I always think of overseas travels as the great adventures and brush off the holidays at home as mundane. It doesn't have to be so. Adventure requires something novel, be it in the people we meet, unusual creatures or wonderful landscapes we see.
I am making a bucket list of things I want to do before I "kick the bucket" - not that that is top of my list! I don't want to die doing the same old thing day in, day out. I am hoping that my bucket list will provide opportunity for me to live life to the maximum. I started my list after watching the the movie of the same name with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, realising that I had achieved a lot of the things I had already hoped to.
I don't want to set myself up for failure and disappointment if I don't achieve everything on my list, so I will have to consider if it's achievable. I'm certainly no Shackleton as I do like my creature comforts. Mostly I want to travel to certain places and see certain things.
My bucket list is fairly small at this stage but is evolving
- Visit my sister my often
- See more of Western Australia
- Swim with the whale sharks
- Visit the Galapagos Islands
- Take a Cruise to Antartica
- A luxury safari in Africa
I have done some pretty awesome things in my life and so I will probably have to make a list that is already done - a list to leave for my son to read, and aspire to. He may also consider that perhaps I wasn't such a boring old fart after all!! I read somewhere this is known as an Anti Bucket list
Lived in London
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| Place called home |
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| 42 Orlando Rd, Clapham Common |
We left Rhodesia in 1978 on a working holiday. It was only for a year in the first instance but we were entranced by the availability of entertainment and the freedom to travel. We never gave much thought to the appalling place we lived in. It was an adventure.
Travelled Europe in a Kombi
We saved enough to leave our jobs and set off in the Kombi that was to be our home for many months. Our aim was to see as much of Europe as we could - and we did. Money ran out so we didn't get everywhere we wanted but it was so much fun. We met wonderful people along the way, including those that were ultimately responsible for our move to Australia.
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| Big Red |
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| Rain and shine |
Skied on the highest summers peak in Austria
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| Kaprun, Austria |
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| More down than up |
Eastern Block - Bulgaria, Rumania and Yugoslavia
The ablution blocks were very challenging in the eastern block countries. I think I developed a dislike of camping here.
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| Lenin, Sofia |
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| Russian Orthodox Church |
Seeking the past in Greece
We arrived in Greece during a heat wave. Some days were hovering around 40 degrees. It certainly didn't stop us getting around. There was a scout jamboree on in Athens at the same time and who should we meet but Martin's younger brother Neil representing the scouts in Bulawayo.
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Parthenon, Athens
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| Delphi |
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Topless bathing in Mykonos
We took the cattle class ferry to the islands sitting on deck with the locals who gorged themselves silly then were promptly sick when the swell got up. Not recommended. The islands were beautiful. We camped on Mykonos. The only site then was the nudist beach. Because it had been very hot in Athens we had very little with us. Unfortunately the nights and the open air showers were very cold.
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| Mykonos Paradise (nudist) beach |
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| What were you thinking? |
Chilled in Corfu
Paradise I could have stayed forever
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| Paleokastritsa beach - clearest coldest water ever |
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| Hippy campers |
Famous Italian sites
We arrived back in Italy during a petrol driver strike and had to spend quite some time at a site in Brindisi. We made a number of local friends and ate lots of pasta.
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| Leaning Tower of Pisa (when you could still climb it) |
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| Streets of Pompeii |
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View from the Vatican
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| St Peter's Bassilica Rome |
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| Spanish Steps Rome |
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Trevi Fountain
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| Piazzale Michelangelo Florence Italy |
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Switzerland and beyond
It was all awesome
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| Brien Lake Interlaken, Switzerland |
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| Greifenstein Vienna Austria(Grey Danube) |
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| Heidleberg Castle, Germany |
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| Marseille |
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| Monte Carlo |
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| Monaco |
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Pampeloma
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| Strasbourg France |
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| Traben Trarbach Germany |
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| Grand Place, Brussels |
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| Mannequin Pis Mandarin Costume Brussels |
Once we got to Brussels our trip was nearly over. The plan was then to return to London. I would get work while Martin sold the Kombi. Then we were to head to America. Freddy Laker was at his peak and flights were cheap. Friends who lived in our house in Clapham were returning to Australia via the US and South America and another friend wanted to join us before returning to Africa.
That story is for another time.
