I've been agitated these past few days. I reached out to a friend who is in crisis offering accommodation and friendship. In return, I have received nothing. Not a reply. I am struggling with the rudeness around this. How difficult could it be to simply reply thank you but I think I'll be ok. I took myself on a meditative walk through Lane Cove National Park where I was able to breathe fresh air, get some exercise, and watch bird families mingle and have fun. I was taken out of my head for a while which helped me a great deal. Here are a few of the friends I came across today. THE AUTHOR As it does, life took a devastating sideways turn for me. With fierce determination, I quit my teaching job, shut down my photography business, packed up my apartment, hired an agent and rented it out on Airbnb, bought a ticket to London and embarked on an adventure of discovery, both about the world and myself. I’ve learned a great deal about people, places and myself. I’m happy that you are h...

Beautiful Albanian Sunset Every city in the world that I have either lived in or visited has a different sunrise or sunset. Colours are most intense as the sun gets closer to the horizon so if you are somewhere close to sea level, then this is where you will see a beautiful, colourful sunrise or sunset. Why are sunsets colourful? The colours themselves come from the scattering of particles in the air. Molecules and particles in the atmosphere change the direction of light rays causing them to scatter, affecting the light coming from the sky. The smaller Blue particles are scattered more easily so during the day the light has a shorter distance to travel so we see blue. In the early morning and evening, the light has to travel through much more atmosphere for light to travel through so the blue has a tough time getting through leaving us with the red.  

 Albania has happened purely by circumstance.  As I have with this entire journey, I've let the universe decide on my itinerary, so when I met Lisa in Morzine, France and she asked me to come with her to Albania, of course, I said yes. This is her little stone house on top of the hill in Qeparo (pronounced Chipero). It is actually not small at all in terms of Albanian homes. At least 10 people would live here ordinarily but we have the place to ourselves. It is quite the hike to get here and not for the faint-hearted. The house sits 600 metres on the top of the hill. You can only park a little way down the hill and then navigate through tiny alleyways over cobbled paths to get here. Not too big a deal unless you are carrying heavy bags or groceries, which we have on a number of occasions.  You can't complain really because the view to the sea is stunning and worth every step and almost twisted ankle. 😂 Where is Albania anyway? Nestled in the Balkans between Italy and Gre...

  This was my first ever Changing of The Guard so I didn't know what to expect. As always, I didn't stress about not getting any shots. I used this as a sort of reconnaissance mission and if I was lucky to see anything, then all good. Now that I've been, I believe that I had a pretty good plan. I was in fabulous spots to get the best view of the Changing of The Guard ceremony in order to capture images that tell the story. I think the photos speak for themselves but I'll let you be the judge. What Is The Changing of The Guard? Soldiers are on duty at Buckingham Palace for two days. The Changing of The Guard is a ceremony where the Old Guard hands over to the New Guard on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.  Best Place To See The Changing of The Guard That really depends on what you want to see because it actually happens in three locations. A contingent of the old guard leaves from St James Palace and the new guard from Wellington Barracks. They both arrive together at Bu...

We all know how much Queen Elizabeth adores her Corgis and Dorgis. There have been over 30 in the Royal Family during her lifetime so what could be a more fitting way to commemorate her Platinum Jubilee than by creating a trail of handpainted Corgi sculptures, naming them after the royal Corgi's and placing them around Central London for all to enjoy.  The Corgi trail is a lovely outing to do with children these school holidays. The nice thing is you can break it up with tea and lunch breaks as you go because there are plenty of eateries around. Lots of parks too. The trail begins in Belgravia and ends at The Strand. Good luck finding all 19. Victoria Bid and The Conrad hotel have a photo competition you can enter as well. The prize is one night's stay with breakfast, and Royal Afternoon Tea for 2 at the Conrad London St James hotel just by sharing your favourite photo's. Details at the end of the post. 1. HONEY - Elizabeth Street, Belgravia Corgi: Honey The year after Prin...