This week I'm in Sydney, Australia having a break from travelling for work by travelling for pleasure. After a long flight from Newcastle via Amsterdam and Abu Dhabi I arrived at Sydney. KLM and Emirates are both splendid airlines and Schiphol is a smashing airport even if it is undergoing some refurb work at the moment.
Anyway, arrived in Sydney and took the train to Central and the light rail to my apartment hotel in Darling Harbour. If you are ever travelling around Sydney I wholeheartedly recommend you obtain an Opal card for travel on trains, light rail, buses and ferries. It's by far the most convenient way to pay for journeys.
The apartment at the hotel is splendid, with all the amenities you could wish for, including a washing machine and drier.
Anyway, I've now been here one full day and have only mooched around the Darling Harbour area, which is pretty neat. Saturday night there was a short firework display for some unknown reason, but it was very good especially viewed from the 9th floor where I am situated. Tomorrow (Sunday) I think I'll mooch round here some more then branch out a bit from Monday onwards.
So apart from saying that Sydney is a splendid city and that I could comfortably live here I'll stop for now.
More reports to come.
Saturday, 4 April 2015
Saturday, 14 March 2015
At the beach.
I'm in my usual spot at Alnmouth Beach watching the waves roll in and the dog walkers walk dogs gearing myself up for another fun week in Sunny Stratford, East London.
It is a splendid place to relax after a busy week away.
I'm writing this post on my Chromebook connected to the internet via a rather nifty piece of kit which allows me to use mobile broadband pretty much anywhere there is a half decent signal. The wonders of technology.
Last week was spent working in Birmingham and Manchester which was fun, especially as, for the first time in my life I was importuned by a lady of the night whilst standing outside my hotel in Birmingham. Sadly I had to decline her kind offer because I realised that I couldn't claim her charges back on expenses. Another opportunity for a life experience lost, never mind, it is probably best that I did turn her down.
I love the travel aspect of my job even though it's tiring and sitting on trains does my back in. It's great to visit different places, meet new people and make new friends. I will never understand people who don't enjoy travel, it's their choice in most cases I guess so I shouldn't criticise them for it. It's just that the whole idea of sitting in one place and never going anywhere is alien to me. Says the man who sits for hours in the same spot every Saturday!
I'm looking forward to the clocks going forward in a couple of weeks, I love the long hours of daylight, Winter drags me down sometimes so it's always good to see Spring arrive. The only down side is that the parking charges at the beach start as well so my relaxing mornings will cost £1.50 a shot until October. A cheaper way to relax than my friend in Birmingham though.
Anyway, I'll stop now so ttfn.
Peace and Love x
It is a splendid place to relax after a busy week away.
I'm writing this post on my Chromebook connected to the internet via a rather nifty piece of kit which allows me to use mobile broadband pretty much anywhere there is a half decent signal. The wonders of technology.
Last week was spent working in Birmingham and Manchester which was fun, especially as, for the first time in my life I was importuned by a lady of the night whilst standing outside my hotel in Birmingham. Sadly I had to decline her kind offer because I realised that I couldn't claim her charges back on expenses. Another opportunity for a life experience lost, never mind, it is probably best that I did turn her down.
I love the travel aspect of my job even though it's tiring and sitting on trains does my back in. It's great to visit different places, meet new people and make new friends. I will never understand people who don't enjoy travel, it's their choice in most cases I guess so I shouldn't criticise them for it. It's just that the whole idea of sitting in one place and never going anywhere is alien to me. Says the man who sits for hours in the same spot every Saturday!
I'm looking forward to the clocks going forward in a couple of weeks, I love the long hours of daylight, Winter drags me down sometimes so it's always good to see Spring arrive. The only down side is that the parking charges at the beach start as well so my relaxing mornings will cost £1.50 a shot until October. A cheaper way to relax than my friend in Birmingham though.
Anyway, I'll stop now so ttfn.
Peace and Love x
Sunday, 8 March 2015
Catch-up time
It's been a while since I posted anything but poems on here so I thought I'd jot down a few ramblings on this quiet Sunday evening.
I've been travelling a lot for work lately which is why I've not posted much. When you are sitting on trains or standing in a classroom delivering the same training events over and over the muse tends to take something of a back seat although my habit of sitting at Alnmouth Beach on a Saturday morning has given rise to some ideas. I also met up with a pal in Glasgow last week who helped give the old creative juices a bit of pump-priming so maybe a few more verses will be inflicted upon my unsuspecting reader before too long.
As to The Tale, poor Bob and Helen West are still sitting forlornly on their farm with their new baby awaiting instructions from me as to where they should go next. I really must knuckle down and get them moving, perhaps this week in my hotel I will look them up and give some thought as to where they are going to go next. Probably Arizona or California but we'll have to see.
Anyway, apart from work travel and the 50 yard stroll to the club I haven't been up to much since I came back from my Christmas trip to Vegas. Speaking of Vegas, I read that the Riviera is going to torn down to make room for the expansion of the convention centre. That's a shame, I loved the old place. Still if I'm ever lucky enough to go back I'm sure there are plenty of other casinos happy to take my money.
Maybe once I retire and firm up my plan to stay in the US for part of each year I'll go back, Trouble is I also want to revisit Washington DC, Columbia SC, Black Hawk CO, Yuma, Palm Springs, Long Beach and Philadelphia (philly cheese steak, yum!) to name but a few of the places I liked when I was still travelling with the former Mrs H. Perhaps I'll hire a Winnebago and do a grand tour, ending up in Vegas. That would be fun, all I'll need is a co-driver and look out America.
Moving on, the clocks go forward in a couple of weeks or so and the light nights will be upon us, that always helps with my mood (although the happy pills also help) so I'm likely to be able to get some writing done. Having said that, the allotment will need some work soon as well so maybe the writing will have to wait, we'll see. It's strange though I seem to be more productive on the writing front when my mood is low. What I need to be able to do is be as productive when I'm not down as when I am. That's something to work on I guess.
It's time to stop rambling now so ttfn. Love and Peace. x
I've been travelling a lot for work lately which is why I've not posted much. When you are sitting on trains or standing in a classroom delivering the same training events over and over the muse tends to take something of a back seat although my habit of sitting at Alnmouth Beach on a Saturday morning has given rise to some ideas. I also met up with a pal in Glasgow last week who helped give the old creative juices a bit of pump-priming so maybe a few more verses will be inflicted upon my unsuspecting reader before too long.
As to The Tale, poor Bob and Helen West are still sitting forlornly on their farm with their new baby awaiting instructions from me as to where they should go next. I really must knuckle down and get them moving, perhaps this week in my hotel I will look them up and give some thought as to where they are going to go next. Probably Arizona or California but we'll have to see.
Anyway, apart from work travel and the 50 yard stroll to the club I haven't been up to much since I came back from my Christmas trip to Vegas. Speaking of Vegas, I read that the Riviera is going to torn down to make room for the expansion of the convention centre. That's a shame, I loved the old place. Still if I'm ever lucky enough to go back I'm sure there are plenty of other casinos happy to take my money.
Maybe once I retire and firm up my plan to stay in the US for part of each year I'll go back, Trouble is I also want to revisit Washington DC, Columbia SC, Black Hawk CO, Yuma, Palm Springs, Long Beach and Philadelphia (philly cheese steak, yum!) to name but a few of the places I liked when I was still travelling with the former Mrs H. Perhaps I'll hire a Winnebago and do a grand tour, ending up in Vegas. That would be fun, all I'll need is a co-driver and look out America.
Moving on, the clocks go forward in a couple of weeks or so and the light nights will be upon us, that always helps with my mood (although the happy pills also help) so I'm likely to be able to get some writing done. Having said that, the allotment will need some work soon as well so maybe the writing will have to wait, we'll see. It's strange though I seem to be more productive on the writing front when my mood is low. What I need to be able to do is be as productive when I'm not down as when I am. That's something to work on I guess.
It's time to stop rambling now so ttfn. Love and Peace. x
Friday, 20 February 2015
The river
The river- 20 Feb 2015
The river has moved
The mouth has shifted
A huge bend
The water blocked by sand
Forms a questionmark
Where do I go now?
The girl in the yellow jacket
The girl in the yellow jacket-20 Feb 2015
She stands with friends on the beach
Sand blasted, looking lost
Or if not lost, bemused
I wonder why she
The girl in the yellow jacket
Stands with friends
Yet seems alone
Saturday, 24 January 2015
The Train
The Train
The train fills up
And off she goes
People sitting
On their way
To places
Near and far
Then she arrives
People standing
Collecting possessions
The train empties
The train fills up
And off she goes
Again.
Isn't life a funny thing?
Having been born, something none of us has any control over life seems to hinge on a series of pivot points (or forks in the road if you want to look at it that way). At these points decisions are made either by or for us which send each of us into situations which need to be enjoyed or endured until the next pivot is reached.
Looking back over the last 56 years I have identified a number of times where life has moved me onto a route down which I've sauntered, trudged, danced or struggled.
1. Failing my 11+ (look it up)
2. Going straight into work and not to uni.
3. Moving to Southend
4. Meeting and marrying wife number 1
5. Divorce from said spouse
6. Returning to the North East
7. Moving back to my home village
8. Meeting and marrying wife number 2
9. Divorce from wife number 2
10. Leaving my home village and moving to my current location.
So there you have it, 10 main events off the top of my head which have lead me to the point I'm at now. Had any one of these events not happened or had happened differently I'd probably not be sitting where I am now writing this.
Isn't life a funny thing? Peace and Love, ttfn. x
Looking back over the last 56 years I have identified a number of times where life has moved me onto a route down which I've sauntered, trudged, danced or struggled.
1. Failing my 11+ (look it up)
2. Going straight into work and not to uni.
3. Moving to Southend
4. Meeting and marrying wife number 1
5. Divorce from said spouse
6. Returning to the North East
7. Moving back to my home village
8. Meeting and marrying wife number 2
9. Divorce from wife number 2
10. Leaving my home village and moving to my current location.
So there you have it, 10 main events off the top of my head which have lead me to the point I'm at now. Had any one of these events not happened or had happened differently I'd probably not be sitting where I am now writing this.
Isn't life a funny thing? Peace and Love, ttfn. x
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