May 3 2024

Heading to Helsinki

I feel somewhat of a fraud. While I recline in the Cathay Pacific Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 awaiting our flight to Helsinki friends are riding motorcycles across Morocco wobbling over sand dunes, splashing across rivers and removing the rear axles of cars u-turning in front of them. All Ok I hasten to add. The closest I have come to a motorcycle is visiting the mechanics who will service Streak and Storm in January next year. Some adventure motorcycle blog this is! Anyway back to the narrative……

After Anne’s father’s funeral, we spent time visiting with family in both France and the UK. Time flew by swiftly but is was great to catch up again after nine months even if we did not get around everyone and some friends will need to wait until next year or visit us in Australia.

Sunday lunch with Anne’s sister Diane and family

Walking along the banks of the river Stour in Canterbury, I was surprised to see an unusual way of cutting down trees. Had chainsaws become too environmentally unfriendly and the locals reverted to pre Roman adzes for tree felling? No, on closer inspection the teeth marks of beavers were apparent. Yes beavers in Kent. Seems they became established in the last six months or so. While there is great interest in nature’s natural river managers, I am not sure that the centre of Canterbury is the best place for them to setup home.

ANZAC day, the 25th of April, holds a special place for Australians. It is the day we remember the day Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli in Türkiye in 1915.

If offers us a time to remember those sacrifices made by others for our way of life today. It is also a time to reflect on the horrors of war and that we should all try to avoid actions that can lead to war…

Anne and I like to attend the dawn service at our local war memorial each year, but if travelling and near a major city with an Australian Embassy, there usually is an alternative. London has such a service. Being in Canterbury made the early morning journey impractical. There was however a later ANZAC Memorial Service service at Westminster Abbey that I was lucky enough to attend with Jeremy my brother in law. My Grandfather, as many others of his generation, fought in WW1 – for the first time I wore his medals in his honour, which I had cleaned and mounted in 2023.

Inside Westminster Abby for ANZAC day service

The temperatures have warmed considerably since we passed through Helsinki airport two and a half weeks ago. Lakes are now ice free and the daytime maximum temperature has soared from a chilly one to two celsius to a balmy 11 or 12 degrees. All those thermals that we thought would be mandatory wear are consigned to the bottom of the suitcase.

Helsinki airport – seating resemble forests and coffee tables made of logs

From Helsinki airport, we take the 600 bus to downtown Helsinki where our hotel is located. Tickets are purchased near the bus stop, not on the bus. After departing the airport, we meander through suburbs full of low rise apartments picking up and dropping off locals. We get our first real glimpse of how people live here. Fully enclosed balconies, fixed ladders and roof walkways, to remove snow we presume for the latter. Spring comes later here and green buds are just evident but no leaves yet.

Finnish houses with side ladders to clear snow?

Our planned “short walk” from the bus stop in town to the hotel is complicated by roadworks and the incompatibility of luggage wheels and cobblestones. The benefit of taxis door to door I suppose but we saved quite a bit of money.

After dinner we head out for a walk at 8 pm. Sunset is not till 9:30pm – what a benefit this is. One which we will never see in Queensland. Cannot have everything.

We decide to focus our evening walk in the District of Vironniemi across the inlet from out hotel, more precisely the sub district of Kruunuhaka. I am glad this is not an audio blog. I have no idea how to pronounce either name. This area contains not only a University, but two cathedrals and a presidential palace. Not bad for one sub-district.

We wander through the suburb, past the University, and as we approach some steps in front of the Helsinki Cathedral, I realise that I have been here before, April 2000 to be precise. A flying visit just to see Helsinki for the first time on one of my RTW flights for business. It was usually cheaper to buy a RTW ticket than just to the USA and back from Australia. I saved the company money, saw family and visited new destinations en route. Amazing how some memories come straight back but where I put things away at home last month still remain a mystery.

Ice breakers waiting in the background, Helsinki

We head out the next morning to return to Uspenski Cathedral, which is a Greek or Eastern Orthodox Cathedral and take time to explore the colourful interior. Worth a look if you are here.

Golden interior of Uspenski Greek Orthodox Cathedral

I am intrigued by the building drainage downpipes which all end at the base of the buildings, have groves cut in the pavement/sidewalk to take water to the street and have wires looped out of the bottom. A little research confirms they are heating wires used to thaw ice buildup in winter. They are looped from above and also cover gutters.

Our mini break will be across the Baltic in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. This will be our first visit to both country and city. Our destination is a short two hour ferry ride from Helsinki. The terminal is spacious and people queuing leave space between one another, unlike other places we have been. Interesting to note that our ship is both powered by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and held to the quay by large electro magnets. Something new every day.

The duty free shopping area is vast and well stocked with products normally only seen in high end stores or major international airports. Pity our budget will not reach such heights, sorry, Red Label for you all.

At AUD 10,000 a bottle we will give this a miss.

A calm crossing sees us disembarking in Tallinn mid afternoon. A new adventure awaits.

– Anthony

Apr 16 2024

A fond farewell

My father, Papa, Claude, Papy, Papinou, passed away a month ago at the grand age of 98 and his funeral was 2 weeks ago already: it was a sad, freezing, grey, rainy yet beautiful day thanks to all the love expressed for my father that day. Everyone recalling what a remarkable man he was. He truly was. I admired him, for he had so many qualities: he was highly intelligent, always patient (except when he wanted the bill in a restaurant 😂), never criticised anyone, never said a bad word about anyone, was always so inquisitive, interested in so many things, right up to his last days. He was always calm – even when we were naughty as kids and he had to tell us off, he only managed “come on kids, be good” (allez les enfants, soyez sages). His sense of fun, love of good food, love of all things French bien sûr, interest in travel and different cultures, archeology, science and politics made for hours of interesting conversations.

I collated a set of photos for friends and family to watch after the funeral – here is a tiny collection so that you can meet my father who meant so much to me and am grateful I had in my life for so long.

My father now rests with his father and grand-father

My dad as a young officer in Algiers – women always loved him!

With my brother, father and sister in Rosas, Spain

Enjoying opening yet another bottle of champagne.

Anthony has been a tower of strength for me as always, as has my dear sister Diane.

Merci pour tout Papa.

Anne

Apr 15 2024

Via LAX

We are climbing out of Los Angles on Finnair flight AY2 bound for Helsinki. As I sit in my business class seat , yes I know, how unlikely to be up the front, I reflect on the last 36 hours and the week that preceeded it.

We planned our trip to Europe to coincide with the break between Anne’s two projects in Cairns. The first that concluded very successfully last Wednesday for Anne. Well done Anne and her team. The second project also Cairns based starts while we are away. Anne will take over leadership on her return. Our plan was to visit Anne’s parents and other family members over three weeks in Europe before returning to Australia. On Thursday 4th of April we got a call that said Anne’s father had passed away in Paris. He had been in hospital for a couple of weeks with an infection but had expected to be discharged shortly. He was 98 years old, still active and enquiring. In February he called Anne to better understand the reasons behind the calls to change the date for Australia Day.

We are now on our way to a funeral. As heartbreaking his passing is, we should recall the wonderful life he led, the memories he gave us over the decades and the laughter we shared when we met. He will be missed but forever in our hearts.

As usual, we are packing at the last minute. Anne as always better prepared than I am, but some things never change. We have multiple chargers for all countries but can we find all the attachments for each country, USA, Europe and UK, of course not. Best not to let the two slow speeds travel anywhere. According to Qantas scales my checked luggage is 8 kg. I think the scales at Brisbane were inaccurate as LAX showed us 3 kg heavier. Still not much down in the hold – our carry on is heavier. Do not tell anyone.

I had planned to book Premium Economy tickets to Europe and back in our price range but at the last minute contacted Roundabout Travel in Adelaide. They concentrate on Round the World (RTW) tickets. Finnair had an economy RTW that with an extra payment moved all Finnair flights to Business Class. Pricing was similar to the Premium economy tickets I had been looking at. So Qantas economy BNE-LAX and SIN-BNE the rest up the pointy end! Ended up being half the price of Business Class both ways. Based on our British Airways business class upgrade last year from London to Singapore, this works well for us.

Economy from Brisbane to Los Angles was a challenge, 14 hours, knees almost touching the seat in front, gluten free meals whose contents were hard to distinguish between by the taste of each element made for uneventful if uncomfortable flight. While US immigration was slow, no forms, less meaningless questions and customs declarations made for a smooth transition to land-side. A short ride to our hotel, the Curio-6 at LAX and we are in our room. The Curio-6 is part of the Hilton chain, that we have been using and supporting since before the start of travels in 2014. I have always been impressed by the Hilton staff around the world as we have travelled, they go the extra mile to provide excellent service. We have fine memories of stays in Sharjah, Kuala Lumpur, Paracas Peru, Bogotá, Austin TX, Dumblaine in Scotland and too many others to mention. From General Managers to dining/reception staff thank you all for your excellent service over the past decade. As a Diamond member they extend our checkout till 2pm, bliss.

A quiet, dark room and 14 hours later we are refreshed and ready to take a walk – what, in LA? Just a walk up the road, Highway 1 no less, to the local CVS pharamacy to purchase our 500 tablets of everything that are available over the counter in Australia, but at much higher prices. 1,100 pills and 150 Aussie dollars later we are good go for the next two years and rattle back towards the hotel.

The plaques above are two of a series of famous aviation personalties on Sepulveda Blvd north of LAX Airport that given the location very few travellers ever see. Why here I wonder?

As we walk back to our hotel, we pass numerous homeless people living in doorways. When I am in the USA I am always reminded of Rich Niemiec, who was VP of the US Oracle User Group when I headed the Asia Pacific Oracle User Group. We met twice a year in San Francisco with the Oracle executive back in the late 1990’s and Rich would never pass a homeless person in San Francisco without making a donation. Something to keep up. Thank you Rich for setting the example.

After a couple of pleasurable hours in the Qantas/BA/Cathay Oneworld lounge in LAX, we meet Java Affogato, a Sheepadoodle dog whose job is to de-stress passengers at LAX. Did you know there was such a thing? What a great idea and we now have a new follower in Mark his handler or was it Java? Our followers are growing in the most unusual places. We still have a couple million to go before we are global influencers, but having said that we appreciate each and every one of you who follows our travels.

We board Finnair AY2 for Helsinki. We are now at the pointy end of the plane, oh so much better than the back. Does that make me a snob? A glass of Champagne and a toast to Papa, Anne’s father, and we are off. Dinner is excellent with an interesting wine from Austria and a desert wine from Finland no less.

My gluten free meal – just like the flight reviews.

Very pleasant Olinger Iphöpher 2022 with dinner and a AINOA Suven Taika NV desert wine to finish we are set for a good night’s sleep. The Finnish desert wine deserves further investigation.

Yes Business Class is so much better than the seats behind. I am looking forward to making my bed and sleeping all the way to Helsinki.

Gentle light seeps into the cabin to wake us up. Two hours to go a short night but after breakfast we look out on icy looking landscape that sees some lakes with what appears to be a veneer of ice left from winter. Good thing I picked up a warm beanie/sock deal before I left Australia.

At Immigration in Helsinki as a non EU person I have to join the long queue while Anne, courtesy of her French passport sails through the automated machines. We have a tight connection on 45 minutes, but with a helpful move to the front of the queue thanks to ground staff, past a couple of tricky questions like “where are you staying.” “How long for?” “How are you leaving?” Then I am in the EU racing after Anne, just make the departure time cutoff, and we are told we are waiting for passengers from a connecting domestic flight. Hurry up and wait.

An uneventful flight to Paris, a taxi ride and we are here. Tomorrow is the funeral and we will say goodbye to Anne’s father Claude. Not how we had imagined this trip would start a couple of weeks ago.

– Anthony

Feb 29 2024

Our last 6 months

Has it really been over six months since wheels down in Brisbane back in early August 2023 after a wonderful 10 weeks in Europe? This gave the opportunity for Streak and Storm to stretch their legs/wheels while we visited friends and family. So what has happened since then?

Anne barely had time to unpack and get over jet lag before she headed to Cairns to start managing a software project implementation for Queensland Health Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Services (TCHHS). Based in Cairns Anne would be spending approximately six months working returning every two weeks to Brisbane. The intervening weeks would see me in Cairns enjoying time beside the pool and exploring the various delicious restaurant menus while Anne worked.

Celebrating our anniversary at Tha Fish, Cairns

This has worked out well for me, although Anne had to cancel a few return flights as they clashed with key project dates. We did however make the most of the weekends hiring cars to visit some of the regional attractions around Cairns.

We started with Port Douglas. The road up the coast is spectacular, the green forest covered mountains on the left and the deep blues of the Coral Sea on the other. The road winds along the coast and is a must for motorcyclists. Stop for coffee at the Thala Beach Lodge, the view is spectacular, the beach worth the walk and if we did not have accomodation back in Cairns a place to stay. Port Douglas has great restaurants, a great clifftop walking track.

Mosman Gorge is a short drive north of Port Douglas, difficult to see until your are close up, the rainforest hugs the banks of the river and since the summer rains have not not arrived fairly placid, It must be stunning in the wet, although probably too difficult to approach.

Mosman George with a slow flowing river.

If one takes the inland route south from Mosman George you pass through countryside that was once the centre of Tobacco growing around Mareeba. The industry declined as the number of people smoking fell and imported tobacco was cheaper. Fruit farming is now the major agricultural production and the town of Mareeba is the gateway to Cape York for adventurous travellers. Various beautiful waterfalls abound in tablelands and we hope to visit more later in the year.

For those not familiar with travel from Cairns to the the hinterland each of the two main routes, the Kennedy Highway and Gilles Range Road, twist and turn as you ascend the mountainside. There are few overtaking places and a slow truck or caravan can add significantly to the journey time.

Sugar cane trains criss cross country roads in Far North Queensland

Watch out for sugar cane train tracks almost parallel to the road

The Undara lava tubes had been on my travel radar for some time, we just needed to be in the area, which with Anne’s job we now were. With the Undara Volcanic National Park some three and a half hours each way from Cairns by road, an early start is needed. We decide to take the Gilles Range Road and light traffic sees us move quickly from expansive sugar cane farms through temperate forrest into rain forrest. Emerging at the top the range we are greeted by lush green farmland which gradually turns to brown as we move away from the coastal influences. Within a couple of hours we are in dry Australian outback The Undara Lava Tubes are only open of part of the year, the extreme summer temperatures would make visiting very unpleasant. October is the last month of the season.

Going from the hot dry outback to the cool lava tunnels is spectacular. They are huge. Tree roots snake in from the entrances and you realise how close the roof is to the surface of the ground above. Driving is not permitted off road in the park area to avoid vehicles breaking through the roof of undiscovered lava tubes, of which there could be many.

José Paronella arrived in Australia from Spain in 1913 and worked developing land for sugar cane farming which he then sold to raise money to one day build a life for him and his fiancee still back in Spain. When he returned to Spain some 13 years later financially sound and ready to marry, his fiancee Matilda had married another. Undaunted he married her younger sister Margarita. They both returned to Australia where he set about developing Paronella Park. Mostly with his own hands he built a castle with a ballroom that had a mirrored globe imported from the USA. José planted thousands of trees including an avenue of Kauri trees that some 90 years later are a magnificent sight to behold.

I think he was also an astute businessman building a hydro electric generator in 1933 bringing electricity to the area some 30 years before the state transmission network arrived! This powered not only a movie theatre in the castle ballroom but an ice-cream parlour as well. Where else would locals head on at hot weekend in summer. The hydro plant fell into disrepair but was restored by volunteers in 2009 and not only supplies the park but exports to the national grid. Amazing for 90 year old equipment.

The waterfall that generates the hydro power.

One of the many structures in Paronella Park built by José

José died in 1948 and his wife Margarita and their children ran the park until their deaths in the 1960’s and 70’s. Various floods over the years damaged parts of the property but a fire in 1979 destroyed the castle leaving only the walls and a turrets.

The current owners Mark and Judy Evans who have owned Paronella Park since 1993 have created a beautiful place to visit. Well worth the time to see one mans vision some 90 years later and still going strong.

Pat’n Bin took Anne under their wing in Cairns

One of the many gorgeous buildings in Cairns

Anthony proudly wearing his grand-father’s WW1 medals on Remembrance Day

We have also spent time visiting some of the extensive number of restaurants in Cairns. Because of the numbers of tourists visiting Cairns as a base for the Great Barrier Reef and Tropical Rainforest there are many more restaurants that a city of Cairns size would normally support. One of our favourites is Tha Fish on the Broadwalk overlooking the harbour where we have eaten many times.

Just had to take Georgina, our first visitor in Cairns, to our favourite Tha Fish restaurant

I had not been back to Cairns since Cyclone Jasper and the subsequent rainstorm that has devastated the region. Many of the locations and attractions that we had visited in the last few months have been affected just ahead of the Christmas summer holiday season. Recovery will be slow with so much damage to roads and infrastructure. Having been back to Cairns, the city centre seems unaffected but I still have to visit the surround area in the future.

During Anne’s brief visits home every other week end or so, we have tried to make the most of her time home to catch up with friends in Brisbane. If we have missed you so far it is only because of lack of time.

I have been dabbling with Chat GPT as probably many of you have. It can certainly help take ideas and flesh them out and would probably do a better job of writing the blog than I do. But for now this is all hand typed with all its imperfections although I hope that using ChatGPT may help increase my vocabulary and improve my grammar.

On a sadder note we have lost four good friends recently, In late November, Ric from Melbourne better know as the “Wiz” was killed in a motorcycle accident. We only learnt of his passing at Christmas. We met the Wiz on an organised motorcycle tour back in 2009 from Siliguri via Darjeeling, across Bhutan finishing in Guwahati, a town that we revisited in 2014 on our way to Burma/Myanmar.

In early January my second uncle Michael passed away after a very short illness. I had known him since childhood, he was a close to my father and he gave me my first job in Durban in 1973 working for his firm of architects. We had planned to see him in May in the UK.

Around the same time we also lost Jimmy, a friend from Texas who I first met during a long running legal dispute the firm I worked for had in the Texas courts back in 2003. He and Candace had been great friends to Anne when she held art exhibitions there.

Then out of the blue, our dear friend Greg passed suddenly a week ago. Greg had the biggest heart, always so generous and helping people. We will miss Greg and his amazing stories and antics and are heartbroken for Nola.

All will be sorely missed and our thoughts are with their respective partners Jane, Jill, Candace, Nola and their families.

So as we approach the 10th Anniversary of the first tentative entry in this blog; so what next? We have a short trip to Europe planned to see family from mid April till early May before Anne starts a second Queensland Health project for the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Services (CHHHS). Same implementation, different region which will run through until mid October.

With the cooler winter weather ahead we are considering taking both Australian bikes the “Bird” and the “Bee” to Cairns to explore the hinterland region more fully. I am not sure if we will ship the bikes or just for fun ride them up. We know people in Banana, Sapphire, Mackay and Airlie Beach so the route will not be in a straight line. I will travel twice monthly to Cairns from June onwards to see Anne so there will be lots of opportunities to explore the region further.

After October who knows, with the coffers plumped up I think that the open road will beckon again. We shall see.

– Anthony

Aug 11 2023

Familiar City, new exploration

Although I have lived in and visited London many times, there is always somewhere new to explore. I am sure this applies to your city as well. When one approaches London St Pancras Station on the High Speed 1 (HS1) line from Kent or the Continent, if you are seated on the left hand side of the train you will see many brightly coloured narrowboats moored in a small basin just off the Regent’s Canal. I have always thought it would be interesting to walk a section of the canal and finally did this time from Camden Road to Kings Cross Station.

Ship Inspired? Apartments alongside the Regents Canal, no boat access though.

Walking along the canal bank the sounds of traffic diminish and the bustle of city life is left behind. The canal has an interesting mix of new and old. Some locks and bridges date back to the 19th Century, old converted warehouses are mixed with modern apartment buildings, including some that have been built within the framework of the old Gasometers. The nearby Coal Drops Yard has been restored with a beautiful sweeping roof added and converted into a shopping centre with many dining opportunities which will have to wait for another time.

Repurposed Gasometers near Kings Cross on the Regent’s Canal

In the 19th Century coal was the primary heating and light source, via coal gasification. At its peak over 8 millions tonnes of coal per annum passed through the Coal Drop Yard. Some directly onto barges below in the Regent’s Canal, some loaded on to horse drawn wagons for distribution around London. The remainder used to produce “Town Gas” for storage in and distribution from the now converted gasometers. The synergies we expect today from our industrial complexes was occurring almost 200 years ago. (One sometimes forgets that integrated systems are not the province of the modern world)

The restored 19th Century Coal Drop Sheds

If you follow the Regent’s Canal to Paddington it joins the Paddington arm of Grand Union Canal which runs to Birmingham and beyond. As the canal makes its way westward it passes through Old Oak Common. Old Oak Common is to be the terminus of the High Speed 2 (HS2) line under construction from London to Birmingham.

What would the engineers, sponsors and others from two hundred years ago who were building the Grand Union and Regent’s canals for similar reasons; increased capacity, faster travel times and more reliability, think of todays efforts which are reduced in scope, way over budget, years behind in construction and will not even go into central London like the Regent’s canal does. Perhaps they should add a pedestrian link to the canal footpath at Old Oak Common?

If one has ever wondered why Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross Stations are all built to the north of the Euston road, railway companies were forbidden to build south of the Euston Road by an Act of Parliament passed in 1846. Probably so those in expensive houses in areas like Bloomsbury did not have the noise and soot from trains affecting their lifestyle.

Still off the canal footpath and onto the last week of our travels. We cram in a 30th family birthday party, a quick trip to Paris and a visit to the British Museum into the remaining days.

The “Portland Vase” on display at The British Museum.

The Portland Vase, believed to be made between 1 AD and 25 AD was used by Josiah Wedgwood in the late 18th Century as the basis of the some of the pottery for which Wedgwood became famous for. It should be noted that the Portland Vase is all glass. Very impressive as Wedgwood’s pottery is, I assume that clay must be easier to work with than glass.

Together to celebrate Camilla’s birthday.

We are checked in, bags gone, a relaxing drink in the British Airways Lounge before departure and we are at the gate waiting to board flight BA15 to Singapore. A delay is announced, due to catering. You would think that they could get that done on time. Our boarding passes are scanned, and taken from us and replaced with Business Class boarding passes. An upgrade for the next 14 hours. Fantastic. We settle in to the comfort up front and our meals arrive. They have a coeliac meal for me! That was the delay, me! As a Qantas Frequent Flyer and a Coeliac I would not have expected this to happen. It is much more difficult to upgrade those with dietary requirements at the last minute, much easier to upgrade the standard meal passengers. Thank you British Airways for such service.

The sun sets on another amazing trip as we depart London Heathrow

A great night’s sleep to Singapore made all the difference to our return journey especially since Anne started work just three days later.

– Anthony

2slowspeeds

Loving life – Turning Dreams into Memories

Heading to Helsinki

A fond farewell

Via LAX

Our last 6 months

Familiar City, new exploration

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