Water Jousting in Sete, France

Oft forgotten little Sete has more going for it than I envisaged.  Many years ago I took a barge trip down the Canal du Midi ending at the medieval village of Carcassone , just a few miles from the small port of Sete. 

With a chance to watch the ancient sport of water jousting I decided it was time to revisit the area. Sure, there were also other reasons for our visit to this part of the world,   but water jousting dating back to 1666 happened to be the first.

Seated along the Royal Canal, we watched two opposing boats position themselves as each team of 10 oarsmen rowed towards their opponents with their selected jouster standing tall and steady  on the ‘tintaine’ about 2 meters above  the water level. The red team selected the captain of our ship, a young and agile Englishman; the blue team selected the town’s 7^th year in a row champion jouster.  One look at my photo tells you who won and the video shows our captain succumbing to the cold waters of the Royal Canal.    

and the charm of ranunculars and tulips all along the canal  heralded  the arrival of Spring. 

Barcelona, The Ramblas, and hop-on hop-off busses.

On my return visit to Barcelona, actually my fourth visit, it hit me why my clients always  ask for a hotel on the Ramblas.   There’s the,  Ramblas de Catalunya north of Plaza de Catalunya and as the street leaves the  plaza heading to the port the name changes to Las Ramblas.  Well meaning returning friends  and  family from their wonderful experience in Barcelona talk about the joy  of  the Ramblas without specifically defining which one.  Both wide boulevards carry the charm of everything Spanish, but the noise and safety factor  around Las Ramblas should be considered before any final decisions on where to stay are made.

And then there's the super value of the Barcelona city tourist busses to consider. Cost of one day E26.00 hop-on hop-off  all day long  - and two days  just E34.00 per person - there are two different routes which will cover all areas and with careful planning one can jump from the blue to the red route at certain points.  Using these busses you can see  all the Gaudi famous buildigs including the famous Sagrada cathedral, the Gothic quarter and so much more     All hop-on hop-off busses are narrated in several languages and leave from the Plaza de la Catalunya including the airport bus.

Barcelona - The Mirror hotel

Supersonic travel hasn't returned yet   but there are times when I feel it has. 

Sitting in our hotel in Barcelona, resting weary feet, Bill exclaims, "Will you look at that!"  Not only is it a double rainbow  but a complete one with deep  rich colors.   Rushing to unpack my camera, I almost get catch all of it on film  before it disappears.

That was looking outside the hotel and if the weather was better you could see the meditteranean right where the rainbow ended.  Instead,  time to look inside the hotel. Opened two years ago it's new and white and full of surprises with angels to guard you.  

The Mirror hotel practises a  fully sustainable  management, prefering a paperless environment, hires 90% of it's staff from surrounding areas and uses produce and wine from local producers 

The White Angels of the Mirror  are designed by a German sculpture from Berlin - who moved to Barcelons in 2003.

 Don't look for your room number on the door as you won't find it. Instead it is lit and sunken into the floor beside your door.

A profile of a white angel in our room - being the only form of artwork in the room 

  The door to our bathroom.
White laminate floors and walls with about half the walls being mirrors don't allow for bad hair days

As if a flat screen TV opposite the commode isn't enough options of the three TV's in our room,  there is also a reading light should you prefer that form of pastime during morning ablutions.   

...and a two star Michelin restaurant  renown for it's amazing fish dishes . Closed Sundays and Mondays. This is a great hotel for the budget conscious jet-setter.  Yes, that's me.

  

Australian Outback

So where is the Australian Outback?

 Some say it's red rock country,  others call it Ayers Rock  or more correctly Uhuru and others say if you stand on the east coast looking out to the ocean it's everything behind you......and that's the better discription, in reality it's any part of Australia that isn't a city. 
I've spent hours, days and weeks traveling around this vast land, and seen more of the country than most Aussies. From my colonial background I may sound like a Sydneysider to some, which is far from the truth but it doesn't stop me from loving this amazing city and all that the country has to offer from the old fashioned 6 o'clock swill  to the 'no problem mate' answers.

If the idea of  a green outback experience grabs you when you don't have time to travel further than a few hours from Sydney, do please try turning to the beauty of New South Wales and a bit of 'adult' luxury camping, known in some circles as glamping. 

These days camping is not all boy and girl scout style with a swag thrown over your back .
 

Head south from Sydney just a couple of hours and you'll be  ready to experience the wildlife of PaperBack Bark Camp.


   Not everywhere in the outback is hot, dry, brown and dusty with incessant fly attacks.