safer place and when people could mingle freely in tourist spots, crowded markets and busy shops. As we remain confined at home, we can at least reminisce and hope that in the near future travelling around the world can begin again with no restrictions.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

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CORONAVIRUS DIARIES XI

 

“All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences.” ― Albert Camus, The Plague 

And here we are in Melbourne, living in Lockdown #2, back to confining ourselves at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out. Many people are now jobless, many shops have closed indefinitely, some businesses having closed down for good. Traffic has become greatly reduced, people are staying indoors, the City has ground down to an almost complete halt. International flights can no longer land in Melbourne Airport and Melburnians cannot leave the City on the pain of stiff fines. The police are maintaining the quarantine on all major routes out of the city and people are once again afraid of the invisible enemy, COVID-19, a “wicked virus”, in our Premier’s words…

The number of cases to date: Australia has recorded 11,611 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 122 deaths. These figures are from a national dataset of every confirmed case since January 25, when the country’s first four cases were reported. The death of three more coronavirus victims overnight in Victoria now means that more people have died in our state during the second wave of the pandemic than in the first. A total of 38 Victorians have now passed away since the first case in Australia was identified on January 25. Today, Victorian authorities also announced an additional 363 new cases, pushing the state’s total number of cases to 3,898 since the pandemic started. Our Premier is justly distressed and so should every one of us! 

What next? Come Thursday this week, all people over 12 years of age will need to wear face masks or other suitable face coverings if they venture out of their homes for the only four legitimate reasons they can do so:
1)    To go to work or study, only if they are unable to do those activities at their home;
2)    To obtain medical care or provide medical care;
3)    To go shopping for essentials, but only locally;
4)    To exercise daily under strict social distancing guidelines, and only locally.

Of course some people are self-isolating under quarantine conditions, for example, if they have been tested for COVID-19 and they are awaiting results; if they are positive for COVID-19 and they are symptomless; if they have contacted confirmed cases of COVID-19. Needless to say that hospitalised patients suffering symptoms of coronavirus infection are also quarantined and being given the necessary treatment for their disease. Fortunately, the vast majority of people diagnosed with COVID-19 have not needed to be hospitalised. Of 2,930 current or “active” cases, only 135, or 5 per cent are receiving hospital care. This includes 29 patients in ICU (or 1 per cent of current cases).

As the COVID-19 pandemic resurges in our city, there has been considerable discussion in the media about the impact the virus is having on our psychological state, our mental health, our propensity to abnormal behaviour patterns including suicide. While physical distancing is preventing the spread of coronavirus, it has also created multiple problems, including isolation, loneliness, anxiety and in some cases increased tendency for violent or aberrant behaviour. For those who are now jobless or whose business is going under because of the economic downturn, the impact on the individuals involved, their families and careers is significant, and the uncertainty about the future hard to deal with.

Still, many of us have been able to deal with the tough measures of the restrictions and the home isolation has been a catalyst for relationships to be strengthened and reaffirmed, including developing new ways to work together in order to cope with the new status quo. Students have had to deal with novel ways of instruction, including remote learning and technology-assisted education. Many workers are logging onto their workplace from their home computers and there are even reports that productivity has increased while staff are working from home. Thus there is proof of the renewal and importance of reaching out and being socially connected even while physically separated.

We must acknowledge that both Federal and State Governments have put in place measures to try to reduce the negative effects of COVID-19 restrictions. These measures have included significant initiatives to support employment and maintain financial security. I consider myself lucky to be living in a country where there is still enough social conscience in our politics so that governments are doing all they can to support all who need looking after in these dire times.

As far as we as individuals are concerned, what can we do to support others and help our loved ones, our families, our friends our community? Simple, really:
1)    Look after yourself – be cautious and prudent. Follow the directives of the experts and law-makers, for they will help you stay safe and healthy.
2)    Support the people close to you, first in your household, then your family and friends further afield. Keep in contact – the ways to do this nowadays are numerous and within reach of everyone.
3)    Volunteer to do some work for a mutual aid group in your community (for example, go here: https://www.volunteer.com.au/)
4)    Support local businesses as much as you can by shopping in stores that are struggling to survive. Small businesses have a much tougher time surviving times of economic crisis.
5)    Support the FoodBank if you can (see: https://www.foodbank.org.au/covid-19/?state=vic)
6)    Write a letter to a stranger! Contacting your local nursing home or elderly people’s home you can obtain information on residents who may be lacking visitors while their family and friends stay away.
7)    If you have a garden and you produce fruit and vegetables, consider sharing your excess produce with nearby friends and neighbours. You may also give them seeds and seedlings that you have in excess.
8)    If you can, help students studying at home with some tutoring in your area of expertise (see: https://www.embrace-education.org/volunteer)
9)    Give to charities and support groups caring for those in need: Homeless, people experiencing mental health problems, those who live alone.
10)    Join an online companionship and entertainment group. You can find many of these catering for people with similar interests (see: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-03-17/coronavirus-online-support-groups/12060530)

Keep safe, think before you act, be kind, support those around you, be well!

TRAVEL TUESDAY 244 - YALTA, CRIMEA

 

“... those Yalta nights, with extraordinary women who could drink vodka without swooning until six in the morning and sweaty young people from the Association of Proletarian Writers of Crimea who came to ask for literary advice at four in the afternoon.” ― Roberto Bolaño 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately. 

Yalta (Russian: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative centre of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Population: 76,746 (2014 Census). The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by the Greek conquerors who were looking for a safe shore (γιαλός – yalos in Greek) on which to land.

Yalta is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black Sea, surrounded by the mountain range Ai-Petri. It has a warm humid subtropical climate and surrounded by numerous vineyards and orchards. The term "Greater Yalta" is used to designate a part of the Crimean southern coast spanning from Foros in the west to Gurzuf in the east and including the city of Yalta and multiple adjacent urban settlements.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 243 - CORONAVIRUS DIARIES X

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day.” - Vincent Van Gogh 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately. 

After a record spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria yesterday, our Premier Daniel Andrews announced the border with NSW would be closing. This is the first time in 100 years the border between the nation’s two most populous states has closed, and the last closure was also due to a pandemic, the Spanish ‘flu of 1919.

Victoria recorded its largest daily increase of 127 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, 16 more than the previous peak of 111 cases on March 28. A second wave of an epidemic could be defined as the return of an outbreak where the numbers of new daily cases reach a peak as high or higher than the original one. Melbourne is unfortunately experiencing just that, with nearly 200 new cases recorded today and another two COVID-19 deaths.

This week, the Victorian government placed the residents of nine public housing towers in inner Melbourne under “hard lockdown” due to the “explosive potential” of increasing COVID-19 cases.  The lockdown requires all residents of these estates to remain inside their homes for at least five days, placing around 3,000 residents under special punitive measures that apply to none other in Victoria. The lockdown is being enforced by a significant police presence on the estates, with officers on every floor, with no warning and with immediate effect.

Other outbreak areas have been given more than 24 hours’ notice for similar numbers of coronavirus cases. For example, an outbreak in the more affluent Mornington Peninsula has not been met with the same Draconian restrictions. The government’s justification for this action is that residents of public housing are vulnerable and living in high density with many shared spaces. But this is true of any large apartment building in Melbourne. Public housing for the underprivileged in Melbourne, however, has long been a neglected area of care and numerous problems have been chronically associated with it.

The poor and underprivileged, the homeless and the unemployed, the drug addicts and the have-nots are more vulnerable to many of society’s ills and it is harder to reach out to them and help them actively in times of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is now proving to be a case in point and unless a greater community effort to help these more susceptible people is undertaken, then Victoria’s outbreak may become a national problem with second wave outbreaks appearing in other states.

Tomorrow at midnight, Melbourne will go into lockdown again in a renewed attempt to stem the return of unchecked infection rates and even more deaths. We have been complacent and the lackadaisical amongst us have allowed the virus to spread, threatening the whole community once again. Stage 3 restrictions in Melbourne means another wave of isolation, enforced social distancing, the closing of gyms, restaurants, hotels, shops with non-essential wares, and of course the stopping of travel.

Looking out on the Yarra River at night, the invisible enemy at the heart of the pandemic is even better camouflaged by the darkness and the shimmer of the reflected multicoloured lights. Pretty images such as this are full of hidden dangers. Complacency and ignoring the advice of experts puts everyone at risk. Over-enthusiastic and misinformed politicians who ignore the warnings of medical experts, in an attempt to restart economies and generate “prosperity” are dangerous and morally reprehensible. Success at the polls and making of the rich richer should not be the priority in these times of crisis when one false step is followed by a return of increased COVID-19 death rates.

A grim Travel Tuesday this week, but I am writing this in a city under a renewed quarantine, where a greater infection risk and the possibility of an unpleasant death have reared their ugly head again. Take care, look after yourself, your loved ones, your community. The world in the past has survived numerous pandemics, a great many economic crises, countless social upheavals, wars, revolutions and the rule of a host of demented, violent and megalomaniac dictators. It is up to us now in these trying times to show a greater intelligence and solidarity in order to overcome this renewed threat. Be wise and prudent and survive. Dead people cannot revive flagging economies. Survivors can rebuild prosperity. The night may be dark, but countless small lights illuminate our lives with multicoloured brilliance and give us hope.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
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TRAVEL TUESDAY 242 - KRAKÓW, POLAND

“Krakow is one of my favorite places on earth. It is a medieval city full of young people. A wonderful, striking combination.” - Jonathan Carroll

 Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

Kraków, also spelled Cracow or Krakow, is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland (Polish: Małopolska) region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland’s most important economic hubs. It was the capital of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596, the Free City of Kraków from 1815 to 1846; the Grand Duchy of Cracow from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1998. It has been the capital of Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999.

The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland’s second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was already being reported as a busy trading centre of Slavonic Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre.

The city has a population of approximately 760,000, with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km radius of its main square. After the invasion of Poland by the Nazi Regime at the start of World War II, the newly defined Distrikt Krakau (Kraków District) became the capital of Germany’s General Government. The Jewish population of the city was forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from which they were sent to German extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz never to return, and the Nazi concentration camps like Płaszów.

In 1978, Karol Wojtyła, archbishop of Kraków, was elevated to the papacy as Pope John Paul II — the first Slavic pope ever, and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Also that year, UNESCO approved the first ever sites for its new World Heritage List, including the entire Old Town in inscribing Kraków’s Historic Centre. Kraków is classified as a global city with the ranking of high sufficiency by GaWC. It is cited as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, as well as one of the most unique destinations in the world.

Kraków has extensive cultural heritage across the epochs of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, and its architecture includes the Wawel Cathedral and the Royal Castle on the banks of the Vistula river, the St. Mary's Basilica, Saints Peter and Paul Church and the largest medieval market square in Europe, the Rynek Główny. Kraków is home to Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in the world and traditionally Poland’s most reputable institution of higher learning. In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013 Kraków was officially approved as a UNESCO City of Literature. The city hosted the World Youth Day in July 2016.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 241 - ATHENS, GREECE

 

“In cities like Athens, poor houses lined narrow and tortuous streets in spite of luxurious public buildings.” - Stephen Gardiner

The Zappeion (Greek: Ζάππειον Μέγαρο, Záppeion Mégaro) is a building in the National Gardens of Athens in the heart of Athens, Greece. It is generally used for meetings, conferences and ceremonies, both official and private.

In 1869, the Greek Parliament allocated 80,000 square metres of public land between the Palace Gardens and the ancient Temple of Olympian Zeus, and also passed a law on 30 November 1869, “for the building works of the Olympic Games”, as the Zappeion was the first building to be erected specifically for the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern world.

The ancient Panathenian stadium was also refurbished as part of the works for the Olympic Games. Following some delay, on 20 January 1874, the cornerstone of the building was laid; this new building would be designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen. Finally, on 20 October 1888, the Zappeion opened. Unfortunately for its benefactor, Evangelis Zappas, he did not live long enough to see the Zappeion built, and his cousin Konstantinos Zappas was nominated by Evangelos Zappas to complete the building. The Austrian Parliament Building was also designed by Hansen and followed the same theme in the exterior.

The Zappeion was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the main fencing hall. A decade later, at the 1906 Intercalated Games, it was used as the Olympic Village. It served as the first host for the organising committee (ATHOC) for the 2004 Games from 1998 to 1999 and served as the press centre during the 2004 games.

In 1938, the Athens Radio Station, the country's first national broadcaster, began operating in the premises. The building continued to house the National Radio Foundation until the inauguration of the House of Radio in 1970. A number of historical events have taken place at the Zappeion, including the signing of the documents formalising Greece’s accession to the European Community in May, 1979, which took place in the building’s marble-clad, peristyle main atrium. The head of Evangelos Zappas is buried underneath his statue which is located just outside the Zappeion.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 240 - DOVER, UK

“There’ll be bluebirds over The white cliffs of Dover Tomorrow, just you wait and see…” – Vera Lynn (lyrics by Nat Burton)

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

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The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs that form part of the English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation. The cliff face, which reaches up to 110 m, owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint. The cliffs stretch along the coastline for 13 km, spreading east and west from the town of Dover in the county of Kent, an ancient and still important English port.

The cliffs have great symbolic value in Britain because they face towards continental Europe across the narrowest part of the English Channel, where invasions have historically threatened and against which the cliffs form a symbolic guard. The National Trust calls the cliffs “an icon of Britain”, with “the white chalk face a symbol of home and war time defence.” Because crossing at Dover was the primary route to the continent before the advent of air travel, the white line of cliffs also formed the first or last sight of Britain for travellers. In World War II, thousands of allied troops on the little ships in the Dunkirk evacuation saw the welcoming sight of the cliffs.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 239 - ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

 

“All experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades for ever and for ever when I move.” -  Alfred Lord Tennyson 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

Arches National Park is a US National Park in eastern Utah. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, 6 km north of Moab, Utah. It is home to over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch (shown here), in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations. It contains the highest density of natural arches in the world.

The park consists of 310.31 km2 of high desert located in the Colorado Plateau. Its highest elevation is 1,723 m at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 1,245 m at the visitor centre. Forty-three arches are known to have collapsed since 1977. The park receives on average 250 mm of rain a year. Administered by the National Park Service, the area was originally named a National Monument on April 12, 1929. It was redesignated as a National Park on November 12, 1971. 

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 238 - GIZA, EGYPT

 

“Drowsing, they take the noble attitude of a great sphinx, who, in a desert land, sleeps always, dreaming dreams that have no end.” - Charles Baudelaire

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

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Giza, is the third largest city in Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River, some 20 km southwest of central Cairo. Along with Shubra El-Kheima, Cairo and Helwan, the four cities form the Province of Greater Cairo metropolis. The city’s population was 2,681,863 in the 2006 national census.

Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: The site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples. The plateau and its monuments have been recorded in the Giza Plateau Mapping Project run by Ancient Egypt Research Associates, directed by Dr. Mark Lehner.

Visiting the Giza plateau and seeing the great pyramids, temples and the Sphinx was one of the most memorable of our travel adventures. Crawling inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops and seeing the burial chamber in the heart of the pyramid was an awe-inspiring experience. Looking at the face of the enigmatic Sphinx and stepping on the sand trodden by billions of feet over the centuries, one could experience a tantalising taste of eternity. Egypt is old and hides in its sands thousands of undiscovered secrets. The wind blows and as it soughs against the stones of ancient temples it is as though it whispers the answers to age-old riddles – although they are spoken in forgotten tongues…

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 237 - BURANO, ITALY

 

“The Creator made Italy from designs by Michelangelo.” – Mark Twain

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

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Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy; like Venice itself, it could more correctly be called an archipelago of four islands linked by bridges. It is situated near Torcello at the northern end of the Lagoon, and is widely known for its fine lace work, which is very expensive because it is extremely time-consuming to make.

Burano is also known for its small, brightly painted houses, which are popular with photographers and artists. The colours of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of its development. If someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the local government authority, which will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot.

Other attractions include the Church of San Martino, with a leaning campanile and a painting by Giambattista Tiepolo (Crufixion, 1727), the Oratorio di Santa Barbara and the Museum and School of Lacemaking.

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CORONAVIRUS DIARIES IX

 

“If you don’t know how to die, don’t worry; Nature will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and adequately. She will do this job perfectly for you; don’t bother your head about it.” – Montaigne

The Coronavirus Verses

“Stop!” He said, “I’ve come to tell you
To prepare yourself for the journey
That you shall make but once.
Leave all behind,
And naked as you came into this world,
So shall you leave it.” 

“I am not ready yet…” She answered,
Come back in a little while,
For I still have much to do,
I need more time.” 

“No, your time is up,
Your last journey must start now.” 

“Come then and take me now
For I have grown tired of this life;
The world that beckons from the great beyond
Is much more attractive,
More amenable to my weary soul,
Which yearns for respite.

This illness a God-sent gift
For those like me who crave eternal rest.
Make my demise swift and easy,
Snuff out my breath
As if it were a candle flame.” 

“I am the messenger, so blame me not,
I come to grant you forgetfulness,
Peace, silence, sleep everlasting.
The black Angel follows in my footsteps,
He’ll be the one to carry you off.” 

“I welcome him, my friend,
And as I gaze into your awful face,
And as your frightful eyes bore into mine,
I am not afraid.

The day is nigh that I shall fall into
Your Master’s icy cold embrace,
Praying that my demise is a gentle slumber
Devoid of dreams,
My rest eternal.”

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

TRAVEL TUESDAY 236 - FRASER ISLAND, AUSTRALIA

“I feel we are all islands - in a common sea.” - Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

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Fraser Island (K'Gari, Gari) is a heritage-listed island located along the southeastern coast of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 250 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane. Known as Fraser Island, it is a locality within the Fraser Coast local government in the Wide Bay–Burnett region.

Together with some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, Fraser Island forms the County of Fraser, which is subdivided into six parishes. Among the islands are Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, and the Reef Islands, all part of the southernmost parish of Talboor.

Its length is about 120 kilometres and its width is approximately 24 kilometres. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 km2. It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the East Coast of Australia. It was formerly the homeland of the Butchulla tribe.

The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 235 - THE GRAMPIANS, AUSTRALIA

 

“I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror – The wide brown land for me!” ― Dorothea Mackellar

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

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Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately. 

The Grampians National Park (also known by its Aboriginal name: Gariwerd), commonly referred to as The Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The 167,219-hectare (413,210-acre) national park is situated between Stawell and Horsham on the Western Highway and Dunkeld on the Glenelg Highway, 260 kilometres west of Melbourne and 460 kilometres east of Adelaide. Proclaimed as a national park on 1 July 1984, the park was listed on the Australian National Heritage List on 15 December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty and being one of the richest indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia. The Grampians feature a striking series of sandstone mountain ranges.

Gariwerd and the Grampians National Park has been a popular destination for recreation and tourism since the middle of the nineteenth century. The extension of railways to nearby Stawell, Ararat and Dunkeld were an important factor in the mountains' increasing popularity in the early twentieth century; growing car ownership and the construction of tourist roads in the ranges during the 1920s were also significant. The Grampians is a famous rock climbing destination, with the first routes being established in the 1960s. Notable routes include The Wheel of Life (V15 / 35) and Groove Train which attract world class climbers.

To the Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung peoples, Gariwerd was central to the dreaming of the creator, Bunjil, and buledji Brambimbula, the two brothers Bram, who were responsible for the creation and naming of many landscape features in western Victoria. Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) is one of the richest Indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia and was listed on the National Heritage for its natural beauty and its past and continuing Aboriginal cultural associations. Motifs painted in numerous caves include depictions of humans, human hands, animal tracks and birds. The rock art was created by Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung peoples, and while Aboriginal communities continue to pass on knowledge and cultural traditions, much indigenous knowledge has also been lost since European settlement of the area from 1840. The significance of the human handprints  at Gulgurn Manja is now unknown. 

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 234 - LIÈGE, BELGIUM

 

“Maybe from the outside, Belgium looks complicated to understand, but from the inside, actually, every country is complicated.” - Vincent Kompany

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately. 

Liège (Walloon: Lidje; Dutch: Luik, German: Lüttich), is a major Walloon city and municipality and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, in the east of Belgium, not far from borders with the Netherlands (Maastricht is about 33 km to the north) and with Germany (Aachen is about 53 km north-east).

At Liège the Meuse river meets the river Ourthe. The city is part of the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia. It still is the principal economic and cultural centre of the region. The Liège municipality (i.e. the city proper) includes the former communes of Angleur, Bressoux, Chênée, Glain, Grivegnée, Jupille-sur-Meuse, Rocourt, and Wandre.

In November 2012, Liège had 198,280 inhabitants. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,879 km2 and had a total population of 749,110 on 1 January 2008. This includes a total of 52 municipalities, among others, Herstal and Seraing. Liège ranks as the third most populous urban area in Belgium, after Brussels and Antwerp, and the fourth municipality after Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 233 - CORONAVIRUS DIARIES VIII - AT HOME

 

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” - RobertFrost 

Here we all are, cooped up indoors, observing the isolation and social distancing guidelines. We are all protecting ourselves from the invisible enemy, hoping thus to win the battle against the dreaded Coronavirus. Suddenly, many things we all took for granted have been wrested from us – but then again, most of us did not put up much resistance and willingly let go: Any sane, logical, thinking and educated person gave up those things willingly. We stayed home and protected ourselves but also our friends, our neighbours, our workmates, the strangers that we encountered every day, our whole community.

We gave up our visits to concerts, sporting events, the hairdresser, the pub, friends’ houses. We stopped going to the beaches, the picnic grounds, the malls, the cafés, the restaurants. Seeing relatives in distant suburbs or other towns was not an option any longer, visiting the elderly in nursing homes and hospitals was forbidden. Schools and churches closed, and numerous restrictions were placed on a number of social gatherings, including funerals, weddings and other celebratory events. Anything “non-essential” was postponed or cancelled.

Moreover, travel for pleasure is completely out of the question. Airports are no-go zones, railway stations for interstate or international travel are all but closed, while ships have been shunned, cruising for pleasure being unthinkable given the extremely high number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 on board. Thus, all of us who relish travel and jump at the opportunity to pack suitcases and fly off at every opportunity remain grounded, our wanderlust frustrated…

Home suddenly has become more than simply the place we come to in the evening and spend some time at, before we venture out into the wide world again the next morning. Home is the place that we live in all the time, really live in, all of the sudden. The place where we eat, sleep, interact with family/housemates, where we amuse ourselves, where we must do things that we used to do elsewhere. Some of us cope better than others with this housebound existence. Some of us worked at home even before this crisis. Some of us are homebodies in any case. But those who lived out there for work, for pleasure, for socialisation, for meals are suddenly thrown into the deep end of the “home” and it is no wonder that they are disgruntled, bored, angry, stir-crazy.

Yet, we must be grateful for having that home to take refuge in. Think of the thousands of homeless people who must weather the pandemic any way they can. How many of those unfortunates will succumb to the virus? Think of the refugees, the institutionalised, the transients, the prisoners, the elderly confined in aged care facilities. All of those who are sitting ducks, extremely susceptible to becoming infected and possibly dying of COVID-related illnesses. Home is becoming a very attractive place even for those who spent precious little time in it under normal circumstances.

I, as a person who has travelled a lot, as an inveterate traveller if you like, am also a bit of a homebody. I enjoy being at home and never get bored here, my varied interests, multitudinous hobbies, countless projects and numerous pastimes fill every available slot of my time. Even when I travelled constantly in the past, every time I came back home, a surge of bliss filled my being. “Home, sweet, home” was all I could think of, never mind how exotic the place that I had just visited was, no matter how good a time I had had, no matter what interesting things I had seen, great people that I met, or marvellous experiences that I had had.

Now, at home, I am enjoying my “confinement”. Enjoy yours, take it as a holiday. Do things at home that you would do while travelling: Dress for dinner, organise special activities, surprise yourself and others. Become an armchair traveller in your own living room: Watch travel documentaries, see your old travel photo albums again, watch your travel videos, reminisce on good times you had while away with your family, housemates. And of course, visit the links below where fellow travellers drag their old snapshots from the archives to kindly share with us…

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