Local sights, Travel

Looking for lights

by wattleandash4 Comments on Looking for lights
Looking for lights

The other day I got text message from Adam: ‘We’re going out tonight’. It was all a bit mysterious, but after some questioning (I am a journalist after all!) Adam revealed that while waiting for a flight he’d read about a massive solar storm that was due to create optimal conditions for spotting the aurora borealis as far south as the English midlands.

He kept his eyes on the forecast and various scientific readings throughout the course of the day and that night we decided to go looking for the northern lights.

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Everyday life, Thoughts, Travel

Autumnal outlook

by wattleandash3 Comments on Autumnal outlook
Autumnal outlook

Living in the U.K. has definitely taught me about living more seasonally.  That natural rhythm of change every few months is so evident, that you can’t help but adapt to it too.

In Wagga Wagga, where Adam and I lived before moved to England, there were four seasons, but autumn and spring often arrived in short bursts, breaking up the hot and cold weather. Here it’s more gradual and the seasons are given the opportunity to ‘breath’ a little more, so you get to learn the nuances of each quarter of the year…

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Food, Local sights, Travel

The fruit farm

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The fruit farm

Just like clockwork on the first of September the air had the slightest chill in it to welcome the arrival of autumn. It was hard to believe a few days prior England had recorded its warmest bank holiday weekend in decades.  A joyful hurrah to summer.

I love autumn. It’s my favourite season and already a few trees around Malvern have started to turn yellow and red, readying themselves for the cooler months ahead. In those last hazy days of warmth though, Adam and I took my family and his sister Alex to a local fruit farm for a spot of picking…

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Travel

Bodmin Moor

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Bodmin Moor

The August bank holiday is one of the most popular weekends in the United Kingdom for ‘getting away’.  It falls at the end of summer (and the school holidays) and is often seen as a last hurrah before Autumn’s cooler, greyer days arrive.

When Adam and I realised my dad, mum and brother would be in England at the same time we decided to organise a weekend away involving our two families. So early last Friday morning, 20 people, plus Frank the Corgi made our way to Cornwall.

We managed to cram a lot into our long weekend, so I’m looking forward to sharing some of what we did over the next few weeks.  Today though, we’re off to vast expanse of the Bodmin Moor…

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Food, Travel

Green Man

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Green Man

I’ve never been a big music festival goer.  In Australia they always tended to occur in the hottest part of the year, and when you lack height (like I do),  standing at armpit height on a 40 degree day in the blazing sun with thousands of others just doesn’t seem appealing.

When Adam and I met he told me about a four day music and arts festival called Green Man that’s held in Wales in late summer.  He described it as a bunch of people sitting around eating good food and listening to good music. He told me it was very civilised and an awful lot of fun.

I was intrigued so we decided early in the year that we’d be at Green Man 2017 …

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Food, Local sights, Travel

Broadway

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Broadway

For many visitors to the U.K., a trip to the Cotswolds is a must. It’s quintessential England – rolling green hills, small villages made up of stone buildings, and bucolic pubs full of ales, sleeping dogs and pork scratchings.

The very far eastern reaches of Worcestershire lie within the Cotswolds, so a few months ago Adam and I decided to hold off day-tripping to the area until my family arrived so we could all go together…

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Everyday life, Local sights, Travel

Worlds colliding

by wattleandash2 Comments on Worlds colliding
Worlds colliding

For the entire time Adam and I have been together we’ve existed in these two separate worlds.  Our life in Australia and our life in England – distinct from one another, but each containing family and friends whom we love. The arrival of my family in Malvern has been a little surreal for Adam and I.  Our two existences are suddenly colliding and it feels a little strange to be walking around Malvern with so many Aussies in tow!

We spent our first full day together taking it easy around town…

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