For the last two years, I have taken an interest in genealogy. Originally, I wasn’t quite sure what had sparked this interest. I now understand some of the reasons why. As a grandmother, I need to see this information recorded somewhere, for the sake of the generations that follow me.
This country has to be one of the prettiest, scenic places I have ever been. We hired a car at the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica so that we could take a road trip across the country.
Costa Rica is a land of volcanoes, rainforests and cloud forests, huge waterfalls, and mighty rivers. It is bordered by beaches and lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
Imagine arriving in Central America, having traveled for days from a small town in Western Australia. We were simply blown away by the vast differences. In many ways, the whole experience was incomparable to anything I had lived before.
We were here because our daughter and her boyfriend had been in Nicaragua for 6 months. They had been managing a surf club in San Juan del Sur and were responsible for cooking each night for the guests, teaching yoga, surfing, and managing the club’s operations. We met up with them at the end of their six-month contract so that we could take a road trip across Costa Rica together.
Arriving in Granada late at night, we found our accommodation. We booked into Selinas, a chain of hotel/hostels found throughout Central America. We had flown from JFK to Managua and then caught a taxi to Granada. It was 11 pm, we were tired and the place was pumping.
It had been 6 months since we had seen our daughter, so we were excited to be catching up with her and her partner, the following day. Before leaving Granada, we ventured out to explore this vibrant city.
Continue reading “Granada Nicaragua”After traveling across Costa Rica, we made our way towards Panama. Our first stop was the Bocas del Toro Province, an archipelago that lies at the southern tip of Isla Colón, in the Caribbean Sea and northwest of Panama.
Bocas is a largely undiscovered mecca for surfing that has been compared to what Hawaii, Bali, and the Maldives were like over 20 years ago. Surf was some of the best our son in law had experienced (Paunch Reef, Dumpers, and Bluff Beach).
Having a young couple with us made it that much more interesting. Web sites, travel blogs, and tourist information cautioned us to avoid the main island (Isla Colon) but we didn’t listen. Instead, we found it open, warm, lively, and colourful. The place was quiet through the day and it pumped at night. It was hot and humid, and we walked or cycled everywhere.
Continue reading “Bocas del Toro-Panama”New York didn’t disappoint. Before leaving Panama, we had to decide how we were going to get home. Our only commitment was a booked flight from LA airport back to Australia. We toyed with the idea of going to Jamaica (the farmer’s family history has links to the country) but decided upon four days in NY instead. Jamaica can wait until another time.
Continue reading “New York”You might know stories of farmers who worked extremely hard for little or no return; their experiences of drought, governments, sanctions, and tariffs all taking a toll on their livelihood. Dare I mention it, but there are also stories of undiagnosed mental illness, early death, disease, relationship breakdowns, and a whole host of unexplained reasons as to why people left the land.
Continue reading “Livelihood and leaving”Lake King | Ravensthorpe | Hopetoun | Bremer Bay | Albany | Denmark
The five-hour road trip from the Wheatbelt to the southern coast of Western Australia was certainly worth the journey. Spring wildflowers had just emerged and the unspoiled natural beauty of the southern coastline presented an excellent visual display.
Continue reading “Road tripping south”Beacon | Cue | Mount Augustus | Gascoyne Junction | Carnarvon | Kalbarri
Normally we would be shearing at this time of year, but because we’d got out of sheep, we were free to travel, anywhere. With the destination unknown at the time of leaving, we made a quick decision to turn right at the farm gate. This meant that the road trip would take us to the north of the state.
It was the colours that drew me back; the intensity of the blue skies, red dirt, and green trees.
Continue reading “Road tripping north”I came to the Wheatbelt in the mid-80s as a 19-year-old and never left. I always thought about leaving though, returning to the city, to my family; my daughters, sisters and brothers, and parents. I longed to go back to the colours and the lights of the city, the people, culture, entertainment, and friends.
Continue reading “Early years: City to country”
