​Kakadu national park is Australia's largest national park and its located in the Northern Territory of Australia and is an isolated part of the world.  It's located in the tropics, between 12° and 14° south of the Equator. The climate is monsoonal, characterized by two main seasons: the dry season and the wet season. The "build up" describes the transition between the dry and the wet. 
 
It's been on my bucket list for years and takes some effort getting to Kakadu.  First you have to get to Darwin, which in its self can be challenging and then it's a good three hour drive with speed limits of 130 kilometres on the road.  We were told it's just a guideline, but you do need to keep an eye on the road for the abundant wildlife.   
 
So travelling to Australia's Northern Territory,  in the month of January seems like a good idea, when Canada is below 0c temperatures,  Darwin and Kakadu are in the opposite spectrum.
 
Hence once you get to Kakadu it's the isolation, the wildness and the size of the place that impresses you and of course the heat.  With temperatures well over 30 degrees most days it can be challenging to adjust. Our weather was 36 everyday.   Even the over night temperatures are in the high 20 degrees.
 
But when  you are in Kakadu you must visit the waterways, the local boat tours are the most breathtaking.  I have seen the Florida Everglades and they are nice. But the Kakadu rivers and wet lands are spectacular.  Of course the crocodiles are the top of the food chain and must  be respected by all.  The bird life and the local fish and turtles are fabulous to watch searching for food.
 
There is the contrast with the local aboriginal people that seem to spend their day searching for shady trees and then the tourists lounging by the pools or just in the air conditioned accommodation.  
 
I loved our visit to this place and admire how the ecosystem has adapted over the centuries.  The national park is protecting the plants and the wildlife, while trying to remove some of the non indigenous animals like water buffalo sand feral cats just to name a few.
 
Well done for keeping this huge area as pristine as it is and attracting people from all over the world, who just want to enjoy the natural beauty of the land.
 

From a Landstory correspondent:

​With its population of approximately 300, Bremer Bay is a small coastal town in the south western corner of Australia.  It's one of the best kept secrets, but when its population expanding ten fold in the summer months it's hard to believe that everyone can fit into this area.  But the beaches go on for ever and most of them you can drive your vehicle on to get an up close feeling.
 
Bremer Bay is best known for its white beaches and the local caravan park that integrated  into its mature peppermint trees to offer its visitor, from all over Australia and the world a truly back to nature experience .
 
But for me It's the silence and the light pollution free night sky that will remain with me, sitting by a camp fire and staring endlessly into the night skies.
 
The simplicity of life in Bremer Bay where the locals talk to you, are interested in you, offer ideas and suggestions, I hope it does not change, because living in the city or other countries holds a complication and stress that make you wish you could live here forever in the peppermint trees.
 

I had heard about them and seen a few in botanical gardens, but nothing prepares you for the trees just growing in abundance in Broome, a northern town in Western Australia 
 
Adansonia gregorii, or commonly known as the boab, is a tree in the family Malvaceae. As with other baobabs, it is easily recognised by the swollen base of its trunk, which forms a massive caudex, giving the tree a bottle-like appearance. 

The Australian boab is also related to the native to Madagascar (six species) and mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (one species). Boab ranges from 5 to 15 metres in height, usually between 9 and 12 metres, with a broad bottle-shaped trunk.  Its trunk base may be extremely large; trunks with a diameter of over five metres have been recorded.  A. gregorii is deciduous, losing its leaves during the dry winter period and producing new leaves and large white flowers between December and May.

There are many theories on how the African tree got to Australia or vice versa, but my theory after reading Gavin Menzies book 1421, is that the Chinese have something to do with it.  But whether you believe that thought or not, the boab tree is definitely impressive in a hostile environment and its survival is nothing short of amazing. 
 

From a Landstory Correspondent:
 
Germany, the birth place of the Bauhaus movement, encompassed a wide array of mediums, materials, and disciplines.

To my delight we recently visited Berlin to see the history and architecture and it did not disappoint.  To me Berlin is unique in its history from the "wall" to the Brandenburg gates and especially the Parliamentary buildings.  A mixture of old and modern design.

Then there is the UNESCO island of museums, a lot of it was being renovated while I was there, but you do get to understand the juxtapositions of old and new buildings.
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Another thing that surprised me was the use of green roofs and solar panels all over the place.  But what surprised me most of all is how few electric cars are used in Berlin.  Now this is not to say that Germans are not environmentally conscious, there are a lot of bicycles everywhere, but it was interesting to see the wide use of gasoline vehicles.

​by a Landstory correspondent

You know I never really got why many parts of Canada (and the USA), embraced cottage country.  I had visited family in Ottawa and been up to their cottage, but I never really understood why you would have a house in the city, one in the country and then drive two hours, more or less to get to the cottage by the lake.

It's only recently when I visited family in Toronto for a big wedding that I understood why cottage country.  For me it's the silence and being in the trees, but most of all listening to the loons in the evening, what a great sound, something I never tire from listening.  It's also the coming together of all the family and enjoying your time together, sharing the cooking and a drink on the deck over the lake.

Cottage houses come with all the modern conveniences and also with lovely landscaping to embrace the land.  At our cottage there was these huge rock steps and then a network of steps getting to the water, some one had a very good landscaper to create a way to the lake embracing the landscape and rocks.

One of my colleagues recently visited Australia and she could not help notice how lovely Sydney and Brisbane where.  Not  just the Sydney harbour bridge and Opera house, as they are outstanding landmarks, but these large trees are in the Central Business District to provide green space.
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These large trees are the Moreton Bay Figs or Australian Banyan, these trees may reach 60m in height, but it’s the massive trunk with thick prominent buttresses that can reach a diameter of 2.4m.  The foliage consists of huge branches, leaves and their fig fruit.  The fig fruit is consumed by the local wildlife and contributes to the urban ecco system.  These trees provide a much needed shade in the hot weather, they also provide a lovely green and peaceful surrounding to the busy commercial area.

Its impressive how the Australian people have embraced keeping these trees as features along busy roadway and parkways.  Here is Victoria we continue to value our old tree growth as well.   54 old growth trees now protected, I guess its heading in the right direction.  Can you help us find the hidden urban forest of Victoria?

It was in April one of my colleagues visited the lovely historical city of Prague and I was very envious. Prague is one if those cities that does not disappoint expectations.  Just a mere thirty years after communism it's a vibrant city with a youthful energy that embraces its history from centuries ago.

The iconic palaces on the hill with the imposing Saint George's Basillica have been lovingly restored over the last hundred or so years.  It was back in the 1911 that architect Josef Plecnik started restoring the palaces and gardens.
 
Between 1911 and 1920 Plečnik found himself in Prague, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia,  it became Czechoslovakia after World War One, and the new nation-state needed a powerful symbol. Josef Plečnik was entrusted with creating this, and was put to work on Prague Castle as the Castle Architect. This was the biggest undertaking of his professional life and took some 15 years to complete.
 
Plecnik designed new staterooms for the presidents and officials, along with gardens.  Even through two world wars and thirty years of communism the palace and a lot of the gardens are still very much restored and still honor the vision of Plecnik.
Plecnik added unusual yet stately monuments to the repaved courtyards, making the area harmonious for visitors and pedestrians. The defensive walls of the castle were thoughtfully turned into the Paradise Garden, entered through the mythical Bull Staircase, a splendid place full of massive urns, climbing ivy, small pyramids, gazebos, and majestic views. The garden and the courtyards showcase these odd monuments, material objects that did not appear in the Prague Castle until the 1920s, that somehow blend perfectly with the old architectural elements to create balance.
 
Prague also offers a wide selection of green space and one such place is behind huge walls and surrounded by low rise residential apartments. It's a lovely garden, affectionately known to us tourists as the peacock garden.  You might be lucky and see them being fed by fellow tourists.
 
Again the gardens and the green spaces of the city is what makes Prague so appealing to everyone.  It really is one of those city that embraces history and we loved learning about Josef Plečnik and his contribution to the architectural world.
  
 
https://www.prague-stay.com/lifestyle/review/36-prague-architecture/48-the-architecture-of-joze-plecnik/189-the-alteration-of-prague-castle

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Thanks to everyone who dropped by our booth over the weekend.  We had a great interest and some fun conversations and quite a few good leads that we will be following up on.

Also thanks to everyone that helped me at the Home show.