Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Thank you so much Turquoise Compass for nominating me for my first blogging award: “Very Inspiring Blogger Award“! I have only just begun my blogging journey and it warms my heart to know that you are inspired by my writing. I was just hoping that at least someone read it, but to have someone read it AND enjoy it makes me feel very proud! I can feel the love! I think it is important to support my fellow bloggers and share with the world some of the amazing writing that is out there and for that reason I will happily accept this award! If you have time follow the link to Jessica’s blog Turquoise Compass or some of the blogs I enjoy below for some great reading 🙂

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

The rules of accepting the Very Inspiring Blogger Award are:

1. Display the Award Certificate on your website.

2. Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented you with the award.

3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.

4. Drop them a comment to let them know you have linked them in the post.

5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

Seven interesting things about me:

1. I am a Physical Education Teacher and have taught at schools in both Perth and Kalgoorlie. I teach from Kindergarten all the way up to year 12.

2. One of my absolute favourite things to do whilst travelling is visit aquariums, I just love them! I feel so peaceful watching the fish swimming, they mesmerize me. I sometimes sit there for an hour!

3. I love using my hands and creating things. I am a big project person whether it be sewing/quilting, wood work, craft or upcycling.

4. I live a clean and healthy lifestyle. I play lots of sport, exercise regularly and really enjoy testing out new healthy recipes. I love cooking but not as much as I love eating!

5. I am a huge animal lover, especially my dog Lacey. We go for walks together, swim at the beach and I have taught her 15 tricks!

6. I am scared of show rides, they make me cry. My ‘Things to do before you die’ list doesn’t have ‘ride a roller coaster’ let alone anything like jumping off a bridge or out of a plane. Never, ever, ever… whoa, scary!

7. I was named after my Great Grandad Jesse.

The 15 inspiring blogs I have nominated: (In no particular order)

1. Ali’s Adventures

2. Ctrl- Alt- Travel

3. The Squeaky Robot

4. roam & home

5. What an Amazing World!

6. Bucket List Blogger

7. Soulshine Traveler

8. Nic Freeman

9. On the Luce

10. Pommie Travels

11. Hiking in Heels

12. From Australia to Italy – and back

13. Heather on her Travels

14. Barcelona Photoblog

15. Soul Travelers 3

Hiroshima: Peace please!

In Hiroshima I found love. No I didn’t meet another traveller on my way, fall madly in love and live happily ever after. I fell in love with man kind. I was reminded of how precious life is, to have respect for my brothers and sisters, and that forgiveness is a powerful thing.

I went to Hiroshima specifically to go to the Peace Memorial Park, see the Memorial Monuments and visit the Memorial Museum and I am so glad that I did because it was an experience that has changed me. It was overwhelmingly sad, the people in the museum did not speak a word and there were people crying. I even shed a tear myself. There were a lot of artefacts in the museum, evidence that was hard to swallow. Melted ceiling tiles, a concrete wall with acid rain, shredded and burned clothes, warped fingernails and singed hair, radiation shadows permanently burned into the concrete. After the museum and all of the monuments at the park there was a lot to take in and It was hard to digest the enormity of what happened. It left me mournful and melancholy and I was speechless, there were no words to describe what i had seen and how it had made me feel. My travel companion and I didn’t speak for at lest half an hour.

So here is what happened: In 1945 Hiroshima fell victim to the worlds first nuclear attack killing approximately 130,000 people. Everything within 2km of the hypo centre was crushed to rubble and burned. Some people were incinerated on the spot, others dying a slow death from the effects of the bomb and some lived with deformities and disabilities for a long painful life. The city was bombed in attempt to end the Second World War. But why Hiroshima? It was said to have no allied prisoner of war camps, had a large urban area so that the affects of the bomb could be accurately observed and the weather was clear. Doesn’t sound very fair to me!

After the initial shock and sadness i felt, upon leaving Hiroshima I looked back and saw not a sad little city but a city filled with love. Love for one another, over bursting with peace and kindness not only embodied in the memorial but in each and every one of Hiroshima’s citizens. Here is some of the LOVE that I have locked away in my heart for a rainy day…

LOVE IS the Cenotaph Memorial Monument erected on behalf of humanity never to repeat the evil of war. It offers a prayer of peaceful repose for the victims and embodies the spirit of Hiroshima – pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace. Its shape offers shelter to the souls’ of the victims. The cenotaph is aligned with the peace flame and A-Bomb Dome.

LOVE IS all of the bottles of water placed at the monument for the souls of those who died in the bombing. People replenish these everyday so their loved ones can rest peacefully and be rehydrated after suffering from acid filled water ways, air and rain and the horrible thirst from the burning radiation.

LOVE IS the 1000 paper cranes Sadako Sasaki made after contracting Leukaemia 10 years after being exposed to the bombing. She folded each crane in hope that she would be cured of her disease. Sadly at 12 she died and her classmates started a movement to build a ‘Children’s Peace Monument’. Sadako’s story has spread throughout the world and today we know the paper crane as a symbol of peace, all because of one girls hopes and dreams to merely being alive. Something we take for granted a lot of the time

LOVE IS the countless letters of protest written by each successive major of Hiroshima in response to Nuclear testing by any country since 1968. Each time a protest letter is sent the Mayor hopes it will be the last.

LOVE IS a tricycle which was buried alongside Shinichi, a 4 year old boy who died the night of the bombing. His father thought he was too young to be buried in a grave alone and that he could still play with it in heaven.

LOVE IS the little Japanese lady that ran the hostel I was staying at ‘Ryokan Sansui’. She made every effort possible to make my stay as pleasant as possible and was at the door every time I stepped back in welcoming me back with an enormous smile and as much english as she could manage.

Being in Hiroshima reminded me that love is all around us, we just need to open our hearts to it and it will flow in by the bucket full. It took this overwhelming experience to smack me in the face and remind me of this, when I have known it all along. There is love in every human being on earth whether they are black, white, yellow, pink, purple, blue or red. We need to give each other a chance. Please don’t forget like I did.

I think that Hiroshima should be on everyone’s list of places to see before you die. Its very easy to get to also, from Hiroshima Station you take tram line 2 or 6 to Genbaku-Domu Mae Station. It is a short 15 minute ride and only costs 150 yen.

Wave Rock: A dogs tale

Woof woof! I am Jess’ best friend Lacey and I would like to share with you my camping trip to Wave Rock, Hyden, Western Australia. Now usually i am more muttropolitan than country, but I decided to give this whole camping thingy a go. I thought that camping in the Aussie bush would be pawsatively ruff but I really enjoyed it! This adventure has given me a new leash on life and I am now more adventurous than ever.

We started off the trip with a 4 hour car ride from Perth, which I absolutely looooove to do. But I wasn’t allowed to stick my head out the window though because we were driving too fast. When we got there we set up our tent at the campsite which was right at the base of wave rock. I helped out by thoroughly sniffing the campsite for cat burglars and marked our territory so those kangaroos didn’t try to sleep in my kennel or steal cuddles off my mum. I could see them lying under the shade of a nearby tree, I just wonder what they were planning?

After setting up the campsite we went to see Wave Rock. It was huge! About 100m long amd 14m high, it looked like a tall golden wave crashing in the outback. The colours were so vibrant and bright, my mum tells me they were made by rain washing chemical deposits down the face. We got to go for a walkies around the base of the rock and down a bush track to another cool rock called ‘Hippos Yawn’. I could see why it was called that, because it looked like a big hippos mouth open wide. I wonder if there is a rock called dogs yawn? Or maybe shaped like a dog bone? Mmmmmmm, bone.

Although Hyden was a very little town in the middle of no where, there was other cool stuff to do. We drove to a large granite formation with three tall peaks called ‘The Humps’. We went for a walkies all the way to the top and could see the rugged Australian land as far as the eye could see every way we looked. It was pretty cool. Now I know I’m a little dog but I felt even smaller standing upon this mountain. We stopped for a while to ponder life and sit in silence. There was a very eerie feel to the place, I felt like there were spirits all around me from the Australian Aborigines who had called this place their home many years a go.

One of those Aborigines was named Mulka and he had a cave at the base of the mountain. As the story goes, Mulka was cursed with crossed eyes so he could not hunt, so he terrorised the village and ate little children! I don’t think little children bones would be very tasty, yuck! The cave has over 200 prehistoric Aborigine paintings, including handprints from Mulka himself.

Hyden is a great place to visit, you get to see a few cool sites and take in the Aussie outback in its finest form. Schnauzer chance, you should go too!

I love going on holidays with my Jess, do you have a best friend that goes on holiday with you?

Rottnest Island: A sunkissed gem in the Indian Ocean

I close my eyes and suck back a big breath of fresh ocean air. Its not only oxygen that moves through my body, but a sense of calmness and freedom that makes me smile on the inside. As i exhale I release the noise of the city I have come from, with its busyness and traffic, there will be no hustle and bustle here. As I open my eyes there is shimmering blue water in the bay before me as far as the eye can see. Its waves are mesmerising, continuing to roll on into the bay and just for a moment, this is all that consumes me. I feel as free as the ocean breeze that winds its way through my hair and filled with affection from the gentle kiss of mother nature as the sun beams down on my shoulders.
As I wriggle my toes in the golden sand beneath my feet I am slowly brought back to the present moment and say a word of thanks for the gift of peace and happiness that has been bestowed upon me.

This island is a beauty, this Island is called Rottnest Island and is just off the coast of Perth in Western Australia. It is the perfect beach break to relax, get down to nature and away from city life. The only cars on the island are the few emergency vehicles. Most people get around by bike along the 50km of bike paths that circle the island, or by the bus that services a few central points of the island. If you like cycling, walking, snorkelling, fishing, surfing, diving, laying on the beach, observing wildlife in its natural habitat, or learning about the local history, then Rotto is for you.

My favourite way to spend the day is kicked off by a bakery breakfast in the town square, cycling from bay to bay along the coast at my own leisure stopping intermittently for snorkelling and laying in the sand reading a book. There is no better way to end the day then by grabbing a glass of wine and bite to eat at the tavern as you watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean.

I also like to stop and photograph the wildlife as I see them along my way. Rottnest is home to thousands of adorable and friendly marsupials called Quokkas. When they were first observed many years ago they were likened to rats and the island was named after them, ‘Rotte Nest’ which translates to rats nest. Quokkas roam the island freely and are very friendly, It is not uncommon for them to be on the path or have them snooping around your doorstep scavenging scraps of food. My other favourite wildlife on the island is the marine life. The reefs surrounding the island are teeming with tropical fish, coral, crustaceans and shells which make for top class snorkelling and diving. The island is also home to sharks and venomous snakes, so have your wits about you and keep yourself safe.

Summer is the best time to take advantage of the activities Rotto has to offer but if you come in the winter you can see the migrating humpback whales. You can get there by the ferry that leaves from Fremantle which is inexpensive and only last around 30 mins. On the island you may choose to camp out or stay in the cottages, villas and units. There is accommodation to suit every budget and every traveller. Bikes and snorkelling equipment are available for hire on the island if you dont have your own. For more information you can check out the official tourism website http://www.rottnestisland.com

Perth: There’s no place like home!

I have lived in Perth, Western Australia, all of my life and I will always call it home. Perth is known to be a lazy and slow kind of city but over the last few years it has grown with funky new restaurants and bars popping up and increasingly more and more to do. Perth has great weather, the gorgeous summer sun always puts a smile on my face. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a break from the busyness of life, come and relax with us! We love good food, good wine and a good chat. Fellow Perthians are a very friendly bunch!

My top thing to do: Beaches! Cottesloe Beach and Port Beach are my favourites. I grew up here jumping the waves, making extravagant sand castles and trying to finish my ice cream before it melted in the scorching summer heat. The water is a cooling refreshment after 40 degree Celsius summer days, and is the best place to be if you ask me! The sand is golden and there is plenty of it, all you need is a towel, some sunglasses, a good book and your on your way to relaxation.

Best view of the city: South Perth Foreshore. From here you can see a gorgeous view of the city across the river, which looks spectacular at sunrise. The sun magically glistens and sparkles over the water which is a refreshing start to the day. I like to walk/run my dog along the pathways and sometimes grab a bite to eat or a coffee at a cafe along the way. I find this a very calming place to be. It makes me stop, take a deep breath in, relax and have a little moment of peace before the start of a busty day.

Eat and drink: Swan Valley Wine Region. Discover tastes and sensations on your tongue that will leave you craving more! Many tour companies do food and wine tours, so that you can sample as many wines as you like without putting yourself in danger behind the wheel. If your not a big drinker then it is very easy to navigate your way around with a self drive tour and take the day as you please. One of my favourite wineries is Sandalford Wines, which also host music concerts amongst the grass. The Swan Valley is only 20 minutes drive from the city, and I would recommend spending the day here as it is easy to fill in time with many if the other activities on offer here such as the chocolate factory and supa golf.

Best Market: Fremanlte Markets. I love to go there on a Sunday morning to buy fresh fruit and veg for the week ahead. The produce is fresh and delicious and you can sample some of what is on offer whilst a DJ mixes up funky tunes. Chocolate coated strawberries, freshly squeezed juices, german sausage, big bowls of paella, pastries, cupcakes, there is an enormous range to satisfy everyone. The market boasts over 150 stalls including local art work, clothing, crafts, souvenirs and many more.The building has a rich history itself with heritage architecture and there is heaps to do whilst in Fremantle all within walking distance (Why not try a tour of the old Fremantle Prison?)The atmosphere is a buzz and sure to satisfy all of the senses. Open until 8pm Friand 6pm Sat & Sun.

Hot Spots: Mt Lawley, Leederville, Subiaco. Each of these places are fantastic little niches within the surrounding suburbs of the city. Perthians gather here to socialise, shop, eat and drink. One of my favourite watering holes is in the Sunday afternoon sunshine at ”The Garden’ in Leederville. It has a friendly atmosphere and a great selection of beer and wines. I love eating at ‘The Beaufort Street Merchant’ in Mt Lawley, which is a stylish casual dining restaurant with scrumptious food and good coffee.

Getting around: Public transport isn’t crash hot in Perth. There don’t seem to be buses and trains that will take you to the exact places you need, run on time, or come all that frequently. In saying that, you will get to where you need to go and need not worry, but I would allow a little extra journey time and definitely would plan ahead. Taxi’s are quick to come during the day but more scarce in peak hours where sometimes you may be waiting quite a while. They are expensive too!

Best time to visit: in the later months of spring Oct-Nov before the scorching summers set in, unless summer loving is what you are after.

Weekend getaways: Rottnest Island which is a short ferry ride from Fremantle and the Margaret River Wine region which is three hours south of perth by car.

If Perth were a person it would be: A good looking, well groomed, up and coming celebrity, with casual and laid back swag and up for a fun time.

Perth is a friendly and inviting city, my home and where my heart is!