The Twelve Days of Christmas

We’d like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you for your support during 2010!

We thought we’d share a Christmas Poem as retold by June Williams in Australian style and based on the traditional “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by “my true love” on one of the twelve days of Christmas. Each gift being an Australian bird or animal.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me an emu up a gum tree.

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me two pink galahs.

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three jabirus.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me four kookaburras.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me five kangaroos.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me six platypuses.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me seven koalas climbing.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me eight possums playing.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me nine wombats working.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me ten lizards leaping.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me eleven numbats bagging.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me twelve parrots prattling.

The Online Geography Game

I was recently introduced to the online Geography Game – Where On Google Earth? Google Earth images are posted and you offer your answers by leaving a comment in the comment box. If no answers are left, a hint in the form of a larger image with more detail is posted. Winners are posted each week.

This is a great game if you have good knowledge of the numerous travel destinations around the globe and their geographical features.

Have a go yourself – Where on Google Earth

Travel Photo of the Week: Melbury Abbas, Dorset, England

As many of you would know, whilst south/eastern Australia is sodden and bracing flood warnings as we move into summer, much of northern Europe is experiencing record winter temperatures for this time of year. This is a recent photo from the country-side by the nearby village of Melbury Abbas in Dorset, southern England, where they experienced snow, hoar frost and -4C, the photo says it all!

Photo courtesy of Lavinia from Dorset.

Where is Jardin Majorelle?

Jardin Majorelle is an expatriate French painter’s botanical garden created in Marrakech during 1924 and was recently enjoyed by guest writer, Julie Wilson.

For an oasis of serenity and shade on a hot day in Marrakech, visit the Jardin Majorelle. Wander along the straight red concrete paths lined with bright coloured pots in this medium-sized garden brimming with cacti, palms, bougainvilleas and bamboo groves. Majorelle was a knowledgeable and avid plant collector. The dry sandy garden beds are studded with a botanical planting of cacti.

Water is an important feature of this garden – lily covered pools filled with small tortoises and lazily active fish, water channels and fountains are highpoints. When I wandered through birdsong filled the air.

The garden was created in the 1920s by the French painter Jacques Majorelle. Rather like Monet’s Giverny, as the garden was designed by a painter the garden is composed and coloured like a painting. Many of the built features are painted in a dark blue (‘Majorelle Blue’) which is striking – contrasting wonderfully well with beige sand, green plants and red paths.

After some years of neglect, the garden was restored by the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. The entrance fee is only 30 MD but when inside, the prices both in the shop and cafe, are very high by Moroccan standards. The delightful cafe has misters which puff out a cloud of cooling mist to help refresh diners with the intense summer heat. I ordered an almond milk with orange blossom water and dates – expensive but wonderful !

Be warned that the taxis outside the entrance seem to see this as a bit of a tourist trap and inflate their prices accordingly – so bargain hard or walk up the road 5 minutes to the crossing and pay much less (20 dirham should get you most places in central Marrakech).

Marrakech: Living on the Edge of the Desert

Map

TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Jardin Majorelle

One Great Reason to Visit Jardin Majorelle

One great reason to visit this travel destination is to see this inspired garden, the Jardin Majorelle, garden created by a Frenchman living in Morocco.

Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech

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