Rebels on Three Wheels

If you have been reading my posts for a while you might recall a post I did back in 2014

about the amazing Golf Carts from “The Villages” in Florida. This year we went back to this interesting community to visit Joe & Gloria, good friends we met on a river cruise.

The Villages grows by aprox. 20 people every day and now has a population of about 115,000 people. It is a thriving 55+ community because every house must have at east one occupant who is over 55 years old. It is certainly an interesting place. Check out more about TheVillages at http://www.insidethebubble.co/82-cool-facts-the-villages/.

This year our friends showed me that the Golf Cars are not the only interesting means of transportation in the Villages. We went to visit one of the ‘Village Squares” where the “Village Wingers” were holding a gathering. Not happy with modified golf carts as a means of transportation, these ‘Senior Bikers” ride Honda Goldwing motorcycles. Now the Goldwing is the ultimate touring machine, and many have covered hundreds of thousands of miles, but these ones lead a more sedate life. I asked one rider where he rode and he said he made one trip out of state, but mostly his ride was used to go out to dinner once a week within The Villages community itself.

The other interesting thing about these Goldwings was that there were more with three and four wheels than just two. Some had serious trike conversions and had full differentials driving two rear wheels, but many featured a two out-rigger wheel kit to support the machine but retained the original motorcycle drive wheel. Considering that probably all these riders are over 55, and a lot looked older, I suppose, bad knees, hips and other ailments we all get as we get older make these options a wise choice to keep these Village “Rebels on three wheels” still able to hit the road and feel the wind in their hair. More power to them – keep on riding!

Street Sculpture

We left Nova Scotia for the warmth and sunshine of Florida for the month of April, renting a house in Lakeland, a community about 45 minutes inland from Tampa Bay. We “got out of Dodge” just in time, sandwiched between a snowstorm the day before our exit and another a few days after we left. Now settled in Lakeland we have pretty consistent hot, sunny weather, and I must admit, I am enjoying the heat.

After a week of driving south and visiting friends and relatives along the way, I am trying to get back into my daily walks. Today I looked at Google Maps and decided I could walk from the house to downtown Lakeland. It was a pleasant walk with convenient sidewalks and lovely lakeside walks – obviously where the name “Lakeland” comes from.

I have been to Lakeland previously, actually visiting with the good friends who we are renting the house from, and on the last visit, I was taken downtown to see the Lemon Street Sculpture garden. On this trip I wanted to go back and see it once more, and managed to find my way back easily. The Sculpture Garden is a three-block long street side display of sculpture installed on concrete pads under trees. I enjoyed wandering among the interesting sculptures in such a pleasant setting last time and was pleased to note that all the sculptures had been changed and were all new. The natives of Lakeland obviously just take this interesting exhibition for granted as I was alone in wandering among the  artworks, and people seemed to find it odd that I was so interested in them and taking photos. The one street person sleeping on a bench in the area actually got up and left as my interest in the sculpture was disturbing his resting place.

I have attached a few photos of the sculptures. 

 

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

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The Bata Shoe Museum

I had quite a few, varied jobs before I settled on education as a career, but my first serious work experience was in retail, working for the Bata Shoe Company. I worked there for three years and actually managed my own store. I even met the owner of the company, T.J. Bata, and I knew about the amazing collection of shoes his wife had amassed while they ran the global company. When they retired from the retail business she established a museum based on her shoe collection. The Bata shoe empire was based in Canada and head office was in Toronto, so this is where the Bata Shoe museum is located. I have always wanted to visit this museum and spending Christmas in Toronto finally gave me an opportunity to do this.

Stained Glass Pumps

The museum is located downtown in Toronto, so it was a simple subway ride to get there. The building is supposed to be shaped like a shoe box, but I think that just makes it a rectangular building doesn’t it? In the entry way there was an impressive mobile made of stained glass shoes, and there was an activity area downstairs where children could try on a large collection of interesting shoes such as Dorothy’s red shoes, pink cowboy books, or elf slippers . . .

The museum starts with a really interesting history of footwear from earliest times, tracing what kind of shoes people wore and how they were made across the globe and through time. Along the

For dancing the Devil's Dance

Northern Footwear

way there were examples of famous shoes and trends in footwear. Cinderella’s glass slippers were there as well as P. E. Trudeau’s sandals or a pair of Marilyn Monroe’s pumps. In addition, there were three temporary exhibits, all quite interesting. One was dealing with footwear in the artic with displays from all over the world. It was amazing to see how people living in the harsh northern environment created unique footwear to their needs. A second was on men’s high heels through the years – did you know that originally heels were introduced to allow horse riders to hook their boots onto the stirrups? Thus the heels on cowboy boots. The third exhibit was especially interesting, dealing with the dangers in shoes. There were many toxic and poisonous chemicals used in the manufacture of shoes, and originally simple shoe polish was composed of toxic material, but many of the dyes and materials in the shoes themselves exposed the wearers to danger in just wearing their footwear.

Elton John's Shoes

No one would consider buying a pair of patent leather shoes to wear in the mud and snow, but in fact that was exactly what they were invented for. The shiny smooth finish made them more waterproof and easier to clean than ordinary leather shoes. Now you know!

Probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed exploring the Bata Shoe Museum, and I certainly know a lot more about shoes than I did.

Tellin' a "Ginny"

We experienced a Bush-walk with Regis’ cousin Wade and his daughter Stephanie, but

Are You Sure This is Only an Hour Walk?

number one son was still in school when we had this adventure and he was a little put out by not being included, so he claimed to have a new and improved bush-walk he wanted to take us on. This one within walking distance of the house. He said he had gone on this walk with his “mates” and it was a good one with a multitude of Australian bush vegetation to experience. When questioned, he assured us it was approximately an hour’s journey, with a great view at the top of the hill. He pointed out a distant cell tower and said that was where we were headed. It looked a ways to me but when questioned he assured me it was probably only a little over an hour’s walk.

A big Gum Tree

Always open to another Australian adventure we said we were more than happy to go with him. Being a teenager, it took a while to actually get to the walk, as homework at the library, and difficulty waking up on the weekend, delayed the walk, but on a sunny warm Saturday, he appeared dressed in camo gear, army boots and a Boston Red Socks hat, saying he was ready to go.

This was a different bush-walk. Instead of following a clear national park trail, we started up a narrow worn stream track with rocks and roots trying to trip you. Other than the narrow track there were no markers on the trail, but he assured us he thought he recalled the way.

He was correct about the varied forms of vegetation. As we entered the bush the distinctive

Finding the Local Wildlife

bell ringing call of the Bell Bird greeted us. We walked through a dense almost tropical section, where we saw an iguana that was a good three feet long that scurried away as we approached, and a little water dragon that ignored us as we passed his spot on a rock by a little pond. We passed massive gum trees including “Ghost Gums”, which are so white they look like they are made of concrete. A group of Kookaburras were roosting on a group of these trees as we passed and their unique laughing call pointing them out as we walked on. Other areas were dry bush and other areas were full of Australian pines.

It was worth the walk.

I'm Tired Let's Head Home

As we reached the top of the hill, and started along the crest, I realized we were being “Ginnyed”, as my watch showed we had been walking for an hour already. At the top, we joined an actual marked track that lead us to a spectacular look-off with views out over the area. I questioned our young guide about the time difference, and he claimed he thought it only took an hour, and I told him the story of our friend who took us on a bike ride that was “Only 20 Km” when in fact it was 20 km just one way so the total was actually 40 km. That is where I invented the term “Telling a Ginny” which means you slightly mislead your friends about the distance of a trek to convince them to go.

We arrived back slightly dusty, and a lot tired and hot, but it was another great Australian experience.

How to "Stage" your Motorcycle

Kurt & Steph - Tour Guides

I found a local “Hot-Roder” and his girlfriend and convinced them to take me to the Gosford Classic Car Museum today. I spent the afternoon wandering around a huge collection of classic and exotic vehicles. The museum has over 450 interesting cars and other vehicles. Again, rather than tell you about all the great cars there, I am going to just include a series of pictures. This is a little different, I have taken a series of pictures of the various motorcycles featured in the museum, but if you look carefully, you will see some pretty exotic cars in the background, making these motorcycles look their best. I know that many of my friends will not be interested in this post, but I’m sure my car friends will enjoy trying to figure out what cars are hidden behind the motorcycles.  

Rockin'

Australia Rocks!

I have a friend who has a summer retreat in Cape Breton, and on a walk there I discovered fascinating patterns in the sandstone cliffs that I took many pictures of. I meant to do a post on that, and now here in Australia, in a country so different from back home I discovered a little cove with very similar rock patterns. The post therefore will be mostly pictures. The first two are from Nova Scotia, the rest are from Gosford, Australia. Can you tell the difference?

The trees may be different, and the folks down here may speak a lot differently but I think the rocks are pretty much the same.

Cape Breton

 

Cape Breton

Australia

Australia

Australia

Australia

Australia

The Cellar Door

Tasting at the Cellar Door

Australia has good wine, and with a week in the country, fitting in a day to taste some Aussie wine seemed a good activity. I enjoy a good full bodied red, and the Hunter Valley, an area a short way north west of Sydney and about an hour away from Regis’ cousin’s house, is renowned for its excellent reds; Shiraz, Merlots, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Shiraz is one of my favorites, and this is the grape this area really excels at, so this was a good spot to go do some Australian wine tasting. There are over 150 “Cellar Doors” (Australian for “tasting rooms”), so we had lots to choose from in Hunter Valley.

Having visited wine regions in Ontario, California, Spain and of course back home in Nova Scotia, we had some experience at how vineyards and wineries tend to take over an area,

All About The View

replacing other farms and crops, but the amount of wineries here is amazing. You can drive down section of road and find winery after winery side by side. Just the list on the Official Map and Tourist guide is slightly overwhelming . . . so many wines, so little time . . .

The up-side to so many wineries it that there is a great deal of competition, so the cellar doors offer mostly free tastings. After the $8.00 per taste fee in New Zealand this was a pleasant surprise. Some of the wineries do charge for “Superior” tastings, but the ordinary samples are free.

Cool Name, Good Wine

We left the choice of wineries up to “Cousin Wade”, our guide and designated driver, and he chose one he was particularly fond of, Audrey Wilkinson, but since he admitted that he liked this winery because of the spectacular views from the main building, I did not mind offering my method of choosing wineries with cool names, and requested visiting the “Cockfighter’s Ghost” cellar door I had seen on the way to his choice. As it happened, both were excellent, with Cockfighter’s Ghost having the most delicious Shiraz and Audrey Wilkinson having a delicious red blend I enjoyed enough to purchase a bottle for later.

Ready For The Steak!

Unfortunately, doing wine tasting when traveling far from home does not allow me to purchase much wine as my suitcase is stuffed already. I returned from Niagara-on-the-Lake with a trunk full of wine, but walked away from Hunter valley with only a bottle that will probably not survive this evening’s Aussie Barbecue.