It's been both an interesting and challenging task to keep a 365 day pictorial diary of the year. Remembering to take a photo a day is challenging enough. Never mind trying to make it half interesting which I am sure I failed to do so on numerous occasions.
Nonetheless it has been an education for me and I hope the same for any of the readers of this blog out there.
Highlights of the year have been many but undoubtedly the travel I have done ranks the highest. Skiing in the French Alps in January, travelling across northern France and through the champagne district to Germany in March, a week at 'home' in Australia (Darwin) in April, Rome and Madrid in May, Bilbao (Spain) in June, Puglia in Southern Italy in July, Japan in October, Germany in December, and the countless weekends away in England and Wales.
If I had to pick a top 3. It would undoubtedly be Japan at the top. An extraordinary country that is uniquely unique. The people, the culture, the food, the sights, the efficiency of the nation all combine to wow you. Coming in second would be Bilbao in the far north of Spain. If only for the Guggenheim Museum. It must surely be one of the 7 architectual wonders of the world. Simlpy awe inspiring and a builidng that needs a day devoted to it in order to do it justice. Never mind the equisite food of the Bilbao-San Sebastian region of Spain. 3rd would be the visit to the Northern Terrirtory of Australia and Darwin. The vastness of the Australian outback has to be experienced to be believed. There can't be too many country's in the world where you see a highway sign displaying the distance to the next major city and it reads over 2,000 km (1,200 miles). The aroma of the Australian flora and desert dust and the quietness of the isolation experienced in the Australian Outback is simply unique.
Favourite city has always been and still is Rome. Nowhere I have been to yet comes close.
On the bucket list for 2013 is Iceland, Norway, Istanbul, Namibia and the gorilla's of Rwanda.
I will continue to post photo's on an ad hoc basis, and more often when I travel for I feel travel in itself is the best education a person can receive. It teaches you not only much about the world but even more about yourself. My goal is also to add more colour to the photo's I post with longer comments and thoughts on the world and its happenings.
So be sure to pop into the blog from time and hopefully enjoy the sights of the world as much as I do.
N
p.s. Most photographed scene in 2012 ? Undoubtedly St Paul's Cathedral. I work a mere 200 metres from one of the most stunning buildings in the world and it never ceases to inspire me as I pass its back doors en route to work every day. It manages to encapsulate everything that is good, grand and great about this magnificent city called London.
