A month in Australia

Hebe
Thu 27 Nov 2014 21:10
October 12th -November 11th 2014

Sitting here on our 13 hour flight home listening to Opera and feeling immensely sad I wanted to finish my blog. Australia has been a wonderful experience and so very different from the Pacific islands and it's peoples.
It took us a while to adjust to the over regulation of these English speaking Western countries, do they think we're all idiots? I had fun taking pictures of all the many notices warning, prohibiting and cautioning us in our every day lives.
I think the best one is the notice on the opposite carriageway saying Wrong Way Go Back…..(useful - Ed)

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Just love the wonderful pidgin of Vanuatu…..

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Having to work on repairs on Hebe gave us a purpose and introduced us to many people all of whom helped us with true Ozzie humour and were fantastic. We got to know areas perhaps not on the regular tourist trail as a result.

It was lovely meeting Imo's uncle and auntie Bruce and Cissie who live in Brisbane. Cissie suggested I finished the blog by listing the books that had helped me across the oceans.

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Before I left on our voyage the wonderful members of Salisbury Mothers' Union gave me a leaving present with which I bought a super Kindle. I then asked all my friends on Face Book for their favourite reads. Book Club at home kept me in touch with their choice too.
The joy of a Kindle on a boat is you can read when its dark and don't need a light on, it doesn't blow away and I managed to read hefty tomes without even knowing how long they were…always off-putting. Then there's the space issue.

Starting with the best ones….

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver )****
Flight Behaviour - Barbara Kingsolver ) just love her writing
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson ****
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson (not as memorable as the above)
A Voyage for Madmen - Peter Nichols (every sailor must read)
The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
Instructions for a Heatwave - Maggie O'Farrell
The Goldfinch - Donna Tart (Big and absorbing)
Burial Rights - Hannah Kent (fascinating)
The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (Hilarious)
Philomena - Martin Sixsmith ( Depressing)
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant (Terrific)
Death comes to Pemberley - P.D. James (written in her 90's)
The Husbands Secret - Liane Moriarty (much better than Gone Girl)
The Apple Orchard - Susan Wiggs )
A Villa in Italy - Elizabeth Edmondson ) both good escapism.
The Fever Tree - Jennifer McVeigh
The Light Between Oceans - Elizabeth Steadman (Sad)
Thursdays in the Park - Hilary Boyd
West End Girls - Barbara Tate (Instructive)
The Age of Absurdity - Michael Foley

not so good….
The Expats - Chris Pavone
The Galapagos Affair - John Treherne (interesting to scan)
The Girl who fell from the Sky - Simon Mawer
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn ( silly people )

Ones I didn't finish….
The Fishing Fleet - Anne De Courcy (got bored)
The Light Years - Elizabeth Jane Howard ( got muddled up with plot, will try again)
The Jewel in the Crown- Paul Scott
Restoration - Rose Tremain

Thank you to all who recommended their favourite books it was a treat to have the time to enjoy them.