England. Here are a few of my favourite things.

England has so much to offer, a wealth of things to discover and culture to unearth. Here are some of my favourites so far!

Traditions

Celebrations that have been handed down the generations adding colour and music to local history. Not put on for tourists, part of everyday village life.

The Morris dancers.

Skills handed down from generation to generation

Maypole dancing heralds the beginning of Summer, village greens come alive.

Adding colour and laughter to villages across the country.

History

The land is steeped in history. There is so much to explore, to learn, to absorb.

From London's Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

To Stonehenge

Hampton Court Palace and beyond.

Flowers

Spring brings a rolling avalanche of colour and fragrance to brighten the days after a long Winter. 

The pretty, cheeky faced Daffodil.

The fragrant Wisteria Walks

The Laburnum, dripping golden trails of yellow.

The woodlands of bluebells in dappled sunlight brighten the soul.

A year ago today...

One year ago today, my family had an emotional drive out to the airport in Shanghai. Our last trip as residents, we were leaving our Shanghai life behind, our apartment stripped bare, heart wrenching farewells were over. We took in the skyline, knowing that with the speed of progress, it would never look the same again. We savoured every last minute of the amazing city that had been our home for the last four years. A place where we all grew and blossomed. Made wonderful, life long friends. Adventures were had. A year on, we have embraced our new life, enjoy new adventures. But we still miss our Shanghai life, the simple everyday street life. What had started out as a novelty had become our normal.

The shops on wheels..you could buy just about anything off a trike.

The life on the street, the pyjamas, the washing.

The street vendors, who could fix just about anything, for next to nothing.

The fruit....ahh the delicious fruit!

The wet markets and the characters within.

The smiles from labourers, happy with their lot.

The cute kids.

The split pants and baby butts.

Mostly I miss the nappers....

The ability to sleep anywhere, balanced precariously...

They still manage to look comfortable!

Thanks for the memories Shanghai!

Western Australia Day

On the first Monday in June each year, Western Australia commemorates the foundation of the Swan River Colony on 1 June 1829. Today, here I am in Buckinghamshire, England on a glorious Spring day, with much the same weather that Perth experienced today. I am more likely to see a White Swan rather than the Black namesake of our beautiful Swan River, but I will sit back and celebrate my home State, forever thankful that Perth is the place of my birth.

The Iconic Black Swan

The Sandbar, Point Walter

Fishing Boat Harbour, Fremantle

Perth City skyline

Blackwall Reach

Swan River sunset

As the sun sets over the Swan River today, I will immerse myself in the backlog of adventures and photos I have accumulated over the past nine weeks. We have had a visitor from Australia and I have been out and about with little time to sit and write so stay tuned, lots of UK Spring adventures coming soon!