The purity of winter

There is something almost poetically pure about the crispness of a winters morning. Perhaps it's the lack of foliage on tree's that strips nature bare, leaving nothing to be hidden. Or is it the stillness and ensuing fog that evokes a sense of calm amidst the din of a major city? Whatever it is there are very few more beautiful and simplistic ways to start the day than a brisk walk in December through the parklands of London.

River Thames shrouded in mist

Richmond Bridge over the River Thames

The morning chore of walking the dog goes on regardless of the weather

The sun begins its short journey for the day

And on the 7th day...

as the great man sat there admiring his work of the previous 6 days with a take away Thai meal on is lap and a DVD titled ''Geelong Cats greatest AFL highlights'' on his TV he would have thought to himself..

'' What can I create to drink that would compliment this meal perfectly. Something that will go down in the history books as a truly great bottle of plonk ?''

Thus into creation was born

aka - Mothers Milk

You know you are back in Australia when....

you see an originally named bottle of wine with endearing subtitle like this

The road signs read like this

There is unique fare on the restaurant menu

Birds like this land on your balcony

and birds like this squawk at you from atop an eucalypt branch

There are signs like this in the local park

and the local flora is originally named..in this instance..''Bottle Brush''


God bless Australia. You have to love it. There isn't another place like it on the planet.

A penny for their thoughts

Cat - ''Just wait until they go out for dinner tonight..then you are allll mine

Fish - Where the F**K is the emergency exit ?!!??

Snaps - part II

Sunset behind a Boab Tree (90% water) - Botswana

An old man takes his rest- Moremi National Park Botswana

Water heavy elephant staggers from her fill - Chobe National Park Botswana

Who can walk on water? Xkaxnaka Park Botswana

Nice neck

The balance of force and finesse

Hippo's in synchro - Chobe National Park Botswana

Two good reasons to be proud

Water buck - Okavanga Delta Swamp - Botswana

Red eye duck - Okavanga delta Swamp

Eyebrow in need of a pluck? Chobe National Park - Botswana

Mt Kilimanjaro- Tanzania (still 3 days walk to the base)

Day 3 camp sunrise en route to Mt Kilimanjaro

View from atop the crater of Mt Kilimanjaro (those huts are a 3.5 hour walk DOWNHILL)

Dhow boatman- Zanzibar Island off east coast of Tanzania

Clam Farm - Zanzibar

Polish for ''junction box'' is...

''Junction box''

The scene - Local DIY shop today

Characters -

#1 = Polish carpenter doing local rennovation job seeking electrical gear at local DIY shop

#2 = Polish shop owner running successful business selling overpriced DIY products to house husbands trying to prove their masterfulness in all aspects of DIY to doubting wives who wonder they haven't just paid up to have a Polish carpenter do the work.

..........

#1  '' Snezky qwazy quintachoy miverk laksa junction box twerzy wzxky linkzwrksy ?

# 2 '' Ya. Das isky werskzk junction box weswwkzy winky ''

# 1 '' Chinquoya ''

# 2 '' Da. £4.99 chaskevsky''


That aside I was in Bologna this last weekend. Home to the oldest University in the world and also regarded as the gastronomic centre of Italy. If you want fresh food of any variety then Bologna is your place to be. Oh. It's also the home of the world renowned Ducati motorbike factory.

With over 40km (32miles) of archway covered porticos it is truly a beautiful city. Made more so because it is in Italy.

Clever brothers the Ducati boys....This plus

This...

Equals this...Ducati numero Uno

And then finally this

What else would you expect to see in the factory car park?

Who needs an umbrella with 40km of this?

A foodies heaven....vegetarians need not apply

Bologna skyline

From atop the tower

Cheese anyone?

Addiction to food starts young

Snaps......

I was looking through a few snaps I have taken of late and felt compelled to share them. If only to show what a wonderful world we have out there.

A wintry shot of a tree in Hampstead Heath in Central London

An iconic view

Charles Bridge - Prague

Camel face - Western Sahara desert- Morocco

Camel trek sand reflections

Grand Canal - Venice

Goanna and azure blue sky - Australia

Morocco medina

Isolation - Western Sahara

Glassworks - Kew Gardens - London

Atoll - Tonga - South Pacific

Snowgum trees - Snowy Mountains - Australia

Heli skiing - Bugaboos - Canadian rockies

Desperate lonely tree - Atacama desert - Chile. The driest place on earth beating even the Arctic and Antarctica.

Deserted road - Atacama desert - Chile

Igazu waterfall (1 of 30) - Northern Argentina. If you only see one waterfall in your life this has to be it. An amazing place and a definite must if you are ever in Sth America.

Iceberg- Lago Grey - Patagonia -Southern Chile

Igazu waterfalls

Lago Grey

Igazu

Igazu

Lago Grey from a misty hike

El Capitan - Torres De Paine National Park - Patagonia - Chile

Beached fishing trawlers - Punta Arenas - Chile

A widow sits in the front of the wall of rememberance in Santiago, Chile. A wall constructed to commemerate  all the  people who went ''missing'' during the reign of Pinochet. She lost her husband and 3 sons.