In New South Wales, Australia, today is the day we have all been waiting for. We can start going to cafes or restaurants to eat in, have 5 people visit our homes and enjoy the loosening of restrictions in many other everyday activities and events.
This process throughout the world is known as opening up. As I begin to get excited about the options of our increasing freedoms, I considered what the phrase ‘opening up’ means. After all, nothing in life can happen if we don’t do something different or let someone in.
Here are my thoughts arranged in an acrostic poem.
OPENING UP
Ordering thoughts
Planning to make changes
Endeavouring to cover all options
Negotiating any obstacles
Intuitively doing what needs to be done
Not letting fear stop us
Going ahead with the plan knowing it is as good as it can be
Today is International Nurses Day, celebrated each year on 12th May, Florence Nightingale’s Birthday. It is a day that everyone reflects on the work we do daily. I, like most nurses enjoy my job, even though it is rarely easy. One thing is for certain, everyday is different and it is never predictable.
I began my psychiatric nursing career nearly 40 years ago when training was in hospitals, not at university. Fortunately over the years the stigma attached to mental illness and mental health concerns has changed greatly. In 2020, hopefully everyone understands that their mental health is as important as their physical health.
I love this tribute written and performed by a doctor to nurses. He has reworded the song Always A Woman To Me addressing so many classic issues for nurses everywhere. I smiled all the way through it as it triggered many memories for me.
This year International Nurses Day is special. As well as nurses risking their lives to save the world, it is also 200 years from Florence Nightingale’s birth.
Nurses are the back bone of our community, always there when you need them. Next time you see or need a nurse, give them a big smile and say thank you. It will make our day.
Today Inspiring Max is 6. I can’t believe how much life has changed. My first blog post back in 2014 was titled Happy Mother’s Day.
Here is my 12 month celebratory post, my first blogiversary in 2015. I was excited by how far I’d come. In May 2014, I had 23 views and I didn’t care I had no followers, I had views and I began to believe in myself. I could do this. By May 2015, Inspiring Max was moving up with 12,567 views and 415 followers. This month, May 2020 I have created 574 posts, have had 16,106 visitors, 30,444 views and 1,108 followers.
I also love that after a year of blogging Inspiring Max had been read in 114 countries and in the following 5 years it continues to find new audiences and now has been read in 134 countries. Many of these countries I never knew existed.
One of the things that surprised me during my break from blogging is how my site kept growing even without me working it. Like our finances growing with compound interest for the approximately 800+ days I was absent Inspiring Max kept growing at 2-3 views per day without new content. This makes me wonder where I would have been if I had stayed.
When I returned to Inspiring Max, one of my favourite things was visiting my old blogging friends and seeing how much their blogs had grown. After all, blogging isn’t just about writing and posting good content. I believe it is a package. We are part of an ever growing community and no-one can blog alone.
To me, blogging is divided into four parts:
Blog hoping – going from one blog to another viewing and reading their sites
Joining in challenges created by other bloggers
Engaging with new and old blogs, by liking and commenting on their posts
Gaining knowledge by sharing experiences. Never has this been more relevant than now. We can all check on each other during this time of world lock down.
For many years, I have walked past the pedestrian underpass leading to Merewether Beach. As I had a walked past on the beach side, I had vaguely noticed that the outside was painted and was welcoming people to come inside. But I never did.
Last Sunday on my weekly local exploration walk however I found myself using the underpasss from the other side to get to the beach. It was then that I remembered it was called Merewether Aquarium. I couldn’t believe the difference.
The Merewether Aquarium was created by local artist, Mister Trevor Dickinson in 2014. An aquarium is a great description of the underpass as the artist has even painted a turtle and a shark on the roof of the underpass so it feels like you are in the viewing tunnel of a big aquarium.
The paintings on either side of the aquarium walls are fun and full of quirky details and hidden messages. Some of my favourites were:
The local Merewether bus
The artist himelf as a diver
Newcastle’s local 4 times World Champion Surfer – Mark Richards
Merewether Ocean Baths building
Merwether Surfhouse
The diving blocks from the ocean baths
The local hotel
Humpback whales that swim up and down the coast from May to November
Lifeguard vehicles
I also love the black lines painted regularly giving the impression you are looking through glass.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I miss having real coffee dates. In Australia, we can buy takeaway coffee. But we can’t sit down anywhere to drink it. Mostly I enjoy my takeaway coffee alone. However, occasionally I share the experience with someone. Walking and drinking coffee isn’t the same luxury as sitting down together for a coffee catch-up.
Takeaway coffee doesn’t give you such amazing art.
If we were having coffee I would ask you if you did anything to celebrate Anzac Day last Saturday. Although I have always thought about attending a dawn service or Anzac Day march I never have. Some years I have gone to the pub to watch the Two-Up. This is a traditional Australian gambling game only legal on Anzac Day.
This year however was very different. No dawn services, no marches and no Two-Up. Instead families and individuals gathered on their driveways, social distancing and remembering our diggers at 0600. For me, it was very personal. I stood alone on my driveway. I was filled with emotion as I could hear the bugles playing The Last Post over the sounds of birds. Next year, I be on my driveway again. This time I will light the dawn with my candle.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how frustrated I have been over the past month with my blog not working as easily as it used to. The problem is everything needed updating and I am not computer friendly. Making the necessary changes has given me a lot of new knowledge about my blog and computer so my confidence has grown.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I bought a subscription to Disney+for the family as an Easter present. My husband and I grew up in the 60’s watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. Our kids grew up with Disney channel, so there is something on it for everyone. We have all found many hidden gems and been entertained for hours.
If we were having coffee I would tell you I was pleased to complete this years A-Z blogging challenge. I stated a few days late but caught up and finished on time. It was a great way to retrain my brain into writing regularly and simplifying my words. Now the secret is to come up with a plan for Inspiring Max that helps my creativity develop.
If we were having coffee I would ask you how you have been filling in your days during the world’s lock down. Let me know in the comments.
One day while exploring Brisbane I accidentally happened on the Museum Zoo at the Queensland Museum. This event even though it was 10 years ago, continues to be a favourite of mine. The zoo was made up of 700 prehistoric and modern animals in various displays.
I loved all aspects of the museum zoo, however my favourite was the Parade of Animals. The parade had taxidermy animals and animal skeletons lined up in relative size. It was fascinating to compare so many different species.
I also admired the special attention the museum zoo paid to our extinct animals.
Yackandandah is a beautiful little town just over the New South wales in Victoria. It is an original town that hasn’t changed a lot since it was a gold mining town. Because of this, the centre of the town is classified by the National Trust.
When we visited we spent about an 1 1/2 hours talking to staff in the Tourist Information Centre, gaining invaluable knowledge of the town and local region. This is something we love to do when we visit a new town. Doing so, often reveals hidden gems you don’t find on the internet.
One of the big tips we were given was the Gum Tree Pies. As we hadn’t eaten even though it was 1400, we decided to sample their wares. Wow, we were very pleased we did. I chose the pepper pie and I would have to say it was and still is the best I have ever eaten. The other surprise was how busy the small store was, despite it being past the lunch time rush.
In 2003, the iconic Australian movie, Strange Bedfellows was filmed in Yackandandah. The film showcased the main street in all its glory. As we drove through the town we were excited to remember the film and pick out the individual film locations.
This year I have decided to think outside the box for X. So I have come up with a list of ideas that give a tourist destination that something special.
For me, the X-factor can be many things. possibilities include:
Welcoming to travelers
A special story attached to the town
Interesting scenery or connection to nature
Make use of available resources
Friendly people
Sell their uniqueness
Encourage travelers by making a special feature of the area to draw crowds e.g. Parkes Elvis festival
Well maintained parks and open spaces
Family friendly facilities
Including anything that is different to home
National Parks
Ability to see local animals
Good quality food, reasonably priced
Museums and places of history
Tourist information centres with knowledgeable staff
Local walking tours both self guided and with knowledgeable local identities
The Gloucester Region is home to platypus so this park made a feature to celebrate them.
There is only one problem with spending time thinking about holidays. Now I have to go and plan my next Xtraordinaire adventure.
On our trip to Kyneton we decided to follow many of the second hand book trails it the area. We had a great time and came home with many second hand books for our library.
My favourite was the first that we visited – Woodend Bookshop. An old fashioned second hand bookshop that is filled with 20,000 books. As well as modern fiction from popular writers, the bookstore keeps signed first editions, rare and collectible books as well as valuable first editions.
The owner was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about books. He was available to answer all our questions when needed and loved having people browsing in his shop even if they didn’t buy. We were also pleased to hear that if we were looking for a book even if it was difficult he would do what he could to procure it for us.
“You can’t buy happiness but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.”
Vivid Sydney commenced in May 2009. It is a festival of light, music and ideas. Each year it has grown and now is the largest festival in Australia. The festival runs for 23 days from late May to middle of June and begins at 1800 every night when the lights are turned on.
The first building to be lit is the sails of the Sydney Opera House. In 2017 when we last attended Vivid, we planned our trip to see the Opera House light up. It was a real ‘ah’ moment.
Lighting of the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Harbour Bridge also takes centre stage every year with its changing displays of colour.
These projections top and bottom are on Cadman’s cottage, one of Australia’s oldest buildings. It was built in 1816 at The Rocks.
Projections Onto Cadman’s Cottage
The Museum of Contemporary Art displays each year are one of my favourites. It is one the original buildings to join the festival and can easily be seen across the harbour.
The Museum Of Contemporary Art
Walking Through The Botanic Gardens
Each year as the festival has increased in popularity, more areas around Sydney are lit up. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic Vivid 2020 has been cancelled but it promises to make Vivid 2021 an even bigger and brighter festival.
