Category Archives: Help@Thea

Some years ago the phrase “Help @ Thea” was coined, somewhere between an email address and “two apples @ tuppence each”. My aim is to assist ordinary people gain computer literacy.

Escape to New Caledonia

21 – 29 August 2026

We felt like a seven day treat out of Melbourne’s cold winter.

We were looking for somewhere that took us from the cold air of Melbourne. We’d left for Spain while it was still summer and arrived back as winter was approaching and we felt cheated of warm weather, so we needed to go somewhere.

I walked into a local travel agency and said Solomon Islands or New Caledonia? (They’re both new countries for us.)

The cost and flight time to the Solomon Islands was greater than the cost and flight time to New Caledonia so that was the decision we made. Admittedly New Caledonia is further south than the Solomon Islands and therefore not as warm.

The flight to Sydney was moved a day earlier because the connection was not so good, so we spent an evening in Sydney. Hopefully we’ll make the flight home within the day.

New Caledonia is certainly very French. There is a lot of French spoken and very little English. What we found most difficult was even the hotel staff didn’t have a good command of the English language and had an expectation we could converse in French. Sadly, as we age, we’re finding that other languages are harder to manage.

It was cool, dark, damp. A little cooler than we had expected, so we found that we were putting on jumpers to get through the day. New Caledonia is mountainous and the grey clouds hang off the mountains and bring in rain.

Our apartment was quite comfortable – a lounge with a bar kitchen, a screen separating the bedroom and a decent size bathroom. The lounge didn’t have lights, just a desk lamp and the bedroom had just one power point, which made charging our iPhones a challenge.

We had decided to manage our own breakfasts, so our first task was to find somewhere to buy. The little corner store at the front of our hotel had a meagre offering and only powdered milk. We complemented those purchases with a visit to another corner store a short walk away. They even offered wine.

Google told us the nearest restaurant was Chai de l’Hippodrome, just 200m down the road. It turned out to be a good choice – an eclectic place with lots of small dining rooms. We were tired, so arrived there at 5:30. The place was winding up as we were leaving about 7:30.

I ordered a veal dish and Bruce ordered duck. It was after our first couple of mouthfuls that we realised we were served the wrong dishes. Too bad. I enjoyed his duck and he enjoyed my veal. We promised to go back to swap meals.

The resort was mostly empty and the only restaurant on offer was the revolving rooftop, open for two lunches and two dinners each week. However, there was a sports bar with an outlook to the pool that was having its annual maintenance. Bruce was more than happy with the beer, but the wine left something to be desired – generally served in a cocktail glass, warm and too heavy for my taste. Not my idea of French wine!

We had ideas of heading out beyond the city limits of Noumea. Somehow it just seemed more comfortable to stay nearby.

We spent the first morning exploring the ‘hood. An array of shops and restaurants were opposite the Plage de l’Anse Vata beach. The shops offered tourist meals and tourist souvenirs as well as some up-market clothing boutiques. We settled on Malango as our go to coffee house. It was pleasant sitting on the colonnade there.

We ordered a taxi to go to town, but since we had no local cash (Pacific Francs) we ordered a taxi that took credit cards. We subsequently realised that the taxis come much quicker if you are willing to pay local cash.

Our destination was the Musée Maritime. Here we learnt about the migrations of Oceanian people in the past 3000 years, travelling from distant places like Tonga.

A fascinating ocean chart of the Marshall Islands had shells representing islands and sticks showing the direction of the ocean swells.

There were stories of the trade around the islands at the end of the 19th century, including the precious nickel ore, which for some time delivered 90% of the world’s requirements.

Exploration of the Pacific region was also highlighted but focused on the La Pérouse expedition of the 18th century.

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French naval officer. He joined the navy at a young age and participated in the American War of Independence and in trading in the Indian Ocean region as well as the Caribbean.

In 1785 he was sponsored by King Louis XVI to explore the pacific region to improve on James Cook’s maps and covertly seek for geographic, scientific, ethnological and economic potential.

The fleet consisted of two 500 ton ships, La Boussole and L’Astrolabe under Fleuriot de Langle. The crew included a number of eminent scientists.

Their voyage took them up the Pacific coast of the Americas, including Easter Island and present day Hawaii, before travelling around the Asian coastlines. He was ordered to investigate the British settlements at Botany Bay and arrived just days after the First Fleet. They departed, bound for New Caledonia, but never hit landfall again.

First evidence of the shipwrecks appeared in 1826, however it was not until 1964 that La Boussole was identified. A French expedition in 2008 finally resolved that both ships were wrecked on Vanikoro’s reefs, part of the Solomon Islands.

It made for an interesting story into the battle for dominance in the Pacific Islands.

Our irregular walks were along the Plage de l’Anse Vata beach. We were intrigued to watch some locals on what looked like floating skateboards that they managed to wriggle to move forward. The boards appeared to have a complex fin system underneath. They must have been dependent on the tide or current because the riders carried the boards back up the beach.

We love to visit any market, so the Grand Market was a must stop. Yams, cassava and taro were staples, along with bananas of all shapes and colours. The fish market was a highlight, however there was very little fish on offer in the restaurants we visited.

We wandered from the market into town. It was a sleepy, typical pacific town at lunchtime. Souvenirs consisted of Mother Hubbard or Missionary Dresses and t-shirts of dubious design.

The Cathédrale Saint-Joseph à Nouméa once had a commanding view over the port, but the area below it has been built up. The inside was quite modest. A Joan of Arc statue dominated the courtyard.

Missionaries played a huge role in New Caledonia during the 19th century. Hundreds of churches were built, the fear of God was instilled, schooling was introduced, modesty, including Mother Hubbard dresses for girls and women, was mandated.

Churches still dominate the tiny villages we passed by.

We stopped in the city square which goes by a number of names. The Fontaine Céleste, in the Place des Cocotiers was rather pretty. It was built between 1892 and 1894 and marks the zero point for distances in New Caledonia.

The fountain caused some scandal at the time as the semi-nude young lady on top was based on the 17-year-old daughter of a local farmer.

After lunch of crepes, we wandered into Museum of World War II. This was a truly amazing experience.

We learnt how the Kanaks (local people) were treated as indentured people which prohibited them from voting or moving freely and required them to pay tax on meagre earnings.

The islands were used as a R&R base for USA during the Pacific War. The Americans needed local people to build, farm and load/unload ships. They paid the Kanaks well. They brought music, cinema and medical care. They built roads and airports. It was a turning point in the local culture.

A long battle for independence and recognition of French citizenship for the Kanaks was finally won in 1946.

During WWII the Pacific Battalion of nearly 700 volunteers from New Caledonia, Tahiti, Wallis and the New Hebrides fought alongside the allies. They were first sent to North Africa, where they quickly acclimatised to the harsh weather and contributed to France’s victory at Bir Hakeim, Libya.

The story continued when we visited the Musée de la Ville de Nouméa, Noumea City Museum.

After receiving their rights in 1946, New Caledonia underwent a profound transformation. Political awakening, better rights for Kanaks and universal education led to a need for a Caledonian identity. Nickel mining had created great wealth for the country, enabling the country to be the third largest producer. However it was subject to fluctuations.

Migration, driven by wealth in the nickel industry led to major construction projects, making it one of the wealthier countries in the pacific. The outcome is the emergence of a working class and significant social advances.

The same museum offered an interesting story of New Caledonia during World War I. The country played a strategic role in protecting Oceania.

More than 700 European Caledonians along with New Hebrideans and Tahitians were assigned to European and Orient fronts. Faced with heavy losses, France then recruited Kanaks. Their experience on the other side of the world was disheartening. The consequences suffered after the war, in the colony by food shortages and lack of men contributed to an attempted uprising and an unsettled time.

Various uprisings and different views between the Europeans and Kanaks have led to tensions. On the other hand, a rise in living standards, fostering cultural activity and scientific research have moved the country into modernity.

We treated ourselves to a “long lunch”. It was a lovely sunny day (sun was in short supply during our week there). We chose Les 3 Brasseurs (3 brewers) in the Plage de la Baie des Citrons area. Of course, it was a craft brewery where Bruce could indulge his passion of reviewing the IPAs on offer. They were perfect to accompany the fresh mussels for him, but for me it was a nice crisp local white wine.

Our resort hotel offered dinner in their revolving restaurant on the 18th floor. Our mistake was to choose an evening rather than a lunch time meal, as the views were a little too dark to enjoy. The menu offered steak, steak or steak with bottomless French fries and salad. We chose tuna steak. Here we learnt that “salad” is lettuce dressed with olive oil.

We did return to Chai de l’Hippodrome but chose different meals. It was the highlight of our culinary experience.

The highlight of our short week in Noumea was the wonderful museums. They were well laid out and informative. They gave us an insight to one of our closest neighbours.

And as a final word, I was amused by the graphics representing the women’s toilets in Noumea, Sydney and Melbourne.

A weekend in Salamanca

29 April – 3 May

After five wonderful weeks in Granada with family and a few minor adventures, we headed to parts of Spain unknown to us.

Denis had suggested meeting “somewhere”, but his initial suggestions were places we had visited. Fortunately, Salamanca was on both of our must do lists.

For us it was a couple of train rides. The connection times in Madrid weren’t friendly so we spent a night there and spread our journey over two days.

We were delighted with our chosen AirBnB, on the very edge of the old town of Salamanca and just a few minutes’ walk from the beautiful Plaza Mayor.

Martine, the inveterate traveller, quickly learnt how to navigate the old town and made sure we saw what was important and ate what was important.

So our precious few days together started with a friendly beer in the plaza and a reconnoiter of the old town. We visited the Catedral Nueva de la Asunción de la Virgen, including climbing its tower to get a wonderful view over the city.

We found the Frog at the Universidad Civil. It was quite a funny experience as a crowd was there, each pointing out its position to the newcomers.

We popped into the local parish church of San Benito. The ladies there were very happy to see visitors. Of all the magnificent churches you see, it is humbling to visit a simple place of worship.

One highlight was a visit to the fantastic Casa Lis-Museo de Art Déco y Art Nouveau. No photos permitted, although I have “borrowed” a few from their official website – https://www.museocasalis.org/, just to show some of the magnificent stuff on display.

We wandered across the 1st century Puente Romano which crosses the Río Tormes. It is guarded by the Verraco del puente (Boar of the Bridge or the Bull of Salamanca)

Of course we ate well, starting with a gastranomic meal at Madre Mía Gastrotaberna, eating Bocadillo Jamon in the Plaza del Corrillo, a delicious dinner on the street at Delicatessen Restaurant in Calle Meléndez. We had a big finale dinner to celebrate Martine’s 75th birthday at Mesón Cervantes in the plaza.

There were ice creams and coffees and wines and beers and “tinto de Verano” along with tapas nibbles in between.

Salamanca is certainly one of Spain’s gems. Wikipedia describes it:

The University of Salamanca, founded in 1218, is one of the oldest in Western Europe, and the Old City of Salamanca is UNESCO World Heritage Site, which every year attracts a significant number of students and cultural tourists

There have been settlements found from the iron age and an urban settlement dated to 3rd century BC under the influence of the Celtic tribes.

The Roman empire stretched into northern Iberia. It was an important part of the north-south Via de la plata (derived from the Arabic word al-Balat – the paved road). It was here the Roman bridge was built to assist travellers.

After the Muslim invasion in 712AD, Salamanca was reduced to an unimportant centre. It was revitalized with the victory of the Catholics around the 10th and 11th centuries.

The university which was established in 1218 gained wide recognition for intellectual studies over the following years. Some notable events include:

  • Creation of the first grammar of a Western European language (1492)
  • Preparations for Christopher Columbus’ voyage for the discovery of the Americas (1492)
  • Study by Hernán Cortés before conquering the Aztec Empire (approx. 1520)
  • Francisco de Vitoria who participated in the Council of Trent conceptualised natural law, renewed theology and the foundations of international law (1545-1563)
  • Mathematicians of the university proposed the Gregorian calendar (1582)
  • Partial translation of the bible to Spanish (mid 16th century)
  • Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote of la Mancha was a student at the university (late 16th century)

Today it is a popular university city and a place to study the Spanish language. I reckon it’d be a nice place to spend some time.

Photos were not permitted in this beautiful mansion-museum. These photos are from their website https://www.museocasalis.org/:

And our photos from Salamanca.

Hanging out in Granada

28 March – 29 April

Like so many other cities where our children have parked themselves, Granada is becoming a home away from home.

In 2005 Hayden moved to London and we enjoyed exploring his world there. He moved to Barcelona in 2007, and during a number of visits until 2015, it became a familiar town.

His next stop was Berlin between 2015 and 2022. We walked and toured in and out of the city. We loved its quirkiness.

Meanwhile, between 2015 and 2020 Evan lived in New York, first in Harlem, then in Hell’s Kitchen. We used our visits to drive west, north, east and south, covering most states.

Granada is small and doesn’t offer a lot more than the Alhambra and the Cathedral, but somehow, we manage to entertain ourselves and make new discoveries.

We timed our visit to see Semana Santa, the famous Spanish Easter parades. We also made our regular visit to the Science Park.

But other highlights this visit included the Spring flowers and the greening of the city after a cold winter. An odd statue dedicated to children learning and a little square such as the one dedicated to Fray Luis de Granada and its tight little streets captured our attention.

We visited Cuarto Real de Santa Domingo Royal Quarter of Saint Dominic, and for the ridiculous entry fee of €2 we entered a beautiful garden. The 13th century Nasrid palace was built for King Muhammad II, before the Alhambra. It was converted to the Convent of Santa Cruz la Real after the 1492 Christian conquest.

The Granada City Council purchased property in 1990 and conducted an archaeological excavation. A Moorish qubba or reception hall has now been preserved.

The highlight of our visit there was the historical exhibition of Granada as a tourist destination in the 19th century. Romantic tours captured the personal experiences of the budding tourist industry. Despite an arduous and often dangerous journey from the coast, the reward for the growing bourgeoisie class was touring the Alhambra and the gypsy caves. Artists of all disciplines were drawn to this unique setting. The exhibition information as a travel brochure describes it:

Granada and Romanticism. Travel in the 19th Century

Romanticism was a cultural and artistic movement at the end of the 18th century and reached its peak in the mid-19th century. This movement stands out for its exaltation of subjectivity, individuality and feelings, elements that the romantics believed to be essential in their search for the sublime and transcendental. Romantic artists and writers focused their attention on nature, exotic landscapes and cultures steeped in history and mystery.

In this framework, Granada played an important role in the romantic collective. With its evocative Islamic past and the rich fusion of cultures that are reflected in monuments and landscapes, the city stood out as a benchmark for writers, artists and intellectuals of the time. Granada embodied the fundamental ideals of Romanticism.

The exhibition “Granada and Romanticism. Travel in the 19th Century” invites us to journey into the past, when the city became an epicentre of inspiration for travellers. Through a unique collection of original pieces, documents, sketches and photographs, the exhibition explores the profound influence that Granada held over those who visited it during the 19th century.

The exhibit not only presents the Granada that fascinated romantic travellers in the 19th century, but also offers a reflection on how that legacy is still alive today in the contemporary city. The pieces on display allow the visitor to discover how those early romantic “tourists” influenced the perception of the city, creating an image that has persevered until our days: a Granada full of contrast, beauty and mystery.

The new technologies play an essential role in bringing the public closer to the historic context in an interactive and didactic way. Visitors can immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the time through virtual recreations, audios and visual resources that complement the physical pieces on display, offering an immersive and enriching experience.

Bruce had been a reluctant visitor today, but we both enjoyed the visit.

I tried to purchase tickets to see the Alhambra. Only extraordinarily expensive privately conducted tours were available, so we thought better of that and leave a visit until next time, where hopefully we can book months in advance.

We did however discover a large section of the Alhambra is free and open to the public, and very much worth a visit.

The square façade of the Palacio de Carlos V, palace of Charles V surprises you when you enter into a beautiful circular courtyard. The building was commenced in 1526 as an extra royal residence. It was uninhabitable when Philip IV visited in 1628. The construction was abandoned in 1637, leaving the roof unfinished.

In 1923, nearly four centuries after it was commenced Leopoldo Torres Balbás devised a plan to recover the building. Balbás was a Spanish scholar, architect and restorer who focused much of his work on the al-Andalus Islamic era of Granada, including the Alhambra. It really is a beautiful building and well worth the long wait to be shown  off.

The palace hosted a number of exhibitions, including an informative insight into the importance of water in the gardens of the Generalife and the Alhambra. Islamic architects were famous for capturing and channelling water in their mostly dry climates. In this case they created magnificent gardens which are now the oldest surviving cultivated places in palaces in the entire world.

The exhibition included original artefacts from the Alhambra as well as model layouts of the palaces. We had an insight into the crafts of the Islamic construction process including marble sculptures, wooden and marble inlaid doors, carved window shades and the famous mosaic tiles.

There is even more to see in the open, free spaces of the Alhambra, which will have to wait for our next visit.

During our time in Barcelona, we learnt that bull fights in the Catalonian region are now banned. That isn’t the case in other regions of Spain. So after carefully studying the bus routes and timetables we visited the Plaza de Toros de Granada, Granada’s bull ring. It was closed and there were preparations in place for a concert within the bullring. But the building is typical of Spanish bullrings – a massive construction of decorative brick work with beautiful arches.

We then meandered down to the Avenida De La Constitucion. It’s a magnificent tree lined street with a rambla or pedestrian path down the centre. Statues of notable people include Napoleon III’s wife Eugenia de Montijo (born 1826 in Granada died 1920 in Madrid) and their famous bullfighter Salvador Sánchez Povedano (1842-1908).

We had a special request to visit the gardens of Carmen de los Mártires, to see some peacocks. It was a fun day, building little “tents” for the insects and animals that inhabit the gardens and chasing the peacocks.

We filled our time in Granada with visits to the school, including a demonstration of a drum lesson and reading “Bathtime for Little Rabbit”, in English, to the 2-year-olds. Bruce found some bunny ears to give the children a visual representation of the story.

We visited shopping destinations and parks, found fabulous new places to eat and drink as well as returning to old favourites.

We watched the snow melt on the Sierra Nevada and the snowmelt filling the streams.

Our family is well settled in Granada, so we will return as often as we can. And on each visit I guarantee we will find something new and interesting.

Our journey wasn’t over – we next journeyed to Salamanca then a tour around Galicia.

The Silent Partner has arrived!

After the excitement of Evan’s Chocolate Lindt ball melting in Melbourne video, we put pressure on him to get his portfolio web site updated.

Once again, we used the WordPress framework and Bruce selected a theme called Hueman.  It is a beautiful and simple responsive theme.  We modified it a little to make the menu appear where Ev wanted it, along the way introducing Ev to the power of WordPress and the cleverness of Firebug in Mozilla Firefox.

The Silent Partner went live today. It showcases a selection of Evan’s work from Method Studios and some of his personal work. Most important is his current show reel a 1 minute 9 seconds review of some of his work.

I also like Evan’s quirky photography and I look forward to seeing more after he and Steph visit Mexico and New York in March.

Well done, Ev. Great to see your work up and out there.

Update 2024

Evan has updated his website, given it a new look and named it his own. It can now be found at https://evanstainsby.com/. You will still find his past work, dailies and quirky photography.

Celebrating Beer, Beef & Fellowship

Today we launched a new web site – for the Beer & Beef Club of Melbourne.

The Beer & Beef Club celebrates beer, beef and fellowship.  First established in June 1963, it was set up by Carlton & United Breweries with the charter of promoting beer and appreciating it as a perfect beverage to accompany good food.

The club has been expanded to a number of state and regional areas, some of which are very active, so our new web site has a home for each active region and state, where events can be promoted.  These are all linked to the Beer & Beef Club of Australia.

The development of the web site was a collaborative effort between Bruce & myself.  We had a lot of fun and just a couple of terse words bringing it together, but we are truly delighted with the finished work!

B+B beer-beef-fellowship 2

Peninsula College of Nails & Beauty – brand new look

My latest project is a brand new look and feel for the Peninsula College of Nails & Beauty, for Helen and Karen.  PCNB is a college for people who want to join (or rejoin) the beauty industry, either in a salon or working from their home business.

Bruce designed a new look using the Theme Horse Attitude WordPress theme, which is fully responsive, easy to customise and can display a slideshow.  He chose some beautiful images from Masterfile Stock Photos, which we incorporated into the slideshow.

We used the Raleway & PT Sans Google Fonts to add to the clean high key look.

I really enjoyed the project and look forward to training Helen and Karen on how to manage the site later in the year.

So this is the old look:

Learn Beauty originalAnd here is our bright, clean new look:

Learn Beauty new

It’s All About You – a better site

I was approached recently by Alison and Karen who run a business providing hair and make up services for weddings and special occasions.  Their business will service events anywhere in Melbourne, and they pride themselves on the stylists and artists they employ for these very special occasions.

Alison and Karen have a web site It’s All About You, but they wanted to make some changes to the content to make it easier to read and navigate.  They were keen to ensure that their site was visible to search engines.  They also wanted to introduce their own services for follow up.

The site uses a template from Template Monster, written in .html.

It has been a lot of fun working on the first phase of this glamorous and enticing site with a dynamic duo.

ItsAllAboutYou

Down Under Online – now online

Good friend Michael Mardel develops and publishes easy to use black line masters for individualised learning.

His site needed a fresher look, and I am thrilled to today announce that the new look website is now live at http://downunderonline.org.

Bruce designed the look and feel, borrowing from the classic Australian green and gold colours and I implemented it using the WordPress framework and Themekraft theme.

Down Under Online

WordPress

1 Reply

This site is built using WordPress. Pages and even Posts may come and go and themes (look of the site) will change as I test some of the offerings from the WordPress community.

As I write this I am playing with the twenty-twelve theme.  As you are reading this you may see a completely different look.

HelpAtThea in Twenty-Twelve

As I post, this is what the site looks like. Still raw.