The Albert Hall has always been my favourite venue, that is after the Bath Festival showground in 1969, but I'll leave memories of Led Zeppelin, the Nice, Ten Years After, The Taste, Principal Edward's Magic Theatre and Stan Webb for another time.

Diana played standards from the great American songbook in her unique, smooth and sophisticated style, paying homage to such greats as Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and Irving Berlin along the way. Her take on Walk on By was a long way from Dionne Warwick but spine tingling nevertheless.

The band? Anthony Wilson, Kareem Riggins and Robert Hurst are suitably classy jazz players and contributed to an evening that purred. I don't like the fact that people clap during numbers but it was hard to resist doing so with solos from these three.

My only disappointment was that she didn't play A Case of You, by my favourite Canadian, still, it's on Youtube, or I can always put Blue on.

Nerina Pallot

When I first went to see Nerina Pallot at the Junction Cambridge three years ago I was strongly reminded of Joni Mitchell,. which is no bad thing as far as I am concerned, beautiful voice, melancholy lyrics,piano, acoutsic guitar. The rapport with the audience at this stand up gig was appreciated, I don't remember Joni saying a word between songs, that was years ago in the years of hippy cool, or was it Joni turning into a diva? Mind you, Joni was outdone by Van Morrison - what a miserable git he was, perhaps still is.

Saw Nerina again recently at the more urbane and non atmospheric Stables and she was again brilliant, not solo this time but with a bass player and drummer who just about managed to avoid drowining her voice out. And what a voice it is. She played some songs from her new album but gave us most pleasure with songs from 'Fires'. If you have not heard her, then get on Youtube or somewhere like and play 'Learning to Breathe' or 'Idaho', then go and buy Fires. Wonderful

A weekend in Bristol

The Corn Exchange Clock
The clock on the Corn Exchange has an extra minute hand. This recalls early Victorian days, when Bristol was in two minds about the correct time. Today we take Greenwich Mean Time for granted but before 1880 no standard time existed in the British Isles. Every city had its own local time, reckoned by the sun and by church bells. Bristol lies 2 degrees, 36 minutes west of the Greenwich Meridian and so the sun reaches its noon peak 11 minutes later than in London. Before the growth of railways, most people spent their lives close to home and so most were unaware of any time difference.For Bristolians a change came in June 1841, when the first through train from London pulled into Temple Meads Station. Brunel's Great Western Railway began to tempt people to travel. Now they could go to London in hours rather than days.The Railways ran on London time (GMT) so if you wanted to catch a train at noon from Temple Meads you had to remember that it would pull out at 11.49 Bristol Time.
To help Bristolians catch their trains, Bristol Corporation arranged for the main public clock on the Corn Exchange to show both local and GMT with two minute hands. Other clocks in Bristol then adopted the same compromise. In September 1852 Bristol adopted GMT and Bristol time became the same as London.

I know that Manchester and Newcastle have been voted as England's best two cities for having fun (What happened to London?) but Bristol is pretty good, with lots of restaurants - including nice 'fry up' breakfast places with newspapers and large pots of tea, harbourside bars, dozens (hundreds?) of traditional pubs, i.e. real ales and no slot machines - though we haven't tried the Scrumpy yet - great walks, plus large and small music and theatre venues. Between the showers we walked the waterfront, where the SS Great Britain is berthed.The SS Great Britain was a world first when she was launched in Bristol in 1843. Isambard Kingdom Brunel conceived the groundbreaking combination of a screw propeller, an iron hull, and a massive 1000-horsepower steam engine. She was immediately successful - on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic the SS Great Britain easily broke the previous speed record.

Bristol abounds with beautiful buildings. Though not on any cultural heritage trail, the one pictured below is quite nice - Laura & Joe's flat!

A pampered weekend

Took a drive an hour north west of Melbourne to the attractive spa town of Daylesford. didn't need to visit the spas as our own beautifully equipped house had one of its own. These two have been drinking too much champagne.

It's not all antique sellers, tea shops and designer clothes in Daylesford, there's Bingo with balls for the Bogans!

No swimming? No chance!

Took a cruise down the Daintree River with a guy called Bruce. He knew where the crocs were. Doesn't this female look cute?

Marsupials are Us!

Monday 3 August 2009. The Habitat is a three mile walk from the centre of Port Douglas which includes the option of passing under an enormous colony of fruit bats hanging and chattering in an avenue of trees. We decide to run through in case it is their ablution time!

The Habitat is definitely worth visiting if you are in the Port Douglas area. The Habitat is divided into Rainforest, Wetlands and Grasslands. Apart from the crocodiles, the echidna and the koalas, the animals roam and fly freely in large enclosures. Feeding the many types of kangaroo is a pleasure. Keeping out of the way of the emu is a trickier proposition!

Mission accomplished, Trish cuddles a koala.

We don't risk the bats on the return journey and decide to catch a bus...

Sophistication and warmth

Friday 31 July. Port Douglas is beautiful. We walk the length of the four mile beach and back to our beach front apartment. The sand is spotlessly clean and the sea warm enough to swim in. However, unseasonal winds dissuade us from sunbathing. St Mary's Church has a large clear glass window behind the altar, giving worshippers a divine view of the ocean and mountains beyond.

Saturday 1 August. The Skyrail just north of Cairns is definitely worth a visit. We board a cable car for the 7.5km glide into the rain forest and looking down through the lush canopy, one realises how easy it would be to get lost down there - throw in the worry of the vast number of poisonous snakes and plants and you're really in trouble!

The village of Kuranda at the top of the mountain is mainly populated by souvenir shops but the 100 minute train journey down through Barron Gorge is marvellous. Kuranda Station must be one of the most beautiful on the planet, with its abundance of flowering plants almost covering the platforms and station buildings. Check out today's train driver!

Construction of the railway began in 1887 in order to service the gold fields and it took four years to complete. We pass through 15 tunnels, over 37 bridges and around nearly 100 curves. The railway workers and their families endured tremendous hardships shifting over 2 million cubic metres of earth. For us, the 37km ride down into Cairns was a pleasure.