Home again

The Great Dane - Leaving Sydney 5th July (Bottom photo)
In Auckland ready to depart (top photo) We had an afternoon thunderstorm in Auckland and that was as about as cold as it got on the whole trip.

Hi Folks, We've been back from our looooong cruise about a week and a half now and after dealing with a sick cat and some credit card fraud we are just about back on track to normality, whatever that may be.

We've seen some wonderful places and some very dirty, unhealthy places. It's a pity but the latter seems to become more embedded on the mind. Home is the best place to live after taking a peek at how the rest of the world lives. The weather has stayed kind to us all the way around the world with the tragedies like sunamies, earth quakes and floods, either happening after leaving an area or sometime before we were in the vacinity. We have met some great people, had lots of laughs and been entertained by some excellent performers.

What is the chore I hate most since being home apart from keeping the place generally clean? It is changing the bed. The first day home I wandered around in a daze wondering what to do - no cards, no trivial persuites, no gym, no lectures, no deck to wander around on, nothing. Well that didn't last long did it. A load of washing, set the table for lunch, feed the cat, water the garden and so it goes. You know how it is.

I would love to have spent more time in many of the ports we visited and some I have not desire to return. I'm pleased to have been a first time visitor to the Pyrimids but wouldn't want to see Ciaro again. There were fresh water (if you could call it that) canals with rubbish piled up against the bridges across the canal which included dead carcases of water buffalo and other animals. Along the canal a short way there was children swimming in the water. Because of being misinformed by the cruise line representative we spoke to about Visas, we didn't get to go ashore in India and by all accounts it would rival Cairo for it's lack of hygiene.

Although the Mediterannean was physically a bit draining - a new port every day almost - I would be more than happy to see it all again. The whole cruise all seems to blend, one port with another and I am about to start sorting my photographs on the computer when I'm sure all the places will be refreshed in my memory. I'll just add a couple on the blog as I go along. Nice to be back.

This is a painting I did about 3 years ago - dawn at Kingscliff NSW.

Only 6 more sleeps and we will be on those very same Pacific high seas . I'm not excited - ha ha. I've zipped up my suitcase - can't fit anymore into it. It's probably just as well that we have to fly to Sydney to get on the ship or I'd probably find ways to fit more in.

Nothing much to put on my blog today but would like to thank those who left such nice comments on my previous inputs.
We had a couple of friends for a long lunch yesterday. We haven't seen them for about 9 months and had a lot to catch up on. Today our house sitter arives to get used to the routine with the animals and to learn to manage the pool and the garden and any other little routines one establishes around their home. The sitter will be staying till we return from our cruise mid October. For those of you who follow my blog just click on to my follower, The Great Dane, (That's the fellow in the viking helmet - Secher's Blog) who also happens to be my husband. We will be posting our journey on there whenever possible. We fly to Sydney and embark on the 5th July and we are already packed and excited. We will be heading east across the Pacific with the first port of call in New Zealand. Please feel free to join us in cyberspace.

The photo on my header was taken this afternoon as I walked along the foreshore where I live.

Another painting ready for the framers. It's a place in South Australia called Fleurieu Peninsular. I might do a series of beaches throughout Australia. The first one being the one I sold of Cable Beach Western Australia. I rather like doing the sky, sand and water element of the compositions. I have a big one on the go (1 x 1.2 meters) but am finding it a bit daunting but I think I know why I have become stuck so I will probably finish that off next - maybe after our trip. It's from a photo taken at Caloundra Queensland.

A few years ago, with the help of other Steley descendants we organised a family reunion and a cousin and I wrote their history for the occasion. This is a poem I wrote about my first Steley line descendant who came to Australia.

Abel was a humble soul
As was wife Leah too,
They must have felt a pressing need
To start their life anew.

They packed up all their chattels.
They said their sad goodbyes.
They did not know what lay ahead,
When they broke the family ties.

Their daughter kept a log book
To post to Eleanor.
It tells of many weary days
To bring them to our shore.

Alas! This great new country.
Held trials to overcome.
But they toiled and sweated and battled on
From dawn to setting sun.

They tried the "Rock" and "Mary"
But didn't settle there
They chose a little township
The "Burrum" a treasure rare.

There wasn't gold or diamonds
Or other gems to wear.
It was a bit of blackend rock
To the best of coal compare.

It looked as if the troubled times
Were finally at an end
But some folk, in whom they trusted
Turned out as - not a friend.

Abel to his maker went.
He's suffered, triumphed, stumbled, been down, but rose above.
Leah was there to support him
His one and only love.

He became a local Legend
His children spread afar
Leah's greatest wish
Was to follow Abel's star.

She was buried a child of Isreal
Beside him, her partner brave.
She too had joined her maker
A dedicated Christian slave.

Some of us still walk the streets
Where they placed their well-worn shoe'.
Some of us have left this land
Like them, to start anew.

Some of us have not gone far
A few miles or hours away,
But the memories of our forbears
Are with us to this day.

We are the descended children
Bound by family chains
The blood of Abel and Leah
Is forever in our veins.

Why do I love this part of the world (south east Queensland, Australia)? Our night temperatures get down to about 3 degrees C, enough to know it's winter, but the garden still produces an abundance of brilliant tropical colour. They get very little attention except a bit of water and occasionally the Great Dane tosses a bit of fertiliser at them.

These two beautiful Hibiscus bushes grow just inside our front gate.