A drive up north

 Last week in an attempt to escape the unusually cool Terrigal winter Ros and I headed the 1000kms north in the Mini to Noosa in Queensland with a two night stopover in beautiful Yamba on the way up and a one night break there on the way back.

It was cooler than it should have been but at least it was sunny and we only had one day's rain. 

It was a really great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves.  

Noosa has changed immensely since I first went there in 1980 but despite all the development it has retained its charm due to the beautiful setting, the Noosa National Park and a strict limit on high rise development. 

 A selection of photos from the trip -beautiful Yamba and neighbouring surf heaven Angourie-Noosa and Noosa National Park.

The major volcanic eruption in Tonga a few months ago has put dust into the southern hemisphere and this is giving us really spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Photo below shows the sunset over the Noosa River from Noosa Hill.

Photos taken with my iPhone Se and Leica Q2.

 

A touch of colour

 With firstly the covid pandemic and now the senseless war in Ukraine and its economic effects occupying our attention the appalling situation in beautiful Myanmar has been forgotten.

A quick recap. After decades of military rule and economic malaise Myanmar was pulling itself up by its boot straps with a government which although not totally democratically elected was someway down the track to being democratic and an economy which was attracting foreign investment and developing quickly after years of stagnation.Tourism was developing rapidly and there was an air of optimism until 1st February 2021 when the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military-deposed the ruling party in a military coup. In response there was a popular uprising which was brutally supressed by the military. Thousands of innocent civilians, including many children, were murdered by the military. It was a case of here we go again.

Now Myanmar is firmly back in the basket case category. A total disaster. The evil, corrupt military are in charge and supressing any form of dissent. Aun San Suu Kyi who had been elected in a landslide election victory was deposed and has been jailed on trumped up charges. She will most likely die in jail now. 

Myanmar has become an international pariah state again-but China has been supporting the military-no surprises there-presumably with the intention of turning Myanmar into a vassal state.

I have visited Myanmar three times and was due to go again in 2020 when the military and covid struck.

Two colourful photos -reminders of a beautiful country, So sad. I'll never see it again.