My Goodness!

Oh goodness, gracious me! It has been six years since I last posted on this blog. I didn't realise the time it's been six years - I can hardly believe it has been so long since I wrote on this, my first ever blog. I had the bright idea of this being my blog where I would detail my trips and holidays but somehow it didn't seem to work out that way.

Enough! This is the last post on this format. I am going to change the whaddyacallit? The um... the.. the outlook, the view, what you see when you look at this blog. GEeze Louise, I can't even remember the word. The I'll have to go and look it up. Hold on ..... the template! This is the old Minima stretch template which is wider but it has long past its use by date and so I will choose one of the new ones.

See you all on the new template.
TTFN.

Getting My Act Together

This post is more like putting my thoughts on paper so to speak (or in this case typed in a post). When I created my first blog (Melbourne Daily Photo) it was to have a blog like others I'd seen and do one on Melbourne. About the same time I thought I'd love to do one about my travels, hence "The Travelling Teapot" was born. Originally I was going to document my trips and travels and I started off with my Alice Springs trip, didn't finish it, then started on my time in the Top End (Darwin and surrounding areas). Then it sort of became blogged down (no pun intended) and I didn't post here for ages.

I had this bright idea of starting a blog about a trip to Queensland, then one to New Zealand, then came the one on Malaysia and Cambodia. And now I have one about my next trip which is in February 2011. Somewhere along the way I seem to have lost the focus of what this blog was all about. I have all these blogs floating around and haven't finished one of them. A little like the jack of all trades but master of none.

So, what to do? Some travel blogs have a photo of a different place they've been and each post is separate from the other. I realised I had fallen into that mode with the last four or five posts. But is that really how I want this blog to be? Is this what I really intended at the beginning? I don't think it was and now I have to stop, take a step back and have a good long look at it, which I've done.

And so.....I have to finish what I started - that is go back to the beginning and finish writing about the Alice Springs and Red Centre, then, and only then, move onto Darwin and continue with that one, instead of posting random photos here and there. And so....the next post will be a continuation of Alice Springs.

No Digital Camera
I didn't have a digital camera until September 2006 and so all the photos of my previous travel were taken with an Instamatic ($29.95 from the local chemist). Taking photos of a photo doesn't give a very good result, but it is very expensive to have them done at a camera shop. (Think hundreds of dollars!) Anyway, that's about it for now folks, and I thank all those who have taken the time to read this.

It'll be back on track now, back to the original idea of this blog. I am also going to add this to the Pages at the top as well. Until then, keep on blogging and enjoy. And remember, old bloggers never die - they just get blogged down in blogland!
Cheers.

 

Buddhist Monk

Monk in deep saffron robe
Photo taken at Preah Promreah Pagoda, built in AD 1371. Deep saffron represents sacrifice and salvation.

Facing The Sea

From the verandah of the E & O Hotel in Georgetown, Penang.

Queenstown Post Office

Post Office
Queenstown is a mining town in the west coast of Tasmania. The Post Office was originally built of timber in 1896. The current Post Office was built in 1902.

Otehei Bay

 

Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island
This lovely bit of Paradise was once home to Zane Grey, a well known American writer and adventurer. Located on Urupukapuka Island, the largest of over 140 islands in the Bay, Otehei Bay is a beautiful beach with grassy picnic areas and the perfect place to enjoy a spot of island life.

Waikato River

The longest river
This beautiful flowing river is the Waikato and is New Zealand's longest. Rising from the slopes of Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro NP as the Tongariro River, it then flows north through Lake Taupo and issues from the lake's north eastern corner, tumbling over the Huka Falls and flowing northwest to enter the Tasman Sea south of Auckland. The Waikato is 425 km long with a gentle gradient and carries a heavy load of ash from the volcanic highlands. The Waikato has formed numerous lakes and lagoons along its lower reaches.

How the river got its name
The name Waikato originated during the voyage of the Tainui canoe, which had journeyed from Polynesia. Arriving just off the mouth of the river, the crew remarked upon the kato (the pull of the river current in the sea) and the name Waikato (wai meaning water) was given to the river.

I took this photo between Rotorua and Taupo in the North Island.

Today's Quote: No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning - Native American proverb.