Author: Dahni

Dahni Gender: Male Business: Business Services Occupation: Imagineer Location: Walworth, NY United States About Me I am an artist, poet, composer and a writer. Perpetual student of life and people. I love to work with children and open-minded adults. Just I-magine - you wake up and in the mirror your reflection speaks - "Good morning, it's good to be you!" Do you freak or say, "I like you too" ??? Interests: Making Dreams Come True Favorite Music: Jazz, Blues, Classical, Classic Rock N’ Roll, Alternative, New Country, Raw Cutting Edge

On: Anzac Day

by Donnie Hayden

Caveat lector – LATIN “Let the reader beware”

Dear Friends and Family,

This will be a very long post. I realize that you may have many things that you deem more important than reading my blog and because of the length of that to follow, this post, but I promise you that it will be well worth your time! Our purpose singularly, in visiting Japan and Australia was to meet two of our newest grandsons for the very first time and to be with family and friends we have not seen in a long time. It is like a vacation too and like an exploration to us, of the new and unknown. I try with all my ability to immerse myself in all that I do. Whether or not you believe me, I do this mostly, for you! In much that I do, I think, I must live live inside my head and within my heart and perhaps I should instead, just be living life. I think that I am living, but I just know of no other way to be, then who and what I am. I take things and feel things deeply and my sincerest hope for you in reading this post is that you will find something that moves you as deeply as it has and does. so moves me. Perhaps it will even change your life or transform it? It is for this purpose that I have written the following, as best that I know how. I have written it for you!!!

If I could wish and my wishes could come true, I’d wish I could type (keystroke) faster, think faster, think smarter, use less words, but capture exactly what I feel that you feel exactly what I try to write and that it may be understood by anyone!!!

Dahni

On Friday April 25th, 2014, Australia, will commemorate the 99th year memorial of ANZAC Day.

Until quite recently, I had never heard of ANZAC Day. It has been an evolving rote (basic) understanding for me of not just the event of historical relevance, but its far-reaching significance to the world. As this is being written, the sun has already set here in Australia and I scramble to complete this post in time, for you of the West that will soon begin your sunrise on Friday.

We were informed of ANZAC Day by email from a family member, before we arrived in Australia. I thought there was some connection between the Netherlands and Australia, but I could not quite understand it. But there was a U.S. connection that I did understand and you will understand this as well, at the conclusion of this post and the video at the very end.

Then, I started to see that there was a connection between Australia and New Zealand, but it still, was unclear to me, what this was.

Then, we were downtown in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in Hyde Park. There, in this beautiful and massive park stands, the ANZAC Memorial.

ANZAC Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney, NSW, Australia

see: http://www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/

That ANZAC Day is important to the Australians, is another public holiday, and not relative to me (or so I thought), was all becoming more clear to me.

I knew today was related to Gallipolli, war, April 25 and 1915 and this is about all I understood. In the United States we have Veterans Day and I thought it was just something unique to us as, ANZAC Day is to Australia and New Zealand. I still did not yet understand, the connections and associations and involvement of many people and many countries throughout the world, with this particular day.

I do understand and have great respect for honoring not the dead, but the purposes for which they loved, lived and died. I remember seeing my own countrymen spit on our own returning veterans from the Vietnam conflict. I use the word “conflict, on purpose, for it was never declared a war by my government. This seems to be an all too often ploy, to conduct, for all practical purposes, war without having the US Congress involved, in declaring it so. I understand that many of our returning service men and women were treated poorly, because of the nation’s vehement desire to protest it; were against it and unfortunately, those that got caught in the crossfire by many of us, WE the People, were our own people; our own brothers and sisters; our service men and women! Things have changed since then. There is more respect bestowed, more honor given and it is all, more than deserved and far, far less, than they deserve! After all, because of men and women like these the world over, every country to some degree or another, enjoys the liberty, the freedoms, the prosperity and the peace that we all do. I understand the simple act of recognizing one who has served or is serving by saying, THANK YOU, and shaking their hand!” If not for such as these, the world in its entirety, would be in slavery, in bondage and not know liberty!

But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

On Thursday night April 24^th, 2014, I was walking through the downtown area of Camden, New South Wales, Australia. I went into a local clothing store called, ‘The Looking Class.’ I was surprised to find them open at this hour, but was later informed that Thursday nights are a normal time to shop here and most stores would be closed the next day, on Friday due to the holiday.

My purpose in stopping there was to thank them for trying to locate an Akurbra hat for me, which I later found in Katoomba, NSW, Australia, during our visit to the Blue Mountains. I also wanted to ask if there was a special brush I could purchase from them to keep my hat clean. And, having nearly had my hat blown off my head by the wind here, I was curious as to a solution to prevent this from happening in the future. Though the wind was slight and more than I had previously or since experienced while in Australia, where we live on top of a hill in Macedon, New York, in the United States of America, the winds can be quite fierce and on a regular basis. I do not want to lose my hat!

The owner and his wife were both present and I thanked them, for their efforts in trying to locate a ‘Coolibah,’ Akurbra, in my size and asked my questions. Bob promptly showed me a leather chinstrap made of Kangaroo hide and made in Australia. He promised that if I brought in my hat, he would install the strap for me at no charge, even though I did not purchase my hat from them.

We chatted about many things, my impressions of Australia and they shared some history of their country, the community of Camden and even explained some Aussie phrases to me. 🙂

Bob is a member of the Camden Community Band along with our son Jonathan and asked me if either Jon was going to perform with the band the following morning and would I be attending the sunrise service for ANZAC Day on Friday? I told them that Jonathan could not attend. I knew very little about this public holiday, even though we viewed, the 1981 movie, ‘Gallipoli,’ soon after we first arrived in Australia.

Movie DVD cover art starring Mel Gibson — 1981 Movie DVD cover art
starring Mel Gibson & Mark Lee

I still did not understand and because, from a military point of view, this battle, for which ANZAC Day is remembered, was basically a failed campaign with many losses of life!

Still, the day is important enough to Australia to declare it a national holiday. And it was obviously important to Bob. He had a wonderful display in their store window.

Looking Class Store Window Display — Looking Class clothing store window display

Bob informed me that the service would begin at 5:20 AM the next morning. I will never forget my response to his question, am I going! “Who on God’s earth would be awake at this time of the morning,” I sarcastically replied. But I did leave their store with the suggestion that I might show up.

I have been awakened often at 5:00 AM here anyway, because the three cats that live here. If our door is not all the way closed, all three will come into our room to try and wake me up to feed them. One even walks across the head of our bed, and my head, to get to the nightstand and will literally tap the button on the alarm clock to make the radio come on, if all else fails to rouse me from sleep. 🙂

But, I decided to set the alarm on my smart phone, for 4:50 AM and give this sunrise service a shot.

The alarm went off as scheduled; I got up and dressed; then walked maybe four minutes, to where the service was to be held at, The Camden Rose Garden. While I was walking, I noticed to my surprise, the streets were already starting to be lined on both sides with vehicles. I saw a few people out, here and there. Then, as I rounded the corner of the street to where the service was to be held, I beheld something totally unexpected! Hundreds of people were already gathering at the Memorial Rose Garden. Police closed the street to traffic and set up and manned blockades at both ends. As I walked closer, the crowd of people grew larger.

Here were the young and elderly people, male and female, whole families with their children (some still in their pajamas) and groups of families and friends all walking towards the center of attention. The morning was overcast and it was not supposed to rain. There was only a slight 10% chance, but after 10:00 AM. While I walked closer, the band promptly began to play at 5:20 AM.

As I drew closer, I could see that the musicians had their music stands with little lights on them so that they could read the music before them and play their instruments. I saw many men and women dressed in uniform, scouts and various youth groups were dressed in uniform and there were several in their street clothes that had medals on their overcoats and jackets. The temperature was cool and delicious. I only wore a single long sleeve shirt, long pants, shoes and socks. Some that gathered had clear plastic raincoats and others had umbrellas, many of which, had the Australian Flag as part of the design when opened. On occasion, the then crescent moon shined through the clouds and the area had the benefit of a few streetlamps to provide light.

ANZAC Day sunrise service, video clip

As the band finished the first song, an announcer over a speaker greeted the people and thanked them for coming and for proving him wrong, as it was reported that there were hundreds of people there! By the time the service was over (approximately 1 hour in length), there must have been thousands present at such an early hour, including myself, the least among them, to know why I was there.

The band played another tune and then there was a pause. The people stood motionless and quiet. A few kookaburra birds supplied some vocals. Then the announcer began to explain the purpose of this service and gave a brief introduction of what was to come, named the featured speaker and other dignitaries that had come to participate. The people and every child stood still and were still. It started to rain and I prayed fervently that it would cease. It mattered not, no one moved or even flinched. A few lifted their umbrellas and some were in raincoats, but the rest of the crowd would not be moved by any amount of rain. Thankfully, the rain stopped.

Youth groups in uniforms marched. Planes unseen in the clouds above, flew quietly overhead, out of respect. Every ear listened, as this memorial was far more than to honor those that had fought and died, for what they believed was right and sacrificed the full measure of their devotion, with their lives. Left behind were families that perhaps, would never see their sons, brothers, relatives, friends, or husbands anymore, and children that may have never known their fathers. Left behind were those free to aspire to careers as doctors, engineers, scientists and all manner of free-to-choose paths, FREE from tyranny. Left behind would be those that would live with privilege, not ever knowing war and its many losses and its many changes that many would take long to recover from and some perhaps, not ever. What a wonderful lesson these children and I were being instructed and inspired with! Many of these children, I found out later, did not have to be there so early, they wanted to be!

The beautiful and soaring vocals of woman, along with the band, filled the air and every heart. One by one and group by group, many came forward from the crowd and laid a wreath of honor with the simple and singularly repeated banner, “LEST WE FORGET.”

Something familiar as, “We will remember, We will never forget,” and other such phrases came to my mind, but…

…But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

The featured speaker was an active military person. His assignment was to bring home fellow soldiers, those that had completed their assignments, were injured and those that fell from the Iraqi war and Afghanistan. It did not matter from which country they hailed. His task this morning was to express what ANZAC Day meant to him. He began his brief remarks with a sincere and humble apology, should he stumble over his words, if his voice should crack or if he could not speak the full content of his words. It was a highly emotional speech. I recall some of it. His job and his team’s mission was to bring “their” soldiers home, period, whatever it took, from whatever country they may have come from! They joked as the plane was loaded and ready to take off, to an unseen enemy, “give us your best shot!” At that very moment, a single bullet rang out and hit. An american soldier that just moments before was showing pictures of his wife and family, smiling and looking so forward to going home, was instantly dead. Our morning speaker mentioned other similar events, his voice quivered, but stayed strong and true. “All our soldiers, we bring home,” he said, with out reservation or hesitation!

I must confess that I was literally in tears. I cannot recount how moved I was and how privileged I felt to be alive, to have been in Australia and to have participated in this early morning service that was purposed to be on or about the same time in 1915, when the soldiers fought and died the morning of April 25th.

There I was, some 9,000 miles away from our home, in another country; at nearly the bottom of the world, before dawn. I cannot imagine what those in 1915 must have felt that day, so far from their loved ones and on foreign soil!

But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand, a rare instance of two sovereign countries that not only share in the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name. When war broke out in 1914, Australia and New Zealand had been dominions of the British Empire for thirteen and seven years respectively.

But Anzac Day has become a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all, “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations,” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. though originally, April 25th was to honor the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

Today, is also, a very special Day for the Dutch in the Netherlands, the Turkish people, the Greeks, and as it should be to Canada, Great Britain, the United States, and in my opinion, the whole world.

“The Gallipoli peninsula Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası; Greek:Καλλίπολη) is located in Turkish Thrace (or East Thrace), the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek “Καλλίπολις” (Kallipolis), meaning “Beautiful City”. In antiquity, it was known as the Thracian Chersonese (Latin: Chersonesus Thracica, Greek: Θρακική Χερσόνησος).

In ancient times, the Gallipoli Peninsula was known as the Thracian Chersonesus (“Chersonesus” means “peninsula”) to the Greeks and Romans. it was the location of several prominent towns, including Cardia, Pactya, Callipolis (Gallipoli), Alopeconnesus, Sestos, Madytos, and Elaeus. The peninsula was renowned for its wheat. It also benefited from its strategic importance on the main route between Europe and Asia, as well as from its control of the shipping route from Crimea. The city of Sestos was the main crossing-point on the Hellespont (Dardanelles).”

Source: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli

After the sunrise service, there was a parade downtown around 10 AM the same morning. Susan and I made the short walk and arrived shortly before it began. A lady close to us on the corner, was wearing a sprig of rosemary on her blouse. I asked her why and she told us it is a spice for remembering and used symbolically on ANZAC Day. Camden has rosemary growing all over downtown! We struck up a conversation with this lady who has lived in Australia for eight years. She was born and raised in Cyprus, part of Greece and she explained the Greek connection to ANZAC DAY. She broke off two sprigs of rosemary, one for Susan and I and withdrew two small safety pins from her purse and pinned us! A man came by and offered anyone that wanted one, a free Australian Flag. So this is the information about my picture above. But most important, the connections are all starting to connect for me.

1,000's of the people of Camden came out — 1,000’s of the people of Camden came out

Girl carrying one of the many wreaths — A girl carrying one of the many wreaths

Though the following video displays uniforms and symbolism perhaps specifically only familiar to the people of the United States, cannot the same truths and emotions be understood, shared and felt among all the peoples of the world?!

“Hey Brother”

In World War 2, twenty-two thousand Australians were captured defending Malaya, Singapore, and the Netherlands and the East Indies. An estimated 8031 died in captivity as Prisoners-of-War (POWs) of the Japanese.

Some 13000 Australian POWs were transported to Burma and Thailand to work on the 420 kilometre (about 261 miles) Burma–Thailand Railway, where nearly 2650 Australians died — from disease, deprivation and horrendous brutality at the hands of their captors. This was known as and perhaps for infamy (in shame), the ‘Railway of Death.’

But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

In Turkey, the name “ANZAC Cove” was officially recognized by the Turkish government on Anzac Day in 1985. In 1934, Kemal Atatürk delivered the following words to the first Australians, New Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This was later inscribed on a monolith at Ari Burnu Cemetery (ANZAC Beach) which was unveiled in 1985. The words also appear on the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, Canberra, and the Atatürk Memorial in Wellington:

“Those heroes that shed their blood
And lost their lives.
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
Here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers,
Who sent their sons from far away countries
Wipe away your tears,
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
And are in peace
After having lost their lives on this land they have
Become our sons as well.”

But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

The Netherlands connect with and share much in common with ANZAC DAY.

In commemorating the 20th anniversary of The Netherlands liberation, the Dutch government commissioned trumpet player, Nini Rosso and Guglielmo Brezza, to compose a piece of music. It was written in 1965 and first played in 1965, May 5th.

The piece is instrumental, with a small spoken Italian lyric, notable for its trumpet theme. Its thematic melody is, an extension of the same Italian Calvary bugle call, used by Russian composer Tchaikovsky, to open his ‘Capriccio Italien’ and often mistaken for the United States bugle call, ‘Taps.’ It has become a world wide instrumental standard.

The reason for the commissioning of this music was to honor those in a cemetery in the Dutch city of Maastricht. For there lie buried, 8,301 American soldiers, who died in “Operation Market Garden,” in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall and winter of 1944-45. Everyone of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries has been adopted by a Dutch family, who tend the grave and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is the custom to keep a portrait of “their,” foreign soldier, in a place of honor in their homes. Annually, on “Liberation Day,” Memorial Services are held for “the men, who died to liberate Holland.” The day concludes with a concert, at which, “Il Silenzio” (The Silence) has always been, the concluding piece.

Il Silenzio contains the following spoken lines:

Buona notte, amore

Ti vedrò nei miei sogni

Buona notte a te che sei lontana

Good night, love

I’ll see you in my dreams

Good night to you who are far away.

In 2008, the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu and the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands.

“Il Silenzio”

The Silence

But the meaning of all this has come to mean, so much more to me!

We the peoples of the world are connected, by so much more than we may realize. I am not advocating that we abandon our individual dates of importance or our cultures. I am not even suggesting that we all share in some world wide special international holiday. In silence we all should not just remember what people have died for, but for what purpose have they lived.

The United States, in our Declaration of Independence of 1776, put into writing, the hopes and dreams of every man, woman and child for all times past, for the present and for all our futures; ALL PEOPLE OF THE WORLD! Are the peoples of the world all not connected by the fervent desire, for “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!” We should remember those that lived and died for these things the world over as well as, those that live now and have resolved to give their lives to those ends if called for. But we who are alive and live with the privileges of those sacrifices made for us, should remember that we all desire the same things and to live this way, to teach our children, and avoid any conflict,

“Lest we forget!”

And these are not merely lofty sentiments or unreal expectations. For the purpose of life is to live. The right of life is liberty. The desire of every life is the pursuit of individual happiness.

Over nine thousand miles away from home, in a foreign country; at almost the bottom of the world, I have seen this and experienced it in the coming together of the people here in Camden, New South Wales, Australia, on this ANZAC Day, 2014!

For this day, they were all a part of me and I was one with them. May I return to my own homeland with this same heart and share it,

“Lest I Forget!

April 25, 2014 0

On: A Cockatoo Good Morning to You

by Donnie Hayden

On Friday April 11, 2014, after we checked in at our cottage in Katoomba, NSW, Australia in the Blue Mountains, Susan and Jonathan and I went to town to find some food for super. Caitlin, baby Felix and Fritz the dog stayed behind at the cottage.

The cottage had a large open space for the living, dining and breakfast area, with a high cathedral ceiling. The west wall was all glass and outside was a large wooden deck. Two large cedar trees were on each side of the deck.

The view of the Blue Mountains towards the frot of the deck or due west was incredible! It was the perfect place to view the sunrise, sunset, moon-rise, moon-fall and the many coolabah (eucalyptus or gum) trees rising mysteriously in the distance. These trees hosted many cockatoos and other birds. Throughout our weekend, we could see them fly over and sunset and sunrise and perch in the trees. And, outside on the deck was a wonderful place to hear the cacophony of sounds and breathe the fresh clean mountain air and reflect on life, chill or just be at peace.

But as we three, on our first evening here, crossed the street from our cottage, at least 100 cockatoos flew overhead, just around sunset. We we brought food home for Caitlin and told her about this, she let us know that she saw the same group of birds fly overhead and land in the trees, in front of the deck of our cottage!

Personally, I’ve only ever seen any of these beautiful birds in zoos and as pets back home in the United States, but and never so many and flying-living free in Australia!!! 🙂

Although I was not able to capture this extraordinary sight with my camera, four cockatoos showed up the morning we left for home. One in particular, seemed more than willing to pose just for you! So I share this ‘Cockatoo Good Morning with You!’

Good Morning from our cottage deck in the Blue Mountains

Four Cockatoos

Sure I'll pose for you! — Sure I’ll pose for you!

I'm so pretty! Thanks for looking! HAVE A NICE DAY! :) — I’m so pretty! Thanks for looking! HAVE A NICE DAY! 🙂

April 24, 2014 0

On: Aussie Beverages

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie beverage guide

In a previous post, we tasted some wonderful Australian food and their butter. See Butter from this blog here.

While out and about on our Saturday here, we came upon a store called the Epicure which means, “one that enjoys fine food and drink” or simply, “the good life.” This is the same store where we enjoyed that marvelous butter from two posts back. After going on and on and drooling from the memory of this, the lady asked if we would like to taste the milk that is used to make this butter? Would I, would we? There was no hesitation, of course we would and did.

When I was a young boy, we had an Aunt Gladys & an Uncle Al. We loved to visit them! Right across the road from them was a dairy farm. One dog would round up all the cows and bring them to the barn for milking. They had mechanical milking machines even 50 years ago or so. But the milk went into this stainless steel tank that was somehow cooled instantly it seemed to just above freezing or 32° F. (Fahrenheit). I don’t to this day know how they did it, but when I say “ice cold,” it was ICE COLD!

A side note: 100’s of cats all seemed to show up out of nowhere at milking time! 🙂

Anyway, since those times, I could never drink milk unless it had ice in it, but I drank this milk from Australia that was the same milk used to make the awesome butter we had and it WAS DELICIOUS!!! 🙂

Well, this post really is about beverages from Australia or that I have tried here. You have already seen the following picture in another post, but here it is again. After the milk, it’s GINger time. In a bit you will understand why, I capitalized GIN in GINger. 🙂

Ginger Beer, Ginger Ade, Dark & Stormy (Giner beer, lime and rum) and Ginger Wine — Ginger Beer, Ginger Ade, Dark & Stormy (Ginger beer, lime and rum) and Ginger Wine

Then there was this ginger suprize that you have also seen before.

Next, what was the capitals of GIN in the GINger for?

On the last night of the Camden Show, Jonathan and I popped in to a local pub, for a night cap or two. 🙂

I ordered an Australian beer with Jonathan’s recommendation and he ordered a GIN and tonic. I have never liked gin because it smells if not like a pine tree which I do like the smell, but it reminds me of mineral spirits which I used to use for many years, in cleaning out my paint brushes used for, oil-based or alkyd paint. I’ve sometimes wondered why so many older painters drank a lot? Was it to cut the taste of the mineral spirits out of their nostrils? Well anyway, something came over me and I asked Jonathan if I could try his drink? I think I was thinking that I used to not like tonic water until it was put together with rum, fresh lime and fresh ground nutmeg that our friend and former neighbors (still friends) made for many-a-happy-hour. We affectionately refer to this as, ‘Lou’s Pirate Punch!’ So I perhaps thought, maybe GIN, with fresh lime and tonic water might be OK? Jonathan said, “Sure you can taste it!” I did. I loved it and ordered myself one. This experience set the stage for what was to come later, when we stopped in to ‘The Custom’s House’ reaturant and bar in Sydney for a drink after our return from the Toranga Zoo. The Zoo post is coming, hang on! 🙂

The Customs House is or was indeed that, for Customs. But on one of the upper floors was the Customs House Bar & Restaurant. It was a fancy beautiful place with a great view of Darling Harbor and the Harbor Bridge.

Lighted table for our drinks. Very Cool! :) — Lighted table for our drinks. Very Cool! 🙂

Anyway, on their drink menu was a ‘Gin Gin Mule.’ I was curious. It sounded like a Moscow Mule which is ginger beer, fresh lime and vodka that I already like, so I tried this and? I loved it! 🙂

A Gin Gin Mule is served in a tall glass with ginger beer, a spicy ginger syrup, fresh lime, GIN and a sprig of mint and ice.

A Moscow Mule is basically the same, but with vodka, and traditionally served in a copper mug (lined of course, with stainless steel).

A Dark & Stormy is also, basically the same only it uses, a dark (more molasses flavored) rum and served in whatever kind of glass you desire.

All of these drinks made with ginger beer are fantastic. Thank you Australia for introducing me to Gin, Gin & Tonic, and the Gin Gin Mule!

Now for something regular, only from Australia, beer (actually it’s pale ale)! How does the name Fat Yak grab you? Well this is its name and it is made in Matilda Bay in Australia. Sure it will give your Matilda something to waltz about! 🙂

Fat Yak starts with hops and they finish it with hops. Normally, I don’t care for hoppy beer and ales etc., but this has a wonderful blend, a bit of fruit in its flavor and it just has a nice and lovely taste!

Are you ready for something really unusual? Here it comes. While we were in the Blue Mountains, the girls popped in to a little liquor store to pick up a nice bottle of Riesling wine for our night’s meal. Just outside the shop was a little sandwich board with the following message:

“Try Our Hot Chilly Wine”

This is exactly what the sign said and it is spelled exactly as I saw it. But I wondered what that meant, So I went into the store and asked. Now I don’t know if whoever wrote the sign cannot spell or it was intentional. If it was the latter, well it worked because, I wanted to know what it meant! 🙂

But I suppose the wine was chilly and it was hot and it was wine and it was made out of chili! So welcome one and all to world of Hot Chilly Chili Wine!

Hot Chili Wine cloese up of rear label) — Hot Chili Wine (close up of rear label)

Disaster Bay Chillies produce this sweet hot wine without grapes whatsoever! It is made from 100% chili peppers.

The proprietor gave me a sample and there are just no words to describe what was beyond anything I could imagine!

Disaster Bay Chillies is a partnership between Stuart Meagher and John Wentworth. John has been an organic market gardener for more than a decade and Stuart has been a chilli fanatic for at least as long.

Stuart and John combined their passions in 1999 to grow chillies on the Far South Coast of NSW to produce what they believe is the world’s first commercially available wine made from chillies. They used a recipe from a mate of Stuarts, known as Old Didler, as a starting point. Then, after much experimentation – and a little luck – they struck upon a workable method to produce the wine.

Disaster Bay Chillies is from Eden, a coastal town in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is 478 kilometres (or about 297 miles) south of the state capital Sydney and is the most southerly town in New South Wales.

This sweet and hot (spicy hot) wine was absolutely incredible and unlike anything we four had ever tried. It is great with cheese and crackers which is what we had it with. I think it would be awesome with fresh oysters too! What ever you serve it with, do yourself , your guests, friends and families a favor and TRY IT!!!

We intended to bring this home, but we opened it up and drank most of it that night! We finished it off the next night when we returned home to Camden. Oh NO, what to do???? “No worries mates, you can order it online!”

http://disasterbaychillies.com/

April 23, 2014 0

On: Katoomba, NSW, Australia

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates, from Dahni your Aussie Katoomba travel guide — Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie Katoomba travel guide

On April 11 through the morning of April 14th, 2014, we went to The Blue Mountains and rented a cottage (see last post) in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia.

Today, I want to share with you some of the flavor of Katoomba. It was a quaint, charming and eclectic community – MY KIND OF PLACE! Besides the fact that it is located in The Blue Mountains and is quite hilly to walk the streets, it reminded me of Telluride, Colorado in the United States. Telluride is a community in the Rocky Mountains where people come to ski in the winter and it is also a hub to get to Aspen or Vale when those areas are closed to airports or other transportation, due to the weather. Although Telluride and Katoomba do not share the same type of weather conditions, it’s their common flavor that is similar to me. Telluride basically started as a ‘hippie communue’ back in the sixities. I suppose as many of them grew up and decided to get jobs and start a ski resort? 🙂

In Katoomba, there are many young people, arts and crafts, just like in Telluride. Our pictorial journey below, begins with an example of some local artwork, a mural painted on a brick wall of an abandoned garage across the road from our cottage. We saw this as we were heading into town.

In Katoomba, we noted many wonderful and fashionable hats on the heads of many people, young and old, male and female. ‘The Hattery,’ where I found and purchased my Akubra hat you see me wearing in the picture above, is from Katoomba. For more information about my hat in a previous post on this blog see: Hats

But Kotoomba is more than just a young/artistic/eclectic community, it is a travel destination! Katoomba is the city host or gateway to The Blue Mountains and both attract many people from around the world, every year. We noted many differnet people, accents and languages being spoken while we were here. There are several popular and international establishments and connections here. A friend from the United States informed me that soon after we returned from our trip to this area, Prince William & Kate of England were planning on visiting the following week. The English and Australian connection is just one example of many international connections.

Our first night here as we were walking to downtown for some food, some one-hundred (at least) sulfur crested cockatoos flew over our heads. Caitlin stayed at the cottage with baby Felix and she saw them fly right over our deck and into the eucalyptus trees of the Blue Mountains, right around sunset. Even though I did not get a picture of this amazing sight, in a future post, I will share pictures of four of these beautiful birds and sppecifically one that certainly seemed to want to pose for me, from the huge evergreen near the deck of our cottage.

But this night, on recommendation of a local librarian, we went to dinner at an authentic Korean restaurant. Susan and Jonathan ordered each a different entree and I chose one that is supposed to be one of the most popular among street people in Korea. Dduk Bok-ki was so incredible, both Susan and Jonathan wished they had ordered it! It was a sweet rice, shaped like tube pasta, but not hollow. It was made from rice flour and steamed. It was included in this huge plate of steamed vegetables. You could have it mild, medium or hot. I chose medium. It was inexpensive, delicious and so filling and yet, I can’t believe I ate the whole thing, even sharing a lot with Susan and Jonathan, I was stuffed with delight!

Other foods include the best coffee I have either ever had or it’s been so long, I cannot recall any better. This we purchased from a little, almost a hole in the wall, cafe from the Elephant Bean Coffee. Then there was the most incredible fresh-baked croissant from a cute little bakery, I’ve ever eaten and shared the crumbs with a local pigeon. 🙂

In another post in the future, I will share about some Australian beverages, including the chili wine we tasted and bought in Katoomba. Yes, you read that correctly, Chili wine made entirely out of 100% chili. It was sweet and hot. We intended to bring it home, but we opened it as soon as we got back to the cottage and finished it off the next day when we got back home to Camden. It was fantastic with cheese and now that I’ve come to appreciate oysters (at least Australian and Apalachicola, Florida oysters in the US), DEFINITELY WITH OYSTERS!!! I’m almost sorry we drank it with out purchasing another bottle to bring home, but “no worries,” this Australian exclusive product, has a website and this wine can be ordered online and shipped to your door!!!! 🙂

We had dinner and some chocolate at the Paragon restaurant. This place could have a post and then some, all its own. It was a mixture of Greek/Romanesque architecture and art-deco and hand carved reliefs on the walls. It does make me wonder if the garden area behind our cottage might actually be owned by the owners of this restaurant or some related family members? The food was fabulous and but of course, WE HAD TO TRY THEIR CHOCOLATE! According to their interior signage, it’s the chocolate that made Katoomba famous. I have no way to prove or disprove that statement, but this place has been here since 1921 I believe, has a US connection (the wife of the owner was from the United States), and there are many pictures throughout the place of famous people that have signed their names and have eaten here. So what does that say to you?! Some of the pictures I recognized and some I did not. Art Acord (silent film western star), Clark Gable and Peter O’Toole. So, that’s pretty telling. You can search for the Paragon Cafe online and find many interesting things. They also have a page on Facebook.

There were many unusual and wonderful things to experience in Katoomba, but time and words fail me. The best that I can offer you are some humble pictures. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂

As stated previously, Katoomba is quite hilly and it exercises your heart, lungs and legs to walk here, but well worth the effort! The air was crisp, cool and clear at this time of the year during Australia’s late fall or early winter. Days were nicely pleasant with a couple of layers of long sleeve shirts and the nights build-a-fire cool. The downtown district is home to many cafes, shops and stores from the unusual, the bizarre and the, just lovely. There are examples of fine architecture in beautifully restored or well-maintained hotels and other buildings.

There were many unusual and wonderful things to experience in Katoomba, but time and words fail me. As I said, the best that I can offer you are some humble pictures, my personal recommendation to COME HERE if you ever have the opportunity and a link to some Irish music I recorded live, on my way back to the cottage one day. I hope you enjoy all that follows here! 🙂

Mural on Wall — Mural on wall of the Three Sisters and etc., of The Blue Mountains at Echo Point

Downtown Katoomba – sure why not espresso and waffles! 🙂

The Elephant Bean Cafe (notice anyone familiar?)

The Elephant Bean Cafe (Awesome coffee) — The Elephant Bean Cafe
(awesome coffee)

Bakery with fresh baked almond croissants. YAY! :) — Bakery with fresh baked almond croissants. YAY! 🙂

If you must eat croissants, why not artistically!

And the pigeons enjoyed your crumbs :) — And the pigeons enjoyed your crumbs 🙂

My first ever female street performer. She was actually very good.

Little Aussie squirrels picture, for my sister Carol Lee

Ducks or Kiwi birds in boots? I dunno, but they were cute, so I had to take this! :) — Ducks or Kiwi birds in boots? I dunno, but they were cute, so I had to take this! 🙂

Hotel Carrington Entrance — Carrington Place (hotel) Entrance

Hand carved wall, Carrington Place Entrance

Want to Wassail me for some mulled wine? :) — Want to Wassail me for some Mulled Wine? 🙂

The circus in town? :) — The circus in town? 🙂

Paragon Chocolate "The chocolate that made Katoomba famous" — Paragon Chocolate
“The chocolate that made Katoomba famous”

Whale out of wooden sticks in window of Lost Bear Gallery

Oh, there the lost bear is! :) — Oh, there the lost bear is! 🙂

Interesting Walk II (same walk, different view) — Interesting Walk II
(same walk, different view)

Last stop before back to cottage and look what I saw and heard! : — Last stop before heading back to our cottage and look what you saw and heard! :

Locals, quite possibly of Irish roots, gathered in this pub for grub, beers and cheers and playing some really nice Irish jigs. There were children present and other watchers/listeners like me. Flutes, violins, guitar, banjo, a concertina (similar to an accordion) and one gent (laddie) played the Uilleann pipes. The bar was open and run by another international connection. She was anice lady from Vietnam. It was a gorgeous day and the windows were open in the pub.

Several falutists — Several flutists and violinists and concertina far left

The uilleann pipes are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as “union pipes”, their current name is a partial translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann (literally, “pipes of the elbow”), from their method of inflation.There is no historical record of the name or use of the term ‘uilleann pipes’ before the twentieth century. It was an invention of Grattan Flood and the name stuck. People mistook the term ‘union’ to refer to the 1800 Act of Union; this is incorrect as Breandán Breathnach points out that a poem published in 1796 uses the term ‘union.’

The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm (in the case of a right-handed player; in the case of a left-handed player the location and orientation of all components are reversed). The bellows not only relieve the player from the effort needed to blow into a bag to maintain pressure, they also allow relatively dry air to power the reeds, reducing the adverse effects of moisture on tuning and longevity. Some pipers can converse or sing while playing.

Source: Wikipedia

And a good time was had be all! :) — And a good time was had by all! 🙂

Please click on the following link to a recording I made of these musicians. It’s only about a minute clip, but I think you will enjoy it.

https://soundcloud.com/dahni-4/irish-music

April 22, 2014 0

On: Cottage in the Mountains

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates, from Dahni your Aussie Blue Miuntain Cottage Guide — Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie Blue Mountains, cottage guide

On April twelfth through the morning of the 14, 2014 we rented a cottage in The Blue Mountains, in the city of Kat0omba, New South Wales, Australia.

It was a wonderful place full of antiques, plush thick big towels and all the necessary things for comfort as you could imagine. They even had the refrigerator stocked with food which we gladly added to with what we brought and enjoyed some cooking at our home away from home.

The cottage was called: Sidney’s Retreat (Not Sydney, but I think they live there) and is named after the owner’s wife, I believe.

Hot water was supplied by a Rinnai tank-less water heater, so we always had hot water. There was a microwave, coffee/espresso/cappuccino machine, four slice toaster, plates, and other cookware and utensils, silverware, spices, an assortment of coffees and teas.

We had a wood burning fireplace with plenty of wood, but no kindling to start one. Jonathan and I manged to burn a roll of toilet paper and some paper towels for a short-lived fire, due to the wood still being damp and no kindling, but we had a great time trying.

There were gas or electric heaters in every room – each of the two bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen/dining/living room = Great room with a vaulted ceiling. There were electric blankets in every bedroom. There were toys for children, a high chair for Baby Felix, DVD movies, a falt screen TV, books even playing cards which we four used a couple of nights.

The deck outside was massive and even supplied a grill if we were inclined to use it. There was an outside table and chairs for 6-8 people. The deck overlooked an interesting classic, ancient Greek/Romanesque courtyard, of stone and statues in process. All of us concurred that we would love to live in this place! 🙂

This was agreat place to explore and visit the town of Katoomba (more about this in another post). But after all is said and done, it’s all about the view from the Great Room or from the deck! The Blue Mountains were right in our back yard!!

Jonathan & Susan at the gate to our cottage — Jonathan & Susan at the gate to your cottage

No. 36 Laurline St — No. 36 Lurline St., your temp. address in Katoomba, NSW, Australia

Path to home away from home — Pathway to your home away from home

What's this Samsung thing? Touch your palm to the face? — What’s this Samsung thing? Touch your palm to the face?

Press the two numbers that show (different each time)

A full panel display, insert the four digit password followed by the pound sign and the door opens! AWESOME! i want one of these!!! :) — A full panel display, insert the four digit password followed by the pound sign and the door opens! AWESOME! I want one of these!!! 🙂

Our Bed. Rm. with chairs and stuffed toys for kids — Your bed rm. with chairs and stuffed toys and stuff for kids

Big room bath with shower and claw legged tub and the room had a skylight

I loved the old telephone! wing, wing, wing, Hehwo! :) — I loved the old telephone! wing, wing, wing, Hehwo! 🙂

Jonathan, Caitlin, baby Felix and Fritz the dog even had an old pump organ in their room that Jonathan played. This video is for you, Janet Beaman! 🙂

It's All about the View — It’s All about the View from our deck!

It's All about the View II — It’s All about the View II

It's All about the View III — It’s All about the View III

It's All about the View IV — It’s All about the View IV

It's All about the View V — It’s All about the View V

It's All about the View VI — It’s All about the View VI

April 21, 2014 0

On: From Australia With Love

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates, from Dahni your Aussie gift guide — Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie Easter gift guide

Easter is, the first Sunday; after the first full moon; after the beginning of Fall down under here in Australia, so that you in the United States, can celebrate Easter on the first Sunday; after the first full moon; after the beginning of Spring, up there. 🙂

The stores here were all mostly closed on Friday, supermarkets opened on Saturday and closed again on Sunday and Monday. In fact, most stores here in Camden, New South Wales, Australia will not open until Tuesday.

We went to the supermarket here on Saturday which is your Friday and they were nearly all sold out of Cadbury Chocolate products for Easter. So, we didn’t get any, can’t send some home or bring some home to you. And sorry Janet, but we cannot bring home any butter. 😦

Besides all of that, down under’ here, there is a concerted effort to replace the Easter Rabbit with the Easter Bilby.

But for now (your tomorrow, but when you get this it will be your today there and yesterday here ), most stores, well they used to until they were sold out, had Carmello Koala.

Anyway, We down under here, having already lived through your today, yesterday, are already living in your tomorrow, tuhday mates. But what can be done for you is, to capture the past, for your today. So I did. I have captured the moon, for you yesterday, so you can have it tuhday! HAPPY EASTER, which is now your first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the beginning of Spring up there! 🙂

HAPPY EASTER up there yesterday, from down under here, now tomorrow for your tuhday! :) — HAPPY EASTER up there yesterday, from down under here, now tomorrow for your tuhday! 🙂

Seriously, I did find some Cadbury Creme Eggs for you! 🙂

Rent or watch the movie ‘Hop,’ with your family!

Rent or Watch w/ the Fam' :) — Rent or Watch w/ the Fam’ 🙂

HAPPY PAGAN UNHOLY DAY! 🙂

Note: Easter is an ancient Babylonia celebration of the goddess Ishtar of love, war, fertility and sexuality or Ostara a Germanic pagan goddess. Rabbits and eggs are mere symbols of fertility as is the Spring equinox for procreation. including rabbits and eggs as symbols.

“An important historical result of the difference in reckoning the date of Easter was that the Christian churches in the East, which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong, observed [the Resurrection] according to the date of the Passover festival. The churches of the West, descendants of Greco-Roman civilization, celebrated Easter on a Sunday.
“Constantine the Great, Roman emperor, convoked the Council of Nicaea in 325. The council unanimously ruled that the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and that if the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following. Coincidence of the feasts of Easter and Passover was thus avoided.”
“The name [Easter] probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts…” –

Source: Encarta Encyclopedia, article: Easter.

The word holiday is a transliteration of the word holy day and has nothing to do with Easter.

Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity or the resurrection of Jesus Christ, except its close proximity to the calculation of time of the spring equinox. Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday (the 14th of Nisan), before sunset (sunset began the 15th or the Passover feast) so in the year of his death, he would have been the Passover Lamb. Death requirements were for 72 hours for one to be declared legally dead. So 72 hours from the 14th of Nisan, would make his resurrection occurring on Saturday the Jewish (Judaic) Sabbath. When the two Mary(s) went “early in the morning” and found the stone rolled away and an empty tomb, “the first day of the week,” it was sometime after sunset of Saturday making this day, Sunday, but as the angel at the tomb said, “He has already risen.”

The Bible, The gospel of Matthew 28: 1-8

King James Version

April 20, 2014 0

On: The Blue Mountains

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates, from Dahni your Blue Mountain guide — Guhday Mates, from Donnie The Blue Mountains guide (yours). 🙂

Australian late Fall – April 12th, 2014

Today, we journey into and through the Blue Mountains near Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. It is an awe inspiring journey into some of the finest, picturesque and photographic adventures, I have ever experienced. But our adventure is for more than just the area’s calling card which is, The Three Sisters Rock formations. For more on the Three Sisters, their lengends, The Three Exploers and etc. from this blog, click The Three Somethings

Our trip begins at Echo Point and The Three Sisters, then we will hike around the mountains and through the forest to Katoomba Falls. The trek is quite rigorous, but I am sixty years old and if I can do it, so can you! My Keene sandals are more than up to the task. Wear warm clothing (long pants, a nice wool shirt and an undershirt, a hat and some sunglasses if you like, but we will be passing through the forest floor of shade and shadows). Grab some water and a camera and prepare yourself to transcend into an incredible state of mind as we ascend the mountains and descend towards the falls. The air is crisp and clear. The sun is full and the clouds are gorgeous. We may even see some bird of prey, soar the thermals above the mountains.

Caution: There will be times that you feel as if you are all alone. You may be able to hear yourself think? You may at times be so at peace within the quiet that the only sound you may hear if you stop moving is, the sound of your own heartbeat. That my friends and companions, is the sound of exuberant joy! 🙂

Glad not alone, for you are not alone. We are all pilgrims here, just passing through. It is a gift to us and to all. The Blue Mountains was made for all to enjoy. For joy, get en (in) to it, all of it and all of your all – en-joy!

Our trip below Echo Point along the mountain side to the falls, will take about 2 hours in and back another way. It is a well made path, but there may be some water from many small mountain streams that may trickle over it sometimes. This will be some good exercise, but well worth it. I do highly recommend this trip to most anyone of fair to good health. Take it slowly if you must, as they say here down under, “No worries!” Catch every breath from every moment that leaves you breathless from such breathtaking views! 🙂

Immerse yourself in this, perhaps a once in a lifetime experience. So, this ends and your vicarious adventure begins with photographs and captions. Enjoy!

Dahni

Note: The Haze over the mountains from which it derives its name is from the oils released from the thousands of many varieties of eucalyptus trees that cover the mountains.

The Three Sisters from another point of view

Our journey ends here as close to the falls as we could reach as the lower path was closed. We will just have to return for more views and closer views sometime in the future or in our dreams. My sincerest thanks for allowing me to be with you in this place of beauty. You are beautiful and Donnie Luvs Yah!

Donnie

P.S. WE THANK YOU AUSTRALIA, FOR SHARING YOUR TREASURE!!! 🙂

All Photography by Dahni

any photos you would like either as enlarged prints to purchase or to share for FREE, by purchase or permission ONLY

contact me for more information: Dahni1@gmail.com

April 19, 2014 0

On: Aussie Dairy Products, Bread & Stuff

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates, from Dahni your Aussie explorer — Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie explorer

First off, Happy Friday! I realize some memorialize today as Good Friday, but I have never understood why anyone would want to celebrate the death of someone? As to Jesus Christ, according to the Bible, history and even Jewish traditions, he did NOT eat the last supper (passover) with his 12 diciples/apostles then was crucified on Friday. He was the passover the year he died on a Wednesday. There is no power to anyone that he died. The power is attributed to that he was raised 72 hours before sunset of the Jewish Sabbath, which was and is, Saturday. This irks me to the enth-degree! If you do not believe or if you do, FINE, just stop talking about and celebrating stuff in which you do not understand what you are talking about! And believers and non or un-believers are equally responsible for misinformation.

Sorry to go on and on about this, but it has opened my eyes to something I will most likely write about somewhere and sometime. But it seems all people have at least two natures in common – curiosity and judgement. We often make judgments and usually about things and even people that we are just plain and simply, ignorant about. But curiosity influences us to open our minds, our hearts, to think, to search, to examine, to explore, to listen and especially to ask questions. It seems as if our curiosity is under attack or we are so weary that curiosity is waning, unused and underdeveloped. Other than all of this, I hope and I hope that your Friday has been good and will end this way! Have a good Friday! 🙂

To begin this post, it begins with “Aussie…stuff.”

A few nights ago, we had just returned from The Blue Mountains and that night there was a Total Lunar eclipse April 15th, 2014. Sorry to say we missed this, but others did not and took great pictures of what many call a “blood moon.” There are those that ‘freak out’ about this, but come on, it’s a beautiful, naturally occurring phenomenon and I’ve seen blood and this moon (picture) in no way looks like blood! 🙂 But I have enjoyed the night and early morning skies while here in Australia. Stars seem closer and there are those in positions that I have not seen in the way they are arranged here, ‘down under’

Blood Moon April, 15, 2014 Unknown photographer — Beauty Moon April, 15, 2014 Unknown photographer

The following night around dusk, we took a family walk around the neighborhood with baby Felix and Fritz the dog. While out, we saw several huge bats flying overhead. The next night about the same time, I was out for a walk and a really, really big O’ huge bat flew over my head, about 4 feet from my head and nearly scared the crap out of me! 🙂 Sorry, no pictures, but this is my story and I’m sticking to it! 🙂

I love to walk here most anytime, but especially early in the morning and in the evening. When the sky is clear of clouds, the moon and stars have been spectacular. And I love the many sounds of birds including the cackle of the beautiful cockatoos, the caw of the magpies, squeals of the lorikeets (or lories as they say here, ‘down under’), and even the freaky weird song that sounds like a laughing hyena, made by the kookaburra. But I will say this, we four ( + Felix the baby and Fritz the dog) were walking in a park yesterday and Susan got to hear not her first one, but her first three or four. The Kookaburra Quartet all singing at the same time acapella, sounded pretty good! 🙂

There are many others that are beautiful songbirds whose names I cannot name. There are a couple that I have taken upon myself to call them by the name which makes sense to me. There is one that sounds like while you are walking and you have something wrong with your shoe. I call this, the squeaky bird. Another birds starts off with a high-pitched twirling sound then falls off. It sounds alien to me so, I just call it the spaceship landing bird. 🙂

It’s difficult to get use to the weather here. Early this morning it was 47 degrees F. (Fahrenheit) and I could actually see my breath. This was the coldest we have experienced in Australia so far, even while we in The Blue Mountains! I was wearing two shirts, long pants and socks. Well, that was around 7 am and today’s estimate is 80° F. which will be the warmest day so far that we have had while here. So, it’s, cover up at night and in the morning, but change to shorts, short sleeves, sandals (or flip flops), sun glasses and plenty of sunscreen with a HIGH SPF (Sun Protector Factor) by day! The sun here can be brutal along with the high humidity. Truly though, right now (March – May) is the best time to come to Australia, as far as I am concerned.

OK, on to Dairy Products. Let me just say that I come from the Midwest area of the United States. I was born and raised there in the heartlands of agriculture products. The State of Kansas, with its many acres of wheat is often called, “the breadbasket of the world.” The state of Iowa is known for its beef and corn. The Midwest has many large farms and ranches, both privately or family owned and corporate owned. The state of Wisconsin is called, “America’s Dairy” and produces some of the finest milk, cheese and dairy products in our country.

Our grandfather was a farmer. My mother was born and raised with country-fresh until at least after high school when she married our Dad. But our grandfather, was an executive, a foreman and a farmer among many types of work he did throughout his lifetime. I can fondly recall that he always had gardens of fresh produce. He worked on dairy farms and I suppose, he had his own cow at some point, before I was born. This possibility can be seen in the picture below that he posed for, just for fun. 🙂 But our “Papa” (pronounced paw paw), should know something about farming and food! Raised with good country fresh food, I suppose I know something about it as well, at least what it used to look like and taste like.

Our Papa (Paw Paw) on a cow. Unknown photographer and from a family album. The date is likely the 1930’s or 40’s

But whatever happened to America’s dairy products or when it happened I cannot say, but Australia’s dairy products are the best I have ever had, since I was a small boy. Take for example, butter. I remember butter being a beautiful yellow color. Well, for the most part, butter is almost white now in the United States, unless you purchase some specialty butter at a higher price and probably imported. Imported dairy products in the USA? Yep.

And with all due respect to Wisconsin, you have nothing on Australian cheese or any dairy product! Yogurt, even Greek style yogurt and OMG, ICE CREAM from Australia will absolutely BLOW YOUR MIND! It is, sooooooooooooooo good!

In the USA, we have 1%, 2%, ?%, cream, whipping cream, sour cream and 1/2 & 1/2 milk and who knows what other milk (products). Perhaps there is so much cream stripped out that when it gets to whole milk, there’s not much left? Where ever the answer lies, in Australia, whole milk is whole milk and it’s delicious. I use Aussie whole milk in my coffee instead of, 1/2 & 1/2 like at home and it is wonderful!

Dear United States, what has happened to you? Is it added crap, fillers, preservatives, messed-around-with seed for the animals = poor quality grain/grass feed for the animals that has been so screwed up or have WE the People all been sold a bill of crap-messed-around-with goods, just for more profit to business? I really don’t know the answer, but don’t give us cake to appease us poor-pitiful-peons, give us Butter or give us death. Yes, I know that last sentence was intended to be humorous and was a reference to Patrick Henry’s “Give us liberty or give us death,” quote from 1776 and the attribution of Marie Antoinette supposedly saying: “Let them eat cake,” in response to the plight of the people having no bread. The translation of the French phrase “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche. is certainly curious, since brioche was made from dough enriched with butter and eggs, making it more expensive than bread! The quote then supposedly, would reflect the princess’s obliviousness as to the condition of the people not to mention the ignorance of expense between bread and cake. And it is hotly contested that Marie Antoinette or any “great princess,” as some believe, ever said this. My attempt at humor’s point is that we should have liberty to have and free to choose the best dairy products available. Right now, in my experience, the best dairy products I have tasted in a very long time, are in Australia!

Since I mentioned cake above, lets move now onto or into bread. Many people love chocolate cake so, let’s start with this. In the United States, we have several chocolate companies or those that operate there and are in the public consciousness. Hershey’s and Nestlé are two of these firms. But Nestlé is from Switzerland. There are other companies in the U.S.A., but at closer look, it’s difficult to know who owns what any more. Take for example, Cadbury Chocolate. It was started in England, but made by Hershey Chocolate in the U.S.A. and then Kraft Foods (USA) bought Cadbury Chocolate in 2009. Pretty confusing isn’t it! When you think about it, the ingredients for chocolate (milk chocolate) are pretty basic: cocoa, sugar, MILK, some flavorings and blending agents then perhaps other add-ins like nuts etc. So how can the taste of chocolate be so different from company to company, country to country and from the same company, but in different countries? We have the Cadbury Eggs sold in the USA about this time. We have Cadbury Chocolate products in the USA and have had them for as long as I can remember. Why don’t they taste the same in the United States as they do in Australia? Is the answer, the MILK??? A lady told me she constantly has to send Cadbury Chocolate from Australia to a relative living in the Bahamas on a regular basis. Why is this, because it’s just so much better than what can be purchased (probably imported from the USA) in the Bahamas? Hmm, I wonder if it is the milk! 🙂

Milk is also used in bread. One would think that Australian bread, because of its superior milk would be fantastic. But in my opinion, except for their ‘Damper‘ and a few rolls here and there, Australia has no idea how to make bread. What we call cookies, the Aussies call biscuits. Maybe the McDonalds here can make biscuits, but other than this possibility, the flaky-tasty we love and expect in the United States, do not exist here. Bread here is hard and it is more than just “hard.” I grew up with soft white bread. Honestly, it took me a long time to acquire a taste for hard or real bread. But the bread and rolls (what we in the USA call a hot dog, sub or hoagie roll are so tough, they are hard to eat and hard to chew through just to get to to the stuff we desire in the center. I will give the Aussie rolls this, at least they do not fall apart or spill their contents because, they are so soft like ours in the US. Perhaps the answer to their bread is two-fold: It is all they know and with the humidity here being so constantly high, maybe it is the best that they can do?

And one last thing about Aussie food. Their corn is great, but they have no idea how to make corn tortilla chips or Mexican food whatsoever. Their bean burritos and flour tortillas are good, especially with their sour cream.

We everywhere, need to learn from one another! We all should have the best dairy products, bread and stuff available that can be made, without sacrificing our unique cultures or QUALITY!!! 🙂

April 18, 2014 0

On: Hats

Guhday Mates, from Dahni your Aussie Hat Guide — Guhday Mates, from Donnie your Aussie Hat Guide

by Donnie Hayden

Besides meeting baby Felix for the first time, spending time with family, visiting Australia for the first time, seeing the plants and animals of this wonderful country, I had one thing I wanted to bring back home, a hat.

I love hats of all kinds and always have I guess. But personally, I don’t think I look all that great in them. There is just one exception, in my opinion. Years ago, Susan found a relatively inexpensive black felt hat from J.C. Penny or JCP for short. I love this hat and have received several compliments in wearing it, so I suppose I look OK in it?

It has been associated with everything from Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and Indiana Jones from the movie, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ OK, I get those connections, but one person thought it was a cowboy hat, which for the life of me, I do not understand that at all!

I also have a used, but cleaned white canvas hat given to me by a friend for spring and summer wear. I also purchased an inexpensive white panama-like hat. Neither of those two hats has ever received any comments while I’m wearing them so, what does that tell you? 🙂 I do have a baseball type cap which I rarely ever wear and one that has flaps to cover my ears in winter that I use when plowing or shoveling snow. I probably look like a dork wearing it, but my head and ears stay worm. 🙂

It is difficult to find anyone to dry clean hats anymore where we live. Most dry cleaners used to perform this service. I have had it cleaned twice. Once when I worked for Coit Carpet Cleaning in the Rochester, NY area, as their central office in Buffalo, NY. had a large dry cleaning and rug cleaning plant. But I no longer work for Coit and I’m not sure if they perform this service anymore?

The second time I had my hat cleaned was performed by a master hatter, right in Henrietta, NY. A friend told me to check him out. He was close to where we lived in the city until we moved to the country. His name is, Dave Brown. Dave Brown is a master hatter and he makes custom designed hats for many stars on TV and the silver screen. His hats have been featured in many familiar movies and soon to be seen in current projects. One day, I would love to have a hat custom made by him. Dave Brown the Hatter, is located at: 3054 West Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY 14623

You should check out his website, you will be amazed! see:

http://www.davebrownhats.com/clients_f.html

Well anyway, back to my story. I really think hats are sexy and men and women that wear the right one look handsome and gorgeous and children look adorable in them, adults and the elderly look great! Sometimes, even pets look spectacular in hats.

I was walking around Camden, NSW, Austraila just a short time ago, becoming familiar with this great community and yes, always on the look-out for a hat store or place that sells them. I found such a store and actually, I was just looking for a short sleeve shirt. But there they were, hats! 🙂

My search just started off looking for a bushman’s hat, a traditional top wear in Australia. But this store had Akubra.

“Akubra Hats are an Australian Icon. For 130 years Akubra has been making its famous fur felt hats. The Akubra name is synonymous with the landscape of outback Australia, and our unique hats form an important part of the Australian national uniform. In the modern era Akubra Hats still form an important part of the national culture, being worn by the hard working men and women on the land as well as being presented as national gifts to those visiting dignitaries who want to take a piece of Australia home.”

Source: http://www.akubra.com.au/

The store had several styles including the one like Paul Hogan wore as the character, ‘Crocodile Dundee,’ in the series of movies made with this name. It was called, ‘The Croc.’ I really thought the crocodile teeth were fake and made out of plastic. I found out later that my assumption was false.

But I found a style in black that I really liked called, ”The Coolabah,” so named after the tree in the famous Aussie song, ‘Waltzing Matilda.’ But alas, it was more than I wanted to pay and besides that, they did not have my size, which was supposed to be size 57 cm by Australian metric standards. “No worries,” as they say in Australia, we would soon be attending the Camden Show and hats would be sold there.

At the Camden Show, I could not find any hats I liked and there was not a single Akubra sold at the show. Hats for sale were just some inexpensive and poor quality ‘knock-offs,’ mostly made in China. I even tried on a ‘Croc’ wannabee, but Susan said, “Absolutely NOT!” 🙂 I will say though however, this hat was made in Australia with farm raised crocodile with leather band and teeth. One actually has to have a travel permit to carry this hat or a real Akubra out of the country. “No worries,” the permit is attached to the hats! 🙂

Later in the week, Susan & I returned to the local store. My heart was still fixed on, ”The Coolabah.’ The owner of the shop was away and a clerk promised to see if any were available, anywhere and in my size, even if he could trade one for another. Apparently, size 57 is the most common and ”The Coolabah’ is the most favored among foreigners and in black. Have you ever experienced something similar, you like something, but can’t get it or they stop making it?

Things did not bode well for, but the store took my email and said they would try to find one and promised to send a note as such – “Found Hat – Bring Head!” 🙂 Sadly, I never received such an email and it takes about 3 months for Akubra to make new hats. Once sold out, this is typically how long you need to wait. It looked like I would be leaving Australia in a couple of weeks without an Akubra!? 😦

To give you an idea of how great these hats are, the clerk told us that in 1986, Stetson hats of the United States had an arrangement with Akubra to make their hats in Australia. A Stetson hat is referred to as: ‘An American Tradition.’

In 1865, with a $100 investment, John B. Stetson rented a small room, bought the tools he needed, bought $10 worth of fur and the Stetson hat company was born. They are still made in the United States. A ‘Stetson’ is considered the most popular ‘cowboy hat in the world.’ Unlike the comment one person made about my black, JCP (J. C. Penny) hat, Stetsons’ are really cowboy hats! But the clerk in Camdem, Australia wanted a Stetson styled cowboy hat, made by Akubra in 1986, He still has this hat and it virtually, still looks brand new, though now, around 28 years old! I believe an Akubra is not a purchase, but an investment which will last for many years in rain, sleet or snow!

For more information on Stetson hats see:

http://www.stetsonhat.com/

During April 11-14, 2014, we were in the Blue Mountains in the town of Katoomba, NSW, Australia. We walked into a very unusual place that was part hat shop on one side and part cafe on the other, both sharing the same address. I chose the hat side and Susan and I went in for a look.

The Hattery sells all kinds of hats and accessories. They sell more Akubras than any other store in Australia. With this much clout and selling-power, they are allowed to change the bands for custom designing of Akubra hats and they have an exclusive design and color to their store. This hat cannot be purchased anywhere else in the world, but in the Blue Mountains, in Katoombah, Australia and at The Hattery or through their online store!

The Hattery

one of Australia’s largest specialist hat shops
holds the largest inventories of stock in Australia – so when you order you can be confident the hat is available immediately.
is located just west of Sydney, Australia, in the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains at Katoomba.
is open 7 days a week, for visitors to our shop and on line customers
is a established family owned and financially secure company that has specialized in mail order for international and local customers for over 16 years.
we pride ourselves on offering the same level of service to our on line customers as to our in store customers

The Hattery
Shop 2, 197 Katoomba Street, Katoomba, 2780, Australia.
Australia: Phone: 02 4782 5003 – Fax: 02 4782 6265
Local call Australia wide: 1300 302 146
International: Phone: + 61 2 4782 5003 Fax: + 61 2 4782 6265

https://hatsdirect.com/help/about.html

Hats & Cafe (same address and right next to each other)

Cafe for while you wait for your hat or wear while you enjoy the Cafe

Even a formal tophat — Even a formal top hat

The Croc – Akubra

Black

53-64 cm

83 mm, Cut Edge

Features a genuine farmed crocodile band with real crocodile teeth and satin lining.

Coolabah – Akubra

Black, Bran, Regency Fawn, Santone Fawn

53-64 cm

79mm, Cut Edge

This hat has been a successful addition to the Akubra range and is particularly popular with visitors to Australia.
Features a genuine farmed crocodile band, satin lining and eyelet vents.

The Coolabah in black size 57 is what I was looking for. But my head size was measured at the Hattery and it was a size 58. Guess I have a bigger head than thought. 🙂

Actually, you really cannot go by size necessarily. You really need to try on one, but if you are pretty sure of your size then order it from the Hattery in that size. They can ship it from Australia to the United States, almost faster than it would be to ship something from within the USA! And if it is the wrong size, let them know and another will be quickly sent out, even before you send the other back! They pride themselves in exceptional service, going even beyond Akubra’s suggestions, for the care and instructions for the long-life of your hat.

For myself, I chose ‘The Blue Mountains,’ Akubra, with approval from Susan. 🙂 It is an exclusive hat to The Hattery and the exclusive color is a dark blue (almost black), representing The Blue Mountains. I have had several compliments. I am very happy and more than satisfied! 🙂

Dahni's 'Blue Moutains' Akubra, size 58 color: Loden (dark blue) — Donnie’s ‘Blue Moutains’ – Akubra – ‘Leisure Time’ – size 58 – color: Loden (dark blue)

Oh by the way, my hat cost $40 less than what I was expecting to spend. Gotta love that! Also, after publishing this post, a friend of ours Janet, read it and left a comment on my Facebook page that this week, Prince William and Kate will be visiting The Blue Mountains. Janet wrote, “Maybe he (Prince William) will get a hat like yours!!! “

If you would like additional information or to see how these authentic and superior quality hats are made, see videos from the Akubra website to follow here.

http://www.akubra.com.au/creation.html

April 17, 2014 0

On: The Three Somethings

by Donnie Hayden

Guhday Mates from Dahni, your Aussie Blue Mountains guide — Guhday Mates from Donnie, your Aussie Blue Mountains guide

Yes, tis’ me! I am no longer wearing shades, eating eucalyptus leaves and looking like a Koala Bear! 🙂 A brand new, Akubra hat, exclusive to this one hat store (The Hattery) and this area and actually dark navy blue and appropriately named, Blue Mountains,will do that to you! 🙂

I am standing at a rail at Echo Point in front of The Three Sisters/Explorers/Rock Formations/Somethings, immediately behind me to your right.

Last weekend (April 11-14), we had the breathtaking, perhaps a-once-in–lifetime experience of the Blue Mountains around Katoomba, N.S.W. (New South Wales or NSW), Australia. NSW is a province or like a state in the US. It is a large area and includes: Sydney, Katoomba, The Blue Mountains and Camden (where we are staying), among others cities, towns and areas. I wrote “perhaps a-once-in-a-lifetime experience,” as we never know where the roads we travel or may one day travel lead, until we take them or find ourselves upon them.

But the road we traveled this weekend, was only about an hour’s drive from Camden to Katoomba. Traveling by car, we noticed large parcels of land and large beautiful homes as if estates or ranches. And there was an enormous amount of construction going on. We were told a brand new International airport has been approved to be built soon and that there are estimates which suggest that over 1,000 people are moving to this area every month. But for us, soon, in the distance, we could see our destination, The Blue Mountains and the gradual, soon-to-be, ear pooping ascension up into them.

With all due respect and credit to Jimmy Buffet, the change in altitude, definitely inspired a change in attitude. The temperatures were cooler, the air seemed to be more pure and with much less humidity. All these factors were a much needed and appreciated relief. We checked into our cottage, unpacked and set out to explore Katoomba and find some grub (food). At another time I will share more about Katoomba, our cottage, the hundred or so sulfur crested cockatoos that flew over our heads, more about my hat and perhaps other things, but today, this is about, The Blue Mountains and more specifically, The Three Somethings. 🙂

The Three Sisters or the Three Explorers — The Three Sisters, The Three Somethings or The Three Explorers?

The Three Sisters is the Blue Mountains’ most spectacular landmark, equated by numbers of people that visit and their comments. Located at Echo Point in the town of Katoomba, around 1.6 miles or 2.5 kilometers from the Great Western Highway. This spectacular view and destination is experienced by millions of people each year.

The picture above was taken in the early morning when we were about the only ones there. The smaller picture above with me in it, was taken the same day, hours later, but it was then crowded with people. I was asked to take a picture for a lady and her friend and she in kind, took a couple of me.

But, The Three Sisters/Three Explorers/Three Somethings is essentially an unusual rock formation. The character of these formations change throughout the day and throughout the seasons as the sunlight brings out the magnificent colors. These rocks are also floodlit until around 11 pm each evening looking simply spectacular, set against the black background of the night sky.

Each stand at 922, 918 & 906 meters or 3,025, 3,012, & 2,972 feet tall, respectively.

That’s over 3000 feet above sea level! It has come to represent three sisters, who according to Aboriginal legend were turned to stone or to represent three actual explorers to the region in 1813. The legends are two, so lets start with those.

The Three Sisters

Legend I

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, ‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and Gunnedoo’ lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry.

The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters, causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witch doctor from the Katoomba tribe, decided to turn the three sisters into stone to protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the battle was over, the witch doctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to come.

The Three Sisters

Legend II

Three sisters, Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo had a father who was a witch doctor. His name was Tyawan.

Long ago there was a Bunyip who lived in a deep hole who was feared by all. The bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. A Billabong is a Wiradjuri word (essentially a dead language that efforts to revise are in progress) that is used for an isolated pond that is left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end.

Passing the hole was considered very dangerous, therefore whenever Tyawan had to pass the hole in search for food, he would leave his daughters safely on the cliff behind a rocky wall.

One fateful day, Tyawan waved goodbye to his daughters and descended down the cliff steps into the valley.

Meanwhile, at the top of the cliff, Meenhi was frightened by a large centipede which suddenly appeared before her. Meenhi took a stone and threw it at the centipede. The stone continued on its journey and rolled over the cliff, crashing into the valley below which angered the Bunyip.

The rocky wall behind Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, then began to split open and the three sisters were left stranded on a thin ledge at the top of the cliff. All the birds, animals and fairies stopped still as the Bunyip emerged to see the terrified girls.

As the Bunyip began to approach the girls, to protect them from harm, their father Tyawan used his magic bone to turn them into stone.

Angered by this, the Bunyip then began to chase Tyawan. Becoming trapped, in order to flee from the Bunyip, Tyawan changed into a magnificent Lyre Bird, yet in the process dropped his magic bone. Tyawan and his three daughters were now safe from the Bunyip.

Once the Bunyip had disappeared, Tyawan returned in search of his magic bone, yet this was never to be found.

The Lyre Bird has been searching for this magic bone ever since. Remaining in rock formation, The Three Sisters stand silently overlooking the valley, hoping that one day he’ll find the bone and turn them back to their former selves.

When visiting The Three Sisters, if you listen carefully you may be able to hear the Lyre Bird, Tyawan, as he continues his quest for his lost magic bone.

The Three Explorers

Not legend 🙂

“In May 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth, set off on the first successful European crossing of the Blue Mountains. Tracing what is now the Great Western Highway route between Glenbrook and Mount Victoria, the explorers reached Mount York, before descending into the Kanimbla (now Hartley) Valley and then ascending Mount Blaxland, arriving back at the colony, a month later in June.

Gregory Blaxland (17 June 1778-1 January 1853) was an English pioneer farmer and one of the three explorers to cross the Blue Mountains in 1813. The Blaxlands were friends of Sir Joseph Banks. Gregory sailed in the William Pitt on September 1805 with his wife, 3 children, 2 servants, an overseer, a few sheep, seed, bees, tools, groceries and clothing. He bought 80 head of cattle on arrival in the Sydney colony and entered the meat trade.

William Lawson (2 June 1774-16 June 1850) was educated in London and became a qualified surveyor. In June 1799 he paid 300 hundred pounds for a commission in the NSW Corps, arriving in 1800. After a post on Norfolk Island, he returned with Sarah Leadbeater and their children to NSW, eventually settling in Prospect. In 1813 he set out from Prospect to meet Gregory Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth at Blaxland’s South Creek farm, from which the three of them left for the expedition which discovered the first satisfactory route over the Blue Mountains. In 1814, Governor Macquarie offered each of the three explorers 1000 acres west of the Blue Mountains. Lawson accepted the offer and in July 1815, he crossed the Nepean and set out to drive 100 head of cattle to Bathurst to take up his property, which he named Macquarie. In 1819 Lawson was appointed Commandant of Bathurst and during this period, he led a further three major explorations to open up the Mudgee district, where he became the first and largest landholder. Lawson went on to play an important part in the horse breeding and racing industry of early Australia and became a member of our first partly-elective Legislative Council from 1 July 1843 until 20 June 1848. William Lawson, known as ‘Old Ironbark’, often walked to Sydney on business, returning the next day. William Lawson died on 16 June 1850 and was interred in a family vault at St Bartholomew’s Anglican Cemetery, Prospect.

William Charles Wentworth (13 August 1790-20 March 1872) was an Australian poet, journalist and politician as well as one of the three explorers to cross the Blue Mountains in 1813. W. C. Wentworth was one of the leading figures in early colonial New South Wales. He was the first native-born Australian to achieve a reputation overseas, and was a leading advocate for self-government for the Australian colonies.”

Source: Historical notes collected by Robert Brown
Old Ironbark, William Beard
Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900), K.R. Binney
Australian Dictionary of Biography
http://www.prospectheritagetrust.org.au/page5.html

So how these three explorers were associated with these three rock formations, I have no clue other than the number three (3). I made the comment that if you look to the right of the ‘The Three Sisters,’ in the picture above, it looks like to me, one or all of them may have had little rock formations or children? 🙂 So, I suppose which of the legends or historical journals you choose to accept or believe, depends on the level of your romantic or imaginative nature. If this helps, there was only one place I found that mentioned the The Three Explorers, and it was a local motel bearing this name, close to Echo Point and the otherwise known as, The Three Sisters. Well, here is another theory, it’s the Three Amigos or The Three Stooges?! 🙂

Three Sisters & Three Amigos or Three Stooges :) Dahni, Susan & Jonathan — Three Sisters & Three Amigos or Three Stooges 🙂
Donnie, Susan & Jonathan

April 16, 2014 0

Author: Dahni

On: Anzac Day

On: A Cockatoo Good Morning to You

On: Aussie Beverages

On: Katoomba, NSW, Australia

On: Cottage in the Mountains

On: From Australia With Love

HAPPY PAGAN UNHOLY DAY! 🙂

On: The Blue Mountains

On: Aussie Dairy Products, Bread & Stuff

On: Hats

On: The Three Somethings

The Three Sisters

The Three Sisters

The Three Explorers

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