A visual interlude

My recent postings have all been very (adopt dreary tone) serious and (continue in the same tone) depressing. So, in an effort to intersperse this journey with a few sun-soaked stop-overs, I've decided to make today's post a little more visual and hopefully, a lot more inspiring. These photos were taken on various trips that I made last year and I hope that they brighten up your winter afternoon as much as they do mine.

For those who might be planning a holiday, or just looking for a good book about pulling rabbits from hats, here's where I took each image:

In the top spot is a photo that always makes me smile, it was taken in Sydney Aquarium - I've been twice and if it was not for the distance between me and it and the crowds that throng to this fish-filled kaleidoscope of colour, I'd be there right now.

I captured the next mountain-scape from the balcony of one of the worst hotel rooms that I've ever had the displeasure to stay in. It was an awful room but it very almost made up for that by offering this fantastic view of the Himalayas, as seen from Darjeeling, India. (Did I mention that both myself and my boyfriend had food poisoning while we were trapped in this dark and damp room - at least we had this view to wake up to - thank you Brian for waking me up to see it).

Next in line is a frog in the wishing well in Pokhara, Nepal.

The following two are also taken in Pokhara, Nepal, both by the lakeside.

Then it's the turn of lovely, lazy Laos (oh and yes, those are my feet), where one goes to chill out or to float down the river in an inner tube, as these novice monks have been doing.

The next is of 'confused faces' at the tourist market in Luang Prabang, Laos - they look more like happy faces to me.

This is followed by a picture that I sneaked while perusing a second hand book shop in Wellington, New Zealand. Nowhere else have I seen a section within a book shop dedicated to magic and circuses and it always makes me grin to imagine suited-up ring masters and limber acrobats running their fingers over the spines of the books and murmuring to themselves as they choose between the titles.

From there we go on an African adventure - spying on elephants from the window of a very tiny light aircraft over the Okavango Delta and then poling through the reeds of the Delta.

The elephants below strutted their stuff on the banks of the Chobe River, also in Botswana.

This posting doesn't really fit within the 'search for meaning of life' genre, but it's a dark day here and I've just found out that my fridge is broken and needs to be replaced (at great expense) so I'm feeling in need of a boost. It seems to me that someone out there may also be in need of a little lift. Thus, this reminder of exotic places and warmer weather is dedicated to anyone who is made blue by grey skies and/or shoddy kitchen appliances.