A new adventure - France

Well the Aude to be more precise. And Carcassonne. That amazing city Kate Mosse brought to life for me all those years ago when I devoured her books. I've kept up with the series reading the last one recently. Carcassonne was on my bucket list in 2004 and I made it there for a quick visit, plus a visit to the hospital when I fell down that marble staircase with such style, sober. The left arm again, x-rays and a sling for a bit. Dented and damaged but not broken phew. 

So I wandered La cite in a sling, exploring this most historic place. Back again after a 21 year wait, I wandered the streets and enjoyed a pizza and local rose while people watching. I've always wanted to live in the South of France. I've explored much of it while following the Tour de France in 2004 and on other trips driving along the coast and up to Mont san Michel. 

Our first house hunting trip in May happened because Eurostar had very cheap tickets and I built the trip from there. Overnight in Paris, train to Orly Airport to pick up a car then the drive south. A long drive! Airbnb came to the party as they always do and we had a lovely little apartment near La Cite and a short wander to la Bastide with all it's restaurants and shops. The mission for this trip was viewing properties A Place in the Sun style. Enter two lovely real estate agents from Leggett and off we went checking out the villages nearby. La Redorte on the Canal du Midi was a favorite, and Azille, Lezignan-Corbieres and Olonzac. 

A few days of looking had a short list, one quickly discarded when we realised Carcassonne itself might be a better option because there was more there to attract tourists. We drove through vineyards exploring and navigating putting petrol in the car (an amusing if frustrating interlude with a card not working, language barriers and helpful folks), Google maps vagaries, very narrow roads and exciting blind bridges. And lots and lots of lovely villages and the Narbonne Plage where we enjoyed a rainy beach stop. Back to the search.

And back to Carcassonne, a second visit confirmed it was the place to be. It was lovely and hot and I had an Airbnb with an outside terrace in the middle of the Bastide where two of the properties were located. The third property I visited I put an offer on, accepted after some back and forth. So now we wait as we go through the French buying property process then it's some much needed renovations and set up for us and others to enjoy. Very exciting. The agents are so helpful and the process is involved, including a survey with the issues highlighted. Actually everyone we've dealt with has been helpful. I highly recommend Leggetts, a very professional company. 

So next stop is Carcassonne, France. The place of amazing history, lovely people, excellent wine, markets with yummy fresh food, baguettes, pastries and cassoulet. Close to Spain, a place I've never really visited, and the rest of France. The Tour de France has a stage end there this year and passes by most years so I'll get to watch close up rather than highlights on TV. There are details to work out, those are the next jobs on the long list.

La Cite 

Canal du Midi - I enjoyed a short cruise through the locks

La Cite looking across Carcassonne

Le tour is  coming!

The last lock

2025

And it's 2025 already. Well halfway through 2025 to be honest. And here I am again with lots of stories and pics. Let's hope this time I can keep the stories rolling, keep motivated to add here as events happen. Here's a potted look at our Australian and New Zealand journey. 

December was chilly and Christmassy, January was the big trip south and, along with February, a big catch up with friends and family. As well as laying my mums ashes to rest in a place special to her. Jules had his first trip down under and I really didn't know what he'd think of it all. Can say now he's a fan. A fan of the prawns, koura (lobster), fresh food, weather, scenery, and people. 

Landing in pouring rain in Sydney was not the most auspicious start. Enjoying a wander in Kings Cross and surrounds searching for dinner found us in a hotel that used to be my local enjoying a feed of large prawns with cider served by a young bloke from over this way on his big OE in Australia. The next day we wandered around Woolloomooloo, through the botanic gardens into the city. Dodging showers and buying an umbrella. The naval base was of particular interest as Jules' dad visited there on his ship. He would have wandered the same streets and enjoyed the hospitality of sailor shore time. 

On our return visit to Sydney on the homeward leg we visited the Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour and explored the submarine and naval ships there to be explored. I'd never been so it was about time really! It was a treat, a place we got kicked out of at closing time and left reluctantly. From Sydney we headed up to Newcastle for grandbaby time. Only one is still at that squidgy cuddles stage, the other two rather more grown up than I'd last seen them a year ago. We had a lovely time together swimming and exploring. Newcastle is a lovely spot, the ocean baths, seascapes and beaches were just lovely in the warm January weather. Apart from the massive storm that is. We got back to our Airbnb just before the heavens opened up and the lightening and thunder started. 

Next stop was Brisbane and time for the three girls living there. So enjoyed time with them. The eldest expressed a wish for a specific Jellycat for Christmas. Because we were there just after Christmas my bag was full of goodies for the kids so I was happy to oblige. The Jellycat was part of a promotion. Fish'n'chips in Selfridges in London and patisserie goodies in Paris. Just to be clear, these were soft toys. Expensive soft toys, and I had to participate in the 'experience' to get said Jellycat and the goodies that came with it. Experience a lovely young man pretend cooking Lily fish and telling me her story. It was fun, Christmas fun in an amazingly Christmassy Selfridges. 

What a treat it was giving this gift to Eve, she was delighted especially when Jules shared the video of my experience with her. The other girls liked their gifts too, carefully chosen. The biggest treat was taking the girls to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo for the day. A very hot day where we enjoyed wandering around the extensive, well kept grounds patting kangaroos, shivering at the size of the crocs and seeing a green grass snake on the side of the track. In the wild probably enjoying the captive animals' food. The girls are so grown up now, enjoying their schools, sports and friends. 

Then it was off to New Zealand. Christchurch to see Tim, Sarah and Noah, and Jane. A road trip was in order so we headed up to Nelson via Kaikoura where Nin's  Bins got our lunch time custom. A large koura with fresh fish'n'chips. Real ones this time. Sue and Neil are old friends who retired to Nelson so it was lovely to spend time with them. I love this part of New Zealand. Close to the sea, lovely growing climate and the best food and wine. 

We drove down the centre and along the coast via Punakaiki where we wandered amongst the pancake rocks formed 30 million years ago. The limestone rocks are now eroded to look like stacks of pancakes and I was disappointed to see one of the most reliable blowholes had collapsed. This was a favorite stop for my kids on journeys north, as I remember it being one of mine when I was a kid. A wilder stop in those days with few barriers and more wave action to see. 

We overnighted in Hokitika then out to my brothers place on our family land. A home off grid with solar power and a fire to heat the house and water. We really enjoyed our few days up in the bush with the sky so clear, star gazing with shooting stars and other unidentified celestial happenings. The family gathered to lay mum to rest with dad. Tim and Noah had made a lovely memorial stone to mark the spot, a perfect marker made from local river stone. Terri my niece brought some huge lobster tails to add to the food already planned so we enjoyed food, family, friends, stories and old photos. A lovely moment in time to remember. 

Back to Christchurch then off on another flight to Sydney for further exploration before heading back home. Home to winter. It was lovely  to sleep in my own bed, and luckily we had some nice days to catch up on washing and get settled. If one every really gets too settled when family is on the other side of the world. 

Amazing view of the mountains of Iran

Australia Zoo friends

No visit to Aus is complete without this guy

Watson's Bay and The Gap

The Gold Coast holds a special place in my heart

Had a lovely time in Katoomba visiting the Three Sisters

Some pics needing stories

It's when you look through photos to add here that you realise how much is missing! The trip to St Albans; the one to Marseille to catch up with Jacqui; the wander around Black Park and it's movie and TV history; the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower; having Jo and family to visit. Best I get on with catching up. After a coffee and small break. In the meantime here's a few pics. 

Black Park lake

On the water with Jacqui - Lovely day out wandering on Ile Pomegues

Palais Longchamp, Marseille - Where there's a lovely cafe with wine across the road.

Cassis harbour, France

My happy place - Plage la Grande Mer

The night tower - Stories of old told by a yeoman at the Ceremony of the Keys

Boats at rest - Marseille harbour 

Marseille from the top of the hill
 

Fun times with Jo and family, love it when friends visit

A bit chilly here

I'm that person who wakes up to snow and goes a little crazy, just a little more kid like than usual really. It snowed last week, it didn't last long on the ground but it was lovely while it did. Photos from every window of course, and a short video. I can love snow because I'm inside in the warm looking out. It's been chilly here lately, colder than the last winter I had here. I checked out the latitude, distance from the equator, compared to New Zealand and guess what, I'm living at the southern equivalent of just south of the south of the south island. South is cold in New Zealand, south of the south is more like artic. I shouldn't have checked really, it made me feel colder. 

This hot house flower and her beau are heading south, not the cold south south more a tropical north south, in early January. I can't wait to get grandbaby cuddles, although there's only one left at that squishy cuddly stage. The others will just have to endure. It's essential to be able to chat to them and Facetime is great. I had an Aria chat today, a 'what I want for Christmas' chat with a bit of Lily thrown in. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and getting some beach time. In NZ my family are laying my mum's ashes to rest in a place special her. She passed away in June after a long illness, hard to watch from a distance. 

I'm between contracts at the moment and having time on my hands is a bit of a gift. I was given a folder with my dad's mum's family history and have been exploring what's there and what more I can find out. In the process I've discovered more about my dad's dad, my favourite person the world until he died in 1979. He went to war as men did back then and served in Egypt and other places. My great great grandad Thomas Galloway Aitkin also went to war, the first one, and I found out a bit about him as  well. He was gassed and wasn't well when he returned. He was allocated farmland as a returned soldier, a story similar to the one written by Maurice Shadbolt in Strangers and Journeys. Looking at a photo of Thomas I can see who my eldest son looks like, an uncanny likeness. 

 There's more to explore including the places over here where they emigrated from. My people came from Scotland, on both sides of the family, lowland and highland Scots. My dad's family came to New Zealand early and ran whaling stations in the south, plying the waters for the riches whales and seals brought. A brutal cold existence in a harsh climate. They built the wharf at Lyttleton where the 'first' settlers landed; they fed them and laid out where they were going to live. Ironically, land already settled by local Māori who must have been puzzled by the surveyors pegs.  

My mum's family, the highland Scots, landed in the south and brought their Scottish culture to Southland and Otago. Farming land and laying down cities and towns on Māori lands. Such is New Zealand's story. The trip north to Scotland will have to wait until summer and by then I'll have a trail of discovery mapped out. I can't wait, love a good road trip and my last one exploring there was in 2013. The one where I stood listening to the guide at Stirling Castle telling a story and realised it was the story of my family. It was emotional when the penny dropped. 

This past week has been an indoors one mostly with one trip to London to explore the Natural History Museum. I love geology and the museum had some amazing displays of our earth and it's riches. I could see some pieces I have in the collections, some of the shells and stones I've collected over the years. It was cold, nothing my new long wool coat couldn't cope with. 

The coat I bought recently for Remembrance Sunday at the cenotaph. I had a privileged position after being escorted through horse guards to Whitehall next to Downing Street. So good to see members of the royal family and other special folks laying wreaths; listening to the bands and watching them march past; and enjoy the parade of old soldiers, young servicemen and women; and the Blue Light contingent. We had lunch after at Westminster Hall. A day of commemoration done as only the Brits can do it. 

That's about all for now. Here's a few pics of recent weeks. 

So different here now the leaves have fallen

My birthstones

Natural History Museum 

Chelsea Pensioners

The Cenotaph

Further to the last story

One of my great joys is chatting to my family on FaceTime, mostly a weekend thing. Sometimes we have quick chats, others lovely long sit and have a coffee together chats. Like this morning with my NZ crew. Such a gift. Noah was lovely and chatty, and I caught up on his news. I can't wait to see him and his mum and dad in February, and maybe humiliate myself with a round of golf with the young master! I was surprised when Noah knew who Rowan Atkinson was and details about his amazing car collection. I may need to google that myself! 

Talking about bagpipes, I remembered one of the reasons they so resonate with me. When I was about 7 or 8 years old my dad was fishing for whitebait in our local river. A fierce river with strong flow and currents. He over reached to pull in his full net and fell in. I was on the river bank playing and watched him disappear under the water. It was terrifying and I still remember those feelings whenever I stand too close to fast water rivers. 

Next moment a man nearby jumped into action to rescue him. Dad was in full fishers gear including thigh waders and Lucas shed his waders as he reached out and grabbed dad as he went by. I remember quite a battle getting dad out, heavy with the water in his boots and panic, and others helping. Thankfully my Dad lived to fish another day and I had a new hero, Lucas. 

Lucas lived just down the road from us in our very small New Zealand town, and he was Scottish. Best of all my hero played the bagpipes. I used to lie awake in bed and listen to him practice on warm summer evenings when kids were supposed to be asleep, my windows open to get the best sound. I wonder where he is now, my hero. 

Here's a clip of Highland Cathedral showcasing the beauty of Scotland.

Hello, I'm Rowan

Well of course you are, quite a famous Rowan I've always loved! I have the most surreal experiences when I'm out and about with Jules, this time at the Guards Chapel last evening for an amazing concert. The event was organised by one of Jules' long time friends and we were invited guests. Along with Rowan Atkinson aka Blackadder and Mr Bean! We didn't get to interact much as he was in high demand. It was enough for me to say hello, to sit in the same row, to be in his orbit for a short time, and enjoy his speech from the pulpit right in front of me. Moments to bottle for this kiwi lass from the country. 

The chapel is amazing. I've stood outside before watching some dignitaries after an event, including one wearing a korowai. A korowai is a cloak New Zealand Maori wear as a symbol of prestige, and the one I saw was beautiful. Made with feathers and worn with pride. The apse inside the chapel is old but the main body is more modern because it suffered damage when it was bombed in WWII with the loss of everyone present. This tragedy is one of many in London, it's easy to forget the impact of the WWII bombing on this beautiful, vibrant city. 

An elderly lady next to us told us the story, some of her family were killed in the blast and memorialised in the dedication at the front of the chapel. This from the website:

The roof was badly burnt by incendiary bombs in 1940 and other damage was sustained during enemy raids from time to time, but it was Sunday 18th June 1944 when disaster struck. At 11.10 am during morning service, the chapel was hit by a flying bomb which entered at the western end and exploded, killing 121 soldiers and civilians, including the Director of Music and five musicians from the Band of the Coldstream Guards. The chapel was completely destroyed with the exception of the apse, but the six silver candlesticks were unmoved by the explosion and the candles remained burning.

It was hard not to look around and see the changes forced by the bombing. The apse is quite beautiful, the modern part hard concrete and wood with colours (old flags used in battle) hanging out from the walls. The picture below shows these. 

But we were there for a celebration, the 25 Anniversary Concert of The Royal Tournament. The concert highlighted some of the special music from the Royal Tournament with the Band of the Royal Yeomanry playing for the guests. The Royal Tournament was first held in 1880 with the final one in 1999, hence the 25th anniversary concert serving to keep the traditions of the Tournament alive. The Tournament began as a series of skill at arms competitions and quickly evolved to include military bands and a variety of acts and displays. Kind of like the Edenborough Tattoo. There are some clips of the action on the website here. 

The band set up two rows in front of us and it was amazing to be immersed in the music, and my favourite thing, watching and listening how the music is put together. The interactions between the instruments making beautiful music guided by the band master. I knew many of the pieces, like the 1812 Overture, I vow to thee my country, and the theme from the Thunderbirds. Best of all for me was when the piper arrived in full regalia, piping up the aisle to stand before us and play Highland Cathedral. Being of Scottish heritage (way back) and having family who play the pipes, it was a moving and profound moment for me. I've been to where my McKenzie family lived and will go back there again soon. 

It was raining when said our goodbyes and left the chapel, a wet wander through the quieter evening streets. Past Big Ben and onto the Bakerloo line back to Baker Street for a quiet Wetherspoons stop on the way home. What a wonderful night out, one of many lately. Going to town never gets old for me, even the hustle and bustle of negotiating the evening tube and stations and getting across the rush hour roads. 

The colours

Band prep

A wet wander back 

Portugal II

I met Terrie in the Cayman Islands through the sail club and thought it was about time to catch up again. The toll roads in Portugal are a bit of a treat. Low traffic and not too many booths. Going the green lane meant driving straight through so it was a quick journey up into the hills to Terrie's place, a lovely little taberna in Miranda do Corvo - Tabuas. We picked up where we left off and caught up with all the life gossip in between. A nice, relaxing interlude, especially enjoyed by Mr 14 because there were plenty of animals to play with and willing pool players to challenge. 

On we went to Coimbra, exploring the Universidade de Coimbra one of the oldest universities in the world founded in 1290. A very beautiful spot where JK Rowling got the idea for the gowns in Harry Potter. According to a local friend the students still wear these gowns. Porto was calling so on we went, driving through the one way system to pick up the keys to our next Airbnb. I parked the car with the help of a local man, he found me the park, I paid him, located the parking building nearby and found a supermarket. One with lots of seafood and fresh salad things. Dinner was prawn cocktail and salmon with a side of octopus. Not bad with lovely local wine. 

Porto, we weren't there long before we realised this was a much nicer place than Lisbon! Day one was a cruise on the River Douro to see the bridges and get the lay of the land. It was well worth it. We debated about a wine cruise but with three of us that was pricey and took out a whole day. We settled for a ferry to Gaia and a wander up to the Taylor's Port place. The tour and port tasting were an outstanding experience. I didn't know much about the history of port, only that I liked it, and I wondered how my dad would have loved this experience. He was my early port drinking buddy. 

I'd never tasted white port, it's great on it's own and in the negroni we enjoyed with the breads, olives and cheeses. What a lovely spot to while away an afternoon under the grape vines. We rode on the gondola to save our legs on the climb up to the bridge. The next day we did a walking tour, another must do in Porto. William the guide took us around some special places we would not have found on our own and provided both knowledgeable commentary and restaurant recommendations, highlighting the best local cuisine. 

We were sad to leave Porto. We kept the car an extra day so we could take our time on the drive down to Lisbon via Sintra. We nearly missed Sintra out and I'm so pleased we didn't. While I wasn't so interested in a palace, I was interested in seeing places with older history, Moors, Romans and other older inhabitants. The Moorish Castle was a climb up and the steps around the walls were a bit challenging in place but the view was outstanding. Walking on pathways and up stone steps where people have walked for so many years, I felt the weight of time in the artefacts and evidence of settlements. Peaceful despite the number of people wandering. 

As I mentioned it was a long walk day, up through the nicest parklands to the castle, around the castle, then down towards the car. Down the wrong way. Down the long way needing to go back up to get to the right place! Note to self, take control of navigating at all times even under pressure from the males present! I was a bit grumpy by the time we reached the car and headed off towards Lisbon. Staying near the airport was wise,  easy to drop the car off in the morning and get a ride to the airport. 

I was sad to be leaving Portugal, a place I'll go back to again. Nazare to see the waves and Porto to spend more time there. 

Porto from the river

Eiffel's Bridge

Roll out the barrels - Taylor's Port

And the important tasting!

Barrel boats on the river

Up at the castle

Towards Pena Palace

Burial place of remain uncovered during construction