I assume I am being punished for something

If only I knew what...
It's so exciting being a mining company employee. My dizzy, glamorous life takes me all over the world. It seems only weeks ago I was slumming in London: catching the Tube, drinking lattes, eating sushi, shopping at Harvey Nichols...
And here I am, in Capella, pop.730, Queensland, Australia. You can see my room from space (the outside, anyway).
There are lots of things to see and do in Capella.
There is the grain storage shed.

From 20090516_KME

There is the plaster cow and pig.
There is the Peak Downs Community Hall (built 1963).
There is the historic Railway Station with the unique ventilated roof trusses.
There are the painted poles - see what fun you can have discovering the story of every one.
At night, for a laugh, you can go down to the petrol station and sit with the mannequins - who needs Fashion Week when you have this?
The shopping in Capella is fabulous - it is so rich and diverse they give you Saturday afternoon and Sunday off from the shops to recover. There is not only one shop, but three shops, a bank and even a Post Office. It's a good thing they all close at 5:30 or I would have spent my entire site allowance by now.
 On Friday I walked down to the petrol station and splurged on a packet of chewing gum and two bottles of ginger beer. Saturday night I was more adventurous - I walked all the way down to the Post Office, and stopped at both the closed newsagent and the market to check their winter opening times.
I have to wash my work shirts tonight, and will be too busy to go out. However I am looking forward to our hosts' Oat Cuisine - corned beef, chops, chicken drumsticks, spaghetti alla boscaiola.
My, that bain marie looks inviting...I think I will have jelly with my tinned fruit salad tonight - just for a treat.
Monday I might test out the local restaurant scene. Golden Fried Chicken looks like it might give Rockpool some competition (they even have Chiko Rolls).

which green - how can I choose?

Back in Perth. I have been here more than 3 weeks - the longest stay in nearly 2 years. I am trapped - no overseas travel on the horizon - I must entertain myself until my sea freight arrives from England.
I shall renovate.
Not counting the bathroom, my little 1930s flat in Mount Lawley has not seen a fresh tin of paint in at least 20 years.
But what colour?

A recent trip to Dublin has inspired me with Georgian colour schemes - white woodwork and cool, pale walls. But what shade of pale?
I am leaning toward green.
There are too many greens - Natura, Issey-San, Fresh Lime, White Box, Pale Vellum, Silver Grass, they all appeal...

it never snows in London

"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead." James Joyce - The Dubliners.
I woke up a week ago to find a gift from Russia in the form of 6 inches of snow on the ground. This is the most it has snowed in London for 18 years, and it's wooonderfullll.
It lasted one beautiful day, though the snowmen lasted a little longer.

2009-02-02 london_snow

Here is how it first appeared - magic Narnia. I found myself scratching at the back of my wardrobe in the hope Mr Tumnus would make me a hot chocolate. Of course, nothing ever remains as sweet and innocent as on first appearance. By the time I was dressed and able (though not willing) to go to work, it turned nasty. I set out desperately smug because I had dragged my hiking boots out of the wardrobe (I had worked out by now Mr Tumnus wasn't coming). "Ha ha", I thought, "I climbed Tongariro in these, what's a bit of snow after that". Smartass. And soreass not long after. Hiking boots no damn good on ice without crampons.

2009-02-02 london_snow_II

Still, it was pretty, I only fell down twice, and the bruises are mostly faded a week later. The chap in the photo was from Singapore - he probably thought chilled rice noodle was falling from the sky - but he seemed to enjoy it.
The third iteration of the Great London Snow did not involve embarrassing sore bottom incidents. Even better, I got to see Hyde Park the Winter Wonderland - an experience sorely missing from both the actual 2008 and 2007 Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Well worth the bruises, the lack of public transport, and having to go to work when I desperately wanted to release my inner smartass ten-year-old and build Henry Moore's 1967 tribute to WB Yeats out of snow.

2009-02-03 london_snow_III

La Grande Randonee - Day 4 - Tremolat - Le Bugue

2008-09-19 Tremolat-Le Bugue

After coffee, croissants, and yes, some cheese, it was time to say goodbye to our lovely green attic room and head off for the next town. Leaving our bags neatly piled up in the foyer, we set off...
and immediately got lost. This was the morning when we started to discover the occasional tricks and errors in our walking instructions. Arriving at the 12th century church of St Hilaire (we saw the inside last night), we realised that there was no sign of the path markings. Thoughtfully we retraced our steps to the point at which we had left the trail the afternoon before, and soon realised that what we needed was the 12th century nave of the church of St Nicholas.

From 2008-09-18 Lalinde-Tremolat

Re-oriented, we were on our way. The morning was uneventful - farms, fields, farm cats and sleepy country roads. At lunchtime we climbed up a steep hill (accompanied by the gentle clonking of a bell wether), to find ourselves at what appeared to be the top of the mediaeval town of Limeuil . This beautiful walled town wraps around a steep hill next to the river. Predictably, while we were at the top, the only available lunch was at the bottom next to the river. We ate goat's cheese salad (only a little cheese) in the company of all the British tourists. You could see they would get to the first turn in the winding street up the hill and collapse panting, before returning to the river bank to buy the view from the top on a fridge magnet. We, of course, were made of sterner stuff. We got to the top of the town and realised we were only halfway up the hill before we too collapsed. 

The rest of the afternoon was a slow-motion rollercoaster, as the GR markings led us up vertical limestone goat tracks and back down them again, with the occasional respite as we crossed fields of cows. We were immensely grateful to find ourselves on level ground at Le Bugue, and in the decadent 17th century surroundings of  Domaine de la Barde.

La Grande Randonnee - Day 3 - Afternoon - Mauzac - Tremolat

Our afternoon wandered up and down hills, through oak woods and corn fields. Even though this was the shortest day (allowing for measurement errors and accidental detours), we were very grateful to arrive in Tremolat and find our hotel - Le Vieux Logis.

The hotel garden

This beautiful hotel is reputed to be one of the best in the Dordogne - we don't disagree. The only disappointment was that the hotel staff all spoke excellent English and wouldn't let us practise our French.
Our luggage had been magically transported from Lalinde and was waiting for us in our beautiful attic room. L'Occitane bath products, fluffy bathrobes, foot ointment and clean clothes later, it was time for drinks on the terrace. After a glass of Bergerac Sec by the stream, we were ready for dinner.
Based on our last two dinners, our expectations were for good, but modest food. It was something of a surprise to be handed an 8 course tasting menu. The food was extraordinary, matched by superb wines. The middle courses are something of a blur, but I remember a few things like three little cubes of foie gras pate with different fruit jellies on top, foie gras creme caramel on the side and strict instructions for eating order. For the responsible people out there horrified that anyone could eat foie gras - it was the only time, I swear, it was a tiny amount, the goose was happy, and I had to know what the fuss was about. Then there was a perfectly grilled sea bass with a seaweed-scented foam, a tender magret de canard and, the CHEESE...
The waiter brought an enormous platter of cheese to the table - there must have been at least 15 different sheep, goat and cow cheeses on offer. I managed to restrain myself and not try all 15, but it was a challenge. This was followed by 3 different desserts. We barely made it up the stairs to bed.

Our room

La Grande Randonnee - Day 3 - Morning - Lalinde - Mauzac

well, this was it, the start of our walk. We jumped out of bed (only slightly slowed by last night's cheese), ready to throw open the shutters and greet the French sunshine.
It was raining (of course).This was the moment that I realised that despite having brought 3 raincoats, a rain poncho and two umbrellas to London, I had carried none of them across the Channel.
Oh well, we had just enough time before our taxi arrived to find a sports store, remedy the deficit and buy a map.

Our taxi arrived just in time, driven by a charming lady who I swear was either wearing an original Chanel suit, or a very good imitation. She explained that she was only driving the taxi for the day, but didn't explain further. We chatted happily in somewhat broken French on the 45 minute drive to Lalinde.

We arrived under the dripping plane trees of the town square and pulled out our maps and guides to work out where to go. First items on the agenda - find something for lunch and a public toilet.

Finding a public toilet was fairly easy. Finding a public toilet that was actually tolerable took a bit longer. Fortunately the robo-toilet has made it to the Dordogne, and we found one a few metres from where we left the taxi after wandering disconsolately around in the rain for a while.
Lunch was even easier - cheese! We were bludgeoned into submission by two charming cheese vendors who persuaded us to buy 30€ worth of sheep cheese. It was delicious, and lasted us several days, but every now and again as we walked, I would hear a snort from behind and a muttered "30€ for cheese!".
We finally found our way onto the trail, and spent the rest of the morning walking along a canal toward Mauzac.

This was the first and last flat stretch of ground in the whole walk - obviously planned to lull us into false confidence.

Mauzac's main attractions were a small hydro power station and a nautical club. We bought bread and tomatoes to go with our cheese, and clambered up the hill on the outside of town to find a lunch spot.The hill was only memorable for a brief sighting of a red squirrel, but the picnic table in a grassy hollow at the top of the hill was a perfect lunch spot.
Next post - the afternoon...

La Grande Randonnee - Day 2 - Bergerac

From 2008-09-17 M8_bergerac

According to Wikipedia, the medieval town of Bergerac had nothing to do with Cyrano de Bergerac. However this has not stopped the local residents from putting up a statue to the famous Cyrano in the town square.
We arrived mid-afternoon after taking the lunchtime train from Bordeaux.
Once you drag your suitcase out of the railway station and along the dog poo-strewn streets to your hotel, dump everything and wander out, Bergerac turns into a beautiful mediaeval town.
Our hotel was pleasant if unremarkable. The tour guide for our walk, Jean Paul, arrived about 6:00pm to give us a briefing. He insisted in going through the itinerary and the maps for all 6 days - pointing out those features that were very nice, those that were dangerous (but not too dangerous), and the various chateaux that we must be sure to see along the way. There seemed to be rather a lot of them...
I must admit my eyes glazed over about day four and chateau seven - that may explain the number of times we had to stop to check the map as time went on. The itinerary generally followed grande-randonnee #6 from Lalinde to Sarlat - it soon became obvious the first purchase of the morning would have to be a proper map.
After much friendly conversation and effusive best wishes, Jean Paul took his leave - not before selecting our restaurant for dinner for us. Fortunately the restaurant, Le Saint Jacques , was excellent. It was run by a cheerful Dutch family, who had a lot of fun seeing who could make jokes in the most languages. This evening, unfortunately, was also the start of a gluttonous week of cheese and cholesterol which we are still trying to overcome with soy milk and clean living.
Tomorrow, the start of our walk...