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Last leg…..Canmore, Calgary and Alaska

/ susiecameron / Leave a comment

We LOVED Canmore! What a great little town, only about 25kms from Banff but a world away in charm and authenticity. A town where regular people lived and the sort of town you absolutely love if you like hiking, cycling, water sports and mountains as you are completely immersed within the Rockies and can literally walk from the centre of town in ten different ways and see AMAZING things without having to travel for hours. The weather was perfect with blue skies and sunshine and serendipitously we arrived on Canada Day- July 1st – which meant the town was shut off from traffic, was totally packed with people on every seat and ledge available, on camp chairs, with picnics and beers and everyone was in such good spirits as we waited for the Grand Parade to begin. I certainly didn’t expect it to be anything out of the box, but I was totally wrong! The brass bands alone were fantastic full of banners and twirling batons and wonderful music. I think everyone in town plus the surrounding areas must play a musical instrument as each of the 4 different bands boasted LOADS of people – really impressive. There were also a few floats with First Nations people singing and dancing which we found really stirring – their music is so evocative. The Canadian Mounties proudly rode through town alongside adventure companies, firemen, ski patrols, mountaineering and hiking companies and just about anyone that had a business in the area, and it was such a fun afternoon. We snagged an outside table at one of the pubs and had a birds eye view of the parade whilst enjoying the local fish and a glass of wine – what’s not to love about Canada Day in Canmore!!!!

We had rented a car and a condo in Canmore for three nights and we very quickly felt at home here. It was a 20 minute walk into town or a 2 minute drive and we also had a fabulous Japanese restaurant just around the corner from our place, so it was very relaxing with plenty of places for the MOTH to watch the soccer after a fun morning of walking or rafting. It was so peaceful walking alongside the river, all you could hear was our footsteps and birds and the gentle lapping of the water, all you could see were mountains and trees and it was perfect!

The only reason we weren’t sad about leaving Canmore was because we were heading to Calgary and the home of our Nephew, Adam, and his wife Carla who we hadn’t seen for about 3 years. They had kindly invited us to stay with them for the week of The Stampede and we were looking forward to some family time! Widely known as the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, the stampede is a BIG DEAL in Calgary. I’ve never seen so many people in cowboy hats and boots! It is essentially an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July and it attracts over a million people per year. Organized by thousands of volunteers and supported by civic leaders, the Calgary Stampede has grown into one of the world’s richest rodeos, one of Canada’s largest festivals, and a significant tourist attraction for the city. The Rodeo and chuckwagon racing events are televised across Canada. Calgary’s national and international identity is tied to the event. It is known as the “Stampede City”, carries the informal nickname of “Cowtown”, and the local Canadian Football League team is called the Stampeders. The city takes on a party atmosphere during Stampede: office buildings and storefronts are painted in cowboy themes, residents don Western gear, and events held across the city include hundreds of pancake breakfasts and barbeques and pop up music events (you guessed it – Country!!)

Adam has worked here for 10 years and his company ATCO has been heavily involved with the Stampede for decades. As a result, we were very lucky to snaffle the equivalent of back stage passes for the rodeo. We were accompanied to the Cowboy side of the action and saw them all getting ready and pumping themselves up ahead of tying themselves onto either a bucking horse or a bull. I was pleased to see they do wear protective neck rolls as after years of working for a chiropractor I was deeply concerned for their spines! There were no horrible incidents for either the riders or the animals while we were there, but they do happen and these young men risk a lot for their moment in the sun. Good money can be made on the rodeo circuit but it can all go wrong in an instant…..In between the rodeos there was chuck wagon racing, bareback racing and a myriad of other horse related activities. It was a really hot day for Calgary and the cold beers were in high demand. Despite the heat I had to try Canada’s national dish – poutine. This is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with hot gravy and is surprisingly delicious despite looking a bit of a soggy mess! Cam in turn was very keen to try the ribs and brisket that you could smell cooking everywhere! After the obligatory sideshow alley and fairground rides we got out of the heat and ventured indoors to the pavilion where we listened to some country singing and drank rose until it was time for the end of day concert and fireworks. We got home tired but happy after experiencing some real cowboy traditions in a city that reveres it.

The owner of Adam’s company is heavily involved in Equestrian sport and we managed to get a peek into this very all consuming sport when Madison took us to her horse lesson and showed us around the stables. The horses were all gorgeous and hers had SO much personality and was very aware that he was the centre of attention! Adam then took us to Spruce Meadows – another ATCO association and home to a 500 acre equestrian show jumping complex. It also houses a 6000 seat stadium which is home to the Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League, The day we were there we watched a very entertaining show jumping Derby and a sheepdog exhibition as well as enjoying delicious oysters at the beautiful Foxtrot restaurant which overlooked the showjumping course – so different and I really loved it. Our last night took the family to Caeser’s restaurant where we had a fabulous farewell meal with the steak chef cooking over a huge cauldron! Such a lovely week catching up with them and reconnecting with the kids. Hope to see them all in Oz at some stage soonish…..

Then we were leaving Canada and were off to Alaska and the last part of our adventure. Things didn’t begin well however. When we were checking in online for our flight we had to provide our address in America where we would be staying so I looked it up online to get the hotel’s address. In big red letters it said “THIS HOTEL IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED” which did not make me feel good. I double checked my booking.com app which still said that my booking was confirmed so Carla and I did a bit of research and found out that it was indeed shut and had been since February! People were turning up with their luggage to find a building site! We tried to phone with no luck so I decided to cancel my booking with booking.com before the money was taken from my credit card. As it was 24 hours before the booking I was told that the entire amount would be taken anyway! I told them the hotel didn’t exist but they merely said they would ask the hotel if they would waive my cancellation fee, I said there is no one there to ask but there was no response! In the meantime we had to find somewhere in Anchorage to stay for 5 nights in peak summer (which only goes for about 6 weeks) when the town is heaving with fishermen and cruise passengers. It ended up being VERY expensive and not downtown where the action was. A nice bland functional suite hotel in mid town was where we landed but I was pleased we had a kitchen at least for my cups of tea (let’s face it you can’t drink coffee in America) and popped next door to Walmart (which was ginormous) to stock up on tea and milk etc. As I returned I asked the girl at reception for a kettle, she looked at me blankly and asked “what is a kettle?” and had to summon her manager. He informed me they had none so I ended up boiling water in a saucepan!!! Crazy at the price they were charging per night! Cammo improved his skillset by learning to make waffles for breakfast so not all was lost!

The one REALLY good thing about where we were staying was the proximity to a fabulous institution – The Moose’s Tooth – a super popular pizza restaurant with its own brewery. It was warm, full of people all chatting and enjoying themselves and when we finally got a seat at the bar we had the BEST pizza I’ve had in a long long time! It was love at first sight for us and they liked our weird accents and friendly nature as we got to know everyone at the bar – commercial pilots, a cruise ship entertainer, a prosthetic salesman and a couple of girls from a town of 60 about a 1.5 hour drive away! If you only had to have ONE restaurant near you this was the one to have! We ended up here 3/5 nights!!!

We landed on a 20 degree day which according to the locals was ‘sweltering’ and we made the most of it by going downtown and catching a trolley tour of Anchorage. Your ticket got you a free drink at the Reindeer Sausage Stand so needless to say my intrepid travel partner had to give it a go! We had a lovely tour of the area in the sunshine which was good because it rained for the next few days! Anchorage is home to the busiest seaplane base – Lake Hood – in the world, handling an average of 190 flights per day! In the winter when the lake freezes over it is still used for ski-equipped planes!

Our main reason for coming to Alaska was to mush the huskies up on the glacier. We had bought our tickets from Australia and booked it for Day 2 in Anchorage to allow time if inclement weather meant postponing it. The day dawned cloudy but fine and we booked a driver to take us the hour to the helicopter base where he would wait while we did our thing and then drop us home. We were all getting into our snowshoes when the staff gathered us around to say unfortunately the wind had come up to a dangerous level and we wouldn’t be able to access the dog camp which was at 5000 feet. The last flight had nearly tipped the helicopter tail rotor in the strong wind and they were closing it for the day. We were gutted as we had been so looking forward to it, but safety has to come first of course. We were offered the choice of a reimbursement, a postponement or an alternative flight over the glacier. As there was no guarantee that the weather would be good on the alternative date and we were already there, we decided to go with the option of The Grand Tour which was made up of three different landings around the glacier and the pilot’s personal favourite as you could pick and choose where to go according to the weather and visibility etc. We were not disappointed! From the minute we took off it was magic, rising up over the landscape below I felt like a bird soaring in the sky. Our pilot Gavin was awesome, he told us a few things but also let us just take it all in. Gentle classical music was piped through our earphones and as we turned the corner and the ice and snow came into view I had to pinch myself. He landed on a flower strewn bank adjacent to free flowing boulders of ice floating in the glacial meltwater. Nature is amazing – the way that land completely encased in ice for 3/4 of the year can give way to a carpet of beautiful flowers given some light and warmth makes me feel that all will be well with the world despite what mankind is managing to screw up.

What looked like a flat surface from above was in reality a very jagged and dangerous terrain. The deep blue crevasses and sharp peaks would be extremely hard to traverse and would take hours to go a very short distance. As the ice travels down the glacier it picks up various minerals and rocks giving it some grey and black tones as well as the blue for which they are famous. Its like a giant abstract painting! Gavin expertly landed on a flattish piece of ice on the glacier as he had spied something from above. It turned out to be a rope bundle that must have dropped from a chopper. After attaching some chains to our shoes, we could get out and walk about without fear of slipping and it was fascinating how diverse the terrain was even within a 50 meter span. Apparently there is a tour where you can kayak here at the right time of year which I think would be totally amazing! We stopped here for about 10 minutes and when we got back in to the chopper and tried to take off the Helicopter landing skids were stuck to the ice! He had to gently wiggle the chopper back and forth until it dislodged and we were off!

He asked if there was anything we would particularly like to see and the MOTH mentioned that we hadn’t seen any moose so far on our trip and Gavin smiled – he had seen a small group that morning and hoped that they were still in the vicinity. We flew over an ice cave which looked like a welcoming shelter until I thought about the weight of the ice shelf on top of it! A few minutes later we dipped over a river bed and there was our very first Moose! Cam was a very happy chappy and I was thrilled to see these animals doing their thing in their natural habitat. Long may it continue….

You feel simultaneously protected and exposed when you are in the front of a helicopter with a glass front. Thanks to Gavins skill as a pilot I felt totally safe but when we landed and watched another helicopter take off, I realised how tiny we were in the scheme ‘of things. This chopper looked like a tiny mosquito within seconds of flying off!!!

Our day had been SO GOOD that in the end we were only mildy sad about not seeing the dogs. We had maximised our options considering the conditions and that was all we could do. The dogs remain on our to do list but most probably in another country now! Back in the car to Anchorage and our day was topped off when we passed a Mummy Moose and her newborn calf right on the side of the road – very special. All in all our day was one of our all time BEST days….

The next day dawned cold and wet and our plans to rent some bikes and cycle the coastal path were cancelled. Luckily Anchorage has a very good Museum which made for a perfect rainy day activity. The most fascinating section was the Arctic Studies Centre which showcased how the first nations people lived and survived on the land here. A mixture of videos where people spoke about how they lived, what they ate and their culture and some exhibitions of the clothes they made and wore and hunting tools etc made for a really good overall look at their life before “civilisation” arrived. Not one part of any animal that they killed went to waste. They ate the meat and the skins/fur were used for clothing along with some particularly creative uses of seal stomach linings and their esophagus!!! The boots seen here were actually made from the throat of a seal and the parka type coat was made from the stomach lining which was weathered outside over winter to go leathery. Then they used grasses to stuff in between the layers they created by stitching panels into the coat – totally ingenious!

There was a substantial modern art exhibition which I enjoyed and they also have The Thomas Planetarium, an immersive space about the wonders of the cosmos which Cam particularly enjoyed. We really are little specs in the scheme of things aren’t we!

All that culture made us hungry and on the recommendation of a local guy we discovered the joys of the Alaskan Burger & Brew. One of the best burgers of the trip despite a few stuffed creatures staring down at us! I must say I love the little baskets of condiments you find in every cafe or restaurant here. Mayo, mustard – at least 2 types – ketchup, chilli sauce, tabasco, salt and pepper. Makes our Aussie offering of a solitary S&P look a bit sad!

Before we knew it our last day arrived and it was time for our mammoth 43 hour journey home. Anchorage – San Francisco – Hong Kong – Sydney with a 5 hour layover in San Fran and 3 hours in HK making up the extra time. In the end it wasn’t too bad, I think we almost ‘out flew’ our time differences as it took so long! In the Anchorage Airport sitting at the bar, eating chowder and watching the last of the World Cup we almost felt like locals as everyone chatted amiably despite our different backgrounds. I must say we met some of the nicest people throughout this trip. It was a pleasant change to be able to speak the same language (almost) and I think both the Canadians and Alaskans have to be some of the friendliest people on the planet! It helps having an obviously different accent as we do not get mistaken for Brits or Yanks and people are always interested to talk to us about Australia. The tipping thing was hard to get used to and we probably underdid it at the beginning as we didn’t really understand what was and wasn’t included but we were fantastic tippers by the end! It was a very different kind of holiday from our usual European sojourn, but we loved every minute of it. Highly recommended.

Back to The Meadow we go……………

Exploring Provence

/ susiecameron / Leave a comment

Our two week immersion in a Provencal village was finally going to come to fruition after talking about it for a few years. We hoped to use some of our French, feel part of the rhythm of a village and see if all the hype about the French way of life was true. Our first port of call on French soil however was Marseille. We decided to stay there for a night as we had previously driven straight through the city to the stadium in the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and had always regretted not spending some time seeing the Old Port. Arriving from cold London to the sunshine of the South of France was delicious and we soon found ourselves in a bustling square at lunchtime – perfect timing! A warm goats cheese salad and a glass of rosé whilst people watching is my idea of heaven and we soon found ourselves feeling very holidayish! An afternoon walk around the marina before the aperitif and we had forgotten all about London and its wonderful history, more than happy to indulge in sitting around eating and drinking instead! As we were in Marseille we sought out a traditional restaurant famous for its bouillabaisse and ordered it despite a humungous price tag. We were intrigued to find out that it is served in 2 courses, first the broth – really delicious and served with little toasts, rouille and cheese – added into the soup for interest and crunch. The 2nd course was the fish that had been cooked in the soup, served simply with potatoes (and the ever-present baguette) All in all quite a bit of theatre but nothing I would necessarily order again!

We had rented a 3 bedroom house in L’isle sur la Sorgue on the edge of the town, literally 200m from the first restaurants and a stones throw from the railway station and the bus stop – we couldn’t have asked for a more convenient location! It was big enough to invite my Mum and Sister to stay for a few days and it had a quirky personality which we loved immediately. Positioned next to one of the towns canals boasting the clearest water you’ve ever seen and with several of the local antique shops within a 2-5 minute walk we were spoilt for places to explore! There were two outdoor seating areas, one on wicker chairs underneath a verdant wisteria and the other out the front boasting a big dining table which was a perfect spot after visiting the markets and coming home laden with paella or rotisserie chicken and vegetables, ready to eat in our own garden together with some chilled wine – heaven! The kitchen was definitely my favourite room though and we started and finished the day there – with cups of tea in the morning and games of cards at night, around a big old wooden table that has probably hosted hundreds of families over the years.

L’isle sur la Sorgue is most famous for its brocante on a Sunday – the biggest outside of Paris apparently and it makes for a very atmospheric Market Day. The whole town is filled with stalls, vibrant with colour of either beautiful summer fruit and vegetables or of the local napery – beautiful tablecloths, napkins and tea towels in the gorgeous colours of Provence – blue, yellow, red and green and if I’d had a bigger suitcase I would have gone a little bit crazy buying them all as they look beautiful in our Australian light as well as in the famous light of Provence that the impressionist painters loved so much!

It is also a treasure trove for antiques enthusiasts with over 300 fascinating vintage, second-hand shops and markets to browse year-round. The lovely old antiques (or bric-a-brac to us) were all beautifully laid out ready to tempt you into parting with your Euros if you were lucky enough to have room in your suitcase! I particularly loved the old china, the Anduze pots and the eclectic paintings and lighting you could sometimes pick up for a bargain price.

Almost a week into our stay the MOTH celebrated his birthday! From an espresso at his favourite morning café to lunch at the very cute Olive and Raisin to dinner at Monsieur Tu he had a fabulous day! Olive and Raisin focuses on soups, tasting boards, tapenades and regional recipes. It’s part delicatessen, part restaurant with a laid-back atmosphere and appealing artisanal vibe. The shop is lined with jars and bottles of freshly made jam, oils, pasta, wines and confectionery. It was a great spot to sit in the sunshine and eat delicious cheese and pâté and enjoy some local wines. We tried sitting outside on the canal but had visions of one or both of us falling in! That night we dined at Monsieur Tu (or Mr T as we liked to call it!) and had the most delicious rabbit dish – we were very happy chappies!

Then it was time for the girls to join us from the UK. As Heathrow is ginormous Mum was whisked to the gate on an assistance vehicle and then again to the front of the queue in Marseille on arrival (Sandy tagging along for the ride!) so they arrived feeling relatively good despite a 4.30am start! So many major airports now demand you walk kilometres to get from A to B so this was a win win – never be afraid to utilise it folks! It was so good to see them and there was plenty of room for us all in the house so it was perfect. We spent the next few days exploring the town, the markets and sitting around outside chatting – LOTS of chatting! With wines and cheeses from the local shops on hand it was lovely to be able to come home and relax in between outings and the days passed in a blur of loveliness! We didn’t feel too sad when we said goodbye as they are coming out to Australia in October to celebrate mum’s 90th so we have plenty to look forward to….

A trip to L’isle-sur-la-Sorgue isn’t complete without a visit to the stunning Notre-Dame-des-Anges Church (Our Lady of the Angels). The Baroque architecture and huge wooden doors of this historic church hide a rich interior filled with magnificent paintings, statues, over 200 angel sculptures and a 15th-century organ, which has been listed as a historic monument. The church was originally built in the 13th century, then, following a collapse, rebuilt during the 1600s and from the outside I had no inkling of what I was to find inside – quite a surprise to say the least! It was situated in our favourite square just opposite The Cafe de France which became our “go to” cafe!

The town is also renowned for its canals and waterways which give it the nickname “Venice of Provence,” as the Sorgue River flows through the town, creating scenic riverfront streets and charming bridges.  Along the river, you can see the remaining wooden waterwheels that were once used to power the town’s textile factories. By the 19th century, there were over 60 waterwheels in operation and they were used for the town’s flourishing paper, silk, wool and dyeing industries. Today, only 17 remain – some of which still squeak and turn with the natural flow of the river. Other waterwheels are completely abandoned, frozen in time, clustered with green moss – but it’s still possible to imagine their role during the buzzing industrial era. Being surrounded by water was really very relaxing and calming and in Provence where things can get very hot and dry these canals give a sense of coolness and a real point of difference to other nearby towns.

We decided not to hire a car while we were here, preferring to be like the locals and use the buses and the trains to get ourselves around. It worked fine for close towns like Avignon and Carpentras but when we researched how to reach some of the hilltop towns it was another story. Trips that would take 30 minutes by car would take 3 hours on the bus as they wind in and out of all the towns and villages en route, making it untenable. We found a one day tour that went to 7 different locations , covering most of the places we had fancied visiting and decided to go for it! Our first stop was Fontaine de Vaucluse, not too far from us which was the source of the river Sorgue. Its fast flowing waters came from a spring very deep in ground (it has been tested down to 1010 feet but its source is still deeper -a bit of a mystery but it is one of the biggest springs in the world with 52000 gallons a second gushing out in Springtime) and became the power source for a paper mill which still exists in a limited form today. The town was also famous for hiding the French Resistance in the war, using the surrounding hilltop caves to their advantage for both shelter and spotting the enemy from afar. It’s hard now trying to imagine those days as it is a very serene and tranquil village.

Our next stop was one of the famous “perched” villages of Provence – Gordes.The medieval village stands resplendent in stone atop a clifftop with unbeatable views across the Luberon. This enchanting village has a long history spanning the Romans to the Middle Ages, and in recent years has become a retreat for artists and writers. Located dramatically on the edge of the Vaucluse plateau in the heart of Provence, Gordes is a medieval hilltop village that looks almost too beautiful to be real — a cascade of honey-coloured limestone tumbling down a rocky hillside, crowned by a Renaissance château and overlooking the vast, lavender-threaded expanse of the Luberon valley below. Sadly we were just a little early for the lavender although the fields we passed were splashed red with wild poppies which were beautiful.

Our next port of call was Rousillon. Ranked among the most beautiful villages in France, this colorful village owes everything to ochre, this natural pigment that tints every facade, every wall, and every alleyway with a palette of colors ranging from pale yellow to the deepest red. Many artists are drawn to the town for it’s unique colour palette and we enjoyed wandering through the winding cobbled streets up to the castle to see the amazing views of the surrounding countryside. Back into the van and we were off to St Remy de Provence. I had been there 30 years ago with my Mum and had very fond memories of our time there, although nothing looked overly familiar this time around! It is a beautiful town known for its rich history. It was founded over 2500 years ago and has connections to both the Greeks and Romans. The town is famous for its charming winding stone streets, vibrant markets, and as the place where Vincent Van Gogh spent time in an asylum, drawing inspiration from its stunning landscapes to produce some of his most famous paintings. We visited a truffle shop while we were here, sampling delicious morsels drizzled with honey and a jar of truffle salt made its way home with me to be enjoyed with scrambled eggs in The Meadow….yum!

Our last village was Les Baux de Provence which is a picturesque hilltop village renowned for its medieval castle, dramatic limestone cliffs and a rich cultural heritage. The stone streets are narrow and winding, the buildings impossibly cute, and the views in every direction are jaw-dropping. And looming above it all is a sprawling, ruined medieval castle that seems to grow straight out of the rock. Each of the villages we visited today had its own unique charm and each of them were carved out of the stone of the local rock, perched on top of a hill – a LOT of hard work back in the pre industrial days to create a town and testament to the perseverance of the local people.

Our final stop wasn’t a village – it was a bridge! Not any old bridge though, it was the magnificent Pont du Gard. Just a few kilometres from Nîmes and Uzès, the Pont du Gard stands as the most impressive testament to Roman engineering in France. This monumental aqueduct, built in the 1st century AD, holds the record for the highest Roman aqueduct bridge in the world at 49 metres high. It was granted UNESCO status in 1985 because of its exceptional preservation and since then the whole area has been made into a park so that no cars have used it since 2000. People now come to witness this HUGE structure up close and personal and be amazed by the fact it was constructed in the FIRST century! Those Romans were sure good at building stuff! Nowadays families come and bring picnics and people canoe down the river under its arches. A school of kids were kayaking there when we visited and it was just wonderful to hear them laughing and enjoying themselves as they passed through history!

So after a full day of exploring we headed home to our lovely little town. After all the wonderfulness we had witnessed today, we were still super happy that it was Isle sur la Sorgue that we were returning to with its friendly residents and easy to love atmosphere. In summary, our French experiment was deemed a success, we had seen firsthand that the French way of life definitely has something special to recommend it. People here make sure they take time out to spend time with friends and family; they eat together, locally and seasonally and they celebrate many public holidays, feast days and religious and agricultural festivals as they have for hundreds of years. Work, although important, is not the Be-all-and-End-all of life here although I can’t imagine a 2 hour lunch break taking off in Australia anytime soon! Thus, our stay in Provence came to an end and we bid farewell to our lovely house and caught a train to Switzerland….

Christmas 2025

/ susiecameron / 4 Comments

What a couple of months we’ve had! It’s been a hugely busy time full of family, friends and fun and lots of comings and goings and making up of beds and it’s been wonderful. We are so grateful that they all still want to come and stay with us and enjoy our Crazy Cameron Christmas!

Tom arrived from London on the evening of 12th December and went straight to Bondi Beach where he had previously lived for many years, to stay with his friend. He woke up to a beautiful sunny weekend and enjoyed breakfast overlooking the beach at North Bondi before having a swim in the ocean (which was the thing he has missed the most living in London) and all seemed well with the world. All that changed 24 hours later on December 14th when a deranged Father and Son opened fire on a family friendly Jewish gathering killing 15 people in the very same spot that he had enjoyed a swim. It all seemed so unreal, so un-Australian and so very sad and was a sharp reminder that anything can happen anywhere in these times of distorted religious doctrines and unstemmed hatred. It all unfolded a mere 10 days before Christmas and suddenly all the gifts and decorations and merriment seemed so very shallow and meaningless. Over the next week we saw a huge outpouring of support for the Jewish community who lost so much and an equal outpouring of love for Bondi Beach, a place where so many come to relax and enjoy our Australian way of life. In the only way we knew how, various communities came to express their sorrow and to refuse to be scared by terrorists. Running clubs came and ran the beach, surfers gathered and paddled out in their hundreds to honour the dead and our surf lifesavers who were so very present and involved during the attack that took place right outside their surf club, linked arms and silently looked out to sea remembering the people that had lost their lives in a 3 minute silent chain that stretched the entire beach. Simple heartfelt gestures of grief and resilience as the community unites after an attack on our way of life. Australia’s most iconic stretch of sand refused to surrender its spirit to tragedy and you can almost hear it saying “you can’t stop us, you can’t beat us”. Life has to continue though and having the children around us would make sure we kept things fun and magical for them…

Loz and the girls arrived from Tassie on the 17th which was lovely as we could enjoy the build up to the big day with them, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts and baking Xmas cookies. The nice weather meant the pool was getting a big workout and the choice of which ice-cream to eat was the biggest decision of the day! Home Alone and Die Hard were compulsory viewing for the adults and The Christmas Postman and The Night Before Christmas compulsory reading for the kids. Tom arrived to be reunited with Bailey and the family (in that order) followed by Berry from Hobart and on Christmas Eve Sam and the boys arrived to fill the last bedroom! Carols and Christmas songs around the tree, carrots on the lawn for the reindeer, a cookie and some milk for Santa followed by the putting out of their stockings and trying to sleep despite the excitement of the man in red’s imminent arrival and finally the adults could enjoy our Big Xmas Dinner in the dining room – decorated and with candles glowing it is always a lovely pre cursor to the BIG DAY which basically belongs to the kids!

Christmas day dawned amid much excitement at the full stockings at the end of their beds and lots of squealing as packages were opened. A champagne breakfast for the adults and then the annual ritual of glazing the ham (thanks Tommy) and prepping the lunch. Berry rounded us all up for our two yearly photo shoot with all the cousins – thank goodness he organises this as we would have NO pics of all of us together otherwise!

The MOTH prepared the cricket pitch, the stumps were in place and the cooler weather was perfect for some rather competitive play, It’s a miracle there were no injuries to be honest as Bailey is by far the best fielder and the others were performing way above their ability with some rather gymnastic attempts at catches and overly showy bowling! Lots of fun though and after lunch the kids set up their disco inside for an impromptu dance off (Loz and Tom couldn’t resist joining in of course!) A relaxing afternoon around the firepit with music and drinks rounded out the day

As part of their Christmas presents I had arranged for them to have a pony ride at a local riding school. None of them had ever even sat on a horse so it was with a mix of trepidation and excitement that we set off for what I was hoping would be a positive experience. I couldn’t have been any happier as the riding school was terrific with the kids and encouraged them to try different things as they walked them around the menage. They taught them how to move the horses with their legs and reins and they wove in and out of witches hats, had a go at jogging and the litle girls got to groom the horses at the end. No meltdowns by any of them and hopefully a good memory for them….

Our last night together as a family for another two years was for me The Meadow at it’s best. A simple bbq under the trees around the fire pit with the kids playing on the swing and some good tunes ringing out. Chatting around the fire as the stars came out, family together, a brilliant memory to see us through to the next time…..

Mother Nature – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

/ susiecameron / Leave a comment

November is the most beautiful month in our garden. In a good Spring we can enjoy the wisteria, followed by the roses, the gardenias, agapanthus and then the hydrangeas – all interspersed with salvias and lavender, gaura and lupins. The grass is green and a perfect backdrop to the flower beds. We always say that all the hard work is worth it in November and if we’re lucky it will all still look great at Christmas. But we live in Australia so of course there is always SOMETHING that is going to come along and spoil it. We had our first bushfire of the season last weekend, a timely reminder that things can and do get out of hand pretty quickly especially if there hasn’t been much rain. Of course, we only got 5 inches of rain a month ago but it was all in one day and then the westerly winds came and dried it all out again! The sprinkler is doing its thing most days now and I have to hand water the flowers about 3 times a week to try and keep them happy. Probably not the best time for me to have planted a new baby hedge but hey ho that’s exactly what I did!

Just as things were all starting to bud and look gorgeous we awoke to a back yard that was a seething mass of caterpillars. Hundreds of thousands of them. The army worms had invaded us. An innocuous moth that only lives for 2 weeks yet somehow manages to lay up to 2000 eggs had inundated the dairy farm surrounding us and when the farmers noticed the first of the worms they immediately sprayed all the back paddocks as the army worm can eat a paddock clean in 24 hours if left to their own devices. A natural phenomena that can bankrupt a farmer, golf course, wedding venue, turf farm or anyone else dependent on their grass for an income. Spraying made the worms advance quick smart onto our property and onto our immediate neighbours and soon there wasn’t a square inch that wasn’t full of squirming caterpillars. Indiana Jones vibes in The Meadow. Soon they invaded the pool area and kamikazied into the pool, oozing bright green as they died, creating more stains to be dealt with. I was like a woman possessed stalking them with my spray bottle of soapy detergent water if they so much as dared veer off the lawn into the garden beds. Overnight they nestled in my soft velvety lambs ears and climbed up blades of grass looking for all the world like the teeny tiny stilt fisherman of Sri Lanka, swaying in the breeze as they efficiently gobbled up every blade of grass in a methodical manner. Army indeed.

Social media revealed that people were experiencing them in all the surrounding towns too but how much easier is it to “treat” them in a small garden. 2 acres all of a sudden seemed huge and unmanageable in view of the numbers invading us but as with all things in the natural world, they come and they go and after a week we were relatively free of them. Our back garden is a dry straw rather than grass but the rest of the property fared better and we still have our plants thank goodness. I had a tiny inkling what it must be like for farmers when they are just ready to harvest and a plague of locusts arrives and decimates the crop, that feeling of having no control and just hoping for the best. Hats off to them – between fires, floods, droughts and vermin it is a miracle that they manage to produce anything!

Mother Nature also delivered beauty in spades this week when the stars were aligned for a magnificent showing of the Southern Aurora. Two nights in a row we were treated to a spectacle of beautiful swirling colours in our night sky. Getting the timing right is hard…people were saying 2 or 3am was the time to expect the best results so on night one when I set my alarm and got up at 2am I was informed that the show had been and gone at around 11pm! Second night I ventured outside before bedtime around 10.30 and got a bit of green and purple – enough to make me feel awed but nothing like these (mostly pinky purple) pictures witnessed locally….the proper camera no doubt helps!

In more earthly pursuits we had a quick trip up to Sydney for Grandparents Day. This has become an annual affair everywhere with Grandparents whizzing all around the country to be there for their little Grandies, not a parent in sight and a very sweet afternoon. They ‘performed’ a few songs, we ate yummy sandwiches and fairy bread, visited their classrooms where Ollie proudly showed us all his favourite things to play with and where he puts his bag etc. It was lovely as we obviously don’t see him there on a day to day basis and now we feel a bit more connected. He had the most grandparents there on the day I think, with all 5 of us turning up for the event! How cute is his little face grinning out of the group like a meerkat….!

We also enjoyed an outdoor concert at the Berry Showground in October when the Red Hot Summer Tour came to town headlining Crowded House who we have loved for years and have never seen live. Luckily it was neither 35 degrees or pouring rain (both of which it has been in the past for these events!) and we enjoyed an eight hour concert with some great bands, culminating in Neil Finn and the boys putting on a terrific finale with all our old favourites plus a couple of new songs. The whole showground was packed out and I think we are very lucky that such well known artists are happy to come to small rural communities like ours to perform and spread the love. Great to not always have to drive to Sydney for everything….

So here we are, roughly a month until Christmas and this year will be special with the whole gang being together (even our London boy is making the trip home) for the festivities in The Meadow. Apart from the gifts and the decorations we have to upgrade our sleeping arrangements this year as all our littlies are growing fast and all need their own beds! The days of plonking a mobile cot in a corner somewhere are over so I’m off this week to buy an extra few mattresses and bedding so they can all be comfy! Christmas this year will be a week of noise and chaos but also of love and family memories made. Bing Crosby or Michael Bublé, Champagne or eggnog, Xmas pudding or pavlova, however you celebrate it I hope you enjoy every moment. Bring. It. On.