Elise and I went to East Timor for her 30th, where we took a trip from Dili, to Aturo, then off to Balibo, and back to Dili, via Maubisse.
It was a great trip and we found some really great places and met some fascinating people.
This is the original Australian flag painted on the Balibo Hilton by the Balibo 5
This is locally referred to as “The Kissing House” for some pretty gruesome reasons.
It was where a lot of the locals rounded up by the Indonesians were shot.
Here’s a bunch of drone shots of the place too!
We visited Malta back in 2015, and here are some of my favourite photos of the place.
Can’t wait to get back there with a drone too!
This New Year's Eve, we went back up to Northampton, WA and planned to take the Coronation Beach back road up to Oakabella.
Well... we tried to.
The Catacombs of Paris are a truly remarkable place, and if you've ever needed a reminder that everyone is the same, then a place where the skeletons of six million people remain should surely do it.
After a bunch of sink holes started collapsing buildings in Paris, people thought it'd be a good idea to maybe reinforce the foundations of the city, and that perhaps the mining of limestone from beneath the city could be responsible for the aforementioned destruction.
Whilst there's only a limited number of avenues with skeletons, there's a labyrinthine network of tunnels underneath the city.
Overall the Catacombs are awesome, but it's pretty depressing to see that some scumbags have vandalised some skulls. What would motivate someone to do that is beyond me.
If you're ever in Paris, definitely check it out.
During our honeymoon, we had the opportunity to stop over in Malta where we met up with my family, who were there because my Dad wanted to see where his dad, Pop grew up.
We were walking through the streets of Valetta, and my Pop pointed out an interesting clock that only has one hand. Turns out that when he was training to be a mechanic, he used to be tasked with watching his boss’ Fiat and driving it into the town centre on a Sunday morning, after church so that everyone could see how fancy his boss was, having a shiny car and all.
A one handed clock, in the middle of Valetta
As Dad and Pop were checking the clock out, I turned around and noticed the bust of Enrico Mizzi in prime position in the street.
As far as we can tell, Enrico was a champion for Maltese independence from British rule.
A quick history on Malta.
Being situated between Africa and Sicily, Malta has always had a significant level of immigration. The Tarxien temples are some of the oldest structures known to man and predate both Stonehenge and the Pyramids.
The Tarxien Temples
After a bunch of occupying forces over the years, they ended up under British rule.
During WWII, Malta served as the base for British submarines, who sank a bunch of German supply ships throughout the Mediterranean. In response, the Germans bombed the hell out of Malta (with more tonnage of explosives being dropped there than anywhere else in the world).
Whilst the war was going on, Enrico was imprisoned by the British, on the grounds that he was an agitator of anti-British sentiment.
Three of the Maltese internees, Formosa, Ganado and Cossai, together with Enrico Mizzi in front of the internment camp at Uganda
We think that the reason we haven’t heard about Enrico before, despite living in close proximity to Marsa, was because my Pop’s family, who emigrated to Australia as a 10 pound Pom, for obvious reasons, didn’t publicise their relations with Enrico.
However after the war, Enrico was released from internment and helped to draft the Maltese constitution, became Prime Minister in 1950, where he passed away in office.
Enrico with the Maltese internee football team
The official date of Maltese independence is the 21st September 1964, and despite not living to see it, there’s no doubt Enrico definitely played a role in Malta attaining it.
The things you learn whilst travelling can be amazing.
