The lilting tones if the Irish Harp seemed like the perfect time to conclude my Irish holiday. But one more stop before the ferry town of Rosslare.
In New Ross there is a monument to immigration. With an eternal frame.
It sits outside the migrant museum.
The Dunbrody migrant ship stands testament to the over 1.5 million Irish who emigrated to the US to escape oppression, famine and genocide
There are two plaques at the memorial. One a poem by Thomas Moore.
And the dedication plaques opened by representatives of the US and Ireland.
It makes me think that so.many of us are migrants or children of migrants, yet now we denigrate and persecute migrants who, like our forebears, are escaping persecution, hunger and displacement.
The monument is, by its existence, a memorial to the Irish famine/genocide. The Irish still carry the scars of those times.
In my 2018 trip I visited Derry Bogside and this is a photo I took then.
Genocide continues in Palestine and we should not be silent.
From the beachside village of Rosslare there is a view across the bay to the ferry harbour. Next morning I would be crossing the Irish Sea.
After arriving in Croatia I travelled north to the beautiful Gacka Valley with the aim of staying a few days in his beautiful part of the country.
I booked a room in the small village of Zalznica and looked forward to exploring the area.
Dinner that night was at Bistro JELEN, where I became a regular.
I asked the chef, Zeljko, about hiking in the area. He warned me to stay to the trails as may still be land mines in the forest. This was my first encounter with the scars of the Balkans civil war, that raged from 1991 to 1999 and in some places like the Serbia/Kosovo border still happening.
In Mostar, the scars are still visible on the streets where brutal fighting in close quarters took place.
The scars are also visible in the small cemetaries that are dotted through the countryside. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph any. As one photo could not represent the large number of these new cemetaries or the death contained there.
At Blagaj, near Mostar, there is a Sufi Mosque that sits above one on the largest springs in Europe.
This cushion sits in the little reading room of the most. A memorial to the Massacre at Srebrenica.
Travelling through the Balkan Countries. Monuments to.war are a regular occurrence.
In 2019, I visited Ljubjana, where there is a monument to the Peasant Uprisings. A moving monument that remembers the slavic peoples revolts against the Austro/Hungarian Empire.
ANZAC COVE, holds a special place in Australian history and mythology. Being so close to Gallipoli, where the Cove is located, I decided to visit. What’s another 1000km or so anyway.
I have always wondered why the Gallipoli campaign is so important. Australian forces took part in an attempt to invade Turkey. Turkey had only recently joined WW1 on the side of Germany.
The attack was a total failure with enormous casualties on both sides.
There are monuments to the dead on both sides.
It was said that WW1 was the war to end all wars.
In Australia, on ANZAC Day and Armistice Day, we all say Lest We Forget. But we do forget as the war ploughs headlong into more wars, more suffering, more death.
A few weeks after travelling through Kosovo, there was a fire fight near the Serbian/Kosovo border, killing 8 people. I had been near there.
Dear friends and followers, I’ve struggled with the ever-present reminders of war I encountered in the Balkans. Hence, this blog.
Normal broadcasting of lighthearted travel and adventure stories can now resume.
The Adnyamathanha people are the aboriginal custodians of the lands around Ikara, or the Flinders Ranges as the colonialists called this land.
At Arkaroo Rock there are rock drawing that convey the dreaming stories of the Adnyamathanha.
These snippets from a large rock wall underplay the intricate linking of picture and storytelling that is contained on the rock wall
Stories such this one on the formation of Ikara.
Rock drawings change from region to region. The drawing in the Flinders Ranges differ to those in Kakadu, in Cape York and in other parts of Australia.
Each reflecting the stories and dreaming of the local Aboriginal people.
They also differ over time.
The rock etching in the Sacred Canyon and at Willow Springs being much older than that rock drawings are believed to predate the current aboriginal custodians of the land
For me the walk into Sacred Canyon is very spiritually moving.
Lets make sure we recognise and cherish this ancient culture that has lived in one with the land
The second Melbourne, Australia lock down has just been implemented
After being in and out of lock downs in Spain and England and quarantine in a Melbourne Hotel, this second lockdown in Melbourne has finally anchored me.
Famous landmarks of the usually bustling city cast with an almost ghostly quietness
Even the usually bustling Victoria Market with its colourful displays of produce, like the life has been sucked out of its ancient stalls and sheds
No queuing four deep at my favourite stall
Chance meeting with someone I hadn’t seen for a while
Little is left to chance in the time of coronavirus
At the eastern end of the city
The Monuments, the Shrine of Remembrance and the Old Observatory along with Gardens and the floral clock stand alone
In the lanes and alleyways of the inner city
Usually vibrant
The graffiti almost mocks the quiet desolation
The next 6 weeks (the length of this lockdown) will be a time and thought of what has been and what will be.
Something different to share over the coming weeks.
The air was crispy cold as I headed out of the city and into the rural hinterland of Melbourne
As I passed over the Murchison Gap the rich green farming land was rolling out in front of me – a sight to see
The little back roads winding through the hills and farmland beckoning
But it was a holiday weekend and the roads were slowly filling, even the back roads were starting to bulge with caravans being towed by big SUVs. Post the Covid 19 lockdown I think all Melbournites were keen to get out of the city.
After the lovely tourist town of Marysville I was heading for the Black Spur only to hit a long line of traffic
A sign to Warburton a quick to the left and I was on a little road through the forest
