Doors of WordPress V5

As itโ€™s Thursday Doors today, courtesy of No Facilities, here are my latest offerings. I love walking around Sydney and finding new doors. I feel blessed to live somewhere with such an array of fine looking doors ๐Ÿ˜›. Have a look below and let me know which ones are your fave? ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

1 – Woollahra
2 – Woollahra
3 – Vaucluse
4 – The Rocks
5 – Woollahra

As you can see, many of my Sydney doors are from Woollahra. I love this suburb in the eastern suburbs and itโ€™s right on my doorstep. Itโ€™s very quaint with lots of character and charm.

Thatโ€™s me just finished work for the week. I am sitting on the train home, tired but delighted to be off for a few days. I hope you all have a lovely long weekend and if you celebrate Easter, enjoy the celebrations, enjoy your time with those nearest and dearest and treat yourself to some chocolates.

Take care everyone and thanks for checking out my selection of doors.

Wayne ๐Ÿฃ

Solo Sunday in Sydney ๐Ÿ™‹๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Today I am flying solo. I am off from work and the sun is finally shining in Sydney. It feels strange but exciting to see blue skies after having so much rain. I am dying to get out and about so I take myself off for a really long walk, wanting to soak up as much vitamin D as possible and to increase my step count for the week. I canโ€™t do the Bondi to Coogee walk as it will be packed on a Sunday. So I decide to walk to Watsonโ€™s Bay via the residential streets, hoping to encounter as few people as possible. I pass Macquarie Lighthouse and from there I walk to Camp Cove, just past Watsonโ€™s Bay. Itโ€™s a little beach that is not as well know, unless you live here in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I take the South Head heritage trail to Hornby Lighthouse and return to Watsonโ€™s Bay. Here I take the coastal walk from the Gap Lookout and return home via Rose Bay.

As well as being a beautiful walk and a good distance for gaining the steps, it also gives me the opportunity to take many photos, most of which I can add to my future posts for my Doors of WordPress and my Friday Flowers โ˜บ๏ธ.

I hope you enjoy some of the scenic shots from today. This is my happy place. Walking in beautiful weather, with stunning scenery and the chance to see what I can photograph.

Macquarie Lighthouse
Camp Cove – a small beach with lots of charm and city views
Camp Cove kiosk – I love the quaintness of this kiosk and it was the perfect spot to stop for lunch
Views for days when you take the South Head heritage trail to the lighthouse
Hornby Lighthouse
Walking from the Gap Lookout towards Bondi.
The coastal views are stunning.
City views and the Harbour Bridge.
When I passed Macquarie Lighthouse again, I took the residential streets to Rose Bay and then home.

All in all, my walk was about 3.5 hours with a lunch stop. My feet are walked off me but I feel great for having done it and I can now put the feet up at home.

I hope you all are able to have a lovely Sunday wherever you are. Take care and keep safe,

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

Friday Flowers

My Friday Flowers are back again this week! Sometimes I will post a flower of the day on a Friday but if I have a few to share, I will call the post Friday Flowers ๐Ÿค—. I think itโ€™s a nice way to end the working week, splash a bit of colour through WordPress and itโ€™s a good opportunity to appreciate the little things in life that we can often take for granted. We are still having A LOT of rain here in Sydney and through NSW. I canโ€™t even complain about it as some people have it much, much worse then me. There are severe floods here, people losing their homes, their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives. Plus we still have the war in Ukraine that is in my thoughts every single day. When will it all end? ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿผ .

Please feel free to check out my Friday Flowers below and hopefully they can make you smile and add a little colour to your day โ˜บ๏ธ. I will tell you their name and where I have seen them ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

Scarlet Star – Bellagio Resort, Las Vegas
Flame Vine – Vaucluse, Sydney
Angelโ€™s Trumpet – Wendyโ€™s Secret Garden, Sydney
Pride of Madeira – Vaucluse, Sydney
Chinese Hibiscus – Kogarah, NSW

I have to say, I am in no way a botanist but I have an amazing app on my phone that can tell me about a flower species by simply uploading a photo. I cannot believe how amazing it is that we can learn so much from a photo. The app is called Picture This if you want to have a look for yourself.

It also gives you the botanical names, where they originated and other common names.
It can also identify weeds, birds, insects etc. – simply amazing ๐Ÿคฉ

Ps. This is not an advert for this app. I just want to share as I think itโ€™s fantastic if you want to know more about the flowers you are photographing. You can check them out here at https://www.picturethisai.com/

I hope you enjoyed my Friday Flowers post. Have a great weekend everyone and if youโ€™re in Sydney, good luck staying dry ๐Ÿ˜ฌ.

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

Doors of WordPress V4

My fourth instalment is here, featuring doors found in and around Sydney. These posts are creating a door monster within me! Now every time I see a door that I like, I have to photograph it. I just hope the person behind the door doesnโ€™t mind. If ever questioned, I will explain my love for doors and inform them that they are part of my blog post. That is quite the achievement to be featured ๐Ÿคฃ (jokes). I hope you enjoy my selection of doors this week ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

The Butler Restaurant- Potts Point
Dry Cleaners – Bondi Junction
The Flower House – Surry Hills
Graffiti Door – Surry Hills
Double Doors – Randwick

Thanks for taking a look!

Enjoy your Thursday everyone,

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

Sunday Sunsets – South Pacific

Happy Sunday everyone. If youโ€™re in Australia, I hope youโ€™re all feeling fresh as our clocks went back last night and we had that extra hour sleep โ˜บ๏ธ.

The sunsets I want to show you this week are from the Coral Sea when we travelled on a South Pacific cruise. This was a Christmas cruise and our very first time holidaying on one. It was magnificent and the sunsets we seen were unreal. We also really appreciated the clean open air as Australia was in the middle of a really horrific bush fire season and the air was so smokey that it was difficult to breathe for a few days and nights. This was December 2019. It was bad enough we were experiencing the fires but little did we know that the coronavirus pandemic was just around the corner.

Have you seen many sunsets from the middle of the ocean? It really is something spectacular and this holiday will be forever etched in my memory.

Take care everyone and enjoy your Sunday.

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

WordPress Monthly Word Prompt – BRIDGE

I do love a good word prompt! I was scrolling through my junk emails and spotted this one from WordPress (swiftly moved to my inbox). I like the idea of having a monthly word prompt and luckily for me, I discovered this on the last day of March ๐Ÿ˜….

Coincidentally, I also have a love for bridges. Iโ€™m not sure what it is that I love about bridges. It doesnโ€™t even have to be a big or majestic bridge. I like any sort. I love the design of them, I love how many of them travel over water. I love the excitement of seeing what is at the other side of a bridge. Does anyone else have the same sentiment regarding bridges?

Most of you will know what my passions are from my previous blog posts, for example, photographing anything quaint, scenic, architectural etc. and a good bridge definitely falls into these categories. I have so, so many pictures of bridges but I donโ€™t want to bore you all with them today. It is more than enough that I share my doors, flowers and sunset pictures ๐Ÿ˜†.

However, I will share one of my favourite bridges that is right here in my current city. You can maybe guess it already. Every time I see this bridge I am in awe. It also always reminds me that I am living in Sydney, one of the best cities in the world, in my humble opinion. I think I have photographed this bridge from every angle possible. I have walked under it on numerous occasions, sailed under it, walked over it, travelled over it by car, bus, train and even had the opportunity to climb this bridge with my Dad when he came to Australia. It is of course, the Sydney Harbour Bridge ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ.

View from Hotel Palisade
On top of the Harbour Bridge with my Dad
View at The Rocks
Harbour Bridge at night

What is your favourite bridge that you have seen so far???

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

Sunday Sunsets – Portrush

Happy Sunday everyone. Iโ€™m up early here in Sydney, bright eyed this morning but without the bushy tail ๐Ÿคฃ. Four hours sleep is just not enough for me (Iโ€™m a 7 hour man!) and Iโ€™m away today for some wine tastings. So I thought I would create my Sunday Sunset post before I head out for the day.

These were taken in 2016 at a place called Portrush. Itโ€™s a little seaside town along the north coast of Northern Ireland. This is the small harbour known as Portrush Harbour (funnily enough). Itโ€™s a really beautiful place and itโ€™s a town that many people from Northern Ireland visit for a mini vacation. At the harbour you can find a variety of restaurants, quaint and cosy pubs, a yacht club and youโ€™re in very close proximity to the beaches and town.

I am extremely fortunate that my parents moved here a few years ago so it means I always get to come here. I used to frequent as a child, like most kids did then, as most people couldnโ€™t afford foreign holidays. People would have travelled locally for the weekend or a week away. However, we always had the best times and treasure those memories into our adulthood.

Have you ever visited Northern Irelandโ€™s stunning yet underrated coastline? I feel like it often gets forgotten about when people visit Ireland ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ.

Be sure to let me know.

Take care everyone,

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

Fridays Flowers @ The Grounds

I want to share with you today some flowers from a very popular place here in Sydney at The Grounds of Alexandria. Presently they are showcasing their Secret Garden, where lots of people come to take some pictures and pose with the flowers, mainly girls for their social accounts but it is a really impressive spectacle. Iโ€™m unsure if the flowers are real or artificial or maybe a combination of both but it really is a feast for the eyes either way. You can see more information about the event here.

Let me know what you think ๐Ÿค—

A little video to capture your imagination โ˜บ๏ธ
This was when I visited the event last year.

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

Sunday Sunsets – Phuket

Happy Sunday everyone. I have been thinking about this for some time now. As well as my love for travelling, doors, flowers, architecture and anything quaint, I am also obsessed with sunrises and sunsets. Preferably sunsets as I donโ€™t like to wake up too early to see the sun rising. I want to share with you every Sunday some of my favourite sunsets (and a few sunrises) over the years and where I have seen them. Hopefully the colours will also brighten our spirits with all the sadness in the world today.

This week I will show you a sunset I watched in Kata Noi on the island of Phuket, Thailand. I met my parents here for a few days as they were holidaying from Ireland and I flew over from Australia. It was amazing to be able to catch the sunset with my parents and spend some quality time with them on my own. A time I will forever cherish.

Kata Noi Beach
With my Dad

Thank you for taking a look.

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

My very 1st blog!

Hello there. What’s the craic? I have been debating for a long time whether to start blogging or not, mainly down to the time that may be required. However, I feel it is something that could be fun, therapeautic and provide a platform to interact with others from all walks of life. I’m very new to this so please bare with me.

So a little about me. I’m a man in my near mid thirties and I come from Northern Ireland. I had been living in Belfast for the last decade but my ambition was to 1 day return to the land down under. Having already spent a year in Australia on a working holiday visa, I soon acquired the desire to return in the future. 7 years later a lot has changed in my life and I have reached my goal of becoming a permanent resident. It has been a lengthy process with many highs and lows, however, it has been an incredible journey that is still continuing to this day.

Please follow me on my Australian adventure and I will aim to keep you updated and entertained.

Thanks a lot,

Wayne โœŒ๐Ÿฝ

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