This month's travel linkup topic is Home. It got me thinking as to what makes a place feel like home to me. Although a lot of people have connections with the physical place, home to me has more to do with the people and the sense of belonging you get. I love the Adelaide sceneries, the Hills, the beaches, the wineries, the most important thing about is the people that I love and who love me. My family and most of my friends are back in Adelaide, and when I go home, they are always there to support me and share in experiences.
I can say the same for the people I meet in London. Being an Antipodean in London, a lot of us have the same values - making the most of life, visiting new places, experiencing new cultures and foods, learning history of places we've never even heard about before. I have made a great group of friends here in London, who I have shared many new experiences with.
Home is a sense of belonging.
How to link up your post
Just pop your post up over the first week of the month (the 1st - 7th July 2016) and add it to the link up widget found on Angie's, Jessi's or Polly's blogs.
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Last weekend a close community hall held a Wellness and Spiritual Fair which Mum and I decided to head down to.
I've always been fascinated with the idea of 'psychics' and Mum has been to a few which are apparently spot on, so I chose one (who seemed to be the fairly priced and didn't have much of a waiting time).
The particular lady I saw used Intuition Cards along with Angel Cards.
Armed with Mum's sage advice - 'don't tell her anything, let her do the 'seeing'' I sat down and shuffled, shuffled, shuffled. The clairvoyant laid my cards out for me.
Everything that she said could be relayed back to what I want to do with my life - I was quite happy that she came out with 'are you looking at moving out of home? Quite far away? It looks like it's going to happen, but it may be put on hold for a bit.' Sorry Mum, looks like I will be moving back to England!
After the cards were read, you get an opportunity to ask the angels a particular question. I asked if I would ever get married and have babies? (Because at 25 I'm clearly on the shelf)... and the Yes card came up! *Disclaimer - I'm currently missing the key ingredient of the baby making recipe, but Mum was happy to know that she would (eventually) get some grand-kids to look after out of me!
While I was watching my future unfold, Mum was experiencing Reiki.
Reiki is the healing technique where the healer 'channels' energy into the patient through touch, which activates the natural healing processes of the body restoring both physical and emotional well-being. It looked pretty relaxing.
The Fair also had a few stalls of natural remedies, as well as other types of healing therapies.
Bee Natural - a range of products made from organic honey
A collection of spritzes to help with physical and emotional well-being
Drum healing
It was a good day to learn a bit about the more spiritual side of healing and all the stall owners and the event runners were absolutely lovely and I am enjoying my new products.
> The next event held at the John McVeity Centre is this Saturday, 28th November which is a Xmas Market. http://www.johnmcveity.ymca.org.au/participate/xmas-markets/
Over the last few weeks I have been able to strike a few things off my Bucket List.
Turkey is an amazing country, relatively new in itself, but the every part of the big country is full of history.
A friend and I decided to embark upon a Busabout Tour in time for the 99th ANZAC Day Commemorations on the peninsula where it originated.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about (I will forgive you, as long as you're not an Aussie or Kiwi), ANZAC Day takes place on April 25 every year to remember all Australians and New Zealanders who have served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions.
The date is the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire. it is the first campaign that led to major casualties.
"Those heroes that shed their blood
and lost their lives...
You are now living in the soil of a friendly country
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
And teh Mhmets to us where they lie side by side
Here in this country of ours...
You, the mother,
Who sent their sons from far away countries
Wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
And are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have
Become our sons as well."
Ataturk, 1934
We arrived about 8pm the night before and made ourselves comfortable in the grandstand. All of the grass space had been taken by tour groups such as Fanatics and Topdeck laying out in their sleeping bags or sitting in groups shrouded in Australian and New Zealand flags.
Throughout the night, there was entertainment, ranging from the Australian Air Force band to a Maori tribe dance to clips on the big screen about the history of the day - from both the ANZAC perspective, and the Turk perspective.
Us up in the grandstand had a bit of room, and I laid out my sleeping bag on the ground to get a bit of shut eye before the Dawn Service.
After a broken sleep of around 5 hours (thankyou to that can of Coke I had), it was 4am and the MC was back on the mic waking everyone up for the 5am Dawn Service start.
We stood for the Turkish, New Zealand and Australian national anthems and then for the Ode and the Last Post.
The Ode is a verse from the poem "For the Fallen' by a British poet and author Laurence Binyon.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, or the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
The Last Post is a bugle call that signals the end of the days activities. It is also played at the funerals of soldiers to indicate that he is in his final resting place. As well as ANZAC Day, it is also played at Remembrance Day services.
To be able to stand on the hallowed grounds where many of our ancestors fought and died for our way of life is an amazing experience and one I would urge all Antipodeans to make the pilgrimage to the battlefields of Gallipoli.
After the Dawn Service it was time to make the 3km hike up to Lone Pine for the Australian service.
I broke my leg about 6 weeks before, so I took advantage of the free Shuttle Bus (a service very well organised by the volunteers). Unfortunately this meant that I missed out on seeing the cemeteries that are scattered throughout the peninsula - I did get a free lanyard though!
The Australian service didn't start until 10am, so we were entertained by the Master of Ceremonies till the start of the service.
On my way from home to home (Adelaide to London) I stopped in for a few days to visit my friend Ruby in Perth. Ruby and I were able to spend a few moments - between sleep and Ruby's work - exploring the awesome city of Perth. We went down to the City of Fremantle and had a lovely dinner at the Sail and Anchor before heading to the Fremantle Prison for a Torchlight Tour.
Fremantle Prison entrance
There were a few tense moments that were a little bit scary, but it could have definitely been a whole lot scarier. Our tour guide, Chris, was really good and full of interesting facts about the history of the prison.
<<<<< This bucket is all the prisoners had to use as a toilet. The bucket was left in the 2x2 cell with the prisoner, who was in there for about 23 out of 24 hours of the day. The bucket was a part of the prison system up until it closed in 1991. Cell 53, of the solitary division, is the cell that has the most deaths/suicides than all the other cells. The solitary cells have there own exercise courtyards, and they did have the luxury of a flushing toilet until ...
... Some bloke decided to take a handstand, giving himself a swirlie, then fall over to the side - breaking his neck! Needless to say, the toilet was then cemeted up and the prisoners went back to using the bucket system! We also got to see the Execution Room. Western Australia was the last state in Australia to get rid of the death penalty. Fremantle Prison was the only legal place of execution in WA between 1888 and 1984. During that time 43 men and one woman were hanged at the prison. The last woman to be legally hanged in Fremantle Prison was Marth Rendell.
Ruby and I also spent some time exploring the Swan Valley. The Margaret River Chocolate Factory has an outlet in the Swan Valley, which is awesome as the chocolate factory produce some delicious, delicious desserts! We also visited Whistler's Chocolate Factory, which had an aquarium full of chocolate fish and candy coral. We visited many relaxing places such as the Cottage Tea Rooms ....
Pot of Rose Garden tea and a scone with jam and cream. ..... and The Cheese Barrel ...
... Which had some delicious cheese and a relaxing view. While in Perth I also got to catch up with a recently-made new friend, Ameera.
This beautiful lady was part of my European tour with Topdeck. We had a lovely meal of fish and chips on the beach down at Cottesloe.
