Thursday, March 12, 2026

The Fab Four

Back in June 1964, with a group of friends from school, I attended my first rock concert. I only have vague memories of the event even though it was faithfully recorded with pamphlets, newspaper clippings  and my ticket in one of my Beatles scrapbooks which my mother tossed out after I left home. I have no photos or ephemera to record that important event in my life's journey.

My memories are vague. I know that a schoolfriend's mother lined up in the city to buy our tickets. I wore a new pair of purple ski pants from Mark Foys topped with a mauve mohair jumper my Mum had knitted. My Dad dropped me off and picked me up from the venue, the Stadium, in Rushcutters Bay. Our seats were located not too far back from the rotating stage and we had a reasonable view. I didn't hear much of the music as, like most fans present, I screamed throughout the show. This article has rekindled some memories for me https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/the_beatles_in_sydney

Fast forward 62 years to last weekend when, thanks to a Christmas present from some of the offspsring, we found ourselves in Sydney's State Theatre waiting for a show by the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute group from the US. 

I loved my trip down memory lane. The boys looked a little like the Beatles and sounded a lot like them. I enjoyed the first half of the show better than the second as, in that they sang their earlier songs from the Sixties. I was able to sing along as I  retrieved nearly word of every song from my foggy old brain. 

In the second half the group concentrated on the later and more psychedelic songs some of which I didn't recall at all. During the seventies I was too busy being a young wife and mother to bother with the Beatles and Rock Music. 

At the start of the show the chap playing Paul invited all present to take pictures during the event. It only took me a few seconds to grab my phone and start snapping. Thanks to the images and video I captured I'll have memories of the concert for years to come. He also invited people to get up and dance. I was pleased when the theatre staff kept the dancers to the side aisle so our view was not impeded. The rules were relaxed by the end of the show when most people stood up and danced at their seats.

Following are some visual memories.












Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Blogging from A to Z April 2026 - Theme Reveal

 



During April I invite you to join me for an online tour of photos from my digital albums in the 2026 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

The A to Z April Challenge requires bloggers to post through the alphabet: 26 days, 26 letters, 26 posts starting with the theme of A on April 1st. As April has thirty days Sunday is designated as a day of rest. I won't be travelling during the month of April so I should be able to manage the challenge.

I enjoy this annual challenge for several reasons: it forces me to write and gives me an audience for my ponderings, it offers me opportunities to reflect on my activities, it connects me with a community of bloggers from around the world and it teaches me about other people's interests and cultures through the many April Challenge  posts they share.

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.

This year for the first time I created in Canva a personalised banner of my posts that fits in with the theme of my blog. I also enlisted the help of ChatGPT to create a series of A to Z tiles for each day of the challenge. 

Monday, March 9, 2026

That's me

 I wrote a post about this over on my genealogy blog but I'm posting it here too as I was rather pleased with the result.

Created by me using ChatGPT



Monday, March 2, 2026

Two Months of Brain Food

My year of reading started off slowly as I was travelling on January and concentrating on enjoying and learning about the places we visited in Australia and New Zealand.

I have only signed up to one challenge, on Goodreads for 2026, where I have committed to reading 100 titles. 

In addition to the books listed below as read in January and February on GoodReads I read a fascinating history book that I purchased at a Museum bookshop in New Zealand. 

It was Founding Documents of Aotearoa New Zealand by Paul Moon. The publisher description states "The history of New Zealand is tracked through fifty key documents. Each document is explained and put into context, with illustrations." For this traveller who was ignorant about New Zealand's history that book was an excellent tutor. 

The remainder of the books I read were in the GoodReads database. I was rather generous in awarding five stars to four titles. They can be seen here https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2580847?shelf=read


A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City
The Wrong Daughter
Enid
The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing
Last Place You Look (Butler & West #1)
Audrey's Gone AWOL
Diva
The Monk (DS Cross Mysteries, #5)
Behind the Badge: The remarkable & compelling true story of a boy from Egypt who became one of Australia's most senior police, for readers of THE GOOD COP & I CATCH KILLERS
The Memory Library
Mother Mary Comes to Me
The Secret Life of Sunflowers
Legacy
Sisters Under the Rising Sun
The Politician (DS Cross Mysteries, #4)
Everywhere I Look

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Welcome to New Zealand

I was a bit lax in taking photos of Welcome Signs on our January journey. I'm sharing some (in no particular order) that I managed to snap while tootling around New Zealand. 
















Thursday, January 15, 2026

20 Something Snaps -Traipsing through the Trees

The Opua Kauri Walk we took this morning was definitely not a stroll but so worth the effort.
I had read a review that must have been written by someone younger and fitter than I. She didn't mention the slope, it was a challenge for this old girl. https://www.doc.govt.nz/.../paihi.../tracks/opua-kauri-walk/
We saw vegetation that ranged from teeny tiny plants to majestic Kauri Trees. It was a tranquil environment that provided several opportunities for my phone to have a workout and take some interesting Upclose snaps.

Enjoy.

Disinfectant Station
























Dwarfed
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