In Edmonton, Alberta they have made a tourist attraction from the former Canadian Pacific Railway tracks. (CPR). It is only a short ride, four stops in all and travels across the high level bridge and through the only tunnel built on the Canadian Pacific. We boarded at Whyte Avenue, Old Strathcona and took the return journey to Jasper Plaza.
The High Level Bridge Streetcars are all run by volunteers. During our ride the Driver and Conductor were full of information. They are part of a team that restores all of the historic Streetcars as well as run the attraction. On the day we were riding they were training a new driver so it was interesting to hear him talk about everything involved in his training to drive these historic Streetcars.
There are nine operational Streetcars in the fleet as well as 17 others in various stages of restoration. We were surprised to discover that one of the Streetcars came from Melbourne, Australia and another from Osaka, Japan. (Where our daughter-in-law is from). Unfortunately for us, we weren’t travelling on the day the museum opened as I’m sure it would have been fascinating.
For more than the first two decades of my adult life Edmonton Mall (officially known as West Edmonton Mall) was the largest indoor mall in the world. And I always wanted to visit it. Last year was my time. I planned my trip to Edmonton staying close to WEM to maximise my visits. I was very glad I did. It was amazing. When we arrived we were mesmorised. It was unlike any shopping centre in Australia. Everywhere we went was something new and exciting.
Many of the stores were very unique. Or had some different in them we hadn’t seen before. Bubba Gump was our favourite. We spent time both in the gift shop and wandering around the restaurant. We were fascinated by all the movie takes and how cleverly they were put together. Our son loved the cheeky T-shirt we bought him. In the Lindt Chocolate store, more than half of the flavours, we had never tasted before.
On entry the first thing we saw was the Sea Life Experience. This included seals and a relica of the Santa Maria. We spent time investigating this area and watched the seals antics. Galaxyland powered by Hasbro was our next stop. It is the world’s largest indoor amusement park. I loved seeing the games I played as a child, came to life as amusement rides. Such creativity.
Next on our tour was the shooting gallery. This blew me away. It was filled with guns of all sorts. Many of which are banned in Australia. So I had never seen them before. In hindsight I wish I had taken my first shot here, but at the time I was so overwhelmed.
The Ice Palace-indoor ice skating even had a senior skate option. We did consider giving it a go however we ran out of time.
West Edmonton Mall is also the home of the worlds largest indoor wave pool. Again, sadly we had no time to enjoy it. We were fascinated by the number of activities in this one area.
We had a great time in the Dragon’s Tale. A Blacklight Mini Golf Experience. It was a first for us and totally took minigolf to a new level.
While we wandered around the shops, we heard of a young couple who went to West Edmonton Mall for their honeymoon. They stayed the week in the Fantasyland Hotel attached the mall. And everyday enjoyed one or more of the special activities found there. I thought this was a fantastic idea.
I would have loved to have ridden around the mall on these. I saw a group of 20-30 year olds doing so and it looked like so much fun. But I thought there may have been a weight limit.
On the eastern side of the Eyre Pennisula, South Australia lies the sleepy town of Cowell. With a regular population of approximately 1100 Cowell loves the tourists. They keep their economy running. As it is known for its fishing and seafood industries this is not a problem.
I personally love the town’s peoples creativity. The local artists instead of using an art gallery to display their art, they chose the towns public toilets. They call it Cowell’s Crap Art. Every wall that would normally be blank was filled with fun artwork including the artists name, contact number and price.
In Australia a crapper is slang for toilet and crap is slang for poor quality or to defecate. The art here was definitely a play on word as the quality of the artwork was great. I think it was very clever as people can chose to go into an art gallery but very few can avoid the town’s toilet.
The Australiana Pioneer Village has been put together by moving original buildings from the local area a central location. The properties that were moved into the village in 1970 were a mixture from the late 1800’s to early 1990’s. Since 2004 the site has been heritage listed so it will remain in tact for future generations.
It is an amazing display of the courage, creativity and spirit of the Australian pioneers. If they didn’t have something that they wanted they found a way compromise or make it. I loved the the stories that were attached to each of the buildings. I think my favourite example was Case cottage that once a month on a Saturday night took out the middle wall and put it on the front lawn. This allowed the cottage to turn into a dance hall for the locals. They even had a arranged a safe way for single young ladies to safely be transported to and from the dance. Australia’s first Ubers you might say.
The other building I was particularly surprised with was the villages police station. Built in 1888 it was in use at Riverstone until 1970 when it was moved on site. I was 8 at the time so it seems surreal to me that a police station this small was all the area needed.
The sample of hand made whipped butter made during a presentation was amazing. I would love to have the patience to make my own.
The Australiana Pioneer Village is an 100% volunteer organization. It’s slogan is Proud to Preserve the Past. They have done a great job of it and I am very grateful.
For anyone who is not aware the #AtoZChallenge is held every year in April. Bloggers are challenged to chose a theme and write a post everyday except Sunday. The posts start at A and go through until Z. The other fun part is also blog hopping and visiting new and friends blogs.
During this years #AtoZChallenge I will share with you some of the interesting things, places and people I have discovered as I travel the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
I hope that you find my theme interesting. Australia is a very unique and varied country that can be very different. It is not unusual to hear the phrase “only in Australia.” On our travels in Truby (our blue Iveco truck and her red slide on camper) we mostly visit small towns. Nearly all are filled with history and have found some way to reinvent themselves using creativity. At the beginning of the day it is not unusual for us to have no idea what we will find on our journey. I love it. I hope that you find my selections interesting and that they give you an insight into our Australian culture.
For any of my #weekendcoffeeshare friends who are also joining in the fun I will attempt to keep up with your posts. Thanks for hosting Natalie.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about our trip to Windsor a few weeks ago. Our purpose was to win a trip to Disneyland. I had won a golden ticket in a chocolate bar just like Charlie. Winners were then registered and put in a lucky draw barrel. By attending the special event, if we won we received extra spending money. Why not we thought. The local lolly shop held the event. All 40 staff were dressed in Disney costumes and acted in character. Unfortunately, we didn’t win but had a great time anyway. By the way Mickey sends his love.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how pleased my husband and I were to find an old fashioned All You Can Eat Pizza Hut. These are rare in Australia these days. However, when our kids were little we would often go and celebrate our special events at the local one near our home. Just being at one always brings back many happy memories. We were also pleased that the pizza and salad bar options hadn’t changed much in the last 30+ years.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how much I am enjoying blogging again. Not only writing and creating the posts but also blog hopping. I love visiting other blogs and seeing how they interpret the same themes. I am really looking forward to joining this years A-Z blogging challenge next month. It will be my 4th time but for the first I am the most organised this year.
If we were having coffee I would tell you how pleased I was to discover the cause of my hip pain. It has been going on for about 5 years. Initially, it was thought to be osteoarthritis, something I couldn’t do much about. Fortunately, it turned out to be a form of bursitis and was fixed by a simple cortisone injection. I love being able to walk without a limp again.
If we were having coffee I would tell you about our work Paint and Sip social last year. It was a lot of fun. Our theme was The Grinch. He was fairly easy as we could trace him rather than draw him freehand. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning and despite a few sips, I think my painting turned out well. Me being me of course had to change his background colour from black to one that I made up myself.
If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?
During our travels we have found many interesting seats. They are often made into works of art which draw us in to photograph them. So recently I was excited to find a new weekly challenge to join others who enjoy similar things. Thanks to XingfuMama for hosting.
While wondering the streets of Port Lincoln we noticed this beautiful lounge display outside a church. Initially I didn’t notice all the details but as we got up close and sat down, I smiled. It was covered in mosaics and they were beautiful. The ottoman even had a game of scrabble on it. There was also an exquisite mosaic rug both on the back of the lounge and on the ground in front of it.
Getting back to blogging means reconnecting with Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge. (CMMC) Each week she has a theme. As its the 4th week of the month the theme is about a chosen letter contained in a word. February’s letter is W or X.
When I pondered these letters, the first thing that came to mind were the very cute toWel animals we found in our room on the cruise ships. They are adorable. I loved them. They are created by the amazing hospitality staff. On Carnival they were changed every day. Sometimes they left the old ones but sometimes they ran our of toWels and had to change up the old ones.
On P&O we were only occasionally given a fun surprise.
My favourite day on Carnival was when we woke up and went to breakfast to find the whole pool area covered in toWel animals. They were everywhere. Unfortunately it was raining so many were wet but they still looked great.
I loved them so much I bought the book on how to make them. My plan is to surprise X and any future grandchildren when they visit.
Todays Cee’s Fun Fotos Challenge is all about cars-new, vintage or toy. When looking for inspiration on this weeks theme I discovered some photos of a Variety Bash vehicle. A few years ago I happened upon this car on one of my Sunday walks. She’s a gem.
The Variety Bash is a weeklong fun charity event. Participants work in teams, dress up and decorate their cars. To be eligible to enter cars must be a minimum of 25-30 years old depending on car type. The must also be registered, roadworthy and insured.
Throughout the weeklong adventure Variety Bashers call into small towns and communities along the way raising money for sick, disadvantaged and special needs kids.
Great job teams. This year the Variety Bash ends in Newcastle so if I am free I will join them at the finish line.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that my virtual coffee dates are very similar to my real life coffee dates. I love them but they are often a long time coming. That aside, I was happy to see that Natalie is still hosting our #weekend coffee share. Thank you. I find it welcoming to catch up with old friends as well as make new ones. I was surprised however to realise today that I had been MIA for nearly 12 months. How quickly that time has gone. I am hopeful that 2024 is the year that I get my blogging act together.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I am still working 3 days a week despite giving a lot of thought into retirement. It’s weird. I know that I am ready but part of me doesn’t know who I am when I’m not a mental health nurse. At present I am on long service leave and not missing work at all. We have a few big trips planned for the next 12 months so I am thinking I have about 18 months left in me. Who knows, whichever way it goes I will definitely be taking Dolly Parton’s advice.
“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
If we were having coffee I would tell you that my husband and I have become cruisers. Last year we went on 2 cruises to various parts of the South Pacific. Our first one was to New Caledonia and Vanuatu onboard the Carnival Splendor. It was a lot of fun. We visited Noumea, Mystery Island and Lifou.
In October, we joined The Mutiny On The Bounty cruise with P&O’s Pacific Adventure which followed the journey of Willliam Blythe. During the cruise we visited places associated with the mutiny including stopping for half an hour on the exact spot it occurred. We also stopped at Norfolk Island, Nukualoka and Vava’u (both part of Tonga) as well as Fiji’s Dravuni Island and Lautoka.
We found both cruises very relaxing however we were very unhappy with P& O’s food. It was lacking inspiration, very repetitive and you had to pay for choices such as pizza and burgers. Both of which were included on Carnival six months earlier.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that X (our grandson) turned one a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend the day with him as he was in Japan with his other grandmother. Despite this my daughter and I celebrated in our own way. We had Australian party food, party pies and sausage rolls as well as our family favourite cheese dip. Unfortunately, hubby was away minding X’s rabbits. To add to our enjoyment we had a few celebratory drinks and watched Shrek 1 & 2.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I lost my mother just before Christmas. Unfortunately her death was a long goodbye as her body slowly shut down. Like every thing she did in life, her death was in her time. Looking back I think it is very interesting that my first and last visit to the nursing home were on the night shift. At least the first time I was returning her after a family celebration.
If we were having coffee I would tell you that I am continuing to enjoy my creative side again learning more about my Cricut cutting machine. I Love it when the items I design turn out well even if they aren’t perfect. My favourite things recently have been personalised chocolate wraps, my glitter baubles wall chart using our Christmas family colours of the last 20 years. Last year was Ice Christmas – white, silver and pale blue. I also created the gift boxes for the table settings. To complete this I also learnt to create stickers.
If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world?
