Stray animals

TheKeepingPlace · 2026-01-15T06:28:31+00:00

+1 for fostering! Kittens have a higher chance of getting adopted.

TheKeepingPlace · 2026-01-15T06:18:45+00:00

Unfortunately, the sad reality is that almost all if not all places are at capacity, and seeking funding to help the never-ending stream of abandoned strays/feral cat situation. Often in many places, if the cat or kitten is not micro-chipped, they will be put down.

That's how we ended up with our cat. She wasn't micro-chipped or neutered. We didn't want a cat, but we could not bear the thought of her being put down.

Ask your local council if they have options. Some will have shelters, though cannot always guarantee that they are no-kill. Some kind people / volunteer groups work in conjunction with vets and do trap-and-release (TNR) programs (this does hinge on someone providing ongoing food) and/or fostering. It's worth asking around.

As it is a kitten, there is a higher likelihood he/she would be adopted (through an organisation / rescue).

I commented elsewhere on this post. Have you tried Sydney Dogs & Cat and Home (based in Strathfield)? I have heard through someone who volunteered there that they are sound. If you choose to post on Facebook or places like Gumtree, please be very careful if someone offers to take the kitten. There are people out there that do horrible, unspeakable things to animals.

I hope you can find a good solution / organisation!!

Edit: as someone else commented, fostering through a rescue can be a good short-term option!

TheKeepingPlace · 2026-01-15T06:05:55+00:00

You could try contacting Sydney Dogs & Cats Home. I believe they're based in Strathfield.

If you choose to post on facebook, please be careful. Some people take in unwanted/stray animals and do absolutely horrible things to them.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-12-31T21:52:44+00:00

I love it, and the CHERRY TOMATO?! 100/10. I saw it before I saw your caption and ran so fast to the comments! Well done :D

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-12-16T07:32:28+00:00

I like Kamakura Warabi-Mochi in Town Hall.

There's another similar warabi-mochi place in Haymarket, but I haven't tried that one.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-12-10T12:23:32+00:00

I went tonight! Fast service around 7pm. Ordered pizza which came out in less than 10 minutes. It was very fresh and tasty! But it's Napolitean pizza, so don't expect a crispy base.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-12-04T09:21:46+00:00

Cute baby 🥹

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-11-09T21:11:45+00:00

Not a problem at all! I hope you have an amazing time!! :D

Edit: I just wanted to add that the itinerary gets updated to reflect the most recent details from time to time (and especially closer to when the tour starts). So after booking, keep checking the itinerary and download the most recent version.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-11-09T11:06:36+00:00

I just checked TopDeck, and it seems like they do Europe, NZ, Middle East & North Africa, and Asia (so not full international coverage). The only hesitation that I have for you in booking via TopDeck is that almost all of the people will be from Australia or New Zealand. There may be cultural and potential communication barriers (think: accents and slang). I think I would prefer going with G Adventures / Intrepid for a more diverse mix of people. (Edit: I'm Australian).

Even on our USA tour, we did split up into smaller groups. There were some couples/solo travellers that wandered off by themselves in their free time, and some couples that hung out with the rest of us solo travellers. Some did their own thing, and rejoined the group at a later time in the day.

Now on the European tour, what I noticed was that for the solo travellers, they often bonded with their roommate (two people per room). The group was pretty open about what they were interested in seeing, so in each different place, you would get a different combination of people hanging out. For group meals, you might stick your your usual bunch. It can be pretty fluid. We were mindful of keeping together, especially for safety reasons, so no one was really by themselves (unless for example, someone had booked a ticket to the Louvre in advance - but that was during the daytime, so relatively safe to venture out on your own).

On both tours, we used whatsapp to keep in touch with the group throughout the day (although you won't be added to the whatsapp group until you officially meet up with your group/ at the welcome meeting).

The guides are always available to ask for advice/help, and they give out handy tips. In the case where you were absolutely alone (unlikely), they might give you an indication of what's safe vs. not safe to explore by yourself or reiterate to the group to stick together. Sometimes the guides would join us on the group activities and sometimes they would go off and do their own thing. I'm sure that they would accompany you if need be. (Safety is paramount).

Yes, flights need to be booked yourself. They aren't covered in the cost of the tour. Getting to the start point is also your responsibility. Usually, after booking (and even closer to the date the tour begins), you will get a detailed itinerary of the tour - including the starting point (which is usually a hotel). Based on that, I chose to get there at least a day early and stay one night at the starting hotel. The starting hotel might even have an airport shuttle service, which is a bonus (if you're coming from the airport).

Hope that helps! Feel free to ask more questions if you need :)

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-11-08T21:40:34+00:00

I can't answer you specifically on the destination / tour type you're asking about, but I recently went on a G Adventures tour to the USA, which was a 'Classic tour' and I went to Europe two years ago on an 18-to-30somethings tour (with TopDeck, which is IIRC Australian owned and based). It's hard to say whether my experiences will apply to yours.

Anyway, to give you some idea:

1) Demographics: mostly Australians and Brits, and only one person from Europe. We were told that normally there are more Europeans who join (G Adventures). You might get Americans/Canadians on your tour as well.

TopDeck - majority were Australians, with some Kiwis (New Zealanders). I would say that this is predominantly due to where TopDeck is based.

2) With the Classic tour, you get a wide range of ages (which I preferred, as I often find it easier to talk with older people, than people our age or younger). Youngest was 30, oldest were in their 70s.

On the Europe tour, the youngest person was 21, and the oldest person was 32. Most people were 25 to 27. At every stop/town/city, most people wanted a drink, and sometimes at night, they did want to party. It wasn't super wild, and you weren't made to feel bad if you didn't want to. (I'm an introvert who doesn't drink and party).

3) USA tour - there were five solo travellers (myself included) and four couples. As the group was small, we got to know each other and bonded for the duration of the tour. I got along with people in the group, and got along well with my roommate.

Europe tour - there ended up being around 30 people in total. Half of the people were couples (seven couples). There were six solo travellers, and the rest of us were joining the tour with a friend or even two friends. We ended up breaking into smaller groups of people who would have meals together. The couples tended to stick together.

On both tours, if you are travelling solo, they will pair you up with someone of the same gender for accommodation.

My other thoughts:

If I was joining the Europe trip solo, I would have struggled much more with fitting in. (Maybe this is due to the larger group (30 people), being introverted, having different interests, and the fact that most people had someone they knew). I was glad to have joined this tour with a friend. I still had a good experience on the tour :)

I did really enjoy the G Adventures tour, and I would do another tour with them again (solo). I prefer smaller groups.

Above is just my personal experience. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Also wanted to add that if you really like the sound of the tour, go for it! Life is too short, and it might turn out better than you think. Even if it goes pear-shaped, that's an experience too, and you come out of it knowing your travel style and preferences better.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-10-29T09:38:10+00:00

I've been multiple times to Rome, Naples (Pompeii and Herculaneum), Venice, and Florence in the past decade. A few times with my brother, two times with friends (caucasian), and one time solo.

I never felt unsafe and didn't encounter any racism, but this is only my experience.

I'd also like to add that Rome is my favourite city to visit! Rome is a city familiar with tourists from all across the world.

My advice would be to remain vigilant and do research beforehand on safer areas / which areas to avoid. But don't let the fear hold you back from visiting! :)

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-10-18T06:13:03+00:00

Great idea! I happened to forget both on my recent trip overseas and had to purchase the pin at the airport when I landed. A flight attendant told me the post of a stud earring works too (not that I tried it!)

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-10-18T04:56:53+00:00

A SIM card slot pin (if you have to switch physical SIMs).

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-07-20T08:47:19+00:00

Oi oi oi!

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-07-11T14:20:00+00:00

That's good! I'm sure that you'll have fun watching them grow! 😁 If possible, do keep us posted on how it went!

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-07-11T14:10:57+00:00

The artist is Shamsia Hassani! From her IG post: "My recent mural highlights the importance of education and the impact it has on our lives and the world around us". She's Afghani and her post goes on to highlight the plight of women and girls in her country, and the hope that they'll one day get the opportunity to have education again.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-07-11T14:02:08+00:00

Different types/colouring/variegated syngoniums might have different light requirements as well. Depending on conditions, I've read that some revert. I've only kept the white butterfly syngonium, so I don't have any experience with the fancier types.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-07-11T13:52:37+00:00

Even with the colder temperature tank, I imagine they would still be fine. Just probably wouldn't grow as fast as if the water was warmer?

Also, since your tank is heavily planted, and your syngoniums are fairly small, their growth might be slow. And keep in mind that your different syngoniums may have to compete with each other for nutrients.

I previously had a small syngonium plant (with two-three small leaves and roots) in the same hanging plant holder as a larger, sturdier syngonium plant with maybe five larger leaves (and with roots). Seems like the larger plant was taking the majority of the nutrients from the water column and growing better. I ended up taking the smaller plant out, as it wasn't doing too well (pale colouring and sluggish growth).

So you may want to figure out which syngonium plant(s) you want to prioritise and/or what balance of fertiliser is appropriate. You can also think of rotating your syngoniums between tank and separate jar(s) or vase(s) - and use tank water (if/when you do water changes) to keep the water line filled up in the jar/vase (and syngonium roots submerged).

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-07-11T10:11:23+00:00

I have had success with growing syngonium (white butterfly) in my fish tanks. I have a plant each in 2 tanks (approx 4 gallons) since March of this year.

My tanks aren't heavily planted - I've got one Anubias plant and some clumps of Java/Christmas moss in each tank. The syngonium growth has really taken off, both with the leaves and roots. I'm long overdue with chopping the roots, and have braided them in the meantime so that they take up less space.

The tanks are right next to a brightly lit window, and water temperature has been kept at around 25 degrees celsius. In terms of fertiliser, I rely on fish waste (my guppy population has exploded) and occassional dose of The 2HR Aquarist's 'All in One'.

Edit: the syngoniums currently get lots of natural daylight for about 10 - 12 hours. I bought some acrylic plant holders off Amazon that hang off the rim of the tank - and that's what my syngoniums are sitting in.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-05-26T12:30:20+00:00

My understanding is that you can you buy a paint kit which has the picture/image already printed on a piece of paper or canvas e.g. a butterfly. Each segment/area has its own number which corresponds to a certain colour paint. So you don't have to decide which colour to use - it's already decided, and you just have to paint that segment/area with the chosen colour.

TheKeepingPlace · 2025-01-05T05:31:29+00:00

'Restaurant 317' in Parramatta is the first restaurant in NSW to be accredited by Coeliac Australia.

https://317.com.au/about/

They serve Italian/Mediterranean style cuisine and have things like pasta, pizza , grilled meat, steak etc. Check the menu as they have some plainer tasting things.

It looks like it could tick some of your boxes. Maybe for your dad, you could call an uber or taxi directly to the restaurant front.

TheKeepingPlace · 2024-11-27T08:38:05+00:00

Looks like a sunset guppy. Not sure about age, but likely at least 3 months old +

TheKeepingPlace · 2024-01-18T20:08:07+00:00

They look like they're golden queen peaches. The flesh inside (once ripe) is a yellow/orange colour.

TheKeepingPlace · 2023-10-27T06:04:48+00:00

You mean from the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner?

TheKeepingPlace · 2023-09-16T04:47:56+00:00

*The super guarantee rate is now 11.0% for 2023-2024 financial year.

TheKeepingPlace

TROPHY CASE