Karmi Village, Cyprus.

The lines at the border to cross to the North were massively long. Our hopes were dashed. Getting across would take at least an hour - let alone the journey to the village we planned to visit. We abandoned it and were heading back, a little deflated until we came up with a plan. When squeezed creative thinking takes another road. We went to the Ledra St border, walked across and a lovely policemen called us a taxi. He was a settler, personable and pleasant and had lived here for 21 years. He agreed to take us to Karmi Village for the princely sum of Euros 25 so off we went, two friends for ever, travelling over the majestic Kyrenia range, turning left along the coast and then heading up to the restaurant we had in mind for lunch. We were the only ones there enjoying panoramic views of the northern coastline and Kyrenia. After a mezze lunch we headed to Karmi village, perched on the side of the Kyrenia mountains. 

We were exploring this village to retrace memories lived in 74, and to see how it had changed since then. Chrystalla and Lefteris Shiamtanis this blog is for you. Retracing memories was hard but the village seemed little changed. A favourite with the British it continues to be mostly occupied by them today. The English names of streets and alleys being one of the giveaways, as well as the clientele of many a pub and restaurant there.

For some the feelings are too raw even 45 years later. Getting past them is necessary to be able to appreciate what is left. The basket weavers in the village, the bougainvilleas in colourful abundance cascading over doors and gateways, the brickwork of the old houses, the stunning vistas of Hilarion Castle and beyond. The narrow cobbled streets, the church spire, the cat sleeping on Margaret's bench dedicated to her memory, which I am sure she would have been delighted about. The sunshine that filled our day, though our hearts were filled with unfathomable emotions of belonging, displacement and borders. 

These are the real Kings and Queens.

I dont need many reasons for days to be good - Here is why yesterday was fabulous. I had a Royal Visit. 

Its been several years since they last came by. I heard their gentler chirp from the kitchen. It was not the shrill shriek of the lorikeets who can be crowned most colourful but also most noisy. These King Parrots are a different level of beauty and calm. 

A pair came- the man is bright red, the female a gentler paler green. They came to feed and to be curious and friendly. They flitted about on the deck with me for a good while. I sat with them the whole time they wanted to be there. I hope they come again. 

Look at the exquisite colours on his back and the patterns underneath. 

With my jacaranda as his backdrop which is adding the only colour to the grey twigs.

 Having a good feed and drink. 

Blending seamlessly into the foliage. 

The Earth as your art space

I posted a fascinating video from the BBC yesterday about Edward Burtynsky who has travelled the world and recorded what we do with the planet and shown these scenes as art. He said he is not an expert environmentalist but that the planet was ours collectively and what we did and how we did it mattered. People who have been doing this for hundreds of years know this well - and there was no better person than Shirley Macnamara, an Indjalandji artist, whose exhibition has just opened at the Gallery of Modern Art to put that into context for us. In short, her art is from the earth and what grows on it. Her main material is spinifex- a ubiquitous grass here in Australia. She collects grasses, twigs, bleached bones from cattle, feathers, echidna quills, wire and copper left over from mines, and creates her beautifully crafted art in a remote part of Queensland. From her grandmother she learnt to respect the country and to never take more than she needed from it, to allow balance and and enough room for it to grow back again and be shared. Her art stems from the Earth. She has created the most beautiful baskets, thickly woven with strong exteriors but sometimes the inner parts are soft and feathery reminding us again of the need to be protective and caring for others but also of our environment to which we all belong. 

This piece is entitled Dust Dream - precarious, dusty, transient like dreams, blown away in a moment.

Her bush fascinators are colourful and a bright as the birds from whose feathers they come from. 

The exhibition is on at QAG 21st Sept to 1st March 2020. 

https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/shirley-macnamara

Colour coordinating the arrival of spring

Back from our travels in NT and it is always lovely to come home however wonderful the trip. The birds are back and wanting their little seeds and tit bits and Dougall is waiting patiently at his gate for more Discoveries. Last night on the deck a possum with a baby on its back.
The garden is parched dry. My outlook is a dry twig of a crepe myrtle and the thicker outlines of the frangipani. The jacaranda sheds its leaves like pitiful rain. The first flower fronds have appeared I fear far too early. A lovely purple. Talking of rainfall the clouds rolled over on the Tuesday and thunder and lightning followed. I cant tell you how happy I was to hear the sound of rain on our roof, albeit short-lived. So while we wait for nature to awake from its winter slumber, and while we wait for the rains to come, I am snatching pieces of colour from the inside out and outside in. Bookclub tonight and gals to the fore with everything under discussion over a glass or two.

Djukbinj Reserve and Leaning Tree Lagoon

We travelled some 80 kms down the Arnhem Highway enjoying the many mango orchards along the way. The reserve was remote, with a good road central road but no one else around and no signal. We were hoping to find billabongs with birds. We visited a few but most were almost dry. One in particular had the biggest collection of kites flying overhead. But we were worried about breaking down and being out of signal so we headed back and suddenly saw a sign for Leaning Tree Lagoon and what a wonderful detour that was - the billabong had a lot of water and many birds. The best was a Black headed stork. This is a photo by Stephen Murray e Bird S41853282 Macaulay Library ML 81651251who produced a good one. Mine by comparison was poor but you can just see it in the distance. The colours of its head are amazing. 

In the billabong plovers, black winged stilts, radjah shelducks, glossy ibis, brown goshawk and whistling kites as well as a lovely lot of red tailed black cockatoos, the blue winged kookaburra, peaceful doves, corellas and sulphur crested cockatoos, masked lapwings, spoon bills, pied herons and some egrets.  Lots of wallabies and kangaroos feeding around the edges of the Billabong. 

The red tailed Black Cockatoos flying overhead. 

The brown goshawk. 

We wondered what it would be like to return to the Top End in the wet season and perhaps we will. For the moment though this has been a really wonderful discovery of a remote and beautiful part of this amazing continent. 

East Point Reserve - Darwin.

East Point Reserve is our next outing - this is the eastern most point of the Harbour mouth. Its quite pretty and it has been developed into a recreational area with Lake Alexander being a safe lake to swim in. You look out onto the coast line and after this sign every rock in the ocean looks like a crocodile to me. Did a croc take a bite out of this sign I wonder ?

Well its not an unwarranted fear !

There are around 200,000 saltwater crocodiles in Australia, with the vast majority of them calling the Top End and Darwin home.

We took a walk in the mangrove swamp along a broad walk. To one side under the trees a group of Aboriginal people having a good time. This is the dry season in the Top End. A lot of what we have experienced would simply not be possible in the wet season. There was very little water here but the mangroves are always fascinating places. We saw a pair of brightly coloured kingfishers sitting on a tree and that was it. There were some croc signs too but I guess they had taken off to find some dinner elsewhere...

The Top End is famous for its sunsets and we were able to enjoy a few - One evening, taking in the sunset, we settled down in the Deckchair Cinema to a "All is True" a film about Shakespeare's life under the stars with the occasional bat and bird flying across the screen.

Darwin Street Art Festival

My lovely friend Ellen alerted me to this so a morning was spent exploring the lane ways and seeing the artists actually putting up some of the art work on buildings in the city. Here are some of the wonderful results. https://www.darwinstreetartfestival.com.aug

 This is my favourite !

 Miss Polly executing her fine green world.

 And finally a croc being created - this one a harmless one on the side of a building.